Highbury Stadium: Fleetwood Town
From Fleetwood Town FC
Fleetwood Town’s Highbury Stadium is not to be confused with the ground of the same name where Arsenal Football Club played for 93 years, if for no other reason than Arsenal’s Highbury saw a lot more success in its time than Fleetwood Town’s. Wyre Borough Council own the place, with Fleetwood paying rent to them. The ground is also used for the home games of Blackpool Reserves, which is fun.
The capacity of Highbury is 5,300+, which makes it somewhere around the 112th largest stadium in England. The ground opened in 1939 during the club’s most successful period when they won three Lancashire Combination Cups on the bounce. Before they moved to Highbury the club played their home games on ground next to North Euston Hotel in the town.
Stats
| Highbury Stadium Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Opened | 1939 |
| Capacity | 5327 |
| Average Attendance | 3430 |
| Record Attendance | 6150 (Fleetwood v Rochdale (1965)) |
| Pitch Size | 105 x 64 (6720) |
| Owner | Wyre Borough Council |
| Clubs Hosted | Fleetwood Town FC, Fleetwood Flyers, Blackpool Reserves |
| Fleetwood Town Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1908 |
| Nickname | The Cod Army |
| Club Mascot | Captain Cod |
| Rivals | Morecambe, Southport, Barrow, Accrington Stanley, Chorley, Kendal Town, Lancaster City, Skelmersdale United, Blackpool |
| Previous Stadiums | North Euston Hotel, The Queen's Ground, Memorial Park |
| Kit | Red & White (Home) / Light Green & Grey (Away) |
| Training Ground | Poolfoot Farm |
| Shirt Sponsor | BES Utilities |
| Team Owner | The Willows 96 Holdings Limited |
| Record Goalscorer | Dave Barnes (101) |
| Record Appearances | Nathan Pond (450) |
Highbury Stadium Photos
Highbury Stadium Seating Plan and Where to Sit
Highbury has four stands, with three of them being all-seated affairs and one a standing terrace. The Memorial Stand houses the more vocal Fleetwood fans, whilst The Parkside Stand houses the away supporters and also has a row of executive boxes at its rear. Away fans are also welcomed in The Percy Ronson Stand, which is the only area of terracing in the ground. Finally, The Highbury Stand is a mix of temporary seating and club facilities.
Fleetwood Town Ticket Prices
Ticket prices for Fleetwood Town games are a little complicated as the club charges less for some games than others. They also charge different amounts for different parts of the ground as well as for people of different ages.
Here are the cheapest and most expensive ticket prices for adults and concessions, listed from game category A-C:
- A: Adult – £24 – £28 / Concessions – £19 – £23
- B: Adult – £23 – £27 / Concessions – £18 – £22
How To Get Fleetwood Town Tickets
You can buy tickets online, via the ticket office at the stadium, or over the phone.
Where to Buy
Getting To Highbury Stadium
Fleetwood might like to pretend otherwise, but to most people in the country the easiest way to think about it is that Fleetwood is essentially Blackpool. For that reason, it’s reasonably easy to get to from the North but slightly trickier from the South. Here are some of the more common methods you’ll want to look at:
Train – The nearest station to Highbury is Blackpool North, but we use the term ‘nearest’ quite loosely as it’s actually about seven and a half miles away. There is a tram that runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood, however, and it passes quite close to the ground. The trams leave every twenty minutes or so and take about forty minutes to get to Fleetwood.
Bus – Bus Numbers 14 and 1 run from Blackpool Town centre, leave every ten minutes and take around thirty minutes to pass near to the ground.
Car – Get on the M6 and stay on it until Junction 32 then take the M55 for Blackpool. Leave that at Junction 3 and get on the A585 to Fleetwood. As you get towards the centre of Fleetwood follow the signs to Highbury.
By Air – Both Manchester Airport and Liverpool Airport are close enough to Blackpool to warrant a mention and both serve most big cities that you might be flying in from. Manchester might be the best bet if you’re using public transport, though, as it’s on a direct line to Blackpool.
