Topic: The Good Old Days - Wonderful wonky stadiums and fans

[meady1981]

Thought it was something to do with ‘The Arsenal Stadium Mystery’ film. But maybe not. Loads of cracking old shots of Highbury. I live near it and sometimes walk through the flats that are there now. Feels really bizarre to stand in the centre circle and imagine what was once there.

[Iska]

It can’t’ve been Moscow Dynamo, thinking about it, because Molineux had the first set of floodlights but not until about 1951.

Amazing article here about that tour, with some cracking pictures worthy of this thread too.  The Highbury game was a foggy one apparently, so much so that nobody could actually see it.

Bonus points for using George Orwell quotes; a step up from Phil McNulty imo.

[A Red Abroad]

Ace thread.

[A Red Abroad]

Roker Park...

[A Red Abroad]

A slight aside... Highbury now.

[Red_Mist]

Who was there

Thought at first that was Highfield Road the season the sewer under the Kop collapsed. But I’m guessing it’s the Bridge when Kenny scored to win the league?

[Iska]

Bramall Lane when it was shared between cricket and football.  It was like this until about 1970, I’ve always wondered how it worked.  Could you go and sit in the pavilion if you liked, and watch from 100 yards away?  Wouldn’t the lino feel awfully exposed?  Where did MOTD put the cameras?

To answer my own question, I haven’t found much taken from the right angles, but I did find a couple of shots of Charlie George scoring there in the early 70s.  How it worked is it seems to have been all the glory of peak football on three sides of the pitch, and Sunday league stuff on the other:

[The North Bank]

The houses are still there

Incredible, would love to go back to that time, but only for a weekend .

[meady1981]

Probably the wonkiest of the lot.
The Nest - Norwich's old ground











'Mis-hit passes, crosses and shots would regularly come pinging back off the wall and into the startled faces of the participants. Many a player would clatter into the big concrete menace while running at full pelt. Teams were instructed to keep their wits about them while taking corners, as at one point the chalk below one edge of the pitch gave way and had to be bolstered under the turf with railway sleepers. But the 22 men on the pitch had it easy compared with the spectators. In 1922 a barrier on top of the cliff capitulated, sending scores of fans tumbling down on to the pitch. It was a miracle there were no serious injuries, never mind deaths'.

[meady1981]

Bunking in to Filbert street

[Stubbins]

Bramall Lane when it was shared between cricket and football.  It was like this until about 1970, I’ve always wondered how it worked.  Could you go and sit in the pavilion if you liked, and watch from 100 yards away?  Wouldn’t the lino feel awfully exposed?  Where did MOTD put the cameras?

My dad & uncle took me for an away day to see Newcastle play Sheffield United in the late 60s. They weren't that particularly interested in football, but they liked train journey's and looking back it was a day away from the wives for them. I remember very little about the match other than the great expanse of grass where the cricket pitch was and the pavilion way in the distance. That and a whole army of ball boys who went scampering off to fetch the ball when someone (inevitably) cleared it to the wide open spaces. No multiple balls in those days.

When the tv cameras were there I think they just rigged up a temporary scaffold arrangement on that side, so that to the casual viewer it looked much the same as any other ground.

[Iska]

My dad & uncle took me for an away day to see Newcastle play Sheffield United in the late 60s. They weren't that particularly interested in football, but they liked train journey's and looking back it was a day away from the wives for them. I remember very little about the match other than the great expanse of grass where the cricket pitch was and the pavilion way in the distance. That and a whole army of ball boys who went scampering off to fetch the ball when someone (inevitably) cleared it to the wide open spaces. No multiple balls in those days.

When the tv cameras were there I think they just rigged up a temporary scaffold arrangement on that side, so that to the casual viewer it looked much the same as any other ground.

That’s exactly what I was hoping for, a thousand thanks!

[oldman]

A slight aside... Highbury now.

wow - what a place to live if you're an arsenal fan

[oldman]

Vale park
originally built as the Wembley of the north 

[Iska]

Vetch Field, Swansea.  Built by photoshopping together at least four different other grounds and, at the far left, apparently a canal dock of some kind.

Edit: I can’t work out where the right-hand floodlight is.  It seems to be in front of the stand, but surely not?!

[oojason]

'Cathkin Park: Scotland's Great Lost Stadium' - an 11 minute video from the Tim Traveller:-

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/z9DV4ofsxGE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/z9DV4ofsxGE</a>

^ or click here to watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9DV4ofsxGE


more info: www.stadiumguide.com/cathkinpark & https://groundhoppersblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/25/ghost-ground

[goalrushatgoodison]

To answer my own question, I haven’t found much taken from the right angles, but I did find a couple of shots of Charlie George scoring there in the early 70s.  How it worked is it seems to have been all the glory of peak football on three sides of the pitch, and Sunday league stuff on the other:

Ray Kennedy there in the bottom picture!

Fantastic thread btw.

[meady1981]

Stamford Bridge

[meady1981]

San Siro before the roof

[meady1981]

Original Barcelona ground - Estadi Català

[meady1981]

Building Wembley twin towers

[RedSince86]

Vale park
originally built as the Wembley of the north 

Looks pretty impressive here.

