To not want to live next to a football stadium?

[Nataliaa]

We’ve found a house that in all ways is perfect for us. In terms of price, close to work, size, minimal work needed - we could happily live with the interior, as it is- so no rush to put our stamp on it. No renovations needed. However, it is very close to a football stadium. My DH is saying if I let that one negative sway my decision, we would be turning down our dream family home and as we have been house hunting for 6 months and have not come close to finding any house that ticks so many of our wants, we would regret not going for this one.
My DH says that whilst there may be some disruption on match days, it’s not going to be every single weekend, and therefore minimal.
Am I really being picky, or would this be an issue for others?? Would you happily live near a football stadium?

I can't stand football and get really irritated by the noise from the very small (but ambitious) football club a few hundred yards from my house. The yelling throughout evenings and weekends is painful but probably more so because I view the game so negatively. There are quite a lot of parking issues for people who live closer every weekend and the lights in the evenings affect those who live closest too.

I can't imagine you will only notice the club on big match days so, if it will bother you, I wouldn't risk it. If you aren't likely to be bothered by general noise, lights and parking and will only feel affected by big match days and large crowds, you could just plan around them by going out on those days.

Up until recently I lived 5 minutes walk to a Championship ground. The main problem was parking as we were the first street nearest the ground that wasn't permit only so everyone parked on our street and it was on street parking only. If you timed it wrong you were walking around 5 minutes from your car to your door which is not ideal with shopping/kids. This was the only issue and we just got used to it, I didn't mind it and it was actually really handy as DS had a season ticket from 12 and could get there and back by himself. If it's going to annoy you though don't do it, there is no point being wound up every other Saturday when you can just find a different house without these issues.

I used to live 5 mins from the emirates and honestly it was fine! Match day parking if people were coming over was a bit annoying but in terms of fans being loud etc it wasn’t a problem. Quite entertaining really. If it’s your dream home I’d say go for it. You’ll have double glazing so won’t hear anything anyway.

In 2002 I was a volunteer in St John Ambulance. I was asked to provide first aid support at a Millwall home match against Birmingham.
This is what happened.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/may/04/footballviolence.football

We St John Ambulance volunteers had to be barricaded into the first aid room till 2am and then the police blue lighted us to our various homes.
The rioters intentionally hurt the Police Horses. They broke bottles and used the broken glass to slash at the horses legs.

The house has an affordable price for a reason.

I live 100 meters from a championship football ground, it's really not that bad and if you have off street parking even better, I am not a football supporter but have been there to see many a band, most recently foo fighters and Artic monkeys, you can get fixture dates in advance and plan leaving home around them, it's really just 20 mins for the area to clear after As we are so close during matches there is a police presence so any trouble, if any, is further away. We also have rugby and womans football although they aren't so busy, I have been in my house 30 years and have never witnesses any trouble first hand and have no plan on moving.

During university, they built a football (American) stadium next to the school.
It was also next to some pricey condos that college professors and wealthy students had purchased - and they were furious. Their property value dropped significantly.
Because it was a huge college city, every game was packed and the parking lot filled immediately. The streets everywhere were lined with cars. The noise was unbearable.
That remains today. The school football team is also a winner, climbing through leagues, which attracts more interest, which attracts more fans.
And the planners didn’t care, because “school spirit and football.” And money - don’t forget about money.
I can remember being blocks away and hearing the announcer and the roar of the crowd.
Then they added a baseball diamond to it. So hundreds of day games began.
The noise wasn’t every night, but it wasn’t just the noise - it was the parking and oh - the vandalism by “fans.”

If moved football moved, it will be turned into concert stadium everyday or weekend.

Leyton Orient - I’d live next door to. Arsenal, Spurs, Crystal Palace - no. Planning your whole life around football fixtures would be tiresome.

Millwall?

I lived next to a stadium on match days in the 90’s. I would actually go to a match and get inside the stadium as this will give you the best idea as to atmosphere (fun rowdy, dangerous rowdy etc).

it becomes second nature to avoid/plan when you live there and it becomes second nature like avoiding school traffic if you can. Also when the match is on, there’s very little crowds/disruption as they’re all in the stadium.
I definitely wouldn’t refuse a house for this reason only.

