If the beating heart of a football club has always been the supporters, the stadium a team calls home must be its body.
Up-sizing a ground can often provide teams with a lucrative opportunity for growth but moving is also an emotional wrench for fans.
Sportsmail takes a look back at some of the major stadium switches from down the years.
Middlesbrough – Ayresome Park to Riverside Stadium (1995)
Capacity increase: 7,079 (26,667 to 33,746)
League at time of move: Premier League
League now: Championship
The Teessiders left Ayresome Park as a result of the 1990 Taylor report, which banned
standing in English football stadia. It housed Middlesbrough for 92 years and hosted three games during the 1966 World Cup, but its crumbling foundations were exposed when two fans died in 1980 after being struck by debris from a brick pillar.
Brian Clough and Graeme Souness both spent part of their playing days at Ayresome, the name deriving from Old Norse meaning ‘houses near the river’. Riverside Stadium hosted 10 consecutive Premier League mid-table finishes from 1999 to 2008, but is now a second-tier stadium once again.
Derby County – Baseball Ground to Pride Park (1997)
Capacity increase: 15,927 (18,300 to 33,597)
League at time of move: Premier League
League now: Championship
As per the name, Derby’s old stadium was originally used for baseball – built by Sir Francis Ley for his iron foundry workers. It hosted Derby’s famous 1971/72 title-winning season under Brian Clough, but the club decided to relocate after the Bradford City fire of 1985 highlighted issues with wooden-based grounds.
Pride Park was the first football stadium opened by the Queen and although its first five seasons hosted Premier League football, only one of the following 15 seasons saw that traditional upheld – that being the worst ever Premier League team of 07/08.
Derby famously won Division One under Brian Clough during their time at The Baseball Ground
Now the Rams play in the Championship at Pride Park which holds 33,597
Bolton Wanderers – Burnden Park to Reebok Stadium (1997)
Capacity increase: 6,107 (22,616 to 28,723)
League at time of move: Premier League
League now: Championship
Burnden Park was the unfortunate venue where 33 fans were crushed to death during a 1946 FA Cup quarter-final between Bolton and Stoke City, prompting the Hughes report, which recommended a more rigorous control on crowd sizes.
Bolton moved to the far swankier Reebok Stadium – now named Macron Stadium – in 1997, which coincided with instant relegation from the top flight. Despite an 11-year stint in the Premier League at the turn of the millennium, Bolton have not been able to reach the highest echelon since their relegation in 2012.
Burnden Park was the scene of a tragedy as 33 fans were crushed to death
Bolton moved to Reebok Stadium in 1997 which has since been renamed Macron Stadium
Southampton – The Dell to St Mary’s (2001)
Capacity increase: 17,489 (15,200 to 32,689)
League at time of move: Premier League
League now: Premier League
Although not for footballing reasons, The Dell has a rich history – it had to recover from an 18-foot crater in the penalty area from a bomb dropped during The Blitz and was the first ground in England to have permanent floodlights. The Saints’s large fanbase was shown when the stadium switch caused attendance figures to double instantly.
Legend has it that during the ground’s construction six Portsmouth supporters buried Portsmouth shirts at the Northam Stand end as a bad omen, prompting a pagan witch to lift the curse just prior to Southampton’s first win at the stadium. A long stay in England’s top flight ended soon after the move as Southampton even dipped to League One in 2009.
The Dell housed Southampton and there was said to be a curse put on it by Portsmouth fans
Southampton are renowned for being a well run side and now play their games at St Mary's
Leicester City – Filbert Street to Walkers Stadium (2002)
Capacity increase: 12,500 (22,000 to 32,500)
League at time of move: Division One (now the Championship)
League now: Premier League
Filbert Street, which housed the Midlands club for 111 years, used to have its entrances to the club office in between terraced houses, and was a factor in the club not being able to expand the ground.
The Walkers Stadium – now known as the King Power Stadium – was home to a promotion and relegation in its first two seasons, as Leicester then spent 10 years out of the top flight and dropped to League One in 2008. Their return exceeded any expectations as they won the Premier League in 2016, and the ground is now marvelled at for groundsman John Ledwidge’s nifty turf patterns.
The 2015-16 Premier League Champions moved from Filbert Street in 2002
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