Football Ground Map
Football Ground Map
The pre-match drink, the walk down to the ground, looking for odds and betting on the outcome of the match, the food in the stand, it is all part of the ritual of going to watch live soccer.
Betting on soccer has become increasingly popular amongst fans who visit their team's stadiums over the years. Now, they can search for the sports betting stats while already in the ground, so they can get up to date odds as the team news comes in. Betting on the match has become an intrinsic part of the match day experience.
For all those supporters and bettors out there, while they are probably aware of the latest news for the players and managers, they probably aren't as up to date with the recent news relating to the soccer stadiums. That's why we have the following guide, to catch you up on some of the most recent stadium related stories.
Most soccer fans will be well aware of the controversial decision to stage the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. There are many stories of corruption surrounding the decision, which we won't go into too much detail here. It has also caused controversy for a number of other reasons, such as how it will disrupt the usual season (all the European leagues will have to pause for 6 weeks right in the usually busy period) and that Qatar has very little footballing history and heritage. This will annoy many fans, especially from those nations who applied to have the World Cup held in their country, such as England.
If you look at the betting odds, the current favourites to win in Qatar are Brazil, who are 31/5. France (7/1) and Spain (9/1) are not too far behind, with England just slightly further back with odds of 10/1. However, with the tournament only 11 months away from starting, many fans are wondering if the stadiums will be ready in time.
Like the previous World Cup in Russia, the majority of the Stadiums will be brand new, including the Lusail Stadium, which will be hosting the final. This one has actually been completed, opening on the 21st of November. It will have 80,000 seats, so it will surely create quite an atmosphere. While the World Cup will surely continue to be shrouded in controversy until it starts (if not beyond) this stadium will surely be a superb place to watch the action unfold.
There are several teams in the Premier League who have moved into a brand new stadium within the past few years, such as Tottenham and Brentford. One side who have long been talking about upgrading from their current home is Everton, who are due to be leaving Goodison Park, their home since 1892. It is a special stadium, very much of the old school design, and is often said to have one of the best atmosphere's in English soccer.
However, it isn't really fit for purpose anymore, given its relatively low capacity. Which is why plans have been submitted and approved for construction of a new ground, currently known as Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium. It is due to cost around £500 million, and should be ready by 2024 or 2025, depending on how well the initial stages of development go.
Of course, Everton are currently really struggling in the Premier League. They have lost 4 of their last 5 games, with manager Rafa Benetiz under real pressure. He is the betting favourite to be the next manager sacked in the top flight, with odds of 6/4. Safe to say he is unlikely to be still in charge when Everton move to their new stadium in a few years.
For decades, all First Division (what the Premier League was known as pre-1992) were mainly terraced, meaning that fans didn't have individual seats. It meant that you could pack more fans into the stands, which would create a brilliant atmosphere. However, it could also lead to crushing, which at its worst could cause a tragedy, such as the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. No wonder then that following a review, terraces were outlawed across the country in the top divisions.
While the move was the correct one, slowly but surely the conversation has come back to prominence, with many of the top teams in talks with the government about reintroducing safe standing sections, as a trial at first, to see what the results would be. This has been approved by the Premier League, the FA, and the British government, so from New Years' Day, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham will all have small standing sections in their grounds.
The match at Stamford Bridge, between Chelsea and Liverpool, is of huge importance in the Premier League title race. Liverpool are the slight favourites, with odds of 31/10, as opposed to Chelsea who are 7/1.
My daughter's first ever football match - Orlando City v Atlanta United, August 2019. Written for Izzy to read when she gets old enough. Vamos Orlando
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