London, UK
60 361
Highbury, officially called Arsenal Stadium, was the home of Arsenal FC between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006. It was nicknamed by both fans and the club "The Home of Football" and had a capacity of 38,500 seats in its final years. Besides to its architecture, the stadium was also known for its very small immaculately-kept pitch and for the famous clock which was positioned in the southern side of the ground since its introduction in 1930.
The original stadium was built in 1913, when Henry Norris decided to move the Club from The Manor Ground in Plumstead to North London. A plot of land was leased in the borough of Highbury, and a stadium got designed by Archibald Leitch, architect of many other football grounds of that era.
The stadium has since been redeveloped twice. The first came in the 1930s, from which the Art Deco East and West Stands date; the second in the late 1980s and early 1990s following the Taylor Report, during which the terraces at both ends of the pitch were removed, making it all-seater with four stands.
However, due to the ground's limited capacity and lack of expansion possibilities, Arsenal started looking into moving away from Highbury, so in 2006 the club moved to the nearby and larger Emirates Stadium.
As well as being home to Arsenal for over 90 years, the stadium also hosted England matches, FA Cup semi-finals and other sports such as boxing, baseball and cricket. Its presence also led to the local Tube station being renamed to "Arsenal" in 1932, making it the only station on the network to be named after a football club.
The stadium got subsequently demolished and the site was redeveloped into a block of flats. Only the exterior of the art-deco East Stand and West Stand have remained and were incorporated into the new developments. The pitch has been turned into a communal garden.
Even though this is approaching a decade when no longer plays on it, Highbury stadium still remains one of the best grounds in the Premiership.
