Kingsmeadow

Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London. It stands beside Kingston Athletics Centre, with the River Thames a short walk away. The ground opened in the late 1980s for Kingstonian, who built the whole complex on a former waste ground. After Kingstonian’s financial troubles, AFC Wimbledon moved in and shared the ground for fifteen years. In 2015 Chelsea bought the lease to use it for their women’s and academy sides. The site is now home to Chelsea Women and Cobham Next Gen. The stadium shows how clubs rise and fall within the same walls. Kingstonian’s record crowd of 4,582 came in 1995 for a friendly against Chelsea. AFC Wimbledon climbed from the Combined Counties League to League One in 2016, their highest gate of 4,870 watched them beat Accrington Stanley. Structural changes over the years raised safety standards and cut capacity from an original 6,299 to 4,850. Three stands carry the names of local sponsors and supporters who helped pay for roofs and cameras. Visitors find four distinct areas around the pitch. The John Green Stand seats a thousand behind one goal and carries a roof added in 2015. The Paul Strank Stand holds 1,265 seats, changing rooms and three bars under an extended roof. Opposite lies the RyGas Stand, a shallow terrace with the scoreboard and gantry for televised replays. Behind the other goal the Chemflow End is a covered terrace that once bore the name of a local athletics club. The athletics stadium next door hosts races and training sessions.