5 Football Grounds That Have Changed Names (& How The Fans Reacted)

In a day & age of branding, sponsorship, stadium expansions & money money money it’s become increasingly common for teams to use a new name for their home ground, often when moving to a newly built stadium. Some teams have even changed their ground name more than once. It’s definitely arguable that this flies in the face of team traditions which stretch back for centuries, all in the name of cash. Let’s take a look then at some of those football grounds that have changed names, and also rate out of 10 just how much we feel they were giving an ‘up yours’ to the fans & history of the beautiful name. We’ll be starting from the earliest commonly recognised name of the ground.

Bolton Wanderers

Burnden Park > The Reebok Stadium > The Macron Stadium

Bolton’s home ground was ‘Burnden Park’ for 102 years, from 1895 to 1997. In ’97 though Bolton were riding fairly high & it was decided that a larger, more modern ground was required and an out-of-town ground was developed. With a new ground came a new name, & BWFC were all too aware of the importance of cash to a club, so the opportunity to roll in a corporate sponsorship was embraced & it became ‘The Reebok Stadium’… but with new sponsorship often comes new naming, so in 2014 after 17 years as ‘The Reebok’ it changed once again to ‘The Macron Stadium’.

What did the fans think?

It was widely accepted that Burnden Park wasn’t big enough, but there was plenty of disappointment that many local fans would no longer be able to walk through the streets of Bolton to the match & instead would have to get a train to a retail park (& ironically Burnden was replaced by a supermarket & car park). Reebok were at least a company with a local link though, operating in the area for many many years. An opportunity to provide continuity was spurned though, & when a new sponsor came the name was a complete change.

Out of 10, how much of an ‘up yours’ have the fans & football history been given? – 6/10

Not enough attention was given to a continuity of tradition in the name, & it’s always ultimately been in the search of more cash. The cash did seem to go to the club though, & at least the initial change to Reebok kept a tie with the area.

Newcastle United

St James’ Park > The SportsDirect.com @ St James’ Park Stadium > The Sports Direct Arena > St James’ Park

Newcastle United’s ground began life as St James’ Park in 1892, and continued with that name until 2009. At that point it was under the ownership of Mike Ashley & his company Sports Direct. Widely hated by Newcastle fans for a perceived focus on making money from the club he took it one step further in 2009, announcing that the naming rights would be sold & in the interim it would become the [email protected] Stadium. Cue destruction of Sports Direct signage & mass uproar from the geordies. Ashley polished it off by renaming it permanently to become ‘The Sports Direct Arena’. Uproar continued at the trashing of centuries of history, but a knight in shining armour arrived in the form of… cash lenders Wonga…hmmm. As Wonga’s new shirt sponsorship deal was attracting further dissatisfaction they spotted to opportunity to earn some cred, & as part of their deal the ground reverted to its original name of St James’ Park.

What did the fans think?

Absolute fury, rightly. Protests, petitions, the general wrapping of Mike Ashley’s name in layers of colourful expletives in every day conversation.

Out of 10, how much of an ‘up yours’ have the fans and football history been given? – 9/10

The ground reverted to St James’ Park in 2012 due to the Wonga sponsorship so it could’ve been worse, but only marginally. This wasn’t a case of a necessary new ground built resulting in a new naming opportunity, this was a land-grab at the heart & soul of a clubs identity & all in the name of making money… & not even money to aid the clubs ability to buy new players & expand, but to make a better financial asset for Mike Ashley to sell & pocket the proceeds… allegedly.

Manchester City

Maine Road > City of Manchester Stadium > The Etihad Stadium

Maine Road was the home of Manchester City FC from 1923 until 2003, 80 years of history & memories. After 5 major renovations & expansions though the 35,150 capacity wasn’t big enough for a growing and ambitious club so in 2003 arrangement was made to move in to the City of Manchester Stadium, originally built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games but converted to a football ground for the purpose. The ground is technically leased to Man City (for 200 years initially) by Manchester City Council, and as part of that the name was initially preserved which is also used as other events are held there. In 2011 though Man City arranged a commercial sponsorship for their use of the ground with Etihad, so the name would become referred to as the Etihad Stadium in its capacity as their home ground.

What did the fans think?

Again the move to a new ground was a good thing for fans in that a large capacity would help the club albeit at the expense of the memories Maine Road held. The ground wasn’t long known as the City of Manchester Stadium to them before the Etihad naming came in, so there wasn’t such dramatic controversy there either.

Out of 10, how much of an ‘up yours’ have the fans and football history been given? – 5/10

This was pretty much a case of ‘new ground, new name’ though there was a brief period in between. There’s no real historical link between the sponsor and Manchester though, and the name has no traditional or regional element to it it’s simply the sponsors brand, so what happens if a new sponsor comes in?

Bradford City

Valley Parade > The Pulse Radio Stadium > The Bradford & Bingley Stadium > The Intersonic Stadium > The Coral Windows Stadium

Valley Parade has been Bradford City’s ground since way back in 1903. It served them well. By the ’90s though they wanted an influx of cash so did a deal with local radio outfit Pulse Radio to make it ‘The Pulse Radio Stadium’. That lasted a while but new opportunity arrived in the late ’90s and Bradford & Bingley took their place. In 2007 it all went a bit sponsorship naming crazy & in rapid succession they went from The Bradford & Bingley, to The Intersonic, To The Coral Windows Stadium which it remains to this day.

What did the fans think?

In 2007 it’s a wonder any visiting fans could find the place given its name changed so rapidly! Otherwise, from the home fans, it seems there was a  mixture of general resignation to the needs of the modern football club and resolute refusal to call it anything other than Valley Parade… which is pretty understandable when the name changes so  quickly!

Out of 10, how much of an ‘up yours’ have the fans and football history been given? – 6/10

It was unashamed money-grabbing in a sense, and on a frequent basis, which suggests they were happy to hawk a part of the clubs identity willy-nilly which isn’t great. Having said that it seems it was mostly with inten tion of funding seriously needed expansion & improvement of the ground so it could’ve been worse. Really though you’ve gotta think they were defeating the object somewhat by changing the name so rapidly!

Shrewsbury Town

Gay Meadow > ProStar Arena > Greenhous Meadow

Gay Meadow opened as Shrewsbury Town’s ground back in 1910, and they stayed there for a long haul of 97 years… and having been to Gay Meadow a couple of times I can tell you it showed. In 2007 they made the long overdue move to a swanky new ground with swanky new facilities and, yes, took the opportunity to get sponsorship for the new ground which was taken by their kit manufacturer ProStar. This was intended to last for 4 years but for some reason was broken off early and in 2010 sponsors Greenhous gave it the new name Greenhous Meadow, the ‘meadow’ chosen in a vote by Shrews fans.

Out of 10, how much of an ‘up yours’ have the fans and football history been given? – 5/10

It was a ground move originally so it’s hard to hold that against them too much, though they ignored desires to have a bit of continuity as fans hoped for the name The New Meadow. A smart move was made by Greenhous when they cam in as new sponsors though and the fans were given a bit more ownership of the name which, unsurprisingly, they chose to include ‘Meadow’ so that continue to refer to it as ‘The Meadow’

 

So there we are, a few examples of what can happen to the naming traditions of a football team in the day & age of sponsorship and football more & more as a business. Has it all gone too far? Is it immaterial given supporters will just call it the old name anyway? Have we missed a great example or detail? Let us know in the comments & the forums!

Photo by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums