This first post is just to give you a flavour of who I am and what you might expect to see on these pages in the coming weeks, months and years…

Why stadia gaga?

I love stadia*. Actually, I think I’m gaga^ about them.

*Inspired by reading Simon Inglis’s Sightlines (twice), I can’t now bring myself to talk about stadiums. Conversely, arenae is just weird, if it’s even a word, so I’ll stick to arenas. Fortunately, every other derivative needs a simple ‘s’ to make it plural!

^Nothing to do with Lady Gaga, about whom I have no strong views. More that I am excessively and foolishly enthusiastic or, perhaps, infatuated about these creations.

My thanks go to the ‘creative genius’ of Tom Allen for the name of this site, which came to him after he’d witnessed my excessive enthusiasm first hand.

What to expect

Whilst I intend to write primarily about stadia (this covers anything that can be referred to as a stadium, arena, bowl or ground), I’m also interested in any venue that spectators can go to in order to watch some kind of performance. It’s also quite likely I will find myself talking about theatres, cinemas, concert venues and more. And it’s entirely possible I may drift off topic from time to time, but I will try to relate everything back to stadia in some way.

Why am I doing this?

I’ve loved stadia for as long as I can remember. Whilst collecting football stickers and annuals, I was always drawn to the pages with photos and facts about the places that housed people in their tens of thousands in a shared desire to watch their team perform and, ideally, beat their opponents. For a junior geek, reading about the huge capacities and even more huge record attendances were addictive. And the photos always looked so inviting – especially those lit by blinding Spanish sunshine in my España 82 Panini sticker album. Whilst I love a good beach and natural beauty, these were like perfect holiday brochure vistas to me.

As time has passed, I’ve continued to be drawn to these structures, both large and small. I’ve toured a few as a member of the public, watched sports and concerts in some and been lucky enough to have worked in and around them in recent years. This has given me an opportunity to visit even more and gain a greater insight into their operation both empty and when full of fans. I’ve also found that I enjoy the contrast between the buzz of a venue in full swing and the slightly eerie tranquility when the bowl is empty.

I realise now that, had I put the pieces of the jigsaw together earlier, I should have become an architect or an engineer specialising in large, complex buildings. Now I have to settle with attending events and public tours, making the most of any work opportunities that bring me close to stadia and watching documentaries about their design and the challenges of building them. Additionally, I thought that writing about these majestic landmarks would bring me closer to making something resembling a picture from those puzzle pieces. It looks like this blog is the picture that is emerging.

Coming up…

As well as random thoughts that pop into my head and comments about stadia in the news, I’m looking to cover these topics (in no particular order) in a bit more detail in future posts…

• Variety, please!
• Embracing nature
• Lost
• Olympic legacy
• Over ambitious
• Size matters
• The sharing conundrum
• Future proofing
• New build or redevelop?

I do hope you come back and share this with as many people as you can. It’s amazing how many people either have an underlying passion for stadia, or simply great memories of their experience in one.

Back soon…