Reading City

Despite the fact that The Madjeski Stadium was built on the site of a former waste dump and has methane vents on all sides of it, the ground itself is far from rubbish. It was opened in 1998 as a replacement for the club’s former ground, Elm Park. Despite the desire to regenerate their old ground in order to comply with the Taylor Report, it was decided that a new stadium would make more sense for the Berkshire club. It cost the club over £50 million to build the new stadium, including three-quarters of a million being invested in a new pitch that has a mix of synthetic fibres and natural grass. The pitch is designed to be able to be used for either football or rugby matches, with London Irish also calling The Madjeski home since 2000. The Aviva Premiership side followed the lead of Richmond FC, who used the stadium for a season between 1998 and 1999.