Stadium guide

Marine AFC stadium guide for visitors

Neighbours' gardens back onto three sides of the pitch, five in six people stand, and in 2021 they drew Tottenham in the biggest mismatch the FA Cup has ever produced.

8 min read Facts last checked 29 Aug 2026

The short version. Marine play at Rossett Park in Crosby, north of Liverpool, capacity 3,058 — of which only 519 are seats. In January 2021 they drew Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup third round, a tie with 161 league places between the two clubs — the biggest gap in the competition's history. Houses back onto three sides of the ground, and during that match some neighbours watched from their own gardens.

Rossett Park from a drone: a green pitch filling the frame with only narrow strips of stand around it, and the back gardens and roofs of terraced and semi-detached houses pressed directly against three sides of the ground, with a residential street and parked cars along the fourth — Rossett Park from above. The gardens of the surrounding houses adjoin three sides of the pitch — which is how neighbours watched a Tottenham cup tie from their own lawns. Photo by MediaMarine, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

161 places

On 10 January 2021 Marine, then in the eighth tier, played Tottenham Hotspur at Rossett Park in the third round of the FA Cup. One hundred and sixty-one league positions separated them — the largest gap between two clubs in the history of the competition.

Spurs won 5–0, which was the least interesting part. The match was played behind closed doors during the pandemic, and the club sold virtual tickets to people who could not attend, raising over £300,000 — transformative money for a club of this size, from supporters all over the world who simply wanted it to happen.

And because the gardens of the surrounding houses adjoin three sides of the pitch, residents watched from their own back gardens. One supporter is on record as having sat on a wall a few yards from where José Mourinho was standing.

The gardens

That is not a one-off curiosity, it is what this ground is. Rossett Park is hemmed in by ordinary suburban houses on three sides, close enough that the gardens function as an unofficial extra stand.

This series has collected a number of grounds wedged into where people live — Bielefeld's Alm with terraced houses against the wall, Osnabrück's Bremer Brücke, Luton's turnstiles built into a residential terrace. Marine is the extreme case. There is no car park, no concourse and no separation between the football and the street; you walk down a suburban road and there it is.

Standing, drinking and no fences

Of 3,058 places, 519 are seats. Around five in six people here are standing.

Marine play in the National League North, the sixth tier. The Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc.) Act 1985 applies to designated matches — the top five tiers, internationals and the FA Cup from the first round proper — so ordinary league matches here are not designated and clubs at this level commonly serve beer you can drink in sight of the pitch.

One caveat worth carrying: if you come for an FA Cup tie from the first round proper onwards, the designation applies and the restriction comes back for that match. The qualifying rounds earlier in the autumn do not.

There is also no Football League segregation. Changing ends at half time is normal.

Getting there

By train: Blundellsands & Crosby is a short walk, on the Merseyrail Northern line from Liverpool Central. Around twenty-five minutes from the city.
Pairing: Liverpool, Everton and Tranmere are all within half an hour. Merseyside supports a three-ground weekend across four divisions.
Match ticket and transport: not included.

Tickets

Cheap and available at the gate. Turn up and pay. The FA Cup is the exception; if Marine draw a league club again, do not expect to walk in.

The ground itself

A small main stand, terracing on the rest, floodlights, and houses over the fence. It is unglamorous and completely unmodernised in the ways that matter, and for a groundhopper that is the attraction rather than the drawback.

Marine's ground carries a sponsor's name on paper. Everyone says Rossett Park.

Eating and drinking at the ground

Non-league catering, which beats the professional version: pies, chips, tea, and a clubhouse bar where the beer is cheap and you can take it outside to watch. The clubhouse before kick-off is where the afternoon actually starts.

Crosby and Liverpool before the match

One of Antony Gormley's cast-iron figures on Crosby beach at sunset: a life-size rusted human form standing alone in wet sand, silhouetted against a pink and orange sky, with promenade lights reflected in the shallow water behind and a second figure visible far off — One of the hundred iron figures of *Another Place*, standing on Crosby beach fifteen minutes from the ground. The tide covers and uncovers them twice a day. Photo by Andrew Dunn, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

What to see

Another Place — on Crosby beach, fifteen minutes from the ground: one hundred life-size cast-iron figures by Antony Gormley, standing on three kilometres of sand and looking out to sea. The tide covers and uncovers them twice a day. It is one of the great public artworks in Britain and it is free, permanent and almost never crowded.
Liverpool's waterfront — twenty-five minutes: the Three Graces, the Albert Dock, Tate Liverpool and the Museum of Liverpool.
The Beatles — the Cavern, the Beatles Story, and the National Trust tours of Lennon's and McCartney's childhood homes, which need booking.
Liverpool Cathedral — the largest cathedral in Britain, with a tower you can go up.

What to eat and drink

Scouse — the lamb or beef stew the city is named after, with pickled red cabbage.
Chip barm — chips in a bread roll, and not open to discussion.
Fish and chips on the coast — Crosby is on the sea and does it properly.
Cask bitter in the clubhouse — cheaper than anything you will drink in the city.

Common questions

Was the Tottenham tie really a record?

Yes — 161 league places apart, the biggest gap between two clubs in FA Cup history. Marine lost 5–0 and raised over £300,000 from virtual tickets sold worldwide.

Do people really watch from their gardens?

The gardens adjoin three sides of the ground, and during the Tottenham tie — played behind closed doors — residents did exactly that. On an ordinary Saturday you are better off paying at the turnstile.

Can I drink watching the match?

At league matches, generally yes. At FA Cup ties from the first round proper, no — the designation applies and the restriction returns for that fixture.

Is it worth going on an ordinary Saturday?

That is rather the point. The Tottenham tie is what made the name travel, but what you are collecting is a sixth-tier ground with three thousand places, five in six of them standing, wedged into a suburb, with a beer in your hand and no fence between you and anything. There are perhaps a dozen grounds in England this unspoiled and they are not getting more common.

What should I do with the morning?

Crosby beach and the Gormley figures. Check the tide times; at high water most of them are underwater, which is its own kind of impressive.

Five in six people standing, houses on three sides, and the biggest mismatch the FA Cup has ever produced. Add Rossett Park to your bucket list and walk the beach among the iron men first.