irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Feb 8, 2019 11:08:02 GMT
I would add the Bower Fold at Stalybridge to that list which is currently threatened. I keep hearing what a lovely ground this is. I must revisit it. I only went there once about 3 years ago, it was an evening match, the weather was absolutely atrocious and I couldn't really notice much about the ground! It's as much about the surroundings as it is the ground itself so seeing it on a bad night is probably not seeing it at its best. It's in this wooded valley which serves as a natural ampitheatre and it seems like the terrace kind of origanically fit around it in places. It is also of the old school design if a little smaller than most of the ones mentioned by Chewie. Sadly Stalybridge Celtic are very much a club in decline these days despite being historically one of the biggest non-league names in Greater Manchester. It's a bit like Twerton in that respect in the sense that you visit it now and wonder why on earth the club decided it needed a ground that big but they used to get much bigger crowds. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2019 11:37:38 GMT
I keep hearing what a lovely ground this is. I must revisit it. I only went there once about 3 years ago, it was an evening match, the weather was absolutely atrocious and I couldn't really notice much about the ground! It's as much about the surroundings as it is the ground itself so seeing it on a bad night is probably not seeing it at its best. It's in this wooded valley which serves as a natural ampitheatre and it seems like the terrace kind of origanically fit around it in places. It is also of the old school design if a little smaller than most of the ones mentioned by Chewie. Sadly Stalybridge Celtic are very much a club in decline these days despite being historically one of the biggest non-league names in Greater Manchester. It's a bit like Twerton in that respect in the sense that you visit it now and wonder why on earth the club decided it needed a ground that big but they used to get much bigger crowds. Rather oddly Bath had their highest regular season attendance in 40 years against Torquay, they're a club going against the grain at the moment. The Grand Stand redevelopment should help push them on. |
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Feb 8, 2019 11:41:08 GMT
It's as much about the surroundings as it is the ground itself so seeing it on a bad night is probably not seeing it at its best. It's in this wooded valley which serves as a natural ampitheatre and it seems like the terrace kind of origanically fit around it in places. It is also of the old school design if a little smaller than most of the ones mentioned by Chewie. Sadly Stalybridge Celtic are very much a club in decline these days despite being historically one of the biggest non-league names in Greater Manchester. It's a bit like Twerton in that respect in the sense that you visit it now and wonder why on earth the club decided it needed a ground that big but they used to get much bigger crowds. Rather oddly Bath had their highest regular season attendance in 40 years against Torquay, they're a club going against the grain at the moment. The Grand Stand redevelopment should help push them on. That's interesting - I did not know Bath were redeveloping Twerton. Last I heard they were still looking to move. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2019 11:48:47 GMT
Rather oddly Bath had their highest regular season attendance in 40 years against Torquay, they're a club going against the grain at the moment. The Grand Stand redevelopment should help push them on. That's interesting - I did not know Bath were redeveloping Twerton. Last I heard they were still looking to move. Yep! 3G pitch going in soon, also looking to develop the Grandstand into a 1,000 seater stand with Gym etc in it. Bath are really good at advertising Twerton High Street and are positively effecting the local community. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2019 15:43:17 GMT
Anyway, in other news I'm off to Huddersfield - Arsenal tomorrow. That'll be 86/92.
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Feb 8, 2019 17:31:43 GMT
Anyway, in other news I'm off to Huddersfield - Arsenal tomorrow. That'll be 86/92. Go to the Sportsman pub or the Magic Rock Brewery if you have more time... |
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Rex
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Post by Rex on Feb 9, 2019 7:17:25 GMT
Anyway, in other news I'm off to Huddersfield - Arsenal tomorrow. That'll be 86/92. What's left after Huddersfield? |
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Rex
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Post by Rex on Feb 9, 2019 7:32:34 GMT
I am off to one of my favourite stadiums today, Murrayfield. Rugby today, but I have seen Celtic play a European tie here.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2019 7:55:24 GMT
Anyway, in other news I'm off to Huddersfield - Arsenal tomorrow. That'll be 86/92. What's left after Huddersfield? Accrington, Lincoln, Grimsby, Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Preston. Saving Preston until last, the first Champions. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2019 7:57:29 GMT
I am off to one of my favourite stadiums today, Murrayfield. Rugby today, but I have seen Celtic play a European tie here. Managed to tick it last season with Hearts. Dreadful game. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2019 11:52:56 GMT
A nice trip to Huddersfield, unfortunately didn't get there in time to follow through with Irish's recommendations. I liked the ground, Huddersfield huffed and puffed but had no real quality. Always felt Arsenal had another couple of gears they could shift into. Huddersfield seemed like a nice town as well. Good tick.  |
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Feb 11, 2019 16:21:56 GMT
A nice trip to Huddersfield, unfortunately didn't get there in time to follow through with Irish's recommendations. I liked the ground, Huddersfield huffed and puffed but had no real quality. Always felt Arsenal had another couple of gears they could shift into. Huddersfield seemed like a nice town as well. Good tick. I'm quite fond of both the ground and Huddersfield and briefly considered taking them on as a '2nd club' now I am Northern based for the forseeable future. But then my partner introduced me to FC United (she is a member) and I never really looked back. I can get cheap tickets through work though so I might start going more often. I don't know about nice place neccessarily but Huddersfield's certainly an interesting place and it's a great town to get drunk in! Like the ground as well - the first of the new builds and I think they were a bit more generous and origina with the design than many that came later. Definitely prefer it to Bolton's whatever they're calling it on a Monday these days Stadium for example and I think that's probably closest comparison. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2019 16:25:02 GMT
