Twickenham Stadium began life as a humble cabbage patch before being purchased by the Rugby Football Union for just over £5.500 in 1907. In 1906, Harlequins were invited to use the new national stadium's facilities in Twickenham by the RFU. The ground displayed its First game in 1909 between Harlequins and other local side Richmond. In the early days only a few internationals were played at the stadium throughout the season and the ground remained as the Headquarters of the Harlequin Rugby Football Club up until 1963 when the Quins acquired an athletics ground with 14 acres just over the road which became the Twickenham Stoop Stadium in later years. To day Twickenham Stadium is the home of English Rugby and seats an impressive 82,000 spectators making it the largest dedicated rugby union venue in the world.
On November the 21st 2009 I attended the autumn international between England and New Zealand. These photos were taken throughout the day and work as a good source of comparisons to the Twickenham Stoop.
This image shows shoppers coming into contact with spectators in a busy Church Street.
On Twickenham Stadium match days a large percentage of roads in the area are closed off to vehicles. This is to prevent over crowding between spectators and other members of the public. This procedure is not necessary for Harlequins games as the Stoop's capacity is a good 68,000 smaller than Twickenham.
This photo taken on the London Road shows the positioning of barriers in an attempt to divide the flow of pedestrians.
One key source of transport that is heavily relied on on match days are the trains. This demand means that additional services and platform exits as well as open barriers are used.
Here you can see the swarms of spectators from the train station flooding onto the roads surface.
Another procedure that is put in specifically on international match days is large quantities of police on foot and horseback to monitor crowds.
The only point where the flow of spectators cross paths with traffic is at the Whitton roundabout which is intersected by the A316. Here Police are used to alternate the movement of vehicles and pedestrians.
From this point its just a straight journey to the stadium gates.
Security is an incredibly important feature at the stadium with the venue being the 5th biggest terrorist threat in the country.
All spectator movement at Twickenham goes on behind seated areas. This prevents in stand disturbance during the entertainment.
The stadiums atmosphere is enclosed emphasising the power and emotion of the occasion.
This photo was taken after the match of the Twickenham Stoop Stadium from the exterior of the upper tear.
After the match crowds are directed how to continue their journey by large electric boards positioned in the road's centre.
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