When they were part of The Soviet Union in 1980!!

Pro USA & Israel

They hosted a couple of football matches apparently. Considering we did the same during 1948 Olympics, maybe Selhurst should have Olympic worked into the title as well.

I see. That's f***ing daft, and they only named it that in 1996.

Like you say, there could be 20 odd venues with that name in each host country, if they all did it.

Optimistic as ever

I watched that game on the telly, and I was shocked at the size of the track around the pitch (and the pathetic attempt to hide it with a giant green carpet). It's a truism of any sport that the atmosphere is improved by having the fans closer to the action. That's why Selhurst is so intimidating when it's rocking, despite having only a 25,000 capacity.

In the US, they have recently reversed the trend for cavernous, multi-sport venues - of which the AstroDome in Houston was the first (and which also gave us AstroTurf). Many cities went for the blueprint of a circular stadium so that it can host both (American) football and baseball. The problem was that these sports have completely different "shapes" to them, and so the sight lines and spacing required to accommodate both meant that fans weren't happy for either. Most cities (except just Oakland, now, I believe) have split the sports and have purpose-built grounds for each, and everyone (except the tax-payers who fund the construction) is happy.

We don't do possession; we do defense and attack. Everything else is just wa**ing with a football.

I agree. Some of the new baseball stadiums are excellent, and the football stadium (soccer) for Sporting Kansas was excellent, and their fans were really noisy. It shows what can be done with some thought.

If you come to a fork in the road, take it.

Be interesting if they draw Millwall in the cup...

West Ham rebranding themselves as the ICF 2016

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]