In the day they’re full of life and joy as countless come to experience the highs and lows of supporting their team. Though by night, as the final floodlight dims some stay alive with activity from the beyond. So here are English football’s top three most haunted stadiums…
3. St Mary’s, Southampton
Originally built upon an Anglo Saxon burial ground, St Mary’s is certainly a spooky place to be. Visitors either leave with eerie encounters or in recent years 3 points. Upon its construction, workers discovered bodies below ground. By disturbing the bodies, it was believed the stadium had inflicted upon itself a supernatural scar.
After years of staff reporting disembodied voices and shadow figures, the club decided to perform a Celtic Cleansing Ritual. Southampton won their following game but still to this day the spotting of spirits and entities around the ground isn’t uncommon.
2. St Andrew’s, Birmingham City
It’s long been believed that the Blues reside on cursed land. Local folklore states that settlers evicted from the land before the stadium was built lay down a curse of bad luck upon its next tenants. Countless managers tried to expunge the grounds of its hex, most famously in the nineties when Barry Fry urinated in all four corners of the pitch: afterwards, his side won seven of their next ten games. But after 25 years away from the top flight, some would feel a darkness still remains around the ground that they hope won’t continue into their new stadium.
1. Stadium of Light, Sunderland
Is it any surprise the North East houses England’s most haunted stadium? With players and staff chasing apparitions through corridors, Sky Broadcasts capturing ghostly shadows on the pitch and fans seeing figures roaming the grounds with Davey Lamps in hand – there’s plenty of evidence of the supernatural.
Some accredit the hauntings to an entity named Spottee an 18th century sailor that would lead ships to crash into rocks on the seafront. The presence is largely believed to be down to the stadium being built on the site of the former Wearmouth Colliery. The miners spending hours in darkness below ground would have certainly experienced their fair share of spooky happenings, and believed in the presence of pit ghosts. With the most popular sightings surrounding figures mirroring the appearance of early 20th century miners, it certainly seems the presence of pit ghosts are still felt around the ground today.