Coldest ground

[JonM]

 My wife says "call yourselves northerners?" and "are you all nesh?"

[Copa]

Canberra stadium can get windchill factors well below zero and most fans sit above cold concrete with no rain protection. It's fun to see away fans look terrified as the temperature starts to drop. Most places in Australia don't get as cold as Canberra so they aren't used to it at all.

Suburban Canberra grounds are freezing on on some Sunday mornings when the youngest children act as ice breakers on the fields. It can still be below zero with an icy fog. I've seen 6 and 7 year olds crying during games as they are so cold it hurts to tackle.

[Kenilworth Tiger]

Odsal on New Years day used to be like hell on earth - Hung over and absolutely freezing

 

There's your winner!

[fieldofclothofgold]

I agree with all those comments ,may I also add that two grounds I always seemed to get wet through as well as cold Leigh's Hilton Park and Keighley Lalkholme Lane as well as cold

[Leyther_Matt]

In the days when Bradford used to play on a Sunday evening, we went to Keighley vs Leigh in the afternoon (the day Tommy Martyn kicked a drop out that went out for a drop out at the other end) and it was comfortably in the late 20's and not a cloud in the sky. Went to the Bradford game in the evening at Odsal against Warrington and it was barely in double figures and absolutely lashed it down!

Honourable mentions to New Craven Park and the wind at Workington. Always seem to have done well with the weather on my dozen or so visits to Whitehaven although it was a bit nippy by the end of the game there the other year on a Thursday night on February that didn't kick off until gone 8.30pm!

Not a cold one as such, but 5 years ago this week we played Hunslet away. First half passed off in decent enough weather but we could see one hell of a storm brewing over the Leeds skyline, that duly came in the second the whistle went for the end of the first half. By the time the second half started, the pitch was almost completely waterlogged. To give it some context, Leigh were 32-0 up at half time but the game only finished 36-6!

[The King Of Leon]

I was at that match Matt, in ten mins the running track was flooded and under water and that's never happened if it rained all day , ive never seen rain like it, luckily it happened just before HT or else the game would surely have been abandoned. 

[Roy Boy]

7 hours ago, Lowdesert said:

When Des Hasler played a stint at Hull, he sometimes wore thermal underwear down to his thighs.  V Fev, I think, he came off at half time and his skin was actually a light shade of blue.  Couldn't stop shivering. We took him into the washroom and put the kit drier on as well as rubbing his arms, legs (nowt else!), none stop, put a beany hat on him, blankets and gave him hot tea.  He couldn't get warm to go back on. He didn't want to leave the drier!  He went back on, but, despite running around like a madman, didn't make any real impact. Hypothermia.  Des will verify this, us and still remembers it with horror.  Fittest man I ever knew.

True - A tale OF will verify

[moorside roughyed]

Watersheddings, I was brought up in the area so I know how cold it could get.I used to play for for counthill secondary school in moorside,it was even colder there as it was higher up.Saddleworth rangers ground,Shaw Hall bank road can be a bit nippy if the weather takes a turn.

[longboard]

1 hour ago, The King Of Leon said:

I was at that match Matt, in ten mins the running track was flooded and under water and that's never happened if it rained all day , ive never seen rain like it, luckily it happened just before HT or else the game would surely have been abandoned. 

Didn't Bradford play towards the deep end in the second half...?

[RunItOffAfi]

Waterhead Park, which is next to where Watersheddings (not being pedantic, but it's never been the Watersheddings) used to be, is known locally as Pneumonia Park. I don't think it's because of the heat waves thereabouts!

[Hvy wg]

22 hours ago, barnyia said:

avignon one training session strong icy wind from the mountain and it was raining! and salon de Provence my mate ended up wrapped in a security blanket on the bench as he was close to hyperthermia whilst playing! ! 

Hahahaha good old French wind making you feel like -5 is -40.

It was always the same for English guys coming here to play us in winter. They expected sun and paella they received freezing tramontane and hypothermia.

That reminds me that a guy tried to create a League team in Cerdagne. For those who don't know, Cerdagne is 1h30 left of Perpignan in the mountains, it is known for his training camp where most French professionnals come to get fit as it is extra rough (2000m high, freezing winter, and it's snowing even in summer, in fact it snowed yesterday). The city installed a stadium on top of a hill. Extra freeze.

[barnyia]

Andorra had a team for a couple of years in the late 90s I seem to remember 

[longboard]

1 hour ago, barnyia said:

Andorra had a team for a couple of years in the late 90s I seem to remember 

Yes. It was an uphill struggle for them though.

[Lowdesert]

4 hours ago, Roy Boy said:

True - A tale OF will verify

Keith Gardiner said we should have set fire to his boots.

