Everything about Spion Kop Stadia totally explained
Spion Kop (or
Kop for short) is the name for a number of
terraces and stands at
sports stadia; so named due to their steep nature, resembling a hill near
Ladysmith,
South Africa that was the scene of the
Battle of Spion Kop in the
Second Boer War.
History
"The
Afrikaans name for the battle," writes
Liverpool Daily Post columnist Mike Chapple, "is Spioenkop; spioen for spy or look out and kop meaning hill or outcropping."
The first recorded reference to a sports terrace as Kop was at
Woolwich Arsenal's Manor Ground in
1904, when a local newspaper likened the silhouette of fans standing on a newly raised bank of earth to soldiers standing atop 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 name was formally consummated in
1928 upon construction of a roof. It is said to be the first terrace to be officially named Spion Kop, and the supporters on Liverpool's Kop helped make Anfield famous for its atmosphere. "
Kopites" is a collective name given to the loyal supporters of
Liverpool Football Club. Many other English
football clubs and some
Rugby league clubs (such as
Wigan's former home
Central Park) followed suit and applied the same name to stands in later years.
Villa Park's old Holte End is 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. By the mid
1980s
Hillsborough's Kop had become the largest roofed terrace in
Europe, with a capacity of around 25,000.
Composition
There is much conjecture about what type of stand constitutes a Kop. The size and location of the stand in the stadium varies, with most being located behind the goal and being occupied by its club's most vocal supporters. It is usually a single tiered stand and traditionally terraced. However, in England,
safety regulations brought into effect after the
1989 Hillsborough disaster has required many to be made
all seated. It isn't necessarily the largest stand in the stadium and doesn't have to have a particularly large capacity; for example, Chesterfield's stadium the
Recreation Ground has a Kop with a capacity of only a few thousand.
Kops
Harrison Park, Leek Town- The Kiln Lane End (West Stand, Standing)
Future designs
In November 2007,
Sheffield United announced that it'll add an additional 3,000 seats to their Kop. Work is scheduled to start in the Summer of 2008, and with a new capacity of over 13,200,
Bramall Lane will overtake Anfield in housing the largest single tier Kop stand in Britain. Liverpool, however, have released plans to include a 18,000 capacity Kop in their new
Stanley Park Stadium design.
Sources
Further Information
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