Spion Kop (stadiums)


Spion Kop is a colloquial name or term for a number of single tier terraces and stands at sports stadiums, particularly in the United Kingdom.
Their steep nature resembles a hill near Ladysmith, South Africa, that was the scene of the Battle of Spion Kop in January 1900 during the Second Boer War.

History

The first recorded reference to a sports terrace as "Kop" related to Woolwich Arsenal's Manor Ground in 1904.
A local newsman likened the silhouette of fans standing on a newly raised bank of earth to soldiers standing atop the hill at the Battle of Spion Kop. Two years later in 1906, Liverpool Echo sports editor Ernest Edwards noted of a new open-air embankment at Anfield:
"This huge wall of earth has been termed 'Spion Kop', and no doubt this apt name will always be used in future in referring to this spot."
The use of the name was given formal recognition in 1928 when it was extended to a 27,000 capacity and a cantilever roof was added. Many other English football clubs and some rugby league clubs applied the same name to stands in later years.
Villa Park's old Holte End was historically the largest of all Kop ends, closely followed by the old South Bank at Molineux, both once regularly holding crowds in excess of 30,000.
Liverpool's Spion Kop was redesigned in 1994 to comply with requirements of the Taylor Report, which made all-seater stadiums obligatory in the highest two divisions of English football. A new Spion Kop was built in its place with 12,390 seats, which was the largest single tier stand in the country until the opening of the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The South Stand of the new stadium has 17,500 seats and has an incline of 34 degrees, making it one of the steepest stands in the country.

Composition

There is much debate about what type of stand constitutes a Kop. The size and location of the stand in the stadium varies; most are located behind the goal and are occupied by its club's most vocal supporters. It is usually a single-tiered stand and was traditionally terraced. In England, safety regulations brought into effect after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster required many to be made all-seated. A Kop is not necessarily the largest stand in the stadium and does not have to have a particularly large capacity; for example, Chesterfield's former stadium, Saltergate, had a Kop with a capacity of only a few thousand.

Kops

GroundClubStand
AnfieldLiverpoolSpion Kop
Central Park Wigan Warriors RLFCThe Kop
Baseball Ground DerbyPopside Kop
Bloomfield RoadBlackpoolMortensen Kop
Bramall LaneSheffield UnitedThe Kop
County GroundNorthampton TownSpion Kop
DeepdalePreston North EndBill Shankly Kop
Elland RoadLeeds UnitedThe Kop
MolineuxWolverhampton WanderersThe Southbank
Filbert Street Leicester CitySpion Kop
Fratton ParkPortsmouthSpion Kop
Highfield Road Coventry CityThe Spion Kop Terrace
Hillsborough StadiumSheffield WednesdaySpion Kop
Home ParkPlymouth ArgyleSpion Kop
Knowsley Road St Helens R.F.C.The Kop
Manor Ground Woolwich ArsenalSpion Kop
Meadow LaneNotts CountySpion Kop
OakwellBarnsleySpion Kop
Prenton ParkTranmere RoversEssar Kop Stand
Racecourse GroundWrexhamThe Kop
Recreation Ground ChesterfieldSpion Kop
St Andrew'sBirmingham CitySpion Kop
Stade de la MeinauRC StrasbourgOuest Kop
Tottenham Hotspur StadiumTottenham HotspurSouth Stand/Park Lane
Wilderspool Stadium Warrington WolvesSpion Kop
Valley ParadeBradford CityThe Kop End
King Power StadiumLeicester CityThe Kop, Fosse Stand
Windsor ParkLinfield / Northern IrelandThe Kop
Parc des PrincesParis Saint-GermainKop of Boulogne
De VijverbergDe Graafschapde Spinnekop