Bramall Lane was the first ever football stadium that I went to as a young boy of only eight years of age. Not many people realise though that the home of Sheffield United was originally opened in 1855 but not to play football but to play Cricket. No fewer than six local Cricket clubs used to play there. In fact Yorkshire County Cricket Club were tenants until 1893 along with Sheffield FC who are the oldest club in the world and still in existence.
In fact Cricket was played at Bramall Lane as recently as 1975 and then it became solely used for football purposes. Sheffield United?s close neighbours Sheffield Wednesday also used to play there until 1888 when they moved across the city to their own stadium at Hillsborough. But football and Cricket are not the only sports to be played at Bramall Lane as the Sheffield Eagles Rugby League team have also played there in the past and still do from time to time.
The current capacity is 32,702 which is not large by football stadium standards but it has a lovely modern feel to it inside. Most of the ground has been recently renovated and redesigned over the past few years. The ?South Stand? was built in 1975 and now represents the oldest part of the stadium which has seen development done in stages over the years. The Kop end was erected and completed in 1991 and became an all-seater in 1994.
In 1996 it was the turn of the ?John Street? stand to undergo redevelopment with the original stand being demolished which left Bramall Lane temporarily three sided with a direct view across the city if you were sat high enough in the stand. In 2001 there was a new section built into the corner of the Kop while as recently as 2006, the Bramall Lane stand was totally redeveloped and became known as the ?Westfield Health Stand?.
Prior to the all seated era of English football, the attendance record at Bramall Lane is 68,287 in 1936 for an FA Cup match between Sheffield United and their close neighbours Leeds United. In fact Bramall Lane has one very big claim to fame and it is little known that the stadium is now the oldest major football ground in the entire world that is host to games played at a professional level.
It is also the only ground besides the Oval to host an England international and an England test match at Cricket. Sheffield United currently reside in the Championship League in England which is the second tier of English football after they were controversially relegated in 2007.
As a former professional Online Texas Holdem poker player I can?t help but looking at the situation for Sheffield United and Bramhall Lane in a strategically opportunistic way. The stadium is one of the few stadiums in England to be situated almost on the verge of the city centre and it is only five minutes walk to buoyant shopping malls of Sheffield city centre from Bramall Lane and as such, this creates numerous business opportunities and potential for further expansion of the ground in the future.