[Statto Red]

Prenton Park in the 80s



Quite interesting, even after the stands were rebuilt, the cowshed was still the home end, think it changed in the late 90s when the cowshed stand became the away end, & Bebington kop became home end

[iamnant]

Incredible thread! My love for modern football and modern football stadiums is long gone and I long for when football was for the people and not just for the greedy fuckers right at the top.

Talking of wonky stadiums though, unless I missed it earlier in the thread, The Dell was magnificent in it's wonkiness...

[Red_Mist]

Original Barcelona ground - Estadi Català

Holy shit! Reminds me a bit of going to see the Reds play Braga. They had a rocky cliff at one end of the ground. It didn’t have fans stood on it though!!

[Yosser0_0]

Not sure whether this is off topic but they were discussing the portaloo's on top of the Sir Kenny Dalglish stand last week (from 2:00 minutes in). Apparently fitted for the convenience of the match day commentators!

<a href="https://youtube.com/v/h26lPWQ3W-c" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://youtube.com/v/h26lPWQ3W-c</a>

I wonder where the flush goes!
 

[A Red Abroad]

I wonder where the flush goes!
 

Portaloos have a tank (that is emptied later using suction).

[Crosby Nick]

Portaloos have a tank (that is emptied later using suction).

Peace of mind I’m sure. Especially if you have elderly relatives on board.

[oldman]

Looks pretty impressive here.

Don’t think that’s Vale park - roker  park maybe

[Yosser0_0]

Portaloos have a tank (that is emptied later using suction).

Aye, my dad has a tourer caravan and I quite often go over to see him when he's in North Wales or the lakes. Anyway I piss like a race horse and can often fill his tank within a couple of hours, much to his alarm as it usually takes him a few days. So now when I go over to see him, he's happy to see me but becomes a bit nervous about how long it will be before the tank will be full after the 'horse' has turned up. To be honest, now he just puts me on 'bog detail' and its up to me to walk to the campsite shitter to empty to jobby tank.
 

[McSquared]

Remember going to watch chester city when I was a young lad and the away end was a grass bank with some concrete chucked around

[A Red Abroad]

Aye, my dad has a tourer caravan and I quite often go over to see him when he's in North Wales or the lakes. Anyway I piss like a race horse and can often fill his tank within a couple of hours, much to his alarm as it usually takes him a few days. So now when I go over to see him, he's happy to see me but becomes a bit nervous about how long it will be before the tank will be full after the 'horse' has turned up. To be honest, now he just puts me on 'bog detail' and its up to me to walk to the campsite shitter to empty to jobby tank.
 

 

[Saltashscouse]

To answer my own question, I haven’t found much taken from the right angles, but I did find a couple of shots of Charlie George scoring there in the early 70s.  How it worked is it seems to have been all the glory of peak football on three sides of the pitch, and Sunday league stuff on the other:

I remember going to Bramhall Lane in the early 70s to watch the reds and the ground was only on three sides of the pitch with the cricket pitch being on the fourth side , a really weird set up , not sure when they got rid of the cricket pitch though 

[thaddeus]

Incredible thread! My love for modern football and modern football stadiums is long gone and I long for when football was for the people and not just for the greedy fuckers right at the top.

Agreed.  When I see the fawning over the latest steel and glass bowl with its 10k corporate capacity I die a little.  Contrarily, I am happy Anfield is being developed so we can remain competitive.  And so the cycle continues.

I watch far more non-league games in person now than professional games.  Partly because I don't live close to Liverpool anymore and I don't have any interest in adopting a second professional club.  Partly because it reminds me of the football I used to watch as a kid.  Wonky stadiums with bits built by whoever was chairman at the time with seemihgly zero artitectural advice sought, terraces, a shared bar (amazing what that does to reduce the "banter" chanting!!) and football that is a bit more heart-on-your-sleeves and a bit less chess.

A new ground on me recently was Derbyshire side Gresley Rovers in the Northern League Divison One.  They've been at their ground since 1907, apparently.  Not my photo, link below.


https://www.facebook.com/SelstonFC/posts/-moat-ground-home-of-gresley-fc-sfc/10159622953593782/

[Statto Red]

Yeah, problem with new stadiums  that you see them everywhere now, for Leicester City stadium, could easily be Southampton, Middlesbrough stadiums ecc, & are souless bowls too, i get the clubs needed a new stadium, but they could have tried & built something different rather than the generic soulless bowls that have spawned up.

[meady1981]

I remember going to Bramhall Lane in the early 70s to watch the reds and the ground was only on three sides of the pitch with the cricket pitch being on the fourth side , a really weird set up , not sure when they got rid of the cricket pitch though

Few more views - and the stand being built

[Stubbins]

Don’t think that’s Vale park - roker  park maybe

Don't think it's Roker Park. I don't recognise what looks like a church or the factory in the far distance

[Statto Red]

Speaking of peculiar grounds how about this one, Northampton Town's old ground The County Ground was shared with Northamptonshire Cricket team

[meady1981]

Don't think it's Roker Park. I don't recognise what looks like a church or the factory in the far distance

Villa park!

[rob1966]

Villa park!

It is indeed