Jenner Park

The red running track that circles the pitch at Jenner Park is the clearest sign that this is not a ground for pure football. It sits between the terraces and the touchline, a reminder that the stadium was once a multi-purpose arena for greyhound racing. That history gave the club its survival; the track allowed the club to stay solvent when the football itself could not. The surface they use now is the artificial 3G pitch, installed to stop the water from pooling after rain. It is a practical solution, though one that failed a FIFA Pro test in 2019, forcing the team to move their European home fixtures to Leckwith Stadium.

The main stand is an all-seater section, a change that came with the local council’s redevelopment in the 1980s, replacing the old terraces.

Inside the ground, the atmosphere is defined by the proximity of the crowd to the pitch, separated only by the running lanes. For big matches, such as the friendly against Manchester United in 1996, temporary bleachers were used to swell the numbers, though that is no longer permitted. The highest attendance was over ten thousand in 1925, for an FA Cup tie against Mid Rhondda United. The stadium has also hosted international qualifiers, including matches for the Welsh women’s team and the Under-21 side. It remains the only ground in the town with this particular layout, where the running track and the football pitch exist side by side.