Turf Moor
City: Burnley
Capacity: 22 546 people
Turf Moor is a football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire. It is the home ground of Burnley Football Club, which has played there since moving from its Calder Vale ground in 1883. The stadium, which is situated on Harry Potts Way, named so after the club's longest serving Manager, has a capacity of 22,546, all seated. It is one of the last remaining stadiums in England to have the players' tunnel and dressing rooms behind one of the goals. The ground originally consisted of just a pitch and the first grandstand was not built until 1885. Six years after this, the "Star" stand was erected and terracing was later added to the ends of the ground. After the Second World War, the stadium was redeveloped with all four stands being rebuilt. During the 1990s, the ground underwent further refurbishment when the Longside and Bee Hole End terraces were replaced by all-seater stands. Currently, the four stands at Turf Moor are the James Hargreaves Stand, the Jimmy McIlroy Stand, the Bob Lord Stand and the Cricket Field Stand. Burnley played their first match at the ground on 17 February 1883, losing 3–6 to local side Rawtenstall. When Prince Albert Victor opened a new hospital in Burnley in 1886, Turf Moor became the first football ground to be visited by a member of the British Royal Family. The first Football League match at the ground took place on 6 October 1888, with Fred Poland scoring the first competitive goal at the stadium. The record attendance at Turf Moor was set in 1924 when 54,755 people attended an FA Cup tie between Burnley and Huddersfield Town. In the same year, Turf Moor hosted its only FA Cup semi-final to date. In 1927, the stadium was the venue of an international match between England and Wales. Since then, the ground has been used to host matches in the European Under-19 Championship and European Under-21 Championship fixtures. In 2007, plans for expansion of Turf Moor were released to the public. The Burnley directors proposed a major development of the stadium, costing £20 million. The plans, which would incorporate the rebuilding of the Cricket Field Stand and the moving of the players' entrance tunnel, have been put on hold until the current financial climate improves. In 2009, following Burnley's promotion to the Premier League, the development of a second tier on the Bob Lord stand was announced. Director Paul Fletcher stated that the anticipated capacity of Turf Moor would eventually be 28,000 to cope with extra fans. However following the clubs relegation from the Premier League, these plans have been put on hold indefinitely.
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