Manor Ground (Plumstead)
The Manor Ground was an English football stadium in Plumstead, as the home ground of the association " Woolwich Arsenal " in south-east London in the period 1888-1890 and 1893-1913 - served - later renamed to Arsenal.
Still under the name " Royal Arsenal " the team played first on the Common Ground " Plumstead Common" and later on the " Sportsman Ground", as an ordinary pig box in the marshes " Plumstead Marshes " called. When the Sportsman Ground was unusable because of a flood in 1888, the club moved to the neighboring " Manor Field " as the future venue at this time was still called. The playing field was notorious for the very muddy ground and along the south side even ran a sewer. Stands did not exist at that time at this point and the club helped out with Stellwagen by the British Army to accommodate spectators. The first official game of the association took place there on February 11, 1888 against Millwall Rovers instead and ended 3:3
In the year 1890, Royal Arsenal decided to take a stance on the south side of Plumstead High Street the slightly better Invicta Ground, who possessed at least a grandstand, terraces and also changing rooms. There, the club spent three years (during which time you called in " Woolwich Arsenal " around and gained the status of a professional association ) before the owner of the Invicta Grounds increased the rent, which had re- move the club result. With the help of units that had issued the club, put Arsenal one which thereby gained proceeds in the purchase of the Manor Grounds and moved before the start of season 1894/94 - on the occasion of the debut in the Football League - back to this ancient site. This season, the club should accommodate about 6,000 spectators on average.
At this time the club had a grandstand and another terrace benches built before 1904 with the " Spion Kop " a second grandstand was come. It is interesting in this context that allow the nation's first Kop grandstand was created and later many other clubs - most notably Liverpool - much more famous grandstands of the same name built. During the 1904 club promotion to the First Division succeeded, the resonance increased in the followings intermittently over 20,000 spectators in some games.
Mainly due to the very isolated location in an industrial area with very few residents, these figures but developed in the period following a downward trend. This was decisive for the actual worsening of the financial situation of the club, who even stood in 1910 on the brink of bankruptcy. The average attendance at that time was only about 11,000, which compared to the 28,000 average of Chelsea meant a significant competitive disadvantage. The rescue came in the person of Sir Henry Norris, who - although chairman of Fulham FC - Arsenal bought up and drove forward the move to the North London to Highbury to the new Arsenal Stadium. This has already taken place three years later, after Norris with plans to merge with the Arsenal FC Fulham failed.
The last game at the Manor Ground graduated from Woolwich Arsenal on 26 April 1913, when they separated with 1:1 FC Middlesbrough. Shortly after moving the club feral the former venue, was eventually demolished and redeveloped. The between the Nathan Way, the Griffin Manor Way and Hadden Road enclosed land is now part of the industrial area.
The departure of Arsenal should be a decisive factor for the change of the club Charlton Athletic in the professional game in 1920, thus giving former role as Arsenal's main club in this region took over.