Taxi – A taxi from Blackpool North to Fleetwood’s home ground will take just over twenty minutes but probably cost in the region of £30. If you can you’re much better off on the bus or the tram.
Parking Near Highbury Stadium
The only parking spaces at the ground are for disabled supporters, but there is plenty of on-street parking near to the stadium.
Useful Resources
- Parking - Just Park
Highbury Stadium Hotels
Nearby Blackpool probably offers the better bet for hotels owing to the abundance of B&Bs on the seafront. Here are some of the best hotels you’ll want to consider:
Leverdale Hotel - £40+
Norbreck Castle Hotel - £97+
Briardene Hotel - £70+
Pubs and Bars Near Highbury Stadium
Much like the hotels, you might want to consider Blackpool for your pre-match pint. These places are worth checking out regardless:
Jim’s Bar
The Strawberry Gardens
The Thomas Drummond
Facilities
To be perfectly honest the facilities at Highbury are best described as ‘basic’. That’s not to say they’re rubbish or anything, but if you’re used to Premier League or Championship standard grounds then you might be in for a rude awakening. There are places to buy some grub and something to drink and there are toilets, but if you want more than that then you’re probably a bit too posh for Highbury.
Prices
- Programme: £3
- Pie: £3
- Cup of tea: £1.5
- Beer: £3.5
Hospitality
The main hospitality option at Highbury is The Parkside Lounge. Here you’ll get a three-course meal, access to a pay bar facility, a Q&A with a match day guest and VIP balcony seating. Though match tickets aren’t categorised for the main tickets you will find that they are graded for hospitality experiences.
The other option available to you is an executive box, and you can choose from non-dining, buffet, and three course meal options. You are also allowed to personalize your box (whatever that means – fairy lights and pictures of your Mum?) and it can accommodate up to 12 guests.
Private Hire
Highbury Stadium is available for private hire, with the ground often used for corporate events, charity football matches, delegate days, parties, christenings, dinners and even weddings, should you be such a massive Fleetwood fan that it’s your dream to get married in the home of your favourite club. You can even spend Christmas day there if you would like to. Basically, they will have you for anything if you want to hire a space.
Stadium Tours & Museum
As things currently stand there are no tours of Highbury available.
About Fleetwood Town
To say Fleetwood Town has a bit of a confusing history is to understate things in the extreme. The current version of the club is, in fact, the third incarnation of a football team from Fleetwood, with the first formed in 1908 as Fleetwood FC. In 1977 they were reincarnated as Fleetwood Town FC, with many of the same people from the original club still there. In 1996 that club folded and in 1997 they re-formed as Fleetwood Wanderers, with a sponsorship deal immediately seeing the name change to Fleetwood Freeport FC. Finally the club changed its name to the now used Fleetwood Town in 2002.
In 1997 when Fleetwood Wanderers were formed, the club was placed into Division One of the North-West Counties Football League, otherwise known as the tenth tier of the English Football League. That they are, at the time of writing, plying their trade in League One, the third tier of the Football League, is a credit to everyone at the club. They also have some well-known former players, not least of whom being Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy, who gained his move to the Foxes and later a Premier League winners medal, after scoring 31 goals in 36 games for the Cod Army.
Highbury Stadium History
Between 1948 and 1952 the ground played host to the Fleetwood Flyers speedway team that competed in the National Speedway League. Because of that some of the stands were ‘set back’ from the pitch, leaving a large gap between them that was a unique feature for Fleetwood’s stadium. When the new West Stand was built in 2008 the builders had to clear tonnes of ash and cinder left over from the speedway track in order to build it on the setback area, removing that piece of history from the stadium’s surroundings.
The new West Stand development was actually the second stand at Highbury that was redeveloped, with The Percy Ronson Stand enjoying a £200,000 refurbishment in 2007. It was the first time since 1939 that a new stand was built at the ground. It is a terraced section, meaning that supporters can stand when watching the football. Originally it was hoped that 1240 supporters could be admitted there but Lancashire County Council reduced that to 621.
Future Developments
Since 2007 the ground has been redeveloped almost entirely. Because of that it’s unlikely that further changes will be made in the foreseeable future.