Thinking back, I can't remember Mike Dunham getting involved but Cheggers did.

[SteveT]

On 9 August 2017 at 7:01 PM, paulwalker71 said:

The coldest I have ever been at a game was a midweek game between Oldham and Bradford Northern at Watersheddings - must have been about 1988 or 1989.

Surprised nobody has mentioned Whitehaven or Barrow - must be pretty chilly up there on a midweek evening with the wind whipping in from the Irish Sea?

Will add haven to my earlier list. Went to watch Fax vs Kells on a Wednesday night and it was absolutely bitter. Also saw Fax vs Haven there in a cup game in the mid 90's. Think it'd been postponed at least twice and there was still a decent amount of snow on the terraces, the pitch was what you'd call a bit heavy too!

[groundhopper]

I remember a day where the weather forecast suggested the temperature would not get above zero but wanted a game. I rang Normanton and was told the game was definitely om and Ulveston were travelling for a National Cup game

The thermometer in the car never rose above zero on theM1 and it was minus 4 when I rang from the services above Sheffield and was again told game on

I arrived at the same tie as Ulveston and walked onto the rock solid pitch. Ten mins later the ref called the game on.  A few phone calls later resulted in Siddal saying game probably on and a mad rush there just in tile for the game to be called off. I was then told the a team was on at Elland and went there

I think it was the only game on and only because a cold northerly wind had picked up getting the frost out of the second team pitch. I think this was the only game on. The temperature was 1 degree and the windchill some thing special. it would be fair to say the pitch was exposed to Northerly winds

However if anyone thinks Odsal is cold, Queensbury is about 500 foot higher

 

[DKL79]

Watersheddings for me. Can't remember when, probably late sixties, and never mind the cold it was the Aysgarth Falls coming through the stand roof that did it for me. Never went back.

[moorside roughyed]

 

In the words of our very own Ray French"Watersheddings is a flat cap and two sweater job".

[Crown Flatter]

Odsal, when Bradford Northern were in their final days, playing Dewsbury on a windy, rainy day and all spectators were under cover - all that is except for two Dewsbury supporters who braved the cold and wet.

At half time an announcement was made encouraging them to sit in the stand free of charge, but the intrepid two did not move as they were two embarrassed!

No, I was not one the two, but worked with one of them and he told me the story.

[Ex-Kirkholt]

Went to watch Rochdale Hornets play at Wakefield in the early 90s on a freezing cold day.  I went to get some pies, put two in my coats pockets and kept two to warm my hands.  By the time I gave them out, the jelly and fat had congealed in my pockets !!

[Ex-Kirkholt]

Coldest game I ever played in was Kirkholt "A" away at snow covered Hoyland Vikings (Barnsley) in the Pennine League in 1993 or 94.  I think that it was the only PL game  played that day.  Went straight into the showers fully clothed but could not get warm and I was still shivering an hour later despite having had coffee and hot food.

[chuffer]

I would say hull kr's ground was the coldest ive ever felt watching a game, it was winter and a north-easterly breeze cut through you like an arctic knife, think one of the full backs was taken off and treated for hypothermia. Someone mentioned playing amateur junior rugby against royton, I did that too and can confirm the conditions were brutal in winter, oldham st Anne's too....my younger brother had the misfortune of playing saddleworth moor away in winter and my dad testifies this location to be the worst he's ever attended as a sideline dad

[Lounge Room Lizard]

Playing wise Greetland, Queensbury and Stainland.Its not just the cold at them 3 grounds. Always a strong wind and usually rain or Snow at 90 degree angle. 

[Ex-Kirkholt]

11 hours ago, Lounge Room Lizard said:

Playing wise Greetland, Queensbury and Stainland.Its not just the cold at them 3 grounds. Always a strong wind and usually rain or Snow at 90 degree angle. 

Never played at Queensbury in the winter months but the other two were cold, along with Underbank (especially the "top" pitch). Ovenden could be a bit breezy but you were always guaranteed a "warm" welcome !

[Adelaide Tiger]

On 10/08/2017 at 8:34 PM, Kenilworth Tiger said:

Odsal on New Years day used to be like hell on earth - Hung over and absolutely freezing

 

There's your winner!

Did you go to the match at Odsal in the 80's where Bradford and Cas drew 2-2?  Coldest i have ever been watching a game.

Me and my mates were getting headaches from the cold.  So we went to the hot dog stand and cadged some clear plastic bread roll bags.  We then put them on our heads.  The trapped air made the bags stand a foot tall but kept our heads warm.

I often wondered if the creators of The Simpsons were in that crowd that day and created Marje's hair style from us.