Spion Kop (stadiums)

Spion Kop, Manor Ground

Boer soldiers at Spion Kop hill, 1900

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

History

The Spion Kop hill near Ladysmith, South Africa

The first recorded reference to a sports terrace as "Kop" related to Woolwich Arsenal's Manor Ground in 1904, four years after the Second Boer War.<ref name="TGAM">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=irwin /> 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.{{#if:|

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The use of the name for the stand was given recognition at Anfield in 1928 when it was extended to a 27,000 capacity and a cantilever roof was added which amplified the roar of the crowd to create an intense atmosphere.<ref name=irwin /> Traditionally, Liverpool's most vocal supporters congregate in this stand and are referred to as kopites.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Such is the reputation of the stand that it was claimed that the crowd in the Kop could suck the ball into the goal and it has become one of the most famous football stands in the world.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Liverpool's Spion Kop (capacity 27,000, although crowds of 30,000+ have been recorded) was redesigned in 1994 (completed) 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, making it the largest single-tier stand in the country at the time. This new Kop still stands and currently houses the club's museum.

Following the opening of the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Anfield's Kop ceased to be the largest single-tier stand in the country. 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Manchester United's proposed new 100,000-capacity Old Trafford stadium will reportedly take inspiration from Tottenham's South Stand with a 'new Stretford End'<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> to be a single-tier, steep stand which, due to the overall ground's significantly higher capacity, would likely house 25,000 supporters, indeed a stadium designed to the same proportions but with a 100,000 capacity would actually see this 'new Stretford End' holding as many as 29,000.

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.<ref name=irwin>Template:Cite book</ref>

Many other English football clubs and some rugby league clubs (such as Wigan's former home Central Park) applied the same name to stands in later years.Template:Citation needed

Composition

There is much debate about what type of stand constitutes a Kop.Template:Citation needed 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

Spion Kop at Anfield, the home of Liverpool F.C.

The Kop at Meadow Lane

Billy Bonds stand at London Stadium

The Kop at St Andrew's

The South Stand at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Ground	Club	Stand
Anfield	Liverpool	Spion Kop<ref name=liverpoolecho>Template:Cite news</ref>
Central Park (demolished 1999)	Wigan Warriors RLFC	The Kop (demolished 1999)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Baseball Ground (demolished 2003–04)	Derby	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Bloomfield Road	Blackpool	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Bramall Lane	Sheffield United	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
County Ground	Northampton Town	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Deepdale	Preston North End	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Elland Road	Leeds United	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Molineux	Wolverhampton Wanderers	The Southbank (Sir Jack Hayward Stand)
Filbert Street (demolished 2003)	Leicester City	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> (demolished 2003)
Fratton Park	Portsmouth	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> (renamed as The Milton End)
Highfield Road (demolished 2006)	Coventry City	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> (demolished 2006)
Hillsborough Stadium	Sheffield Wednesday	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Home Park	Plymouth Argyle	Spion Kop (demolished 2001)
Knowsley Road (demolished 2011)	St Helens R.F.C.	The Kop (demolished 2011)
London Stadium	West Ham	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Manor Ground (demolished c.1913)	Woolwich Arsenal	Spion Kop<ref name="TGAM"/> (demolished c.1913)
Meadow Lane	Notts County	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Oakwell	Barnsley	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Prenton Park	Tranmere Rovers	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Racecourse Ground	Wrexham	The Kop (demolished 2023, now temporary stand)
Recreation Ground (demolished 2012)	Chesterfield	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
St Andrew's	Birmingham City	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Stade de la Meinau	RC Strasbourg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium	Tottenham Hotspur	South Stand/Park Lane
Wilderspool Stadium (demolished 2014)	Warrington Wolves	Spion Kop (demolished 2014)
Valley Parade	Bradford City	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
King Power Stadium	Leicester City	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Windsor Park	Linfield / Northern Ireland	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Parc des Princes	Paris Saint-Germain	Kop of Boulogne<ref> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Westfalenstadion	Borussia Dortmund	The Yellow Wall

Sources

• Inglis, Simon. The Football Grounds of England and Wales (Collins Willow, 1982)
• Kelly, Stephen F. The Kop, (Virgin Books, 2005)
• Pearce, James. How Kop tuned in to glory days, Liverpool Echo. 23 August 2006.
• Chapple, Mike. Spion Kop's mixture of myth and magic Liverpool Daily Post, 25 August 2006.

External links

• The incredible story behind the Kop Guided by local historian Raymond Heron, BBC Sport's Mark Lawrenson visits Spion Kop in South Africa.