FOOTBALL


just leaves me cold. English football, on the other hand, still has the capacity to enthral, inspire and disappoint me in equal measure - even after thirty years of playing and watching the sport. Visiting an English football stadium still gives me a buzz of excitement and, even on a non-match day, I marvel at the sense of atmosphere that four empty stands and a green pitch can create. And now here I am in America, with the opportunity to explore another iconic venue - the home of the Los Angeles Galaxy. Dignity Health Sports Park is a fifty hectare site on the campus of California State University in the suburb of Carson. It is important to realise that LA is not really a city in itself, it is a county that encompasses approximately eighty cities within its boundaries. Once again, BIG!


Shaun Ilten


The suburb of Carson is fourteen miles from downtown LA and has a population of 90,000 people - that’s the equivalent of a place the size of Barnsley or Stevenage. I arrive at the stadium on a drizzly Monday morning in February (that’s right, drizzle. In LA, where it hardly ever rains) and, walking towards the entrance, I consider those who have come before me. Over the last decade, a sizable contingent of British footballers have made their way up the imposing boulevard to the ‘Dignity Health Care Sports Park’. The site houses an 8,000-seat tennis stadium, a 5,000-seat facility for track & field and a 2,450-seat


indoor velodrome for track cycling. The jewel in the crown, however, is the 27,000-capacity stadium - a light and modern arena that has been purpose built for soccer, though currently also hosts the Los Angeles Chargers American Football franchise, who are awaiting completion of their own swanky new home in nearby Inglewood. Amusingly, the ground has endured three name changes in the last seven years, having originally opened as the ‘Home Depot Centre’ in 2003, before a rebrand as the ‘StubHub Centre’ in 2013. On January 1st 2019, it was renamed once more by ‘Dignity Health’, a company that operates hospitals in the USA. I say amusingly as, given the furore that often surrounds stadium naming rights in the UK, there appears very little fuss about the constantly changing moniker. Perhaps, as a young sport, there is less of the historical burden which can hinder British clubs, or maybe the US soccer fan is simply less romantic about the whole concept of their club. In the greatest meritocracy in the world, monetising your assets is probably considered a sensible way to fund your ambition. I’d heard from colleagues in the turf trade that Shaun Ilten was an approachable, hospitable guy and, sure enough, he doesn’t disappoint when we meet. From the moment we shake hands, he keeps me (and my travelling companion) engaged and entertained.


50


PC April/May 2019


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