I had a spare hour today so decided to make a journey to Gloucester City AFC's former football ground, Meadow Park, in Hempsted, Gloucester. As a Gloucester City fan myself this was quite an emotive visit for me, as I have seen 100's of games at this ground from boy to man.
Anyway, a bit of history. The club was established in 1883 as Gloucester, they became Gloucester City in 1902, but were briefly known as Gloucester YMCA from 1910 to 1925, before retaining their previous name. The club has competed in the Conference North since 2009, having been promoted from the Southern Premier League at the end of the 2008–2009 season. It spent a record 70 years within the Southern Football League from 1939 until 2009. It secured promotion after a Playoff final win against Farnborough.
The club moved to Meadow Park in 1986 after Westbury Homes purchased the previous ground at Horton Road, Gloucester and relocated the club to the other side of the City. The ground had a total capacity of 4,500 with a 560-seat stand.
Following the floods of summer 2007, on 22 July, Meadow Park was almost 8 feet under water. A combination of a lack of insurance due to previous flooding, this was the third time in less than ten years that the stadium had been flooded, and contamination by sewage water, the club had no choice but to abandon the ground for the foreseeable future. Currently the club is trying to gain planning permission to rebuild on the current site - however this is proving difficult due to issues with the proposed flood defences.
This is the entrance to the ground - the old club office as can be seen here now as "Arriva House" is still an active office with a camera on the outside. So I could only venture round half of the ground to avoid calling in security.
The Main Stand with the external stairwell which used to lead up to the clubhouse
The dugouts and the main stand
The view of the infamous 'T-End' as it was known from what remains of the Press Box
The sign I used to stand under as a kid
Unsurprisingly the pitch is flooded
The Main Stand and T-End above the waterlogged pitch
The formerly segregated side terrace
Half the pitch is taken up with old Gloucester City Council wheelie bins
My scarf hanging forlornly on the old gates
Apologies for the poor quality of it all - my first ever attempt at using a DSLR camera under exploring circumstances. Any advice and constructive criticism will be appreciated.
Anyway, a bit of history. The club was established in 1883 as Gloucester, they became Gloucester City in 1902, but were briefly known as Gloucester YMCA from 1910 to 1925, before retaining their previous name. The club has competed in the Conference North since 2009, having been promoted from the Southern Premier League at the end of the 2008–2009 season. It spent a record 70 years within the Southern Football League from 1939 until 2009. It secured promotion after a Playoff final win against Farnborough.
The club moved to Meadow Park in 1986 after Westbury Homes purchased the previous ground at Horton Road, Gloucester and relocated the club to the other side of the City. The ground had a total capacity of 4,500 with a 560-seat stand.
Following the floods of summer 2007, on 22 July, Meadow Park was almost 8 feet under water. A combination of a lack of insurance due to previous flooding, this was the third time in less than ten years that the stadium had been flooded, and contamination by sewage water, the club had no choice but to abandon the ground for the foreseeable future. Currently the club is trying to gain planning permission to rebuild on the current site - however this is proving difficult due to issues with the proposed flood defences.
This is the entrance to the ground - the old club office as can be seen here now as "Arriva House" is still an active office with a camera on the outside. So I could only venture round half of the ground to avoid calling in security.
The Main Stand with the external stairwell which used to lead up to the clubhouse
The dugouts and the main stand
The view of the infamous 'T-End' as it was known from what remains of the Press Box
The sign I used to stand under as a kid
Unsurprisingly the pitch is flooded
The Main Stand and T-End above the waterlogged pitch
The formerly segregated side terrace
Half the pitch is taken up with old Gloucester City Council wheelie bins
My scarf hanging forlornly on the old gates
Apologies for the poor quality of it all - my first ever attempt at using a DSLR camera under exploring circumstances. Any advice and constructive criticism will be appreciated.
