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Gander Green Lane

Gander Green Lane, currently known as the VBS Community Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Sutton, Greater London, and is the home ground of Sutton United Football Club and Crystal Palace Women. The record attendance for Gander Green Lane is 14,000 when Sutton United lost 6–0 to Leeds United in the fourth round of the 1969–70 FA Cup.

History
During the 19th century, the Gander Green Lane site was used as allotments and open fields. The ground was originally developed during the Edwardian period. A 1913 map shows the ground designated as a "Football Ground" with a small pavilion on the northern side of the pitch and a turnstile entrance in the north-western corner via the Collingwood Recreation Ground. The ground was bounded by trees on three sides with a large residential building, Strawberry Lodge (formerly Strawberry House), to the west. To the north and east is the recreation ground and to the south was a field and pit described as a "Brick Field", which was used as a local brickworks. By 1937, Strawberry Lodge had been demolished and replaced by terraced houses, the brick field replaced by the railway line through West Sutton, a second pavilion added to the northern side of the pitch and a further pavilion erected in the south-eastern corner. None of the original pavilions survive today. Sutton United's first match at Gander Green Lane (then known as the Adult School Sports Ground) was in 1912 against Guards Depot F.C. in the FA Cup. The first league match was against Redhill and was won 1–0 in front of a crowd of over 800. In addition to football, the ground was used in the past for athletics. To fix the effects of the terraces being further away from the pitch than usual, in 2014 the ground was refurbished: the athletics track was removed and new dugouts and player tunnels were built; to move some of the stands closer to the pitch, new covered standing terraces were built behind each goal on the eastern and western sides of the pitch. The oval curvature of the two open standing terraces which sweep around the western side of the pitch allude to the ground's former use for athletics. On 22 April 2015, Sutton United announced that Sutton Common Rovers would be ground sharing Gander Green Lane from the start of the 2015–16 season. In the summer of 2015 a new artificial pitch was installed, and was officially opened on 14 July 2015 by Alan Pardew, former manager of Crystal Palace. Gander Green Lane was officially renamed the Knights Community Stadium in 2017 after the club agreed a 3-year sponsorship deal with the Knights Foundation, who in return ran Sutton United's academy until 2020. In 2020 the name reverted to the Borough Sports Ground. As of Saturday 7 August 2021, The Borough Sports Ground will be formally known as the ‘VBS Community Stadium’. This 4-season deal takes the sponsorship through to 31 July 2025. Following Sutton United's promotion to the English Football League in 2021, a number of large scale changes had to take place to bring the ground up to EFL ground grading. The artificial pitch was torn up and replaced by grass, the Shoebox was demolished, a new stand was constructed in the away end, and new floodlights and turnstiles were installed. The main hall, currently known as the MBA Lounge, is home to the Boom Boom Club music venue. ==International football==
International football
On 31 January 2018 it was announced that Gander Green Lane would be one of 10 venues used in the 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup, hosting 6 games including 2 group stage games. ==Future Upgrades==
Future Upgrades
For the 2024–25 season these upgrades have been made: • Installation of a new pitch. • Creation of a Fanzone beyond the Collingwood Road Stand, offering activities, refreshments, and music. • Designation of specific areas for home and away fans, with improvements to the fan zone and additional bars. • Expansion from 500 to over 4,000 seats on match days. • Allocation of yellow seats in the Ideal Medical Solutions Stand as a Family Enclosure, with no pedestrian route in front. • Permitted standing at specific areas, monitored by stewards. ==References==
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