Bescot Stadium

About

Bescot Stadium, currently known as the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in the area of Bescot, Walsall, West Midlands, England. With a capacity of 11,300, it is the current home ground of Walsall and Aston Villa Women. It was built in 1989–90 by GMI Construction, with a reported build cost of £4.5m. The stadium replaced the club's previous ground, Fellows Park, which was located a quarter of a mile away and was the club's home for 94 years.

Following the takeover of Walsall by Terry Ramsden in 1986, plans were drawn up for the club to move from its antiquated Fellows Park stadium to a new site in the town. In 1988, a site at Bescot Crescent was identified as the location for a new stadium, and work began on the new stadium in 1989 with completion targeted for the start of the 1990–91 season. The stadium was opened on 18 August 1990, by Sir Stanley Matthews. Aston Villa Ladies played Walsall Ladies prior to the Mens friendly match with neighbours Aston Villa in front of 9,551 spectators. Aston Villa won the match 4–0. The first competitive goal was scored by Aston Villa Ladies, Bev Adams. The first competitive game was played a week later on 25 August 1990. 5,219 spectators watched Walsall draw 2–2 with Torquay United, with the stadium's first goal being an own goal scored by Walsall defender Matt Bryant after 65 seconds. The first goal scored for Walsall at the stadium was by Stuart Rimmer. Originally, both ends of the ground were standing areas, and the capacity of the ground was 11,104. However, capacity was reduced to around 9,800 in 1992, when the away supporters terrace was filled with seats. Following an extension to the 'home' end of the ground (formerly known as the Gilbert Alsop Stand), during the 2002–03 season, it is now an all-seater stadium, with a capacity of 11,300. A sponsorship deal with Banks's Brewery in 2007 saw the name officially changed from the Bescot Stadium to the Banks's Stadium. This sponsorship deal was extended in 2016 until the summer of 2022. The stadium has been host to England under-21, under-19 and under-17 international matches, Aston Villa reserve team matches, Aston Villa Women matches and England women's international matches. Outside football, the stadium has hosted two concerts. On 22 June 1991, The Wonder Stuff began their Sharing The Love mini-festival tour at the stadium. Twenty-four years later, on 13 June 2015, the stadium hosted its second concert when Elton John played in front of 14,000 fans.

The stadium is situated less than a mile from junction 9 of the M6 motorway, has a mainline railway station within easy walking distance and parking spaces for around 1,200 vehicles. The Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium has two large conferencing suites – the Bonser Suite and the Stadium Suite. The Bonser Suite adjoins the rear of the Tile Choice Main Stand (formerly the H. L. Fellows Stand), while the Stadium Suite is underneath the upper tier of the northernmost stand (currently the NorthStarr Stand). Both suites host conferences, cabaret evenings, concerts and events. In addition to this, there are five further bars within the Stadium – the Swifts and Priory Lounges to the rear of the Tile Choice Main Stand, the Mick Kearns community Hub beneath the lower tier of the NorthStarr Stand, a bar beneath the University of Wolverhampton away stand, and one beneath the Experienced Energy Solutions Community Stand. There are food and beverage kiosks in all four corners of the ground, whilst the Bonser Suite doubles as a restaurant on match days. In 2009, the club erected a large advertising hoarding to the south of the southernmost stand, facing the M6 motorway.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.