Stadia
The question of where Guildford United would play their home games figured largely when discussions began about setting up a professional football club in Guildford in 1920. Guildford FC, 'The Pinks', played their matches at the Woodbridge Road Sports Ground and some suggested a groundshare agreement could be negotiated. Most, however, agreed the club should have a ground of its own.
Eventually an approach was made to Mr W. Triggs Turner who owned land in Guildford, and he made a very generous offer. Not only was he prepared to support the project, but he interested himself personally in the formation of the new club, and granted a loan to acquire the Joseph's Road ground. Mr Triggs Turner later set the seal on his generosity by wiping off the mortgage, and when the club came into being he was elected the first chairman of the directors.
The original Guildford City spent their entire existence at Joseph's Road, before it was sold for development in 1974. The ground had a capacity of around 10,000, the record attendance being 9,932 for an FA Cup replay against Aldershot in the 1938/39 season.
The present Guildford City play at the athletics stadium at the Spectrum Leisure Centre in Guildford. Initially this was an extremely basic ground but following City's promotion to the CCL Premier League in 2003/04 it was upgraded to meet the requirements of the division – a covered stand with 135 seats, a new officials changing room and toilets for public use being built. City used Cranleigh's ground while these changes were being made.
Further improvements were made in 2011 to meet requirements for Step 4 football, including extra seating and hard standing around two further sides of the pitch. The record attendance was set on 8th September 2012 when the visit of Kingstonian in the FA Cup First Qualifying Round drew a crowd of 295 spectators. The club is keen to relocate from the ground however, and has pursued various options including groundsharing with Woking and joining community regeneration projects - none of which has yet come to fruition.
Read more about this topic: Guildford City F.C.