Shaun Leckenby Design x OTS

 Shaun Leckenby's design work for this blog's cult favourite OneTrueSaxon. It's perhaps not as iconic as Ewen Brown's art (which I once posted about once upon a time here ) for said brand, however there's some cool bits and pieces here...

Victoria Park

 

Football Map

There's no place like home. Dorothy knew it. She must've known there's no place like your football clubs home either, as she (well, We Are Dorothy) has recreated the names of British football stadia into a quirky map. So she'll be able to find her way from Oz to Carrow Road.

Over 500 names are included, the majority famous football grounds but also 'map-tly' named training grounds (i.e Platt Lane), club names (Nottingham Forest) and players (David Rocastle). Hartlepool are represented twice with Victoria Park and Rink End making an appearance.

It's an inspired walkthrough famous names and places of British football. Available for £25 which given the match day prices for the majority of stadiums is a bargain.

Football Grounds of Britain

Picked up the bible for ground hoppers the other day for a bin lid (quid) in a charity book sale. I love a bargain, love a book and used to love ticking off a new ground (before they all became vast soulless concrete bowls) so was delighted with this gem.

Simon Inglis had already visited every league ground in the country twice during the early and late eighties (for the 1st and 2nd edition), charting their design, history and issues, prior to this final edition from 1996. This edition highlighted the changes to stadia since the Taylor Report was brought in, and, rather impressively, instead of putting updated footnotes at the end of previous paragraphs, Inglis chose to rewrite the whole book from scratch. A truly massive feat given the 92 clubs down here (then Wembley and Cardiff Arms) plus the 'one man and his dog' leagues Scotland has.

Published less than twenty years ago, state of the art forerunning new stadiums like Huddersfield and Boro are lauded by the author. However I'm not sure how he'd have taken to the fact that since going to press a further 22 clubs have left their cherished charming old grounds for ten a penny plastic voids. Going on that rate of change every club could possibly have a new stadium by 2060. I hope not.

The author himself seems to prefer the ramshackle of old, when summing up York City, he retorically asks why do we love the dilapidated and anarcic stadia? - "We plan and we build them haphazardly. We fly in the face of logic. We even have a name for the consequences of all these failings... They are called The Shambles, and just like the football grounds of Britain, we delight in their quirkiness and would not wish them different for all the world..."

Let's assume then that if a fourth edition comes out, the text will now just read "once you've seen one, you've seen them all".

Model Football Stadiums

Stumbled across this site the other day. A Brighton fan who makes models of football stadiums, with painstakingly breathtaking detail it has to be said. Some of his work can be seen at the National Football Museum, but if you can't make it to Manchester to see them close up, the rest can be found on his website www.modelfootballstadiums.com . He hasn't got too many to view, given the timescales involved with each piece, but those he's done are well worth a look...

Top to bottom - Chesterfield's Kop, Brighton's Goldstone, Man City's Kippax, Old Trafford and Brighton's Amex

Spion Kops

Named in memorial of the Boer War battle site, Spion Kops were plentiful nationwide back in the day. Sharing traits with the legendary battle ground, being steeply banked and very high, the Kop Ends became the site of the most vocal fans at football grounds. Unfortunately they've died a death, much like the Boers, partisan terracing replaced by seating or by plain and simple ground relocation. Few snaps of some of my favourites, Liverpool ommitted as any one else would think they had the only Kop...