A new exhibition celebrating architecture within football has opened at RIBA North on the Liverpool waterfront. ‘Home Grounds’, which is inspired by Everton’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium, aims to shed light on the stories surrounding some of the most famous grounds in Britain.
Pete Collard, curator of the exhibition said: “Hill Dickinson was the inspiration really, my wife’s family live in Crosby so I’m up on the train quite a lot. Over the last few years, I’ve been watching the stadium build and grow in size. It was really noticeable how many people stopped what they were doing and watched this beautiful new piece of architecture going up.”
The exhibition also features photographs from the early 20th century, one of which showcases Stamford Bridge, the home of Chelsea, in its early years. Mr Collard said: “It goes into early British society and really sort of shows how people were using their leisure time. You can pick out the fashion, you know, what people were wearing, the adverts that were in and around the ground. It’s a really lovely snapshot of the early 20th Century.”
A model of Milan’s San Siro Stadium, which has been specially shipped from Italy, and early renovation plans for Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium are on display. Mr Collard shared the importance of celebrating both of Liverpool’s football clubs in the curation of the exhibition.
He said: “I put Feyenoord’s Stadium in there because it’s a really important piece of 1930s architecture, but of course, Everton won the Cup Winner’s Cup there. I hope we’ve created something engaging and something that everyone can engage with or can find interesting, not just football fans, not just people into architecture, it’s a snapshot of British society.
“I think what I’m most pleased about as curator is the range of materials that we’ve got on, like the really early black and white film footage at the beginning, which was a very deliberate attempt to to take people back in time.”
You can see ‘Home Grounds’ at RIBA North until 25th January 2026.
