Crown Ground

Crown Ground

Crown Ground Location in Hyndburn
Former names	Fraser Eagle Stadium Interlink Express Stadium
Location	Livingstone Road, Accrington, Lancashire, England
Coordinates	53°45′55″N 2°22′15″W
Elevation	516 feet (157 m)[1]
Capacity	5,450 (3,100 seated)
Record attendance	5,397
Field size	111 by 72 yards (101 m × 66 m)
Construction
Built	1968
Opened	1968
Tenants
Accrington Stanley F.C. (1968–present)

The Crown Ground (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Wham Stadium) is a multi-use stadium in Accrington, Lancashire, England. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Accrington Stanley. Opened in 1968, the stadium has a capacity of 5,450.

The ground was renamed the Wham Stadium as part of a three-year £200,000 sponsorship deal with What More UK Ltd.^[2] It was previously also named the Fraser Eagle Stadium and the Interlink Express Stadium.

Stands/terraces

• Jack Barret Memorial Stand: this stand is the newest stand. A terrace used to be in its place until it was knocked down and replaced by the current one whilst Stanley were still in the Northern Premier League. It runs half the length of the pitch. The dugouts are situated here and in the John Smiths Stand.
• Clayton End: officially called the Sophia Khan Stand. This the home end. The more vocal Stanley fans known as the Stanley Ultras like to stand here. It is a covered terrace that had a roof added to it at the start of 2007–08. Seats were added to the front half of the terrace to bring the stadium up to Football League standards.
• Whinney Hill Terrace: otherwise known as the Cowshed. It stands on the lower slopes of Whinney Hill which is home to a vast waste infill site. It was a small terrace with only 3 rows but had seating installed in the covered section to bring the stadium up to Football League standards. It has a roof running two-thirds of the length of the pitch held up by pillars. The terrace continues around the corner for about a third of the Coppice End and around the corner at the other end to join with the Clayton End. The television gantry is situated in the middle of the terrace. The half nearest the Coppice End is given to away fans. This stand was replaced by the 1,100 seater Eric Whalley Stand, which opened in 2019
• Coppice End: This is the away end and has the ability to accommodate up 1,800 supporters. If additional demand is required then part of the Whinney Hill side is used for this allocation. Conversely, if away demand is small this stand can go unused. This end is uncovered and is very exposed to the weather.

Record attendance

A record attendance of 4,801 was set on 17 November 2018 for a League One match against Barnsley, but only stood for three weeks, when it was bettered by a crowd of 5,257 for another league match against Sunderland on 8 December 2018, although the match was abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch.^[3] A new record of 5,397 was set on 26 January 2019 when Derby County visited in the FA Cup fourth round.

References

1. Smith, Oliver (11 December 2017). "The UK's highest mountain? It's not what you think". The Telegraph.
2. MacPherson, Jon (4 August 2015). "Wham! Accrington Stanley renames stadium in £200,000 sponsorship deal – Accrington Observer". Accrington Observer. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
3. Accrington Stanley 1-1 Sunderland report: Match abandoned due to heavy rain Chronicle Live, 8 December 2018

External links

• Crown Ground Football Ground Guide
• Crown Ground Football Ground Maps
• Crown Ground StadiumDB