A nice trip to Huddersfield, unfortunately didn't get there in time to follow through with Irish's recommendations. I liked the ground, Huddersfield huffed and puffed but had no real quality. Always felt Arsenal had another couple of gears they could shift into. Huddersfield seemed like a nice town as well. Good tick. I'm quite fond of both the ground and Huddersfield and briefly considered taking them on as a '2nd club' now I am Northern based for the forseeable future. But then my partner introduced me to FC United (she is a member) and I never really looked back. I can get cheap tickets through work though so I might start going more often. I don't know about nice place neccessarily but Huddersfield's certainly an interesting place and it's a great town to get drunk in! Like the ground as well - the first of the new builds and I think they were a bit more generous and origina with the design than many that came later. Definitely prefer it to Bolton's whatever they're calling it on a Monday these days Stadium for example and I think that's probably closest comparison. I thought it was similar to the Reebok but more igledy pigledy. Anything that's a bit different to the usual is good for me, Brighton is ok but just a bit too clean cut. |
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Rex
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Post by Rex on Feb 12, 2019 7:15:10 GMT
I remember watching Rovers at the old Leeds Road ground and you could see the new one being built, at the time I thought it looked great and was hoping everyone would be building new grounds like theirs. Now I want all the old grounds back!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2019 9:57:23 GMT
I remember watching Rovers at the old Leeds Road ground and you could see the new one being built, at the time I thought it looked great and was hoping everyone would be building new grounds like theirs. Now I want all the old grounds back! The problem has been not enough clubs have thought interesting or clever regarding redevelopments. For every Huddersfield and Preston, there are even more Colchester's and Oxford's. |
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Feb 12, 2019 17:01:46 GMT
I remember watching Rovers at the old Leeds Road ground and you could see the new one being built, at the time I thought it looked great and was hoping everyone would be building new grounds like theirs. Now I want all the old grounds back! The problem has been not enough clubs have thought interesting or clever regarding redevelopments. For every Huddersfield and Preston, there are even more Colchester's and Oxford's. Or Shrewsbury Or Chesterfield etc. Distinctive features are the way forward. I'm convinced that in 15-20 years there'll be a major rethink. As stadium geeks you guys probably already know this but in the 60s and 70s US sports teams decamped on mass to the outskirts leaving highly distinctive City Centre locations (few of which survive) for all purpose stadiums that could accommodate both American Football and Baseball teams that were literally referred to as 'cookie cutters' because they all looked the same and built to the same spec. The idea was that these stadiums served the car and all had massive car parks around them. Yet people eventually realised that sitting for an hour and a half in a car park after a game played in a boring sterile concrete bowl wasn't really much of an experience and City's realised that having an iconic Sports stadium act as a hub in a Central location was a great way of revitalising Downtown areas so in the 90s that trend completely reversed and they all piled back into the City Centre's to play in distinctive bespoke stadiums with lots of orginal features. Some of it is a bit contrived architecturally to be honest but there's no doubt that the 'retro stadium craze' has been a major success. Meanwhile round where I am Bolton and Wigan both dissapeared off to stadiums on trading estates on the edge of the town 20 years ago -I bet both councils would have them back in the Centre tomorrow if the opportunity arose given how much those central areas are now struggling. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2019 10:09:30 GMT
The problem has been not enough clubs have thought interesting or clever regarding redevelopments. For every Huddersfield and Preston, there are even more Colchester's and Oxford's. Or Shrewsbury Or Chesterfield etc. Distinctive features are the way forward. I'm convinced that in 15-20 years there'll be a major rethink. As stadium geeks you guys probably already know this but in the 60s and 70s US sports teams decamped on mass to the outskirts leaving highly distinctive City Centre locations (few of which survive) for all purpose stadiums that could accommodate both American Football and Baseball teams that were literally referred to as 'cookie cutters' because they all looked the same and built to the same spec. The idea was that these stadiums served the car and all had massive car parks around them. Yet people eventually realised that sitting for an hour and a half in a car park after a game played in a boring sterile concrete bowl wasn't really much of an experience and City's realised that having an iconic Sports stadium act as a hub in a Central location was a great way of revitalising Downtown areas so in the 90s that trend completely reversed and they all piled back into the City Centre's to play in distinctive bespoke stadiums with lots of orginal features. Some of it is a bit contrived architecturally to be honest but there's no doubt that the 'retro stadium craze' has been a major success. Meanwhile round where I am Bolton and Wigan both dissapeared off to stadiums on trading estates on the edge of the town 20 years ago -I bet both councils would have them back in the Centre tomorrow if the opportunity arose given how much those central areas are now struggling. This is exactly why I think a piecemeal redevelopment of The Mem is the best way forward. If you speak to many away supporters, Rovers is one of their favourite away games providing it's dry. It's quite frustrating the rise of the out of town cinema, shops and of course football stadium in the 90's. It's taken many clubs from being the heartbeat of the local community to just another business on the ourskirts of town. Add that to the frankly boring nature of some of the grounds and clubs are losing their identity. There are examples of great rebuilds, Rotherham certainly springs to mind as does Brentford's new ground. The facts are the Taylor Report which, was built on a pack of state and police lies has lead to this. Despite their now being proof of these lies the laws brought in by the Taylor Report still stand and will see more and more clubs pushed to grounds outside of town. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2019 22:37:34 GMT
In which case we should applaud Lansdown for developing a big ground on the original site. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2019 22:58:32 GMT
In which case we should applaud Lansdown for developing a big ground on the original site. Best thing that happened to City the Long Ashton site falling through. |
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Rex
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Post by Rex on Feb 14, 2019 7:31:58 GMT
In which case we should applaud Lansdown for developing a big ground on the original site. Absolutely. He may have wanted to move to Ashton Vale, but if I was a City fan, I would be delighted the way things turned out. |
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