Adams Park (High Wycombe)

Adams Park is an association football stadium in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. Built in 1990, it is the home ground of the local Wycombe Wanderers in League One.

General information

Arena capacity: 10,137 spectators

Address: Hillbottom Rd, High Wycombe HP12 4HJ, UK

GPS coordinates for the navigator: 51°37′50″N 0°48′1″W

Year of construction: 1990

Construction cost: £3.5 million

Field: Desso GrassMaster (Hybrid grass) lawn with dimensions of 105 x 68 m

Seating plan of Adams Park

PreSonus Stand (North)

Built in 1990, the stand has a capacity of 1,267, all seated (but spectators may stand in the paddock at the front of this stand if they already have a valid seat ticket). The stand also contains the club offices, changing rooms, club shop and catering facilities.

Troo Stand (East)

Supporters of the visiting team are allocated this stand for Wycombe Wanderers matches. After a number of crowd disturbances from supporters of visiting clubs who had sold out the full allocation of tickets, the licensed capacity of the stand has been reduced to 1,800. The stand has been renamed a number of times after commercial deals – the official name is the Troo Stand.

Frank Adams Stand (South)

Originally a single level terrace, this stand was expanded into a two-tier unit in 1996. When redeveloped in 1996, the stand had a capacity of 4,990 (2,842 in the upper tier, 1,738 plus 50 wheelchair spaces in the lower tier) the South Stand contains boxes for corporate hospitality, with the lower tier designated as the stadium’s Family Stand. This side of the ground is also known as the Woodlands side of the ground. The capacity of the stand has been reduced to 4,895 following these changes.

BMI Healthcare Terrace (West)

Originally called the Valley End, the BMI Healthcare Terrace is the home supporters’ end for football matches, and the only remaining standing accommodation in the stadium. After the Sports Grounds Safety Authority re-evaluated the extent of the viewing area on the Valley End that was permitted to be included in the total capacity calculation in October 2015, the terrace’s maximum capacity was provisionally reduced from 2,131 (officially licensed 1,717) to 1,494 pending remedial work to be carried out by the club in the near future.

Where to buy tickets?

There is no categorization of matches at Adams Park, but where you want to sit will affect the price of your ticket, as will your age and when you book.

Below we have given the cheapest and most expensive ticket prices for adults and concessions, but remember, you can save yourself £2 per ticket if you book before 5pm the day before the game:

• Adults: £20.00 – £26.00;
• Concession: £17.00 – £25.00.

Tickets are available online, over the phone, or in person from the Information Centre at Adams Park.

How to get there?

Wycombe is, in essence, a commuter town just outside London, so if you’re heading there from the nation’s capital then you’ll be fine. Here are some of the more standard travel options you’ll want to explore.

Train

High Wycombe is served by the Chiltern Railways line, connecting Birmingham to London Marylebone. The station is approximately 2.5 miles from the stadium, and you can either walk, head to the bus station and collect the 32 bus to the Hourglass pub and walk the rest, or travel via taxi.

Bus

Arriva operates a match day special service that runs from Wycombe Railway Station to the ground.

Car

Leave the M40 at junction 4 and follow the signs to Aylesbury on the A4010 (John Hall Way). Cross over three small roundabouts into New Road continuing down the hill to two mini roundabouts at the bottom. Turn sharp left at the first into Lane End Road and continue to the next mini roundabout at which turn right into Hillbottom Road. Adams Park is situated at the very end of the road.

Taxi

A taxi from Wycombe Station to the ground will take just under a quarter of an hour to complete its journey and should cost somewhere in the region of £10.

Park and ride

The club operates a park and ride shuttle service from West Wycombe.

Parking

There is some limited parking at the ground itself that is priced at £5, or you might want to chance your arm with some on-street parking. Keep an eye out for any relevant restrictions if you opt for this route, however.

Where to eat and sleep?

Given that Central London is less than half an hour away by train, you might want to stay in the capital and commute in. If you’d rather go for the ‘stay local option’, though, we’ve got you covered.

1. Ambassador Court Hotel. This eighteen-room hotel is just over a mile away from the stadium and has a restaurant and a fitness centre. There’s also free Wi-Fi and free parking, should you love driving and being online. Not at the same time, obviously.
2. Holiday Inn High Wycombe M40, Jct. 4. Located on the exit of the M40 that you’d want to be taking if you’re driving to the ground is this member of the Holiday Inn chain of hotels. It’s got a restaurant, a bar, a business centre and a conference space as well as free parking and Wi-Fi in the reception.
3. Crowne Plaza Hotel Marlow. About five miles from Adams Park is this Crowne Plaza hotel that is situated in a stunningly picturesque location. It has a restaurant, a bar, a full-service spa, a health club including indoor pool, a terrace area and free Wi-Fi as well as free parking.

