San Francisco 49'ers
Candlestick Park
Candlestick Park is the 69,732 capacity home of one of the most famous names in American Sports, the San Francisco 49'ers. Built in 1960 it was originally the home of the city's baseball team (the Giants who moved out west from New York in the 50's) and it was something of a surprise to me that, when the two teams shared the stadium (prior to the baseball team's move to the AT&T park), the 49'ers were very much the junior partner with somewhat cramped changing facilities.
Now regular readers will know that we are not big fans of the 'stadium tour' as we find them somewhat limiting and, at the end of the day, stadiums should have fans and players. But given the fact that the stadium is in it's final year prior to the 49'ers move to Santa Clara ( and the horrifically named Levi's Stadium) and to me, as someone who grew up with Channel 4's American Football in the 80's, just the name of this place has an aura of sporting excellence, I jumped at the change to go. I also had to see for myself how the seat extensions (that used to retract for baseball) worked.
However, this tour is unlike any other I have been on. Firstly it is not run by the club, but by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, and in particular a fan of the team, Amanda, who spent time touring other stadiums to see what was good and what wasn't in each one.
The result is the only truly 'no access barred' tour I have ever been on or heard of. You visit everywhere, and I mean everywhere, including the holy grail of tours; the home changing rooms and the pitch. And by pitch I don't mean just to the edge. No into the end zone, past the posts and onto the pitch itself. She even brings a ball with her so you can pass it around and catch a touchdown (by the way, I did not know how small American Footballs are!!!)
So if you are in the bay area make sure you put aside some time to visit the 'stick'. Not only will you be visiting a famous name in world stadia, but you will also be doing the best tour in World Stadia.
I understand Amanda is working on a tour for the new stadium when it is open. Whilst the stadium will, naturally, not be as good (new stadiums never are) I have every faith the tour will be. I look forward to visiting.
Now regular readers will know that we are not big fans of the 'stadium tour' as we find them somewhat limiting and, at the end of the day, stadiums should have fans and players. But given the fact that the stadium is in it's final year prior to the 49'ers move to Santa Clara ( and the horrifically named Levi's Stadium) and to me, as someone who grew up with Channel 4's American Football in the 80's, just the name of this place has an aura of sporting excellence, I jumped at the change to go. I also had to see for myself how the seat extensions (that used to retract for baseball) worked.
However, this tour is unlike any other I have been on. Firstly it is not run by the club, but by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, and in particular a fan of the team, Amanda, who spent time touring other stadiums to see what was good and what wasn't in each one.
The result is the only truly 'no access barred' tour I have ever been on or heard of. You visit everywhere, and I mean everywhere, including the holy grail of tours; the home changing rooms and the pitch. And by pitch I don't mean just to the edge. No into the end zone, past the posts and onto the pitch itself. She even brings a ball with her so you can pass it around and catch a touchdown (by the way, I did not know how small American Footballs are!!!)
So if you are in the bay area make sure you put aside some time to visit the 'stick'. Not only will you be visiting a famous name in world stadia, but you will also be doing the best tour in World Stadia.
I understand Amanda is working on a tour for the new stadium when it is open. Whilst the stadium will, naturally, not be as good (new stadiums never are) I have every faith the tour will be. I look forward to visiting.