Journalist ranks the 12 worst EFL stadiums in the country | OneFootball

We take a look at a recent piece by Richard Sutcliffe of The Athletic, listing the 12 worst stadiums in the EFL.

The EFL is home to some of the most storied and famous clubs in English football as well as teams that have punched above their weight to fight their way up the English football pyramid.

A pyramid that is the envy of the rest of the world with the sheer depth of quality, size of club and sheer emotion and loyalty of supporters not seen anywhere else to the same extent.

The 72 clubs in the EFL are varied in their ambitions at the start of the season, the size of a fanbase, their history and tradition but also in terms of their homes and stadiums.

Supporters of football clubs across the globe often tirelessly debate in favour of their club and while most remain proud of their stadium and home, there are some that accept either work needs to be done or a move needs to be made.

In The Athletic, Richard Sutcliffe ranked the 72 stadiums of the EFL and we have looked at his top 15 – but what about the 12 worst stadiums across the three divisions?

12th worst: Crown Ground (Accrington Stanley)

Coming at 61st on Sutcliffe’s list, or the 12th worst stadium in the EFL, is Accrington Stanley’s Crown Ground, also known as the Wham Stadium, with its capacity of 5,450.

As Sutcliffe accepts, it is a ground buried in the heart of Accrington and the heart therefore of Lancashire, fairly easily accessible on foot from the train station and with a few pubs for home and away fans to enjoy – including an often lively fan zone.

However, naturally, a small club for the EFL, Accrington’s home remains a tough one when the weather is poor, as it often is, with no shelter behind the goal in the away end. Upgraded facilities have helped but the press box remains a throwback on the outskirts of Blackburn.

11th worst: Moor Lane (Salford City)

Now known as the AIG Stadium, Salford City’s 5,108-capacity Moor Lane comes in at the 11th worst stadium in the EFL, according to Sutcliffe.

Salford have risen to League Two with help of their ownership group led by the ‘Class of 92’ and their rise left little room for expansion of the stadiums with the fanbase not really growing all too much, so the 5,108 capacity may even remain a little too big, despite suggestions that they could have moved into the CorpArq Stadium which houses the Salford Red Devils and Sale Sharks.

Still small and in deeper Salford than the home of those Rugby Union and Rugby League outfits, Moor Lane is listed at number 62 for Sutcliffe’s best stadiums in the EFL.

10th worst: Highbury (Fleetwood Town)

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Next on the list of the worst stadiums in the EFL according to Sutcliffe also comes up in Lancashire, this time on the coast with Highbury, the home of Fleetwood Town, housing 5,327 supporters.

Again, a new main stand that doesn’t look out of place in the EFL and didn’t itself look out of place when The Cod Army played in League One, albeit it doesn’t stretch across the length of the side of the pitch, running into what is a rundown and tightly packed away end.

Often windswept just off the Irish Sea, it can be a ground that is easy to get to and, perhaps more importantly, away from, especially with it only able to hold just over 5,000.

9th worst: Hayes Lane (Bromley)

Having gained promotion from the National League with an artificial pitch, Bromley’s Hayes Lane, or the Copperjax Community Stadium, is now grass-laden, maintaining a capacity of 5,160.

Deep in South London, Sutcliffe outlines the fact that the ground remains a ‘work-in-progress’ and that is perhaps easy to tell – but it does remain a tight fortress for the overachieving exploits of Bromley.

8th worst: Broadhall Way (Stevenage)

Harsh to suggest it is a ground that is easily forgettable but the compact and fairly obvious and bland four-sided, with no embellishment on any stand, Broadhall Way comes in next.

With a capacity of 7,318 and opening in 1961, Stevenage’s ground has served as a home for a couple of different iterations of the football club but also remains one that is a little underwhelming for away fans to travel to, especially with its awkward location that is the essence of it being in one of the new towns of England just north of London.

7th worst: New Meadow (Shrewsbury Town)

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Once at Gay Meadow, Shrewsbury Town now play at New Meadow, or the Croud Meadow Stadium for the time being due to naming rights, with a capacity of 9,875.

Opened in 2005 to replace the old Gay Meadow, the location of the New Meadow is perhaps its biggest shortcoming, as Sutcliffe explains, moving from a riverside ground to something more akin to an industrial estate.

6th worst: Sixfields (Northampton Town)

In 1994, Northampton Town were one of the first teams to leave a Town Centre venue to move to a more modernised arena, as Sutcliffe mentions, and Sixfields comes in at the sixth worst stadium in the EFL.

The Cobblers’ home, with a capacity of 8,203, has the same sort of feel of the blandness of Broadhall Way and the New Meadow and also with that issue of location, albeit the mound behind the away end does often get its use for supporters who perhaps couldn’t get a ticket in an easily sellable away end.

5th worst: Colchester Community Stadium (Colchester United)

Much like Northampton and Shrewsbury, Colchester United also moved out of town to what has now become a fairly soulless and bland ground – albeit with a saving grace of at least one of the stands being different to the rest.

The JobServe or Colchester Community Stadium opened in 2008 and has a relatively decent capacity of 10,105 to serve the Essex club but its ‘flat-pack’, as described fairly by Sutcliffe, nature remains a frustration.

4th worst: York Community Stadium (York City)

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An 8,500 capacity new build for a club the size of York City with 5,000 season ticket holders is already feeling a little on the small side, despite being opened in 2021.

The York Community Stadium, also known as the LNER Stadium, is another ground that is placed on the outskirts of York – a simply magnificent city in the heart of Yorkshire. Its build does ensure the acoustics can make for a lively atmosphere but the move from Bootham Crescent has been an underwhelming one.

3rd worst: Kassam Stadium (Oxford United)

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Sutcliffe explains that, like York, Oxford is another lovely city but one that does not boast its football club’s home ground in its centre, with the Kassam Stadium again a part of what is essentially a bigger retail park.

The obvious shortcoming of simply having three stands does make it standout but the other three stands, despite the main being of two tiers, lacks the identity that a lower league club aspires to.