Athletic Ground (Scarborough)
| 'Theatre of Chips' | |
 |
|
| Former names | Athletic Ground |
|---|---|
| Location | Seamer Rd, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO12 4HF |
| Capacity | 6,408 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1898 |
| Closed | 2007 |
| Demolished | 2011 |
| Tenants | |
| Scarborough F.C. (1898–2007) | |
The McCain Stadium was a football stadium located on Seamer Road in Scarborough, England. It was the home of Scarborough FC, a defunct football club who last played in the English Conference North before they were dissolved on 20 June 2007 with debts of £2.5 million.
The ground was first opened in 1898, when Scarborough FC moved from playing at Scarborough Cricket Club. It was then called the Athletic Ground. In 1988, under a sponsorship deal, Scarborough FC sold the naming rights of the Athletic Ground to McCain Foods and, until its closure in 2007, the stadium was known as the McCain Stadium.
Demolition of the stadium began in September 2011 and was completed in November 2011. The gates at the entrance to the ground are to be preserved and incorporated into a new sports village complex to serve as a lasting reminder of the former Athletic Ground/McCain Stadium.
The ground had four main stands:
The Main Stand ran along one side of the pitch. It was an old grandstand-style stand and was all seater.
The Shed ran along the other side of the pitch and was covered terracing. This was the most popular part of the ground and was usually where the singing supporters stood.
The East Stand was behind one of the goals and was an all seater stand in which the seats were red and the letters SFC were spelled out in white seats. This was the newest part of the ground along with The West Stand.
The West Stand was identical to The East Stand but was behind the other goal. It was where the away fans were located.
In three of the four corners of the ground there was uncovered terracing although the north-west corner had become overrun with grass and weeds so was not normally used. The other corner of the ground was two-step terracing in front of the social club.
In the north-east corner of the ground there was a social club, known as the McCain Lounge, and a club shop which was located in a hut. There was also a programme shop, food outlet and coffee hut.
In March 2006 the plan was for a new stadium to be completed well before the start of the 2007–08 season. The stadium was to be located in Eastfield, Scarborough. The planned capacity was around 4,000 and the amount of land that the club would own was 15 acres (61,000 m2) of which some would have been used for the stadium, with room for expansion, and the rest used to lease to offices etc. that would cover the club's operating losses. The McCain Stadium was to be sold to property developers (Persimmon Homes) for around £4.1 million and this would have been enough to pay off all of the clubs debts and fund the new stadium.
...
Wikipedia