Beautiful Down Town Bramall Lane

[WorkingtonBlade]

There's a mention in the Coventry fans' comments on United that Bramall Lane is particularly close to the city centre. I've put this question in a separate thread as it's a bit of a tangent.

Just how unusual is Bramall Lane in being so close to the centre?

Of course, there are grounds in much smaller settlements than Sheffield which are very close, but that's not really comparable because a small place with a small centre makes it much more likely that a football ground will be only a short walk away. So lets restrict ourselves to cities, for the sake of argument.

Of course, it's still a difficult question to answer scientifically, because of the problem of defining exactly where the centre of a city is, but we can have a go.

If the centre of Sheffield is at the fountain in front of the Town Hall (I can see this deteriorating into a debate on that assumption, but never mind) then the centre spot of Bramall Lane is 0.65 miles from the centre.

Can anywhere beat that? Is there anywhere else which can take the "down town" crown? I'll start with a few obvious ones:

London

Notoriously difficult to define the centre, but the place which road sign mileages are measured to is Charing Cross. From there Chelsea is closest at 3.26 miles (Millwall is a close second incidentally).

Birmingham

Victoria Square seems to be a popularly accepted centre. St Andrews is closest - 1.47 miles.

Manchester

A city I know - I'm going for Piccadilly Gardens. City are closest - 1.52 miles.

Leeds

City Square - which looks about right - is 1.57 miles from Elland Road.

Liverpool

I'm going for the east end ot Thomas Steers Way. It makes little difference - it's 2.11 miles from there to Anfield (a touch further to Goodison Park)

Newcastle

I think here we meet our Waterloo, and I always feared it would be so. St James' Park towers magnificently over the heart of the City - but where exactly is the centre? 'Central' Metro station (sounds reasonable) is 0.49 miles from the centre spot at St James' Park. There are other contenders, but in truth they are all closer still to St James' Park, so I think we admit defeat on this one.

But is there anywhere to beat St James Park? Or anywhere else that beats BDTBL?

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Congratulations. You win this week's Green Anorak Award for services to forum nerdiness

I'd say it's not just the downtownness but also the population density. Someone once pointed out to me how unusual Highbury was as it blended in with the houses, this had never occurred to me, even though at the time I lived on the same block as the stadium, bc I was so used to BDTBL.

I really like the feeling of walking down to the ground and it being part of the city instead of some soulless ahistorical anonymous functional shed on the outskirts.

 

[blade too long]

the map reference for newcasrle city centre is the Civic Centre st marys place which is 0.65 miles from St James Park

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/documents/Campus-Map-Print.pdf

 

[FTPE]

There's a mention in the Coventry fans' comments on United that Bramall Lane is particularly close to the city centre. I've put this question in a separate thread as it's a bit of a tangent.

Just how unusual is Bramall Lane in being so close to the centre?

Of course, there are grounds in much smaller settlements than Sheffield which are very close, but that's not really comparable because a small place with a small centre makes it much more likely that a football ground will be only a short walk away. So lets restrict ourselves to cities, for the sake of argument.

Of course, it's still a difficult question to answer scientifically, because of the problem of defining exactly where the centre of a city is, but we can have a go.

If the centre of Sheffield is at the fountain in front of the Town Hall (I can see this deteriorating into a debate on that assumption, but never mind) then the centre spot of Bramall Lane is 0.65 miles from the centre.

Can anywhere beat that? Is there anywhere else which can take the "down town" crown? I'll start with a few obvious ones:

London

Notoriously difficult to define the centre, but the place which road sign mileages are measured to is Charing Cross. From there Chelsea is closest at 3.26 miles (Millwall is a close second incidentally).

Birmingham

Victoria Square seems to be a popularly accepted centre. St Andrews is closest - 1.47 miles.

Manchester

A city I know - I'm going for Piccadilly Gardens. City are closest - 1.52 miles.

Leeds

City Square - which looks about right - is 1.57 miles from Elland Road.

Liverpool

I'm going for the east end ot Thomas Steers Way. It makes little difference - it's 2.11 miles from there to Anfield (a touch further to Goodison Park)

Newcastle

I think here we meet our Waterloo, and I always feared it would be so. St James' Park towers magnificently over the heart of the City - but where exactly is the centre? 'Central' Metro station (sounds reasonable) is 0.49 miles from the centre spot at St James' Park. There are other contenders, but in truth they are all closer still to St James' Park, so I think we admit defeat on this one.

But is there anywhere to beat St James Park? Or anywhere else that beats BDTBL?

Wow, and I thought I tossed my job off a lot through the week.
It is pretty cool how central we are though

 

[jt64]

Cov's old ground was pretty close from what I remember. Bratfud/Wolves must be close?

 

[drinksmat]

Ipswich is fairly central.

 

[blade too long]

you would have to see were ordanance survey pinpoint city centre , which is used on most sat navs -most are the town halls

 

[metty]

Swillsborough is the closest, its the centre of the universe you know

 

[WorkingtonBlade]

Ipswich is fairly central.

Very central, but sadly it's not a city. The name of the club is the giveaway.

 

[Aston max]

Swillsborough is the closest, its the centre of the universe you know

must be a parallel one where pigs became the dominant species ( note not most intelligent ) the intelligent ones came to Sheffield 2 and became Bladesmen

 

[Blade82]

Closest ground we've visited to station stockport?
Crewe too.

