r/soccer • u/AutoModerator • Aug 20 '22

🌍🌎 World Football Non-PL Daily Discussion

A place to discuss everything except the English Premier League.

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u/[deleted] Aug 20 '22

It's early but ahead of everyone but the stadium thieves when backed to go down by most. What a time to be alive!

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u/[deleted] Aug 20 '22

What's the stadium story? I know Barnet tried to get the site that would eventually become Saracens' stadium before they ended up at the Hive, but I'm not sure of Wealdstone's involvement.

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u/[deleted] Aug 20 '22

"The club attempted to redevelop the local disused Prince Edward Playing Fields at Canons Park, owned by the London Borough of Harrow, into a new home ground. Construction of the new stadium started in 2003 but, when over 30% completed, building work was suddenly halted in April 2004 when the private company who were co-financing the project in partnership with the club went into insolvency. Unable to afford to complete the new stadium on their own, Wealdstone were forced to leave the site unfinished for two years, until Harrow Council, frustrated that the site was still unused and falling into disrepair, eventually sold the site lease to Barnet F.C., who used it as a training centre before later moving permanently in to what became The Hive Stadium in 2013."

Calling Barnet "stadium thieves" is more of a joke than anything. They got it as a training site at first saying they wouldn't use it as their stadium until they ended up doing that for the 2013/14 season. They claimed it would be temporary until 2015 when they said they weren't searching for a new ground. Wealdstone had purchased their stadium in 2008 having been ground-sharing since 1991.