ABSTRACT
By way of introduction, let me first reveal the following passage from Nick Hornby’s bestseller Fever Pitch explaining Hornby’s search for a flat in 1989 close to his beloved Arsenal Stadium in Highbury, north London:
Hornby’s emotive words urge us to consider both the tangible and intangible heritage of football grounds; how they are valued as emblematic of aspiration and achievement; and to understand the intense sense of identity and of place which they convey in popular culture. In attempting to deconstruct or ‘excavate’ the above passage, this chapter will seek to explore football fans’ emotional and subjective attachment to these cherished locations; the different ways in which this attachment is expressed; the importance of such places as repositories for, and conduits of, public memory; and the potency of some former grounds to create new interest in history and heritage, and to generate new tourist markets and destinations.