Any others?

 

[drinksmat]

Very central, but sadly it's not a city. The name of the club is the giveaway.

Hereford then!

 

[WorkingtonBlade]

Cov's old ground was pretty close from what I remember. Bratfud/Wolves must be close?

Valley Parade is 0.82 miles from the City Hall, which appears centrally placed - close, but no cigar.

Wolverhampton is a grudging success. It's one of those places which seems to have nowhere of note in its "city centre" at all. If we go for the gaudy plastic dome in the middle of it depressing main shopping centre then that is 0.50 miles from Molineux. Are we allowed to exclude somewhere for just being a pathetic excuse for a city?

 

[WorkingtonBlade]

Hereford then!

A big green tick for identifying a city.

Sadly they don't have a league football club.

 

[WorkingtonBlade]

Closest ground we've visited to station stockport?
Crewe too.

Any others?

That's a different question.

Get yer own thread.

 

[Paulus]

A big green tick for identifying a city.

Sadly they don't have a league football club.

Even more sadly I don't think that they now have a football club full stop.

 

[Blade82]

That's a different question.

Get yer own thread.

Haha it's sort of related. Ps I'm new so can I start threads

 

[sitwell]

Very central, but sadly it's not a city. The name of the club is the giveaway.

Shouldn't it be Beautiful down City Bramall Lane then ?

 

[Jonboy60]

Norwich City to City hall. 1.18 miles.

 

[BladeInBC]

Shouldn't it be Beautiful down City Bramall Lane then ?

You know you're from Sheffield when you say, "I'm going into town" meaning I'm going to the city centre.

 

[BladeInBC]

...and it costs you 2p on the bus.

 

[Mad Mick]

Swillsborough is the closest, its the centre of the universe you know

Na they are closer to the centre of Barnsley.

 

[dublin 10 blade]

...and it costs you 2p on the bus.

That takes me back BC , arbour to lodge moor , nesting , swimming , and camping in summer ,
All for tuppence .
Fulwood down to Ecce rd , that was another good one .
Say that to chabbys now , where's my lap top , I-pad or mobile . Tsk .

 

[Darthblade]

Na they are closer to the centre of Barnsley.

But ..... you have to remember they are a MASSIVE Club so they encompass so much of the surrounding area ....
UTB & FTP

 

[grafikhaus]

Speaking as a fellow nerd , I agree with the OP. Today, we'll descend in numbers (highest crowd in this division by far) to a modern, city-centre ground to watch a £1m+ player and some of the brightest talents at this level. As ever, the sun will be shining, we are - as usual - heading for an exciting conclusion to the season and next season we can look forward to excitement, a state-of-the-art new pitch and, hopefully, Championship football.

However if you prefer your 'entertainment' on the outskirts of Barnsley, watching a team who are unlikely to score, let alone win, a team endlessly drifting aimlessly, in a 60's relic of a rusting shithole and on a pitch that resembles Morecambe Bay, head for S6.

​

 

[dublin 10 blade]

In my youth as the train from Manchester headed through Abbeydale , and slowed down , going passed Lavers yard , the sight of those floodlights ( now gone ) reminded me that my ferry , Liverpool to manchester , Manchester to Sheffield journey had
brought me home , when on the to infrequent journeys back to the Lane , with my son , I look out for all those sights that reminded me of growing up in Sheffield , now sadly gone , I wonder will my son remember these journeys as fondly as I do .
Sorry for going melancholy Blades , but on match days I get jealous as fuck that most on here will be able to cheer on our team in person , rather than like me rely on , Sky , S2 tweets , etc etc .
UTB .

 

[metty]

Exactly the same when I lived in France. I looked forward to when we played Plymouth away so I could hop on a ferry, meet up with my son, who was in the RN and watch the Blades.

 

[vorpal blade]

What a superb post, thank you Workington. Now this may violate the terms of the debate as Milton Keynes is, I believe, a new TOWN.

But when they first moved to MK from Wimbledon, where I believe they used to play on number 3 court, the 'Dons' played at the national Hockey stadium.

I think we played in the second ever match there and though my memory is unreliable, it seemed like a shorter walk from the station than Bramall Lane even?

Whether or not the railway station is at the centre of Milton Keynes is a moot point, it certainly isn't at the heart of Milton Keynes, it hasn't got one.

 

[WhiteHawk]

Does anyone have a decent sized photo of the "Bramall Lane Heart Of The City" road sign?

It'd make a great canvas for a "man cave".

 

[HillmortonBlade]

In my youth as the train from Manchester headed through Abbeydale , and slowed down , going passed Lavers yard , the sight of those floodlights ( now gone ) reminded me that my ferry , Liverpool to manchester , Manchester to Sheffield journey had
brought me home , when on the to infrequent journeys back to the Lane , with my son , I look out for all those sights that reminded me of growing up in Sheffield , now sadly gone , I wonder will my son remember these journeys as fondly as I do .
Sorry for going melancholy Blades , but on match days I get jealous as fuck that most on here will be able to cheer on our team in person , rather than like me rely on , Sky , S2 tweets , etc etc .
UTB .

I believe your lad will have great memories, just different ones. But I think no matter how far we travel to BDTBL we all have things that trigger our emotions.