Fishing | All Kinds of Pottery

Meadow Lane

April 18th, 2010 admin No comments

Meadow Lane

A city for all sports

If your idea of a lively weekend is walking between bars, you’re in danger of dismissing a major part of Nottingham’s make-up. The city has always had a rich spots heritage, nurturing countless world-class athletes and with more sports facilities per head than any other European city.

Three high-profile addresses; Nottingham Forest FC, Notts County FC and Trent Bridge cricket ground; sit in sight of each other on Trent Bridge.

Nottingham Forest FC was founded in 1865 and is the city’s most successful football team. Their most prosperous spell, under the late Brian Clough, won them the football league, two European cups and four league cup titles between 1975 and 1993. Current stars include Paul McKenna and Dele Adebola, while its roll-call of former players features Stuart Pearce, Trevor Francis and Stan Collymore.

Notts County FC, founded in 1862, is the oldest professional football league club in the world and plays at Meadow Lane. The team has had several spells in the top division and hold the record for the most promotions (12) and relegations (15) in the history of the league. Famous former Magpies include Jeff Astle and Sol Campbell.

Perhaps the city’s most famous sports venue is Trent Bridge cricket ground, home to Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and host of Test, One-day International and County cricket matches. Established in the 1830s, Trent Bridge is the world’s third oldest Test ground and a world-famous cricketing landmark. Just one of the many highlights in its history was hosting the first match of the first five-match Test series in England.
If you are more of a competitor than a spectator, dip your toe in at the National Watersports Centre. This impressive 270-acre parkland has a 2000-metre regatta lake, 700-metre white water canoe slalom course and waterski lagoon with ski jump and cableway.

Nottingham has produced many world-famous sporting legends, but arguably the most celebrated are ice dance Olympic and World Champions Torvill and Dean. Nottingham’s original 1939 ice stadium, and the pair’s old stomping ground, was demolished in 2000 and replaced by the Trent FM Arena. The Arena is home of the Nottingham Panthers ice hockey team if you’d rather watch ice brutality than attempt a lycra-clad pirouette!
Tennis is another sport that puts Nottingham on the world stage. The old Open tournament raised the profile of the sport in the city and the city’s profile in the world as a warm-up for Wimbledon contenders. Now home to outdoor grass championship, the AEGON trophy, Nottingham has been thrust once more into the sporting spotlight.

If your sports plans only stretch to a pub crawl, the city is buzzing with bars following the scores so you can at least sound athletic in conversation. The Southbank Bar by Trent Bridge has a lively atmosphere and sits at the heart of the city’s live sport action.

A pub riding on more than its sports coverage is The Approach. This over-dressed modern art bar with slouchy seats parked in front of big screens makes this local somewhere you can keep on top of the results and happily hang around after full time regardless of the final score.

About the Author

John Tarr is a copywriter for Stag Weekends. Learn more about Nottingham at http://www.stagweekends.co.uk.