Hartsdown Park

Coordinates: 51°22′47″N 1°22′27″E / 51.37972°N 1.37417°E / 51.37972; 1.37417
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Hartsdown Park
Thanet District Council
OperatorMargate F.C.
Capacity3,000 (400 seats)[1]
Surface3G Artificial Turf
Construction
Built1929
Opened1929
Tenants
Margate F.C. (1929–2002, 2005–present)
Thanet Vikings (1986)

Hartsdown Park is a

football stadium located in Margate, Kent, England. It has been the home of Margate F.C.
(known as Thanet United F.C. between 1981 and 1989) since 1929, apart from between 2002 and 2005, when the club was forced to share the grounds of other Kent clubs while protracted redevelopment work occurred.

Although the football club was able to return to the stadium in 2005, redevelopment work is still at a very early stage, and many of the ground's facilities are still of a temporary nature. Nonetheless, the club has extensive plans for the future development of the site.

History

The stadium has been the home of Margate F.C. since 1929,

Kent League fixture against Dover two weeks later.[2] In 1934 the club entered into an agreement to become a nursery team for Arsenal, and as part of the agreement the Hartsdown pitch was altered to exactly match the size of that at Highbury.[4]

Further covered spectator accommodation was erected at the ground in 1935, but this blew down in a storm in 1952 and had to be rebuilt. At around the same time the club added a new terrace next to the main stand, where supporters had previously stood on banked earth.[4] A new covered terrace was installed at the Tivoli Park Avenue end of the ground in the late 1950s, officially named the Cornhill Stand but more usually known to fans as the Coffin End,[2] the name deriving from a prominent piece of graffiti which adorned its rear wall for many years.[5][6] The club's first set of floodlights was erected in September 1959 and inaugurated with a friendly match against West Ham United.[4]

In 1966 a new clubhouse was built, but there was little further development of the ground, although in the late 1980s the North Stand, which had been condemned by council officials

Conference National in 2004.[12][13] In 2005 the club was finally able to return to the ground, albeit with pre-fabricated stands and temporary buildings in place.[14] Five years later, plans for the redevelopment of the north end of the ground, reportedly including the construction of a new terrace, a bar, and a three-storey hotel, were approved. Club chairman Keith Piper also announced that companies had expressed interest in paying for the naming rights of individual stands or even the entire stadium.[15] In June 2022, the club announced plans to install new changing rooms using funding from the Premier League Stadium Fund.[16]

In March 2023, it was announced that Canterbury City would be groundsharing with Margate for the following season.[17][18]

Structure and facilities

Some of the temporary buildings currently in place at the stadium are visible in this 2007 photograph.

As most of the stadium was demolished and little of the proposed redevelopment work has as yet been carried out at Hartsdown Park, the stadium's current facilities are limited. On the south side of the pitch, the site of the former main stand, portable buildings are in place behind the dugouts. The opposite side of the ground currently contains two prefabricated seated stands.[4]

Behind the goal at the western end of the ground, known as the Hartsdown Road end, the one terrace remaining from before the redevelopment work has been renovated, along with the clubhouse behind it. A plan was reportedly in place for a temporary standing structure at the opposite end of the ground, known as the Tivoli Park Avenue end, but this has yet to come to fruition.[4]

The first stage in the wider development of the site was the construction of a 5-a-side pitch complex. Although it was initially announced that work was to begin on the complex in May 2007,[19] ground was not in fact broken for a further four months.[20] The complex opened on 9 December 2007.[21]

Future

The club's ultimate plan involves a stadium with a capacity of 5,000 forming part of a complex incorporating a hotel, fitness centre, conference centre, all-weather pitch and ten 5-a-side pitches.

the Football League.[24]

Other uses

The stadium was used as the home venue for the Thanet Vikings American football club during the late 1980s.[25] It was also the venue for a charity match held in 2006 in memory of former Margate player Paul Sykes, who collapsed and died while playing for Folkestone Invicta, in which current and former professionals Andy Hessenthaler, Adrian Pennock and Danny Spiller played.[26]

Records

The highest attendance recorded for a Margate match at Hartsdown Park was 14,169 for the visit of Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup on 13 January 1973. The lowest attendance recorded was 29, for a match against Salisbury City on 24 April 1986.[27]

Transport

Main article: Margate railway station

The stadium is approximately 0.7 miles (1 km) from

Kent Coast Line to Dover Priory.[28]

References

  1. ^ Chris Evans and Rob Craven (13 April 2007). "Revenge on the Cards as Margate Pay a Visit (13th April 2007)". Cheltenham City F.C. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 29 May 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "The History of Margate Football Club". margatefchistory.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 July 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2007.
  3. ^ "United Kingdom Database of Historic Parks and Gardens". University of York. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2007.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Margate FC". Pyramid Passion. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  5. ^ "Hartsdown Park". margatefchistory.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 March 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  6. ^ "Last Days of the old Hartsdown". margatefchistory.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 March 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  7. ^ "Margate Club Profile". Ciderspace - The Independent Yeovil Town FC Website. Retrieved 30 May 2007.
  8. ^ Wallis, Mark. "About the Ground: Hartsdown Park". The Little Gazette. Archived from the original on 31 July 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2007.
  9. ^ a b "CVA Signed, Sealed and Approved!". Clubs in Crisis. 28 December 2005. Archived from the original on 9 April 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2007.
  10. ^ "Margate FC – Hartsdown Road (sic) 1975-2003". Pyramid Passion. Retrieved 2 June 2007.
  11. ^ "Football club in administration". BBC Sport. 29 April 2005. Retrieved 2 June 2007.
  12. ^ "Club 'could fold' over stadium". BBC Sport. 15 October 2003. Retrieved 4 December 2007.
  13. ^ "Margate opt for demotion". ConfGuide.com. 21 May 2004. Archived from the original on 7 May 2005. Retrieved 8 January 2008.
  14. ^ "Margate FC". Pyramid Passion. Retrieved 2 June 2007.
  15. ^ Tucker, Craig (13 August 2010). "Cracking news as Gate close in on new ground". Isle of Thanet Gazette.
  16. ^ "Club Statement - Hartsdown Park". www.margate-fc.co.uk. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  17. ^ "City Are On The Move!". www.canterburycityfc.co.uk. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Canterbury City To Groundshare At HDP". www.margate-fc.co.uk. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  19. ^ "Club News Update". Margate F.C. 17 May 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2007.
  20. ^ "Gate development underway". Margate F.C. 10 September 2007. Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  21. ^ "News centre". Margate F.C. 24 November 2007. Archived from the original on 12 November 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  22. ^ "New hope for football stadium". BBC Sport. 8 February 2004. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  23. ^ Nicholas Harding (18 February 2005). "£8m ground plan saves Margate". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 December 2007.[dead link]
  24. ^ Fox, Norman (8 December 2002). "Cardiff make progress with Fortune-West". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  25. ^ "Thanet Vikings". BritballNow.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 January 2005. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  26. ^ "Syko Challenge a big success". BBC. 2 May 2006. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
  27. ^ "Team Records". margatefchistory.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 December 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2007.
  28. ^ "Live Departures: Margate (MAR)". National Rail Enquiries. Retrieved 4 December 2007.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hartsdown_Park&oldid=1153105807"