I lived on the road to Old Trafford for years and it was absolutely fine (The Firm didn’t exactly have the greatest reputation either).

But never any trouble, no mess left, you barely notice match days (and it’s 70,000 at OT!). Nice to hear the gigs from the upstairs windows on the odd nights they’re on too.

I think you’ll probably lose the house if you wait until August but sounds like you weren’t sold on the whole idea from the get go..

It's really rare to have large fights break out at matches nowadays.

The old football firms are all but gone.

I think you could be shooting yourself in the foot by listening to outdated reputations.

By all accounts, this sounds like the perfect family home for you and you've been looking for some time.

How fast do houses sell in the area? If they tend to get snapped up then I'd say go for it and move in a couple of years if you hate it.

At the end of the day we're talking pretty much one match a fortnight through the season. Not much, is it?

I have a simple philosophy which I find quite useful....compromises are inevitable when buying a house (even if money is no object incidentally) but only compromise on things that will irritate you some days not every day.

Living on a noisy busy road will irritate you every day; living close to a football stadium may irritate you 25 times a year for just a few hours.

It wouldn't bother me unless all the roads are closed on a match day. For a 20,000 seater stadium it probably won't be that bad. Living near an 80,000 seater is a different matter.

Our local football stadium has massive lights that are on all night in winter to make the grass grow. The light irritates me, and when I say local, it’s 5 miles away, so hardly on my doorstep. Just another thing to think about. I don’t know if all stadiums do this, mind you.

Oh and I don’t think 6 months is all that long for house hunting. It took us two years. I’m glad we didn’t make some of the compromises we considered during that time. I’d keep looking if I was you.

My uncle lives a couple of streets from a ground that gets 40,000 fans per match. Parking is permit only but it is on-street rather than private driveways. On a matchday he doesn't use his car at all because it's too hard to find a space, even with the permits.

Grandparent lives a little further away from the same ground, but still in the permit area. No more than a mile away. Plenty of parking there but the bigger issue is not being able to visit on a matchday as we don't have a permit to park.

The area around the ground gets so so busy around an hour before and an hour after kick off, you wouldn't want to be driving around in it anyway.

As others have said, how close and how big is it?
can you visit on a typical match day to get an idea of how much the home is affected.
Does DH support the home team?!

On the road. Before it starts !!

I lived by a ground once, it was while I was renting and looking to buy elsewhere. Generally it was ok, knew when to expect things to get busy but there’s one team known to bring a bit of bother and their fans were really poorly behaved, litter everywhere, rowdy, pissing in the bushes, walking through the grounds of the flats rather than the pavement along the main road. Grim.

The reason it’s unexpected (available) is that it’s close to Millwall!
Doesn’t matter how nice it is, remember Location, Location, Location!
How much more expensive would this house be if it wasn’t near Millwall, probably a lot!

I wouldnt never ever.
I had a former work friend i still keep in touch with who lived near the Etihad stadium in Manchester.
I dont drive but they did.
It was horrendous on not just match days but when they had concerts events too.
Its not the best area in Manchester either.
They lived there for just under four years then decided to move.
It took ages to sell about three years.
Its your decision to make but knowing what happened to my friend i just wouldnt go there.

I came on to say it's fine really, you just plan round it and it's quite nice to hear the cheering. Here in south Nottingham all 3 sports grounds are close together so most weekends have a match. Millwall is another matter! But IME many of these places are fine in day to day life despite their reputation. In London many people have to trade some kind of railway/sports ground/ tourist attraction/flight path to get a bit of extra space and they still manage to get on ok.

I lived near the a very large stadium and had the wrong coloured car, had my windows smashed in a few times then decided to move away (and get a garage). If you are on a route they all walk past on the way home you might have the same issue.

I used to live a few hundred metres from a small team ground and grew up near a (then) premier league team. I loved it really, the noise on a match day and the atmosphere. I'm not a football fan but it's quite nice being near a stadium. I would say though you're likely to get your drive blocked/people asking to park there etc if very close and other disruption but wouldn't rule it out. We never had parking or even on street parking because of yellow lines so wasn't an issue for us