Much like with the hotels, Central London offers you the best options for a night out in a place with bright lights. If you want to go for a pre-match pint a little closer to the stadium, however, then here are some decent options.

1. O’Neills Bar. It’s a chain pub so you know what you’re going to get here. It’s also nice and big as well as being in the centre of town so it’s great for larger groups who have just got off the train.
2. The Hourglass. Not far from the stadium is this pleasant pub that tends to get busy in the build-up to a match. It’s got a cracking beer garden and plenty of different ales on tap, and as you’d expect from a pub close to the ground, it shows live sports.
3. The White Horse. Closer to central Wycombe than the stadium, but perhaps worth the extra walk as it is very popular with away fans. Parking nearby, good prices, satellite TV, oh and some exotic dancers on Saturdays from 12.30. No admission charge!

Facilities

Adams Park is one of the better grounds in the Football League, with excellent views from pretty much everywhere, a nice atmosphere and all of the usual places you’d expect to be able to buy your pre and mid-match food and drinks from.

Executive boxes are available for hire for up to 12 people, but if you’d like something less exclusive then the club’s typical match day hospitality package takes place in the Honours Lounge, and includes a three-course meal before the game, half-time refreshments, a reserved car parking space and the best seats in the ground. Or you can opt for the Legends Lounge and take up the Captains Table hospitality package, which includes all the usual goodies plus a private visit from the team captain, hence the name.

Adams Park Conference Centre has its own dedicated website, so you know it’s good. The ground can cater for pretty much any event you can think of, from one-to-one interviews all the way through to massive parties for around four hundred people. As well as conferences, the stadium is also able to host your wedding, so do bear that in mind if you’re a Wycombe fan looking to tie the knot. They even offer the stadium as a filming location if you happen to be a film director who needs such a location.

Architectural Aspects

After producing advertising boards for their grounds back in January 2020, Wycombe Wanderers Football Club asked VGL to undertake the challenge of updating their stadium and training grounds to help modernise the 30-year-old building.

Tunnel and Entrance Walls

In order to renew the tired brickwork in the hallways and tunnel area, VGL designed, printed and installed 7 new interchangeable fabric frames across 6 walls, with smaller frames allowing updates to be made if sponsors or players changed. The brand-new design is based on the geometric pattern used in the club’s shirts and was subsequently used across all print elements VGL installed for Wycombe Wanderers.

Tunnel Club

‘Tunnel Club’ is a hospitality venue that runs alongside the pitch-side tunnel, with a window that enables guests to watch players enter and leave the pitch. Contra Vision® film was installed on this window, giving players privacy but maintaining the surreal experience for onlookers.

Stadium

VGL installed various graphics across the rest of Adams Park Stadium. These included new number stickers for each seat in the 10,000-supporter capacity arena and advertising banners which were used during high-profile televised games. These banners also covered empty seats during the pandemic, and fabric frames for the executive boxes allowed sponsorship decals to be easily changed when necessary. VGL are still working with the club on updating their signage around the stadium, including gate/turnstile numbers, health and safety signage and more, all incorporating the newly designed geometric pattern.

Training Ground

In addition to the main stadium, VGL also undertook work at Wycombe Wanderers’ Training Ground to create an improved customer journey and uniformed branding. This meant integrating the new geometric designs used at Adams Park and creating Contra Vision® window films, fabric frames with interchangeable fabrics, banners, DiBond panels and direct wall vinyls. The new fence approaching the ground also had fully wrapped DiBond panels installed, continuing the geometric design.

History

Located in an industrial estate in the Sands area of Wycombe, Adams Park is only the second stadium that the club has played at since its formation in 1887. Loakes Park was in need of either massive refurbishment or else destruction when it was sold to the local health authority in order to allow for the much needed expansion of Wycombe General Hospital. The funds were put towards the building of the club’s new, purpose-built home which opened in 1990.

From 2002 until 2014 Wycombe Wanderers shared the ground with the Aviva Premiership Rugby Union side Wasps, although the rugby side also played games elsewhere during this period. In the end, they moved to Coventry in order to play their games at the Ricoh Arena. The stadium also became the home ground of Reading Football Club’s Women’s team.