Key information about Crabble Athletic Stadium

Crabble Athletic Stadium was built in 1931 and it now houses National League’s Dover Athletic. The ground is located in the northern Dover suburb of River over in Kent, England, and has been the home of various different incarnations of its current tenant over the years.

Its current capacity stands at 5,745 along with a pitch that measures 113 by 73 yards. The surface of the field is covered by grass and there is no running track surrounding it.

The record attendance of just under 7,000 at Crabble Athletic Stadium was set during a clash between Dover FC. and Folkestone on 13 October 1951.

A history of Crabble Athletic Stadium

The Crabble Athletic Stadium, more commonly known as the Crabble, was built way back in 1931 and over the years, it has been the safe haven for Dover Athletic and the club’s very first iterations from back in the day. The original ground that was erected on the Crabble site dates all the way back to 1897 and that’s the year when football was first played there.

However, some years down the line, the first owners, plagued by some financial issues, decided to sell it to the town council in 1902. The pitch continued to be used for sports but mostly for cricket as football somehow faded and the team was even forced to play numerous away games since their stadium was simply unavailable.

And it wouldn’t be until 1931 that the council decided to build another pitch on that same site, only a bit up the hillside and just under the original pitch’s pavilion. A small stand was erected the year later and from then on, the ‘upper pitch’ was used for football whenever the original one was unavailable due to cricket matches.

Back then, of course, the team settled there was actually Dover FC and they were the ones doing the initial redevelopment. In 1950, they extended the small stand and a year later, they made the ‘upper pitch’ their permanent home. The first official game there was played on 6 April 1951 when Dover welcomed Fulham in a friendly clash.

In the following years, the club improved Crabble Athletic Stadium even further, first adding covered terracing and then floodlights in 1961. In 1983, Dover FC folded and in their place, Dover Athletic were born, which also prompted further investment into their home.

Even more so since they were initially refused entry to the Football Conference on account of their stadium not being up to standards. But with new turnstiles built-in, terraces behind the goals erected, new seating installed and a new grandstand on the opposite side of the pitch now constructed, Crabble Athletic Stadium was finally ready and good enough.

Between 2003 and 2004, the ground was known as Hoverspeed Stadium for sponsorship reasons and in 2007, it changed once again, this time to SeaFrance Crabble Stadium. But even that deal could only last for a solitary year before it changed anew, taking the name of Perry's Crabble Stadium in 2008.

Now, however, it is simply known as the Crabble Athletic Stadium.

Tickets to watch Dover Athletic at Crabble Athletic Stadium

All tickets to watch Dover Athletic at Crabble Athletic Stadium can be found on the club’s official website. The adult ticket can be purchased for £18 and the price will be less expensive for other age groups.

The club also offers a season ticket scheme with a yearly adult ticket costing £315.

http://www.doverathletic.com/ - Official website of Dover Athletic