Eastville was another multi purpose venue .. dogs, speedway and football and (I think) the odd RU game. Rovers fans will tell you that the clubs lack of success was down to E'villes' proximity to a gas works/holder .. the players were always under the influence of coal gas fumes ..
So was Eastville made into a dog-track (went a couple of times) when BRFC left? I know it's sadly a Tescos or Ikea or something now...
Eastville always accommodated both greyhounds and football; Bristol Rovers left in 1986 and the dogs continued running until 1997, when the stadium was demolished for an Ikea. From Wiki: "Another unique feature of Eastville was the flower beds behind each goal."
As you know, Rovers decamped to share with Bath City at Twerton Park. I was there for our first away game of the season in September 1990. We had just been relegated from the old First Division, while Rovers had just come up from the Third. A stroll in the park, surely? We lost, 2-1 (Robert Lee; att. 5,357). Beware of Bournemouth, newly promoted, on 3 August!
Ahh - didn't realise it was muti-purpose. I remember having a couple of good nights at the dogs must have been a year or so before it closed. Never made that chaotic last game of the season at Twerton Park the following season, when there's a slim chance we could have made the play-offs.
Archie was of course the architect responsible for designing The Den .. but I'm sure stalwart CLers will forgive him for that
He worked on a lot of grounds including both our main rivals, and was, I think, linked to us but not eventually involved.
He was the Telford or Brunel of football stadia design. He also shared a 'real' name with Cary Grant, though the spelling of the surname is different .. (but who cares about that) (:->)
White City stadium opened in 1908 .. one time Olympic venue and 'state of the art' stadium in its time had an athletics track and greyhound racing track around the grassed area. QPR had two bites at moving there, in the 1930s and then again in the early 1960s. The stadium has now been demolished
I'm sure I remember my old man taking me there for stock car racing once
Thanks, Sheffield, will certainly look out for 'Engineering Archie'. Cheapest secondhand price on Amazon and Abebooks is £35.
You can have my signed copy for £200 : - )
All the books in the series are excellent.
Thanks, Henry - I'll start saving! Another odd thing about Eastville is that an elevated section of the M32 was built so close that it almost cut the corner of the ground. Passing motorists would actually slow down to cop a piece of the action. After that extraordinary draw I walked to the Fox, one of a handful of pubs around the country that Camra owned: a short-lived experiment. Goodness me, that was 35 years ago!
When I was in Madrid a couple of years ago we visited |Athletico ground and they have a main road/dual carraigeway going right under one of the stands!
So was Eastville made into a dog-track (went a couple of times) when BRFC left? I know it's sadly a Tescos or Ikea or something now...
Eastville always accommodated both greyhounds and football; Bristol Rovers left in 1986 and the dogs continued running until 1997, when the stadium was demolished for an Ikea. From Wiki: "Another unique feature of Eastville was the flower beds behind each goal."
As you know, Rovers decamped to share with Bath City at Twerton Park. I was there for our first away game of the season in September 1990. We had just been relegated from the old First Division, while Rovers had just come up from the Third. A stroll in the park, surely? We lost, 2-1 (Robert Lee; att. 5,357). Beware of Bournemouth, newly promoted, on 3 August!
yes I was at that one.....had my bloody car towed.
Ahh - didn't realise it was muti-purpose. I remember having a couple of good nights at the dogs must have been a year or so before it closed. Never made that chaotic last game of the season at Twerton Park the following season, when there's a slim chance we could have made the play-offs.
Seem to remember we finished 7th? Few fisticuffs in the ground that day.
Comments
As you know, Rovers decamped to share with Bath City at Twerton Park. I was there for our first away game of the season in September 1990. We had just been relegated from the old First Division, while Rovers had just come up from the Third. A stroll in the park, surely? We lost, 2-1 (Robert Lee; att. 5,357). Beware of Bournemouth, newly promoted, on 3 August!
@Viewfinder the book should cost £14.99, try Waterstones. He worked on a lot of grounds including both our main rivals, and was, I think, linked to us but not eventually involved.