The world’s 10 most extreme football grounds

As the new football season kicks off, why not plan a visit to a few of the more incredible and challenging pitches on the international circuit?

With the Premier League football season about to kick off, we thought we should pay our own special tribute to the beautiful game by listing our top 10 extreme grounds from the around the world. From weather to isolation or even risk of death, a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge may not seem so bad after considering being a spectator at one of these!

1) Estadio Victor Agustín Ugarte, Potosi, Bolivia

During the World Cup in South Africa, some teams complained about the problems of acclimatising to the altitude. That was nothing. At over 13,000 feet (over 4000 metres), Potosi in Bolivia is one of the highest cities in the world and any kind of exercise can quite literally take your breath away.?The Bolivian national side always seemed to perform better at home where their ally was lack of oxygen rather than a partisan home crowd. The situation came to a head when Brazilian club side Flamengo faced Real Potosi and several of the players ended up needing oxygen during the match. Legendary Liverpool Manager Bill Shankly once said ‘Football is not life or death, it’s more important than that’. Obviously he never played in Bolivia!

2) Svangaskarð Stadium, Toftir, Faroe Islands

Situated halfway between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic, the Faroe Islands rarely get mentioned unless it’s on the shipping forecast, or occasional matches against the home nations in World Cup qualifying.
Sitting on the edge of the sea the Svangaskarð Stadium looks like it has been Photoshopped onto a rustic shoreline. It may not have been what Europe’s elite were used to when they played the Faroe Islands national team there up until 1999. Unusual skills for becoming a ball boy include seafaring ability, as a boat is always on call to collect any wayward shots that land in the sea.

3) Marina Bay Stadium, Singapore

Modern players like Ronaldo and Lionel Messi may have reputations of walking on water, but Singapore has its own man-made equivalent. Located inside a huge reservoir, the platform at Marina Bay is the world’s largest floating stage. However there is little chance of the pitch sinking under the water. Made entirely of steel, it is tied to the shore, anchored to the seabed and can bear a weight of up to 1,070 tonnes and seat 30,000 people. Despite being 5% larger than the national stadium, the Singapore team has yet to achieve approval for playing on this floating fortress. In the meantime it has to make do with amateur Sunday League games and holding the National Day Parade.

4) Janguito Malucelli Stadium, Curitiba, Brazil

So clever you would be surprised no-one has ever thought of it before, this ground is believed to be one of the world’s first Eco-Stadiums. For the main stand, chairs were placed on up a grassy slope without any need for concrete. Dugouts and the press area were built from recycled wood.
It can accommodate up to 6,000 people and looks a very Bohemian way to watch the beautiful game. Club side Corinthians Paranaense can enjoy their football in a unique energy saving environment while the likes of Arsenal use 12 lighting rigs that could power a small village. Shame on you!

5) Rundrago May Day Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea

With a capacity of 150,000, this is the largest football stadium in the world and is currently used by the North Korean national team. Perhaps the most surprising fact in a country this secretive is that we know about it at all. There may be an argument to question the veracity of some of the stadium’s claims. After all, esteemed leader Kim Jong Il was reported to be so good at golf that on his first attempt at 18 holes he shot a record 38 under par with 11 holes in one before retiring from the sport. However this ground, which dominates the Pyongyang skyline and looks like a Martian ship from War of the Worlds, truly looks a wonderful venue for sport. Unlike Wembley Stadium, it did not cost £800 million and take five years to complete. That’s what oppressed masses are for!

6) Estadio Municipal de Braga, Braga, Portugal

Club chairmen may often move metaphorical mountains to build a wonderful modern stadium. However Portuguese club Sporting Braga took the interpretation a touch too literally. Over half of the ground’s $122 million cost was ploughed into moving thousands of tonnes worth of rock out the way. It looks like a secret base from a James Bond movie, emerging from nowhere. At least if the ball is kicked over or wide it will bounce straight back and the goalkeeper behind one goal will not suffer any abuse. He just needs to keep an eye for falling boulders.

7) Adidas Football Park, Tokyo, Japan

Space is at a premium in Japan and with every square metre of ground too precious to be developed into something as superfluous as a soccer pitch, footballers have taken to the skies. In an ingenious use of a flat roof, the Addidas Football Park has been built on top of a department store in the Shibuya area of the country’s capital. Over 500 local teams use the pitch every month, although you can probably kiss the ball goodbye when it’s booted out on a long shot.

8) The Grytviken marsh, Grytviken, Antarctic

Forget Wolverhampton on a freezing Wednesday night, the Sub-Antarctic rules on the bleakest footballing playing experience. The pitch, which can probably be ranked as one of the oldest in existence, was created over 100 years ago by Victorian whalers looking for a little bit of normality. However even the most extreme football grounds in the UK do not have to put up with gale force winds, a quagmire for a pitch and quicksand like mud on the sidelines. Yet football is still played there and currently the British Antarctic survey staff ‘enjoy’ a squelch around the surface, no doubt cheered on by some vociferously loud seals.

9) The 45-degree pitch, location unknown

We couldn’t find too much information on this ground, but the visual was just so weird, it merited inclusion in the list. Rumours around the World Wide Web say it is in the Ukraine, others say Germany or Spain. It has taken on the mythical quality of a Brigadoon to such an extent that it may be a piece of photo trickery after all. Nevertheless it is just crazy enough to be real and is worth commenting on for sheer entertainment value.

10) San Quentin Prison yard, San Quentin, California

And you thought the Wembley pitch was bad! Part baseball field, part athletics track with plenty of gravel and pot holes, the San Quentin Prison surface is atrocious. However you are unlikely to hear many complaints from any souls brave (or stupid) enough to play the inmates there. The prison has the reputation of being one of the toughest places on earth. From death row prisoners to garden variety murderers, a 50/50 tackle with one of these guys could result in the loss of body parts. Any pitch invasions would be classed as riots and subsequently involve 300 armed guards in full riot gear with shotguns. Sadly, due to several hundred security measures we can’t show you a picture of the actual pitch up close.