Having done a few of the Northern English grounds, i can honestly say those decrying the new stadia are, whilst right, its for the wrong reasons. I loved watching MOTD even more than before after being at Anfield and Villa Park during Euro96, fascinating in wonderment how the streets around grounds shaped the stadium. Things like the weird looking stand behind the goal at The Dell.....the humungous 20,000 seater at Elland Rd surrounded in three stands which hold less combined.....similarly the Gallowgate end of St.James', which cant be built on as its in the city centre!!! They do give a character, but then again with new stadia come new memories.....i'd like to see some 'new' grounds with odd-shaped stands looking as if theyv been welded together....not custom-built generic 'bowls' like there are now dotted all.over the planet. The new Maracana looks like just another Stade de France, as does Wembley. The Emirates bears more than a resemblance to la Luz in Lisbon, and thats just off the top of my head. One of my other faves was the SapporoDome in Japan, as it looked wonderfully weird and misshapen, almost on purpose. Im all for the SpaceStation grounds if they look like proper grounds inside.
