The Den

The Den is a significant piece of English football history as the first new all-seated stadium built in England following the safety recommendations of the nineteen eighty-nine Taylor Report. Its design replaced the historic Old Den, which had served the club for eighty-three years, with a structure focused on short, direct escape routes to prioritize spectator safety. While the project was completed for sixteen million pounds, the layout was intentionally scaled back from its original design of thirty thousand seats to just over twenty thousand, leaving room for future expansion. The stadium officially opened in August nineteen ninety-three, replacing a site that had previously occupied housing, a local church, and a collection of playing fields known as Senegal Fields.