Luton Town’s away end has attracted plenty of attention as they push for promotion to the Premier League.
But the Hatters aren’t the only ones that boast a wacky section for travelling fans, and soon, Wrexham‘s Hollywood owners will be able to see it for themselves.
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When actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds guided the Welsh club to promotion this season and sealed a return to League Two for the first time since 2008, Wrexham fans will have hoped the days of visiting non-league style stadiums were behind them.
But promotion to League Two means facing a side in Kent that boast an away end that’s raised plenty of eyebrows from travelling fans in the EFL over the years.
Gillingham‘s Priestfield Stadium has sat slap bang in the middle of the town’s streets since the club’s formation in 1893.
The club even ground shared with Brighton and Hove Albion for two seasons in the 1990s, and the Gills soon beginning to redeveloping Priestfield to have four all-seater stands later that decade.
However one of those stands was temporary and remains temporary today – their infamous away end.
The terracing that once resided behind one of the goals was removed in 2003 and a temporary stand and was soon named after the late football commentator and Gills fan Brian Moore.
This was despite plans to build a £1.5million 3,200-seater covered away end, as funding issues meant a temporary stand had to be erected instead.
Today, Gills’ away end has a capacity of 3,400, which is considerably bigger than most away stands in League Two and was handy when the Kent club played teams with sizeable followings like Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland in League One.
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However plenty of visiting fans haven’t had the best experience sitting in the ‘scaffold stand’, particularly if it starts to rain.
With no roof or cover over it, Gills away end consists of a large piece of scaffolding, with a handful of stairways up to the faded blue seats from the concourse below built into the structure.
When sat in it, fans can look down through the gaps and see those walking up the stairs and those on the concourse below them.
What’s more, supporters standing at the top or on the edges of the stand can see into neighbouring gardens, with terrace houses lining the parameters of it.
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It’s safe to say the stand isn’t suitable for people with a fear of heights.
Before their relegation to the fourth tier in the 2021/22 season, the Gills were becoming League One stalwarts and had even been in the Championship in the early 2000s.
But despite recently being financially boosted by a takeover this campaign, Gills are a way off worrying about having to adapt their ground to suit the Premier League like Luton.
There have been reports of new owner Brad Galinson renovating the Brian Moore stand this summer, though, with the American recognising the a roof would certainly improve the experience of those visiting Priestfield.
“We need to do some work on that, we had to do some work to get it ready for the Leicester [FA Cup] game, which we did. It meant taking some of the bits from the top half down to the bottom half,” he told Kent Online.
“We probably need a plan for it come the summer, in an ideal world we would take it down and build something with a roof on it.”
As it stands, though, Wrexham’s Hollywood owners and the away fans turning up for their game at Priestfield will certainly be in for a shock.
