The Longmead Stadium is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

stadium in

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated populat ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England. It is home to Tonbridge Angels, who currently compete in the National League South.

History

The Longmead Stadium was built in 1980 by

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...

after they had decided to redevelop Tonbridge Angels' Angel Ground in 1977 into a shopping centre. Tonbridge Angels were against the plans to evict them and demolish the Angel Ground and so took out a legal challenge against the plans. Three years later, the High Court ruled in favour of the Council but after negotiations, the Council offered the club the Longmead Stadium as compensation. One of the stands at the Longmead Stadium was named "The Jack Maddams Stand" after a former Tonbridge Angels striker who had died. In 2008, the Longmead Stadium hosted a charity match between an Alan Rodgers select XI and an All stars team that was captained by former

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

player, Gary Stevens as well as

Andy Townsend Andrew David Townsend (born 23 July 1963) is a former professional footballer and sports co-commentator for Premier League Productions and CBS Sports. As a player he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Chelsea, Aston ...

and

Jason Cundy Jason Victor Cundy (born 12 November 1969) is an English former professional footballer and radio broadcaster for talkSPORT. As a player, he was a defender, who notably played in the Premier League for Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. He also ...

Outside football

The Longmead Stadium was also used as the location of a temporary office for the

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...

branch of the charity, Headway UK after they were obliged to move from their old location at Pembury Hospital due to redevelopment of the hospital. In April 2012, the Longmead Stadium hosted a beer festival intending to show a number of

real ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...

s from areas around clubs in the Conference South. It also hosts the West Kent Garden and Leisure show. The Longmead Stadium also hosts the annual Tonbridge fireworks displays to commemorate Guy Fawkes Night.

References

{{Tonbridge Football venues in England Tonbridge Football in Kent Sports venues completed in 1980 1980 establishments in England