Uninterrupted rainfall has caused a football stadium to flood so much the goalposts are under water and "it now looks like nothing more than a giant swimming pool." Heavy storms in the city of Ezhou, in Central China’s Hubei Province, have "inundated the streets with water and have caused serious disruptions to public transport." Mingtang Stadium, the city’s landmark, is now "also full of floodwater, making it look more like a bathtub than football grounds." It is reportedly the first time in 30 years, since the stadium’s completion, that "it has ever been flooded, with water covering the pitch and even reaching above the goal at either end" (CEN, 7/4).
PUBLIC CONSULTATION: Public consultations will be held from July 25 "so people can express their views on the plans" for the new Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen stadium at Kingsford on the outskirts of Westhill. The consultations "will be at several locations across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire." Exhibitions "will be on display in the city centre," Kingswells, at the club's current home Pittodrie, and in Westhill. The consultation will last 12 weeks and will "allow the football club to gather opinions from the public" before it submits a formal planning application later this year (Aberdeen EVENING EXPRESS, 7/5).
NORTH STAND RENAME: League Championship side Reading is renaming the Madejski Stadium north stand in honor of former player Eamonn Dolan." Dolan, whose funeral took place in Wokingham on Tuesday, "died from cancer a fortnight ago, aged 48." The club was "in the process of consulting with supporters over a new name" for the stand when Dolan passed away (READING CHRONICLE, 7/5).