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Bill's Take - Bland 'Pride Park' In Need Of A New Name!
Bill's Take - Bland 'Pride Park' In Need Of A New Name!
Thursday, 29th Aug 2013 13:32 by Bill Riordan

As football supporters - all of us have one quality that applies to an almost unique degree — that quality? Loyalty! Unlike our relationships with employers, spouses and even kids, it is unheard of for a football supporter to change allegiance except under extreme duress. No matter what indignities the club subjects us to, most will forgive them and remain faithful.

That said, for me, there's one little matter that makes following Derby County just that bit harder than it should be.

It’s all in a name and that name is… ‘Pride Park’. I don't mean the stadium. The Rams did an excellent job of recognizing that the old ground was no longer fit for purpose, and replacing it with a spanking new stadium that was well located, about the right size, and at a reasonable cost by today's standards.

No, the problem is ‘Pride Park’ - it’s bland, it's vanilla, it’s banal!

It sounds like a brand of white loaf. It has no historical connection and means nothing.

For over a century, the Rams' ground had one of the most splendidly quirky names of any major sports venue. Everybody who knew anything about football knew that Derby played at the Baseball Ground. Pride Park is almost a punishment for all those years of zaniness.

The low point for football ground names, as with many other things, is probably The City Ground. Yet it’s hardly worse than Pride Park.

Some clubs have sold naming rights to their stadium; The Reebok Stadium, The Galpharm Stadium and so on. These are certainly not names to be commended but I think I would prefer the Rams to play at The Toyota Stadium than Pride Park. I even think the Flint, Bishop and Barnett Stadium has a nice Dickensian ring to it... I first heard of Pride Park in the mid-90's. I think the government had organized some urban renewal competition to mark the millennium, and Derby had the praiseworthy idea of creating a commercial park on the old railway property, under the name Pride Park. Fair enough but it was only ever a marketing person's idea of branding.

When the club built the new stadium there, they didn't have to use that same name. They could have called it The Football Stadium. That would have been just as nice.

Creativity is not my strong suit, but in response to popular demand I'll try a couple of suggestions.

How about ‘Chad Sidings’? It gives a hat tip to a part of town where many Rams fans live, and has the right historical connection.

Or here's another ‘Bass's Rec’. It recognizes a Derby benefactor of bygone days, and again has a historic relevance.

If you really want me to wax poetic, I give you ‘The Second Century Stadium’. The Baseball Ground was the first century stadium. Geddit?

Can I really be the only one who is so disenchanted with Pride Park? The only one who thinks a name should mean something?

If so, I'll just have to swallow my pride...


Do you think Bill has a point? Do you like the name ‘Pride Park’ or like Bill would you like a new name even if that meant a sponsor took the title?

Let us know what you think in the comments section below, in our forum or on our Facebook page by clicking on the link at the top of this page. Perhaps it should have been changed the day the below video was released!?




Photo: Action Images



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ramdanj added 01:45 - Aug 29
How about Clough's Colosseum or Clough's Cauldron - looks back to our finest moments as a club and is also current.
Even when Nigel leaves it still has deep meaning and would really annoy that red mob down the road.
For that reason alone it would be worth it! :)
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popsider added 17:21 - Aug 29
Totally agree with this one, I never understood why we named our ground after an industrial estate.
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davram added 19:30 - Aug 29
Well, PPS is basically a deluxe version of Boro's Riverside Stadium, and the Rams' home is just as close to our own local waterway, so perhaps the "Derwent Stadium" or "Derwent Park" would be popular and give the stadium a proper identity that also locates it in the town that derives it's actual name from the river.

Would Ramzoners be prepared to support that idea?

Why would anyone want it to be named after a brand of car or a firm of solicitors? That one sure beats me!


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WanChopeTwoChop added 00:11 - Aug 30
Lol. 'Clough Colosseum' - I like that! :) Surely Bloomer is the obvious one?
Steve Bloomer Stadium. Says it all :)
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HarryStorer added 00:13 - Aug 30
Maybe we should wait and see if Nigel finally gets us going - if not be could lure Igor back to 'Stimac stadium' ;0) he he
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1960Ram added 03:45 - Aug 30
Davram: sometimes whimsical non-sequiturs are part of my sense of humour; sorry if it didn't work! The thing is, no fan wants the stadium to carry the name of a commercial sponsor, but the Toyota stadium - which may be a contender if the Rams chose to go that way - would be no worse than PP for me; that's how much I dislike the name. Obviously the Flint, Bishop & Barnett Stadium is a non-starter; they seem to be a sponsor, so I offered it as an alternative to Toyota.
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davram added 09:45 - Aug 30
Yes, Bill - I just worry too much about GSE taking all fans' comments seriously sometimes!

If the stadium (or its public image) was to be "enhanced" for mainly commercial reasons, maybe an association with a prestigious English company that has very strong local connections would work better - perhaps the Rolls Royce Stadium or Royal Crown Derby Stadium would be names that carry the city's other jewels further afield...
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Richard7 added 10:02 - Aug 30
Millwall have called their new stadium the New Den in recognition of the name of their former ground. If we followed that example ours could be called the New Baseball Ground - or would a certain section of fans consider it to be too Americanised?
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