Stonebridge Road is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

in Northfleet, Gravesend,

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, also known as Kuflink Stadium for sponsorship reasons. It is primarily used for football matches. Stonebridge Road was constructed in

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia ( Shostakovich's 11th Symphony ...

, and was initially the home of Northfleet FC, which merged with Gravesend FC in 1946. It is currently the home ground of

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 fr ...

(formerly Gravesend & Northfleet FC). Thus, Stonebridge Road has been the home of Ebbsfleet and its predecessor football clubs for over 100 years. Although one of the Fleet's local rivals, from 2000 to 2006 Dartford had a groundsharing agreement with Ebbsfleet United to use Stonebridge Road as its home. Gillingham used Stonebridge Road briefly for home matches in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

Ground details

The stadium has a capacity of 4,769 people. The average attendance for Ebbsfleet United home ties at Stonebridge Road was 1,165 in the 2006-2007 season. When the Fleet plays at Stonebridge Road, the home supporters typically sit in the Main Stand or in the Plough End. Both those seating areas are covered, although seats were not installed in the Plough End, which is also called the Northfleet End, until 2006. Home fans also stand in the terraced Stonebridge Road Stand, which runs along the length of the pitch on the side of the stadium closest to the street and which is also covered. Away supporters typically stand in the Swanscombe End, which is an open terrace. The pitch size at Stonebridge Road is 112 by 72 yards for football matches, and the pitch is presently maintained by groundsman Peter Norton. The postcode (for maps and directions) of Stonebridge Road is DA11 9GN.

History

Ebbsfleet United, then called Gravesend and Northfleet F.C., played its first ever match after the merger of the two Kent clubs at Stonebridge Road in August 1946 against

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

. The Fleet won that first match 3–0 with more than 5,000 fans in attendance. The stadium's record attendance is 12,032, which was achieved against Sunderland in February 1963 in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

Fourth Round tie. In April 2002, the Fleet gained promotion to the top level of non-league football, the Conference National, by defeating Bedford Town on the last day of the season at The New Eyrie. The season also saw the highest modern day attendance at Stonebridge Road, an official figure of 4,068 spectators was announced for the game was against title rivals

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ( ...

, although unofficial estimates put the number closer to 6,000 fans. Following the club's victory in the FA Trophy in May 2008, the parade honouring Ebbsfleet United's victorious squad started at Stonebridge Road. In July 2014, the construction company PHB agreed a sponsorship deal with the club to rename the stadium as The PHB Stadium, Stonebridge Road. A new sponsorship deal for stadium naming rights was struck in 2017 and the ground is currently The Kuflink Stadium.

Future

In August 2009 proposals for a new stadium as part of redevelopments in the local areas were rejected by Kent County Council and Gravesham Borough Council. After the owners of the freehold put the site up for auction on 21 September, a group of former directors, Ebbsfleet supporters and MyFootballClub members set up a limited company to raise the funds to buy out the freehold. On 17 September 2009, Gravesham Borough Council announced that they had bought the ground, to be leased to the club at £1 per year, but with the option of the Club purchasing it from the Council if sufficient funds can be raised. In 2016, work began on a new multi-million pound redevelopment of the stadium with the demolition of the Liam Daish stand and adjoining terracing. The resulting structure on the Stonebridge Road side will house all of the operational and commercial offices, as well as hospitality and social facilities and seating. The new stand opened for supporters in December 2016 and was fully operational in November 2017. Because National League requirements state a stadium capacity of 4,000 is in place, the club completed work on a £200,000 strengthening of the Swanscombe End terrace to bring the Kuflink Stadium up to a capacity of 4,769, from its previous 3,134.

References

External links

Ebbsfleet United F.C. Official Site
- 360-degree panorama and photos of Stonebridge Road
Stadium images

- Club secures free hold ownership of ground {{coord, 51, 26, 58.34, N, 0, 19, 20.18, E, type:landmark, display=title Ebbsfleet United F.C. Football venues in England Sports venues in Kent Multi-purpose stadiums in the United Kingdom Sports venues completed in 1905 American football venues in England 1905 establishments in England