Gillingham

Priestfield Stadium shares its history very closely with the club that calls it home. Gillingham Football Club was founded in 1893 as New Brompton FC and immediately moved in to the newly built ground. There remains a slight question mark over whether the stadium was named after the road it was built on or whether the road was named after the stadium, though the fact that the ground was officially called Priestfield Road until 1947 suggests it’s the former. In order to maintain the running of the ground in its infancy, the club allowed it to be used for a whole host of other events. These included things like fetes, athletics meetings and the excitingly titled Smoking Concerts. Sheep were also permitted to graze on the pitch during the week when games were not being played, which is laughable these days. The ground was heavily redeveloped in the 1990s, though before that the only major reconstruction came when floodlights were added in 1963.