Football stadium redevelopments are a dime a dozen these days, so I've left off such grounds as Portsmouth's Fratton Park, because you'd be hard pushed to call it 'iconic' however atmospheric the brick alleys, creaky tin roofs and idiosyncratic bell-ringing. Neither Bristol football club makes the mark because - and yes, this is snobbery - they are not in the top tier and, more important, neither development is close to fruition. Barcelona FC's new Camp Nou, designed by Sir Norman Foster and opening in 2011, will look like a different stadium when it's finished, but as no matches will be rescheduled for the renovation it doesn't technically count. Also missing is Crystal Palace athletics stadium whose days are surely numbered post-2012, but, as Boris Johnson recently pointed out, nobody seems sure of our Olympic legacy as yet. Of all the venues chosen, the ultimate pilgrimage has to be to Walthamstow Dogs. Never mind the building, the sport itself is disappearing. Enjoy it while you still can.
There will be tears shed for The Stow. It's not just losing Art Deco neon lights, chicken-in-a-basket, and memories of the Krays - it's the death of cockney culture. There used to be 33 London dog tracks, but from mid-August only three will remain. Established in 1933 and visited by Winston Churchill, Brad Pitt and Blur, The Stow ran into trouble after changes to betting-tax laws in 2001. The track where David Beckham worked as a 'potboy' (glass collector) hosts its last race on 16 August.
After 12 years Everton have finally had a site approved for their new stadium - but in Kirkby, nine miles outside Liverpool city centre. Many fans are unhappy and the Grand Old Lady, as their current home is known, has served them well, with stands built tight to the pitch and a terrific atmosphere. She has seen some history - including the first English dugouts and, in 1913, the inaugural royal visit to a football ground. Let's just hope they still play the Z Cars theme as the team run out at the new ground.
'Where the surf meets the turf' is how this charismatic Irish course is described. The town's first track disappeared into the sea in 1911 - at low tide you can still see part of it. The current venue at Graun Hill has always been a bit of a squeeze, a maximum of 15 runners battling it out on a hilly course. The punters also jostle for space come the August festival, when 8,500 racegoers descend on Co Waterford. This year will be the last at the site - it moves to Lisselan, two miles away, in 2009.
4. Silverstone
History means little in Formula One and the 60-year-old circuit is threatened again because Bernie Ecclestone wants to move the British Grand Prix, due to some of the facilities for corporate guests not being to his liking. But this is the venue that hosted the inaugural world championship grand prix, it is where Ferrari and Williams first won, and it has one of the greatest series of corners in motor racing. Plus it's the home race of Lewis Hamilton, the man who will carry F1 through the next decade...
5. Stradey Park
Wave goodbye to the signature red saucepans atop the goalposts: come November, Llanelli's ground, built in 1879, is to become housing, though the fans' tradition of singing about little saucepans and harassed housewives - 'Sosban Fach' in Welsh - will no doubt continue. Derek Quinnell, Dafydd James and Ray Gravell were raised here, and Gravell's funeral was even staged here. It also hosted such moments as Llanelli beating the All Blacks in 1972 and Australia in 1967 and 1992.
6. Northam Burrows golf course
This is not a tale of bulldozers, or over-zealous developers: England's oldest golf course is literally disappearing into the sea. Storms tore off a 27-foot chunk earlier this year and 'potwalloping' - piling up pebbles to limit coastal erosion, the course's only defence - is now banned because Natural England says that is interfering with a site of special scientific interest. Members at the 144-year-old Royal North Devon Golf Club say the 7th and 8th holes could disappear next year.
Tennis stars will not be sad to see the back of this one. Superstition plagues the 'Graveyard of Champions', so-called because high-profile seeds have fallen here so often in the early rounds. Pete Sampras was defeated by George Bastl, ranked 145th in the world, here in 2002, while John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Martina Hingis, Andre Agassi, the Williams sisters and Ilie Nastase all suffered similar fates. Gather here for a final summer jinx before Court 2 becomes Court 3 and, eventually, is bulldozed.
8. Anfield
Surely Liverpool could never leave their ancestral home, famed for those 'You'll Never Walk Alone' commemorative Bill Shankly gates and the Kop? Apparently they could, but before the August 2011 moving date looks anywhere near realistic there's the small matter of cash flow to sort out between feuding American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett. Still, the prospect of a 71,000-seat stadium in Stanley Park is approved by most Liverpool fans, and Anfield always was Everton's first home anyway.
9. The Mestalla
Valencia's home ground is famous for its steep terracing and crumbling concrete walkways. The glamour factor may be lacking, but it has one of the most intimidating atmospheres in European football. After opening in 1923, the Mestalla survived the air raids of the Spanish Civil War as well as the 1957 floods when the Turia burst its banks. But the lure of a new 75,000-capacity stadium means next season will be the last there for a club who have twice been Champions League runners-up.
10. Yankee Stadium
Known simply as 'The Stadium' this place is synonymous with New York - heck, they play Sinatra's 'New York, New York' after every game. The home of the Yankees since 1923, the park has seen everything from Nelson Mandela rallies to Pelé playing for the New York Cosmos and both the 1930s heavyweight bouts between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling. The new stadium opens right across the street in 2009.
This is an article from Observer Sport Monthly
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