There are so many fabulous stadiums and arenas in English football that there are plenty which don’t get the love or recognition they deserve. The fact of the matter is that if it’s not playing host to Premier League games, it is likely to remain a hidden gem that, on many occasions, might often have empty stands purely due to its stature.
However, Oliver Holt from the Daily Mail decided to test this theory by visiting all 92 stadiums in the English Football League (Premier League down to League Two), and he named his top 10, with just five coming from the country’s top flight.
Capacity: 31,750
9 Goodison Park, Everton
Capacity: 39,414
From one stadium that could soon be rendered obsolete to another whose fate is already sealed. Goodison Park will no longer be Everton‘s stomping ground come the 2025/2026 season, as the Toffees will move into their new home located on Bramley-Moore Dock. However, the mystique of their current home will be hard to replicate.
Goodison has stood for more than 130 years, which is part of its charm, and while it could use some TLC, Holt suggests that it is “just about the most authentic stadium and passionate crowd there is in the top flight.” The return of arguably the club’s most influential manager in the last two decades has at least ensured that they will wave goodbye to their castle still in the Premier League, and with happier memories than what may have been had David Moyes not turned the tide.
8 Elland Road, Leeds United
Capacity: 37,608
The first stadium in the top 10 to find itself outside of the top flight, though most would agree that both the ground and the club they host are worthy of Premier League status. Leeds United remain one of the teams with the richest history of English football, and through all the trials and tribulations, the fans have stood by the club to ensure their home is still a fiery temple.
“The stadium is a proper cathedral of our game, too. One-club cities sometimes generate that kind of passion and it’s evident at Elland Road,” Holt stated. “You feel the heat of English football at Elland Road, you feel the intensity of it and what it means. At a lot of big clubs, that feeling has been lost. But it’s alive here.”
7 St James’ Park, Newcastle United
Capacity: 52,258
The passion of the Newcastle United fanbase has always been prominent. What recent years have shown is that when the club is giving them something to cheer about, it is a whole other level of intensity. With away fans being kept right at the top of the stadium, the Magpies faithful are able to let their voices be heard without interruption, which makes it a grueling challenge for any visiting team.
“Every time I arrive in the city and see St James’ Park staring down from its vantage point above it, it sends shivers down my spine,” Holt reminisced. “Its position is a symbol of its importance to the city. Inside, it generates one of the best atmospheres in the country, its fans are amongst the most loyal and the Gallowgate End is one of the most revered sections in our football history.
6 Holker Street, Barrow
Capacity; 6,500
The smallest stadium on the list in regards to its capacity, what Barrow’s Holker Street lacks in numbers, it more than makes up for in voices and passion. The Bluebirds find themselves sat in 15th position in League two at the time of writing, but while the quality off the pitch may not be top tier, Holt is certain that the quality off it more than makes up for that.
“There’s a frontier feel about Barrow and about its Holker Street ground that makes it special to visit. Holker Street was my 90th ground out of the 92 and I loved everything about it from the friendliness of the club staff and the fans and the steak pie I bought from the Farm Shop inside the ground.
“It was raw and loud and industrial and real. It felt like a throwback to the way football used to be before the invasion of tourists and corporates and it was all the better for that.”
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Barrow’s highest ever league finish was 8th in the English Third Division (now League Two) during the 1967-1968 season.
5 Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur
Capacity: 62,850
It has now become the stadium that all other British stadiums are judged against. A standard-bearer, if you will. Sure, Tottenham’s fortunes on the pitch have hardly been stellar since they moved into their new home in 2019, but Daniel Levy won’t care as he sits in his executive suite, looking out at one of the best modern-day stadiums in the world, knowing it is his.
“There is an ambition about it that so many other new-builds lack, particularly the steepling end behind one of the goals that is said to be modelled on the Yellow Wall at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund,” said Holt. “Spurs chairman Daniel Levy gets plenty of criticism for the failures of the club on the pitch but the new stadium is still a stunning legacy.”
4 Cherry Red Records Stadium, AFC Wimbledon
Capacity: 9,150
A club built from the ashes of a fallen giant, put together by a fanbase that was not prepared to watch it die. Wimbledon used to be one of the most notorious teams in English football. Led by Vinnie Jones, the ‘Crazy Gang’ were among the most feared opponents in the game, but when the team relocated to Milton Keynes and renamed themselves MK Dons, fans revolted. As a result, came a team that carries far more of the passion and history of the original club.
“Just setting foot in this stadium is to feel what it is like to support a team that is at the heart of its community and to be among a fanbase whose team means more to it than just wins and losses,” Holt stated. “The beauty of the architecture here is not in the stadium buildings. It is in the knowledge that this is something built by fans.”
3 St James’ Park, Exeter City
Capacity: 8,714
Some people may have expected St James’ Park to rank inside the top three. They just may not have realised that it wasn’t going to be the one they were thinking of. Pipping its Premier League namesake is the home of Exeter City, which has been standing since 1904.
“It was impossible not to be moved by the profound emotional connection between a city and its club and as the years have passed, St James Park has come to embody for me everything that a football ground should be,” Holt asserted. “Full of character and care and camaraderie and community and passion and pride in what it stands for.”
Another added perk was the voucher for a free cup of tea Holt was given on his return visit to the stadium, something more clubs should consider given the recent rise in ticket prices.
2 Anfield, Liverpool
Capacity: 61,726
Those who bet on Anfield to be number one will be sorely disappointed, as it just misses out on the top spot. However, it does at least hold status as the highest-ranked Premier League stadium.
What is there to say about Anfield that hasn’t already been said? It is a cauldron, especially on European nights, and when the Kop is in full voice, teams can get swallowed up by the atmosphere. Players have described it as feeling trapped in a tight box, with the walls closing in on them as the chants echo around the 61,000-seater. If you are playing for the home side, there is no greater place on the planet to be. If you’re a member of the opposition, you want to get out of there as fast as possible.
1 Edgeley Park, Stockport County
Capacity: 10,800
So, the honour of the best stadium in the Football League goes to none other than Stockport County. Currently fighting for a spot in the League One play-offs, Edgeley Park has been County’s home since 1891 and houses a little over 10,000 fans every matchday. As to why it’s number one, Holt revealed:
“My dad was never much of a football fan and was more likely to ask me ‘how did United get on’. But he was from Heaton Chapel and his grandfather made, and lost, a fortune in the hatting industry in the town in the late 19th century, and he was fiercely proud of Stockport Viaduct and its history and he took me to my first game at Edgeley Park on Monday, April 9, 1979.
“I haven’t been yet this season because I spent my spare weekends trying to complete my 92. I’m longing to get back. Every fan will know that feeling, the feeling of going home.”
