Gander Green Lane
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| Full name | Gander Green Lane |
|---|---|
| Location | London Borough of Sutton |
| Owner | Sutton United |
| Capacity | 5,013 (765 seated)[1] |
| Record attendance | 14,000 |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1898 |
| Opened | 1912 |
| Tenants | |
| Sutton United (1912–1913; 1919–present) Sutton Common Rovers (2015–) AFC Wimbledon Ladies (2015–) |
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Gander Green Lane, officially the Borough Sports Ground, is a football stadium in the London Borough of Sutton, and the home ground of Sutton United. The record attendance for Gander Green Lane is 14,000 when Sutton United lost 6–0 to Leeds United in the fourth round of the 1969–70 FA Cup.[2]
In recent times, the pitch has played host to England C team and FA Sunday Cup matches.
History
The ground was originally used as a racing track. Due to this, the terraces are further away from the pitch than usual. To fix the effects of this, in 2014 the ground was refurbished, with new dugouts, player tunnels, and a new stand being built, with all stands being moved closer to the pitch and the racetrack removed.
Sutton United's first match at Gander Green Lane (then known as the Adult School Sports Ground) was in 1912 against Guards Depot in the FA Cup. The first league match was against Redhill and was won 1–0 in front of a crowd of over 800.[2] Sutton left the ground at the end of the 1912–13 season, but returned after World War I.
The main stand was built in 1951, although it has been altered throughout the years. The stand's blues seats were donated by Chelsea.
In the 1980s, two small wooden stands were replaced by a covered terrace, with a small remnant remaining known by the Sutton supporters as "the shoebox". Behind this, there is a small food hut called "Roses Tea Hut", name after a lady called Rose, who ran the hut for over 4 decades. On 7 January 1989 it hosted an FA Cup match against top division Coventry City, which Sutton won to create one of the biggest upsets in FA Cup history.
In 1997, the Gander Green Lane end of the stadium was levelled off and new terracing was installed.
The main hall, currently known as the Times Square lounge is home to the Boom Boom Club music venue.
On 22 April 2015, Sutton United announced that Sutton Common Rovers would be ground sharing Gander Green Lane from the start of the 2015–16 season. In the summer of 2015 a new artificial pitch was installed, and was officially opened on 14 July 2015 by Alan Pardew, manager of Crystal Palace[3]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ground history Sutton United F.C.
- ↑ Sutton United: Crystal Palace chief to cut the ribbon on new 3G pitch Sutton Guardian, 13 July 2015
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