Sittingbourne-Central Park

Central Park is the former home of Sittingbourne FC, who were based here for a decade, from 1991 to 2001. I was lucky enough to see a match here when Dulwich Hamlet Youth Team were drawn here in a John Ullmann Cup game during their tenure. They currently play at the much smaller & basic Bourne Park, adjacent to this venue.

It is currently home to greyhound racing.

I took these photos by 'sneaking in' through a gap in an a derelict bar area in the corner, which was once the football club bar. I say 'sneaked in' because I took these on Saturday 22nd Augsut 2010, & there was a dogs meeting about to commence, & I didn't want to pay to get into that, as I wasn't staying for the meeting, I just wanted to try to get a few snaps of the ground, so here they are.

This is the impressive entrance.



Club motto in the gates.




I am guessing this road was only laid down when the stadium was built.



This sign points the way to the current usage.



This is the back of the main stand, the current football ground, is down an access road, to the left of this picture.



Follow the sign if you want the football, away from the dog track.



This leads down to the football.



In the corner is this empty bulding, the old bar i mentioned. This is how we will get inside.



Wrecked, & a storage area.



A complete mess.



This was the old bar.



My mate Tony couldn't find the toilets! ;-)



This is the balcony area in front of the bar, inside the ground.



To our right is the main stand.



A similar shot, looking down the dog track, with the some open terracing at the far end in the distance.



On the far side is a covered terrace.



And to our left is an open terrace not wuite 'behind the goal', but on a curve.



This is a close up of the main stand. I didn't attempt to get into it, as 'technically' we have just 'bunked in' to a dog meeting!



Here we 'zoom in' to the directors box.



This is the large open terrace at the far end.



With the covered terrace on the far side.



This is the terrace to our right, floodlights from the current Sittingbourne ground behind.



We move along to the curved terrace, & look across the old pitch.



Here we look along it.



Andd round to the covered terrace. I don't risk going over there, as I don't want to get spotted by any stewards. This really was a case of 'get inside, take snaps & run!' ;-)



The impressive main stand. Hard to believe this once hosted Southern League football.



Another shot of it, with the open terrace included.



Another shot down the pitch, with both areas of cover either side. Ground covered, time to go!

St. Pauli; Hamburg, Germany

I saw a game at St. Pauli in December 2005. This was a Bundesliga second division match, & they are now back in the top flight. The ground has changed a lot, with some building work still going on, when I took these snaps at the end of November 2010. I intitially thought I wouldn't be lucky enough to find a way in, but after doing an outer circuit one gate was open for building workers, so I sneaked in and took some quick shots. for those who don't know St Pauli are the team followed by the radicals of Hamburg, & without a doubt are the professional team I would follow if I lived in Germany.



This is approach to the ground, if you're coming from the main road.



As you can see it was snowing! Here is the main ticket office. Past that, by the noticeboard, is the office for their Supporters' organisation.



I stuck my head inside, & asked if I could take a photo. The friendly man inside spoke English, & suggested he take one of me...so here I am!



Back outside, behind this end, was this sign. I don't know what it says, so am happy for someone to explain. The flatter area, with the words, was covered in thick snow, I wiped the area clear before taking the snaps.







Just past this was the Club war memorial.



I think this translates as commemorating the fallen, or similar.



This adjacent sign remembers the players & fans who suffered, or were murdered under the Nazis.



Set in the middle of the open area in front of the main entrance is this club crest. It was fenced off, & this was the best shot I could get of it.



Here is the new main entrance to the ground. This wasn't here on my last visit. (I don't think it was anyway) Note the main entrance below the club crest on the glass.



I managed to quickly stick my head through the door & took some photos. This large football was part of their recent centenary.



As I took a photo of this a man came over & kindly explained the story behind it. unfortuantely I can't remember exactly what he sais, but it was about their rugby section, I think they were the founders of it, & they had to flee the Nazis.



Of this one I am not sure what it represents? Possibly a partnership that redeveloped the ground?



At the tops of the the first flight of stairs was the stadium in all it's floodlit glory, prior to rebuilding.



There were several flights upwards. As you can see as we look at the 'football art' on display.



Here is another mounted picture of the 'old' ground. Note this corner, as looking at it, I think this is the spot where we will gain access to the ground, as you will see in later photos.



Here is the club crest, in glass. Note the anti establishment radical message below their logo!



This is their unofficial badge, used on much official merchandise in the club shop. They also sell packets of club cigarettes with this on the box!



Here is one of the new entrances to the stadium.



The standard stadium map.



We are now at the opposite end of the ground, to where we were outside. Through the gate & this new stand, along the side, is to our right.



From this corner we look over the pitch, this is where the old photo we saw in the main entrance was taken from, approximately. Take note of the big wheel to the left of the pylon...we will come back to it later.



To our left, behind this goal, is terracing at the front, & seating behind. The far side still undeveloped. And 'traditional'.



This is the seating above the terrace.



From up here we look over the pitch.



And along the seats.



From up here we see the new stand along the side again.



Another shot of it from behind the goal, note the high fencing at the front, to prevent any missiles being thrown onto the pitch.



This is the stand behind the goal, from the front of it.



The view down the pitch, from behind the goal. The lower section of the far end has nothing on it, still being built on. I don't know if this is to be seating, or a 'modern' terrace.



From here we glance to the left, as we head towards the end of the stand. Note the 'start' of the stand on the right of this snap...



I have no idea what this strange stand alone structure is. Some sort of VIP or press area, maybe?



Here we see it in context with the old stand along the side, with the bigger area of terrace in front of it.



A similar view, but a little closer, looking down the side, from the corner of the stand behind our goal.



Much the same, but staring directly down the terrace.



From this corner we see over the pitch, toward the two modern sides. Call me old fashioned but I much prefer the 'old' ramshackle ones.



Time to head back, we look along the end which we have viewed the stadium from.



Here we see the stand we were in, from just along the side.



From the corner it's a low level look over the pitch.



This is the new stand, along the side, the other modern part up the far end in the background.



Our last photo in the ground is a close up of the old stand, opposite, showing how heavy the snow is now falling.



I'm not sure of the exact translation, but they clearly hate their cross city rivals!



Back to that big wheel I mentioned earlier...its' part of the massive Dom funfair, which appears three times a year on the adjacent park. It happened to coincide with my trip.



To finish, here is a view of the ground from the top of it!