The old grounds - Your memories

[Hugh Jarce]

Crown Flatt, Dewsbury.

Under the Floodlights I'll never forget it! Wonderful!

[Gooleboy]

27 minutes ago, Ainley Top said:

Fev fans fighting. Whodathowtit!

We were provoked!

[Gooleboy]

Station Road, Swinton, and those amazing goalposts. A great big match venue in its day.

[Rioman]

I always remember being behind the posts at The Boulevard in the late eighties watching Wakey get another flogging, when a young teenage girl walked along the bottom around the curve pushing a pram with a toddler in, probably around three years old.     A few choice comments and observations came from  from the crowd, at which point the toddler just gave the crowd the middle finger. 

Edited November 15, 2024 by Rioman

[Jimmy DoNut]

Watersheddings , what a place! Now has houses on it with streets named after Oldham greats from the 50's and the Championship winning team of '57. Threads like this on old football grounds always refer to Boundary Park (Home of Oldham Athletic) as being Ice Station Zebra but Watersheddings was much higher in the Pennine Hills and much, much colder. What memories though of knocking Wigan out of the Challenge Cup and Lancashire Cup - they hated coming to 'Sheddings - pushing the Kangaroos close in '86, our mascot tackling a Warrington fan who was on the pitch when he shouldn't have been, Wire fans fighting in our two-tier Hutchins Stand behind the sticks (one poor bloke with a broken leg had his crutches thrown to the ground below ), the long walk for the players back to the pavilion where the changing rooms were but especially the people! Hard-core Rugby League men , with a milllion tales to tell. 

 

[Snowys Backside]

As a Leigh fan, Loved the Zoo (Wilderspool). Nasty smell of urine at the railway end when packed !! Living now in Warrington for 30 years, many wire fans tell me how big the terraced end at Wilderspool was (which was the snooker hall). Not the biggest of grounds but packed a punch on and off the pitch !!

Fartown was more well known as Arena 84 in my early days of watching the game and you could tell both Huddersfield and Station Rd we two fine typical RL stadiums in their pomp. The smell of cigarettes, cigars, biff and Winergreen was the reason why we watched the game in them days, right ??

Also had a soft spot for Mclaren Field, Canal St, Old Mount Pleasant and the Old Craven Park at HKR.

The Boulevard was Horrible and so was Odslum.

Hilton Park when Packed was always a nasty place but my two favorite old grounds were Watersheddings (when above zero degrees) and Central Park. Both had big banks behind the posts and the atmosphere was fantastic.

I do miss the old grounds, especially when some of the stadiums will never be full based on the catchment of some of the teams.

[Fevrover]

1 hour ago, Ainley Top said:

Fev fans fighting. Whodathowtit!

Takes two to tango . 

[Fevrover]

1 hour ago, Gooleboy said:

We were provoked!

Nar it's always Fevs fault , rest are angels . 

[Wigan Riversider]

1 hour ago, Rioman said:

I always remember being behind the posts at The Boulevard in the late eighties watching Wakey get another flogging, when a young teenage girl walked along the bottom around the curve pushing a pram with a toddler in, probably around three years old.     A few choice comments and observations came from  from the crowd, at which point the toddler just gave the crowd the middle finger. 

I remember an attractive Hull lady in a Hull jersey giving two fingers to the away supporters as she strutted through the away end.

1994 CC fixture in which Wigan were getting slaughtered until Shaun Edwards was introduced from the bench resulting in a massive escape fir Wigan. A Hull lady was going absolutely mental at the away support after the final hooter. Someone said, " Shut up you fishwife." She went completely insane.

Fond memories of the Boulevard.

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

You could find trouble at most places back in the 70's if you wanted it.  I've been on coaches that got stoned at Bramley or needed escorts at Hull KR.  Hull and Featherstone weren't particularly welcoming but if you wanted a horrible atmosphere Warrington was probably the worst for my lot.

[marklaspalmas]

1 hour ago, Snowys Backside said:

Fartown was more well known as Arena 84 in my early days of watching the game 

It never was 

[Snowys Backside]

1 minute ago, marklaspalmas said:

It never was 

Wasn’t fartown not the same ground ?

