Hull City's lofty dreams of revitalising iconic former stadium

A group of Hull City supporters are making swift progress in their hope to regenerate an area around the MKM Stadium that holds significant cultural importance to the history of a proud football club.

City's former ground on Anlaby Road is now under years of vegetation, but beneath the committed greenery, a piece of history remains and it's well on the way to being given a new lease of life and could yet house supporters for the first time in almost a century in a nod to its former glories.

The Tigers played at the venue known as The Circle between 1906 and 1939, but the ground suffered extensive damage during the Second World War, and while City did use it as a training facility and reserve team venue for a period when British Railways decided it would be a grand idea to let trains run across it in the 1960s when a spur line opened, and it became nothing more than a piece of derelict habitat stuck in no man's land, but that could be about to change.

What remains of the ground is conveniently stuck between two railway lines and is the only surviving memory of those early years of the club, having been built prior to one of the most famous 'Kop' stands in football, at Anfield, the home of Liverpool.

Since Tigers fans last stood on Spion Kop, the Tigers have played their football at their beloved Boothferry Park ground from 1946 onwards and, more recently, the MKM Stadium, the 25,000-all-seater arena they share with rugby league outfit Hull FC.

Gone are the days of seeing open terraces at football stadiums in the Premier League and Championship, but in West Park, there remains the original standing terrace, and it's hoped that in the near future, it could be brought back to life in a project which could cost as much as £1m.

City's Supporters' Trust, the local council and the football club are working together in a bid to bring the area back to life, though much will depend on the state of the stand's rear wall, which should become clearer in the next few days once initial exploration work has taken place, but assuming it gets the green light, work can press ahead in turning the area into a shrine to the club's proud heritage, and one that can provide joy for years to come.

Part of the exciting plans to regenerate an otherwise derelict piece of land would see members of the public once again able to sit on the terrace and walk along a colourful, well-lit area in what is viewed as a key part of the club's ambition to showcase and promote its history, providing a unique experience and not just on matchday, while fans who want to get involved can have their names etched throughout along the Walk of Legends.

"Usually, when football and rugby grounds are demolished, little or no physical traces survive, so the rediscovery of remnants of Anlaby Road’s Spion Kop is of genuine interest and importance in terms of our wider national sporting heritage. This is especially so given that the ‘football terrace’ – that is, the mound or slope upon which millions of fans stood for their thrills, spills and companionship – represents, arguably, one of the great cultural icons of 20th Century life in Britain," said Simon Inglis, expert and lecturer on sports architecture.

The club are right behind the project and is looking into ways they can help bring the project to life, both practically and financially, which will be crucial in helping it get off the ground.

One key reason for the project is to remember the City's heritage, especially as there is almost nothing to remember about Boothferry Park, something that irks Geoff Bielby, who is involved along with Chris Smith, the Tigers fan behind the plot, which has been nine years in the making, having been formerly called the Anlaby Road Tribute project.

"It's been a long-standing project where we needed to get all the stars aligned, and that's exactly what's happened in the last few months," Bielby told Hull Live. "It's going to preserve it for the future, maintain the bramble-ridden detritus rough area that it is at the moment, and preserve what we believe is the oldest open terrace without barriers in existence in the country.

"All the other previous sports grounds in the city, the Boulevard, the two previous KR grounds and the Circle cricket ground, there isn't a trace of any of them left, yet we've got a sizeable proportion of an open terrace built in 1906 still there right next to the ground.

"Our vision is to work with the Tigers Trust to do educational projects with the Trust in the schools, the kids can have history lessons about Hull City when they do stadium tours with the Trust. There's so much scope that we can achieve.

"Absolutely (bring the area to life on a matchday); we're right next to where the media trucks park for a televised game. I, like many others, often park in town and walk across the walkway, and the only day you walk on there because of the security gates is on a matchday, but you're walking along (what used to be) the six-yard box. That is history people aren't even aware of exists. People don't realise you're actually walking across (what used to be the pitch) it. We want to bring it back to life and preserve it for the future, so fans know about it."

READ MORE: Hull City's exciting Anlaby Road Spion Kop recovery plans

When the project starts and concludes remains up in the air just at the moment, though it's hoped that timescales may become clearer by the end of the month, and it's hoped once it's complete, it will be a unique jewel in the city's crown for generations to come.

"We'll get spades in the ground, get the thing cleared," Bielby continued. "The big thing at the minute, which we're hopefully going to do this week, is to do some test rigs to check the foundations to see how much of the terrace is under the ground. The retaining wall at the back is the key thing, and if that's structurally safe, then we can get equipment on the terrace to clear it.

"If it's unsafe, then we're going to have to underpin it and make it safe, which is going to add to the expense. Until we have that information, there are not a lot of concrete plans we can put down.

"Mike Ross from the council has been immensely supportive. He's given us £1,000 from the Leadership Fund. We've got the council, the local MP - Emma Hardy - the club and now what we need to do is sell the concept to fans and hopefully get them to buy in (along the Legends Walkway).

"For us, it is a bit like an archaeological dig, although it's only Edwardian history. It's something a lot of people in the city don't even realise existed; they just think Hull City played at Boothferry Park which they didn't until until 1946. It's educating and getting people involved. The really exciting thing for me is if we can work together with the club and the Tigers Trust to get an educational piece into school; it's a way of getting kids interested in football. The world's our oyster, really, if we can get it done properly.

"It is unique with regard to a little bit of football heritage, and if we can keep pressing the right buttons in the right areas, it will go really well. There's zero recognition for Boothferry Park apart from a couple of street names, and this is an opportunity to put that right. It's about trying to preserve a bit of Hull's sporting history."