5 English Football Teams That Don’t Play Where They’re ‘From’

What’s in a name? Well, not the whole truth in the case of some English clubs, who aren’t actually based where their misleading title would suggest.

Here are five who live somewhere else rather than their namesake towns and cities:

Everton

Although many think of them as a Liverpool-based club, technically, Everton don’t play where their name would suggest.

Goodison Park, their home since 1892, is based in the Walton district of the city, about a mile-and-a-half away from the region known as Everton. Before then, they didn’t play in Everton, either – they played at the nearby Stanley Park and, of course, at Anfield, before Liverpool took over.

And if and when their protracted stadium move to Bramley Moore Dock, situated more in the centre of Liverpool, is completed (expected to be in 2022-2023), Everton would actually be even further away from Everton itself then, given the docks are about two-and-a-half-miles away from this particular pocket of the city.

Manchester United

This is a more controversial one, and is open to interpretation to a certain extent. United’s ground, Old Trafford, is about two miles outside of Manchester city centre, but is located in what is known as ‘Greater Manchester’.

Greater Manchester consists of ten Metropolitan Borough Councils created by the 1974 Local Government Act – the city of Manchester is one and the borough of Trafford is another. United are considered not within the city itself because of these boundaries between Manchester and Trafford less than a mile to the north of the stadium.

United were founded in the area of Newton Heath, which is clearly within the city itself, but they then moved to Old Trafford in 1910. Whether you consider them part of Manchester today really depends if you see Greater Manchester as part of Manchester, then.

Barnet

Barnet’s home since 2013 has been The Hive, but when they left their previous ground, the Underhill Stadium, the left the London Borough of Barnet, too.

Indeed, The Hive is actually located in Canons Park, Harrow, which is about seven miles away from Barnet itself.

The club had said they considered this to be a temporary home of theirs, with the long-term aim being to build a 10,000-seater stadium back in Barnet, but those plans were shelved in 2015.

Grimsby Town

Likewise, Grimsby’s Blundell Park stadium is found in the seaside resort of Cleethorpes, on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire.

The 9,052-seater ground, which was built in 1899 but has retained only one of its original stands, succeeded Abbey Park as the Mariners’ home; a ground which was actually based in Grimsby itself.

There have been talks of a stadium move of late, though, with a ground near Freeman Street or on an unused site near Grimsby Docks being talked up as two possible locations.

AFC Wimbledon

And finally, the (relatively) newly-formed AFC Wimbledon, who came into being in 2002, after the original Wimbledon FC were relocated to Milton Keynes and became MK Dons, still don’t actually play in Wimbledon.

Their ground, Kingsmeadow, which they shared with Kingstonian FC and Chelsea Women until 2017, is actually found in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames. This is about 13 miles from the south-west London district of Wimbledon itself.

Though plans are afoot for a move to a new ground on the site of the obsolete Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, which is just 250 yards from Plough Lane, Wimbledon FC’s home until 1991. The club aim to have the stadium ready for the 2020–21 season, with more than 5,000 supporters contributing to the investment needed.

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