I don’t recall Leigh playing Hudds in the early 80’s but we did play them there in the mid 80’s. 
 

It was a big relic of a ground. 

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

3 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said:

It never was 

Thought it was called Arena 84 around the  Barracuda's time.

[Snowys Backside]

3 minutes ago, Jill Halfpenny fan said:

Thought it was called Arena 84 around the  Barracuda's time.

Just checked. I’m right and your right. 
 

It was called Arena 84 between 1984 to 1989. 

[Fevrover]

35 minutes ago, Jill Halfpenny fan said:

You could find trouble at most places back in the 70's if you wanted it.  I've been on coaches that got stoned at Bramley or needed escorts at Hull KR.  Hull and Featherstone weren't particularly welcoming but if you wanted a horrible atmosphere Warrington was probably the worst for my lot.

In 53 years of supporting Fev worst fans were Hull and kr,Warrington, Halifax and Bradford. We've had/ got our fair share and there's simply no need for it. And i hasten to add it wasn't all the fans when we went away lol.

Edited November 15, 2024 by Fevrover

[marklaspalmas]

42 minutes ago, Snowys Backside said:

Just checked. I’m right and your right. 
 

It was called Arena 84 between 1984 to 1989. 

What you wrote was "more well known as" .

It never was

[Worzel]

The East Stand at the old Craven Park, with the Railway Carriage at the back where you'd get your drinks and snacks, and the Silver Ring Club at the far end here for all the posher people who liked to drink indoors. I always remember it being much bigger than this, funny things childhood memories eh, the current one is much larger. 

[Taffy Tiger]

First time I went to Odsal I was only about 12 . Walked in from the side entrance and was bewildered as I couldn't see the ground . Got to the steps and looked down and I have to say it was awesome !

Never went to Fartown , but went to most of old grounds . Hilton Park floodlights in the corner were like subbuteo floodlights . Boulevard was scary and the only ground I ever went to where I covered up my Cas shirt and never cheared when we scored . 

Other grounds visited not mentioned on here were Carlisle (still there for the football) and Hunslet , which was one of my favourites . Smaller than WR believe it or not  and the posts were American Football style as they couldn't fit them on the pitch itself . They played in the middle of the greyhound track on Elland Road . Great place to watch RL .

[clifford]

The thing I remember about crown flatt was the pitch wasn't flat and the showers/bath was a pig troff 

[Wilderspoolmemories]

9 hours ago, Gooleboy said:

With some very dubious tactics!

That was the game in those days, the Fev players weren't exactly shrinking violets themselves!

[Wilderspoolmemories]

I think Thrum Hall deserves a mention. It sloped end to end and side to side, and alongside Watersheddings is probably the coldest place I've ever watched a rugby game. 

[Agbrigg]

2 hours ago, Taffy Tiger said:

hunslet , which was one of my favourites . Smaller than WR believe it or not  and the posts were American Football style as they couldn't fit them on the pitch itself . They played in the middle of the greyhound track on Elland Road . Great place to watch RL .

the dog track was only a stop gap at the end of the clubs sad decline. Their spiritual home was Parkside and in their years there , Hunslet were a top team. 

I remember going to Parkside and Freddy Trueman was  sat in the stand and he was doing articles as a rugby league sports journo at he time, daily mirror I think.

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

4 minutes ago, Agbrigg said:

the dog track was only a stop gap at the end of the clubs sad decline. Their spiritual home was Parkside and in their years there , Hunslet were a top team. 

I remember going to Parkside and Freddy Trueman was  sat in the stand and he was doing articles as a rugby league sports journo at he time, daily mirror I think.

I've seen us play Hunslet at South Leeds, Elland Rd and the dog track. Parkside is one I'd have liked to see but it was just before my time.

[fieldofclothofgold]

I used to like Parkside and I liked the watersheddings and of course Station road 

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

How many on here have been to Liverpool City at Knotty Ash.