Elm Park (stadium)
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| Full name | Elm Park Stadium |
|---|---|
| Location | Reading, England |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
| Broke ground | 1895 |
| Built | 1896 |
| Opened | 1896 |
| Closed | 1998 |
| Demolished | 1998 |
| Owner | Reading FC |
| Surface | Grass |
| Capacity | 15,500 (final) 33,000 (record) |
| Tenants | |
| Reading Football Club (1896-1998) | |
Elm Park was a football stadium in the West Reading district of the English town of Reading. It was the home of Reading Football Club from 1896 until 1998, when they moved to the new Madejski Stadium.
The ground was situated between Norfolk Road to the north and Tilehurst Road to the south, and between Wantage Road to the west and Suffolk Road to the east.
By 1995, the club had been promoted to Division One and harboured ambitions for promotion to the Premier League. This introduced a requirement for the club to play at an all-seater stadium, and it was determined that Elm Park was unsuitable to be so converted. The club, led by its chairman John Madejski, identified a new site at Smallmead near Junction 11 of the M4 motorway, and in 1996 work started on building the new Madejski Stadium.
Relocation to the Madejski Stadium took place at the beginning of the 1998-99 season and the Elm Park stadium was demolished soon afterwards to make way for a new housing estate, also called Elm Park.
