A team’s stadium is much like a church for their supporters, who visit every week to worship their team. Some venues are grand, with history and character, without a bad view in the house, whereas others are quite the opposite. The fans may still love the stadium they watch their beloved club at, but aesthetically, many of them are an eyesore to everybody else.
With that in mind, some of the ugliest stadiums in British football have been ranked, taking into account a vast array of factors. West Ham’s London Stadium and Oxford’s Kassam Stadium both feature, as do many other eyesores.
Ranking Factors
Condition
Character
Overall Aesthetics
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10 Madejski Stadium (Select Car Leasing Stadium)
Club: Reading
This position on the list could have gone to any number of clubs. A lot of modern stadiums, including Cardiff’s, Southampton’s and Leicester’s have a distinct lack of character, and all appear to be the exact same. Although the stadiums are technically better quality than the older grounds, they are without soul and the same energy.
Madejski Stadium (currently named Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons), which opened in 1998, is just like the others. However, due to its dismal attendances, and the fact it is in the middle of nowhere, it makes the list. Filling just over 50% of the stadium during the 2024/25 season, the Madejski Stadium is far from the ideal place for fans to go to, and it is very uninspiring to look at.
Madejski Stadium Statistics Capacity 24,161 2024/25 Average Attendance 12,270
9 Gtech Community Stadium
Club: Brentford
A stadium which you have to walk under a motorway to get to, the Gtech Community Stadium, is far from nice to look at.
The main stand out is the stadiums’ lack of character. It features multi-coloured seats, which have nothing to do with Brentford, which was done in order for the ground to ‘appear full’ when on TV, which is not a great sign. Overall, the stadium, which was opened in 2020, is incredibly underwhelming, and lacks soul, but maybe that will come with time, although that appears unlikely.
Gtech Community Stadium Statistics Capacity 17,250 2024/25 Average Attendance 17,001
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8 The John Smith’s Stadium
Club: Huddersfield
The John Smith’s Stadium in Huddersfield is certainly unique. With four arched stands and empty corners, the ground looks rather unusual. Opened in 1994, the ground was ahead of its time, but it now appears dated and rather ugly. Often, taking a risk and opting to go against the grain can be a good thing when it comes to designing a new stadium, but in this case, the John Smith’s Stadium is simply unusual. If the corners were to be filled in, it may appear better, but with the club currently in League One, it is unlikely the stadium will be expanded any time soon.
The John Smith’s Stadium Statistics Capacity 24,500 2024/25 Average Attendance 18,320
7 Stadium MK
Club: MK Dons
One of the most controversial and unpopular clubs in the English football pyramid, MK Dons stadium is much like the things they are accused of being.
Soulless, and in the wrong place, Stadium MK would be the 15th biggest stadium in the 2024/25 Premier League, yet they barely fill 20% of it on a match day. A club which has caused a lot of unrest in English football for their treatment of Wimbledon, Stadium MK is equally unpopular due to its basic nature, and it arguably shouldn’t really exist.
Opened in 2007, the modern stadium is accused of lacking atmosphere and being everything wrong with modern football.
Stadium MK Statistics Capacity 30,500 2024/25 Average Attendance 6,136
6 Peninsula Stadium
Club: Salford
A very small stadium which had to develop quickly as the club rose through the leagues, Salford’s Peninsula Stadium is not the prettiest to look at.
With renovations completed in just 10 months, the stadium is unrecognisable from what it was before, for the worse. Although the floodlights in the shape of the club crest are a nice touch, the stadium itself is very basic, and lacks any sort of personality. Owned by the ‘Class of 92’, including Gary Neville and Paul Scholes, Salford had to make quick adjustments to their stadium as they rose through the divisions into League Two, and this has left them with a still very small, but now dull and basic stadium.
Peninsula Stadium Statistics Capacity 5,108 2024/25 Average Attendance 2,831
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5 Kenilworth Road
Club: Luton
Although it was a revelation when Luton arrived in the Premier League in 2023, due to the unique nature of their stadium, objectively, it is an ugly ground.
Situated among houses, which away fans have to walk through to enter the stadium, Kenilworth Road is not attractive to look at. It appears old and squished into a bit of land that isn’t really there, so it is no surprise that they have imminent plans to build a new stadium. The ground certainly doesn’t lack character, but it is absolutely not the best to look at, whether that be in the stadium or on TV. Unlike some of the other teams on the list, Luton can’t be accused of not filling their stadium, but they can be accused of having a stadium that is not fit for the modern game.
Kenilworth Road Statistics Capacity 12,000 2024/25 Average Attendance 11,707
4 Priestfields Stadium
Club: Gillingham
As a stadium, Gillingham’s home, Priestfields, is distinctly average. It has four stands, one with two tiers, and is just a rather basic lower-league stadium. However, the away end doesn’t have a roof.
Although the attempt to irritate visiting supporters is commendable, the open nature of the stand does result in the stadium appearing a lot more unattractive and unusual. If all four stands were to be open, like they are in some stadiums across Europe and South America, the ground would, although impractical in the British weather, appear a lot better.
The stand itself is temporary, although it has been there since 2003, so maybe they one day will add a roof to it, but for now, Priestfields Stadium looks worse for it.
Priestfields Stadium Statistics Capacity 11,582 2024/25 Average Attendance 6,682
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3 Kassam Stadium
Club: Oxford
The Kassam Stadium is a nice stadium, which features three stands and a car park. The ground has a North Stand, an East Stand, a South Stand, yet no West Stand. Behind the goal is simply just a car park. For a club who are now in the Championship, it would be expected that they would at least have four stands, not just for the visual improvement, but also to accommodate more supporters.
Balls regularly fly over the bar into the car park behind the goal, and the lack of a stand makes for very unappealing viewing. Other clubs, who have had three stands, have made an attempt to have a larger wall with great designs on it, namely Rayo Vallecano, but not Oxford.
If they were to put a new, small stand behind the goal, the Kassam Stadium may not have made this list at all, let alone be in third place.
Kassam Stadium Statistics Capacity 12,500 2024/25 Average Attendance 11,453
2 London Stadium
Club: West Ham
There have been few bigger downgrades when moving stadiums than West Ham’s move from Upton Park to the London Stadium.
Upton Park was famed for its incredible atmosphere, great character, and being very close to the pitch, yet the London Stadium, which the Premier League club moved to in 2016, is none of those things – essentially the anthesis to the most atmospheric grounds in world football. Due to the stadium formerly being used for the London 2012 Olympics, there is a large running track around the pitch, which means supporters are sat a long way away from the action, making it difficult to see what is going on, particularly for those sitting higher up.
These sentiments are felt equally on TV, as the lack of atmosphere in the ground makes it a bad stadium to view games in, and the fact it is not a football stadium at heart leads to it being a very ugly ground to look at.
London Stadium Statistics Capacity 65,513 2024/25 Average Attendance 62,468
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1 Blundell Park
Club: Grimsby
The crown for the ugliest stadium in Britain goes to Grimsby’s Blundell Park.
With stands of completely different sizes and lengths on the side, Blundell Park looks very skewed, and not well thought through. In desperate need of refurbishment, with parts of the stadium appearing to be falling apart, Blundell Park is very unattractive.
Considering it was opened in 1899, it is quite remarkable that it is still standing. Although the ground is absolutely full of history and character, it is not suitable to host modern football as it stands, and changes must be made in order to improve its condition. Therefore, Blundell Park is the ugliest stadium in Britain.