Hello all and welcome to soccer 101, the podcast in which we go in depth on questions like

what made Peé so special,

why do the Dutch wear orange, and what do the numbers on the backs of the shirts signify?

As always, we hope these shows will appeal to both the newbie and the veteran alike.

My name is Taylor Rockwell.

This week, we're delving into the giant concrete monolith that is the stadium.

What are some of the most iconic stadiums in the world? I'll try that stadium. What are some of the most iconic stadiums in the world?

I'm going to try that again.

What are some of the most iconic stadiums in the world?

What makes for a good one?

And how have they evolved over time to meet new demands?

Much, much more aside from those topics.

Here to join me to talk about those things is a man who spent some time in a stadium that

I think can be classified as iconic, if not, maybe aesthetically pleasing, is Graham Ruffin.

Hi, Graham. Hamden Park, how say you?

Hi, Taylor Rockwell. Yes, I mean, certainly iconic and historic, but also a dump, Hamden Park,

Scotland's national stadium, not my favourite.

Is it possible to have a, like, historically significant been around for forever stadium

and not have it also be kind of a dump?

Well, I mean, England took the route of just rebuilding their dump, so it wasn't a dump

anymore in Wembley, of course.

And that is a fully new stadium, right? They didn't refurbish the old one. Yeah, see, so I don't think it is. I think if you want to keep the history, you've got to have the falling concrete and the raccoons in the basement, a la RFK stadium, which is, I think in some ways iconic, but maybe not quite the top tier stadium we're going to be talking about today.

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