RECENTLY a survey (poll) involving referees, umpires, officials, players, supporters and reporters, was carried out to find the world’s best 20 sporting venues (inside and out) for quality, size, design and most of all for atmosphere.
And this is what transpired… listed in no specific order:
* Melbourne Cricket Ground (capacity 100,000)
* The home of golf at St Andrews
* Santiago Bernabeu football stadium, Madrid
* Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
* Augusta ‘Masters’ golf course, USA
* Anfield football ground, Liverpool
* All England Tennis Club, Wimbledon
* Lord’s cricket ground, London
* Nou Camp football stadium, Barcelona
* Fenway Park, Massachusetts (oldest MLB still used)
* Madison Square garden, New York
* Lambeau Field, Wisconsin (home to the Greenbay Packers)
* Talladoga Superspeedway track, Alabama.
* Beijing National Stadium, China
* Soccer City, South Africa
* The Yankee Stadium, New York
* San Siro football stadium, Milan
* The DY Patel Stadium, India (home to the Pune Warriors CC)
* Rungrado May Day Stadium, North Korea (capacity 150,000)
* The Azteca Stadium, Mexico City
Also, six race courses were named: Aintree, Ascot, Cheltenham, Churchill Downs in Kentucky and The Curragh.
Also we had four more football grounds: the old Wembley Stadium, Brazil’s Maracana ground (once held 200,000), Old Trafford (Manchester United FC, voted 42nd best) and the Emirates (Arsenal FC); baseball stadiums in Michigan, Ohio and Texas; the Flushing Meadow and Roland Garros complexes for tennis; the AT&T Park, California (home to the San Francisco Giants); the rugby stadiums at Croke Park, Murrayfield and Twickenham and the Silverstone F1 race circuit.
