Coldest ground in Britain?
I've just re-read my Moseley-Henley match report and feel the tone of the piece is rather grumpy. Allow me to explain.
My memory of last Saturday's game is not a happy one and it's nothing to do with the fact Moseley didn't play especially well.
What sticks out most is the fact I have never been more cold in my five years as the Post's rugby correspondent.
Billesley Common is always windy but last weekend the Mistral-like gale was bitingly cold. I've still got the earache even though I managed just 40 minutes in the wind tunnel that is the main stand.
To my shame I watched the second half from an empty corporate box which while still chilly and utterly free of prawn sandwiches was at least not battered by the conditions.
Which set me thinking. Billesley Common is my entry for the coldest ground in Britain - even more so than Vicarage Road, Watford.
I've shivered my way through an entire Calcutta Cup match at Murrayfield, seem to sneeze constantly on every visit to Saracens' adopted home and have even been glad to get to see the end of a Six Nations match at Twickenham. None of them compare to the Billesley Chill.
I'd be interested to hear other people's experience of the the Common or indeed other grounds to be avoided between October and March.
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The home ground (now just a training ground) for Australian Rules club Essendon is nicknamed 'Windy Hill'. It is bloody cold when you get a drizzley rain straight off the southern ocean. Its like watching footy while someone violently throws ice at you! Ahhh good times :)
Not for one minute did I expect an entry from Australia - thanks Damien.
What about the hottest? I bet you could suggest a few for that.
Never been - but I've heard Stoke City's Britannia Stadium is pretty nasty on a cold January day. Mind you, I think I experienced my coldest ever day and the closest I ever came to pneumonia at Billesley Common about 2 years ago, pelting rain in that stand (before the days it had a roof)!
I wouldn't disagree with you about the Britannia Stadium.
In non-league circles, I'll never forget the Tuesday night I spent a good few years ago at Rugby (then known as VS Rugby, now Rugby Town)
A bitter wind whistled across the fields from the M1 and three layers of clothing, gloves and a scarf were still not enough.
I may be doing Rugby a disservice because I know the ground has been extensively rebuilt since then, but that was about as cold as I've ever been while watching sport. By half-time, the result was almost irrelevant - we just wanted the ganme to finish.
Andy - I'm so glad it's not just me. Even in the summer the wind surges off the common. If you know anyone with any power at the club ask them to put a side on the stand.
Martin - Football wise I'd have to say St James' Park, Newcastle where the press box is so situated that it enables that special type of horizontal rain they have up there to drench everything.