Each season, thousands of passionate football fans embark on a journey across the nation, exploring new stadiums that dot the landscape of English football. While some travel to cheer on their beloved teams, others are pursuing a remarkable challenge that even the most devoted supporters find daunting: the quest to visit the home grounds of every club in the top four tiers of English football, affectionately known as completing the 92.
From the gleaming, expansive arenas of the Premier League to the charming, nondescript terraces of League Two, these fans take immense pride in their pilgrimage, relishing the thrill of standing in every stadium and weaving their own stories into the rich tapestry of the game. The greatest peril of such a noble challenge, of course, lies in the ever-changing landscape of football; with each passing season, teams ascend from and descend into non-league football, causing supporters’ tallies to fluctuate like the tides.
Nevertheless, forty-eight years since he began following Peterborough United as a youngster, talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham has completed all 92, and he has put his top 10 favourite stadiums into a ranking order. Fans frequently debate which grounds are superior, though it’s largely subjective. A stadium linked to a painful relegation may fail to win your affection, while a venue considered shabby can hold special meaning if it’s where your team achieved promotion. But, after lots of deliberation, Durham thinks he has an answer to the long-standing debate (and it’s bound to turn some heads and raise some eyebrows!).
Adrian Durham’s Top 10 English Football Stadiums Rank Club Stadium 1. Queens Park Rangers Loftus Road 2. Leeds United Elland Road 3. Peterborough United London Road 4. AFC Wimbledon Plough Lane 5. Aston Villa Villa Park 6. Newcastle United St James’ Park 7. Fulham Craven Cottage 8. Charlton Athletic The Valley 9. Nottingham Forest City Ground 10. Harrogate Town Wetherby Road
Aston Villa
Stadium: Villa Park
Incredibly, the only Premier League stadium to make it into the top 5 is Villa Park. Clearly, Durham values tradition when it comes to football, with no futuristic stadium like Tottenham’s anywhere near making the final cut.
Home to Aston Villa, this four-sided fortress has gained a reputation for its vibrant atmosphere and passionate fan culture over the years. Although the club experienced a period of decline in the 2000s, even relegating to the Championship between 2016 and 2020, Unai Emery has revitalized the Villains, bringing them back to the glory reminiscent of the 80s. As a result, Villa Park has once again become an attractive venue, now hosting Champions League football.
AFC Wimbledon
Stadium: Plough Lane
The feature that would deter other people from ranking AFC Wimbledon’s new ground any higher than middle of the road are the ominous storage-esque buildings that haunt one side of the pitch. Nevertheless, a theme is being established with Durham’s picks.
Once the home turf of the infamous ‘Crazy Gang’, which featured the wild personalities of Vinnie Jones, John Fashanu, and others who helped Wimbledon to an unexpected FA Cup triumph in 1988, the club were forced to move out in 1991, and the site was redeveloped for housing. In the 2000s, a group of supporters founded AFC Wimbledon, a phoenix club established to preserve the legacy of Wimbledon F.C. They sought to return to their roots and eventually aimed to build a new stadium.
After years of planning and community support, the new Plough Lane stadium was officially opened in November 2020. The stadium features a modern design and a capacity of approximately 9,000, with plans for expansion as the club grows. In a tumultuous three decades, the stadium stands as a testament to the club’s forgotten yesteryear.
Peterborough United
Stadium: London Road
Football is equal parts about the action on the pitch and the emotions off it. For that reason, it’s hardly a surprise that Durham picked the one stadium he’s been to more than any other. As a boyhood Peterborough United fan, London Road goes straight into the category of stadiums that are hated by many, cherished by few. He wrote: