BRFC - The Nostalgia Thread

[47er]

3 hours ago, Hasta said:

Until about 15 my dad took me in the Enclosure.

If the current JW BE lower was what used to be the enclosure, what was the JW DE lower known as? I don’t know anyone that ever went in there.
 

 

 

The Enclosure ran the length of the ground. So the JW Darwen End was part of the Enclosure.

[Mattyblue]

The Darwen End enclosure was a strange area, sometimes left empty, sometimes with away fans in, sometimes home.

[Gav]

13 hours ago, Hasta said:

Until about 15 my dad took me in the Enclosure.

If the current JW BE lower was what used to be the enclosure, what was the JW DE lower known as? I don’t know anyone that ever went in there.
 

 

 

Some of the larger away followings got Darwen End and Darwen End Enclosure at times.

I remember late 80’s Rovers fans were allocated Darwen End and away teams the enclosure only, Man City was one of those teams with trouble in main Darwen End with away fans that had sneaked in. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

13 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

I don’t know if this has been posted before:

 

I noticed the NF graffiti scrawled on the Blackburn End wall.

I started at a new engineering company once that worked a two shift system. Days and nights. Previously I’d only worked at a place that had a day shift.

After a couple of days I noticed that some large components on machines had NF written on them in chalk. I was getting a bit concerned about this and I mentioned it to a workmate. He laughed and said “ Don’t worry, it’s only a message from the night lads to the day shift, it just means “ Not Finished “.

Edited March 25, 2023 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[JohnD]

There was always a fence between the BE and Enclosure but you could walk from the BE all the way to the DE. Many home and away fans met on the Riverside at half time when they changed ends.

The fences separating the Riverside from the BE and DE were erected after running clashes between Rovers and Dingles circa 1969.

[rigger]

14 hours ago, Hasta said:

Until about 15 my dad took me in the Enclosure.

If the current JW BE lower was what used to be the enclosure, what was the JW DE lower known as? I don’t know anyone that ever went in there.
 

 

 

A brave admission.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

15 minutes ago, JohnD said:

There was always a fence between the BE and Enclosure but you could walk from the BE all the way to the DE. Many home and away fans met on the Riverside at half time when they changed ends.

The fences separating the Riverside from the BE and DE were erected after running clashes between Rovers and Dingles circa 1969.

I used to get to the ground for about 2-00 pm . I was so early because of how my bus ran. I’d have all the Riverside to myself. It was the longest hour of the week, just waiting for 3-00 pm. Players didn’t warm up much before the game. They just ran out at about 5 minutes to 3-00 for a bit of passing the ball about for the defenders and some crossing and shooting in for the forwards. Ronnie always came out first, sprinting really quickly, with the ball under his arm. It’s amazing when I look back but for the first 8 years of my time watching Rovers Ronnie was always the captain ! 
 

Depending which way we played I’d make my way from the to Riverside to the end we were attacking. When I got a bit older I stayed on the Riverside to watch how Keith Newton and Billy Wilson played full back. Two great role models for me as a player.

Edited March 25, 2023 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Ianrally]

16 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

I don’t know if this has been posted before:

 

Peter White clearly visible in the press box at 5.14

[simongarnerisgod]

a couple of years ago i cleared an old attic out and found some football annuals from the early 70`s,apparently ewood park in 1975 had a capacity of 47,000???,even with the old riverside terrace this would seem somewhat optimistic,i remember crowds of 20,000/25,000 in the early 80`s and  we were pretty much hemmed in,does anyone remember the last 40,000+ gate,it must have been like being in a sardine net🙂

[rigger]

4 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

a couple of years ago i cleared an old attic out and found some football annuals from the early 70`s,apparently ewood park in 1975 had a capacity of 47,000???,even with the old riverside terrace this would seem somewhat optimistic,i remember crowds of 20,000/25,000 in the early 80`s and  we were pretty much hemmed in,does anyone remember the last 40,000+ gate,it must have been like being in a sardine net🙂

My mum took me onto the Blackburn end for the 68 cup match against City. I was 9 and very impressed.

[Sweaty Gussets]

9 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

a couple of years ago i cleared an old attic out and found some football annuals from the early 70`s,apparently ewood park in 1975 had a capacity of 47,000???,even with the old riverside terrace this would seem somewhat optimistic,i remember crowds of 20,000/25,000 in the early 80`s and  we were pretty much hemmed in,does anyone remember the last 40,000+ gate,it must have been like being in a sardine net🙂

In 1903, a roof was built on the Darwen End of the ground, at a cost of £1,680. The stand now held 12,000 spectators.

In 1906, construction started on a new main stand seating 4,112 on its upper tier with a paddock for 9,320 in front with changing rooms and offices underneath, cranked at one end to follow the angle of Nuttall Street.

A double tiered Riverside Stand was built in 1913, bringing the capacity of Ewood Park up to 70,886 with 7,000 seats.

Ewood Park - Wikipedia

Although it doesn't mention the BBE or the Riverside Terrace, I don't think the ground changed much from when the above was built up to the 1970's. The record attendance was 62,500 so 47,000 would have seemed quire roomy!

What I didn't know was that the Suffragettes tried to burn the Nuttall Street stand down in 1913. They did the same at Arsenal and PNE. 

[simongarnerisgod]

3 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

In 1903, a roof was built on the Darwen End of the ground, at a cost of £1,680. The stand now held 12,000 spectators.

In 1906, construction started on a new main stand seating 4,112 on its upper tier with a paddock for 9,320 in front with changing rooms and offices underneath, cranked at one end to follow the angle of Nuttall Street.

A double tiered Riverside Stand was built in 1913, bringing the capacity of Ewood Park up to 70,886 with 7,000 seats.

Ewood Park - Wikipedia

Although it doesn't mention the BBE or the Riverside Terrace, I don't think the ground changed much from when the above was built up to the 1970's. The record attendance was 62,500 so 47,000 would have seemed quire roomy!

What I didn't know was that the Suffragettes tried to burn the Nuttall Street stand down in 1913. They did the same at Arsenal and PNE. 

i did`nt know the suffragettes tried that,i remember the burnley fans trying to demolish the darwen end roof,most of the debris landed on their own fans,such is/was their intelligence😁

[JohnD]

As a child I sat on the benches along the running track next to the Enclosure with crowds of 50k+(??), elbow room only. Kids passed above heads to and from seating, proper crowd surfing 🤣

It was particularly packed for a visit of Manure.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

7 hours ago, simongarnerisgod said:

a couple of years ago i cleared an old attic out and found some football annuals from the early 70`s,apparently ewood park in 1975 had a capacity of 47,000???,even with the old riverside terrace this would seem somewhat optimistic,i remember crowds of 20,000/25,000 in the early 80`s and  we were pretty much hemmed in,does anyone remember the last 40,000+ gate,it must have been like being in a sardine net🙂

Man City in the FACup in the late 1960’s was the last 40,000 plus gate. Yes, it was packed.

[DeeCee]

I remember "sneaking" from the BBE to the Riverside and vice versa if the Police didn't stop you.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

7 hours ago, renrag said:

  

I’ve been to Ewood at least half a dozen times with over 50.000 on

I could only find 5 home games were the gate exceeded 50,000 since 1945.

WBA FA Cup 1951-52, Burnley FA Cup 1951-52.

Liverpool FA Cup 1957-58.

Blackpool FA Cup 1959-60, Burnley FA Cup 1959-60.

Which one have I missed ?

 

[47er]

12 hours ago, JohnD said:

Many home and away fans met on the Riverside at half time when they changed ends.

Not very amicably either at times. One such instance was a game against Liverpool very early sixties. Any delusions I had about loveable Scousers disappeared that day!

[47er]

37 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I could only find 5 home games were the gate exceeded 50,000 since 1945.

WBA FA Cup 1951-52, Burnley FA Cup 1951-52.

Liverpool FA Cup 1957-58.

Blackpool FA Cup 1959-60, Burnley FA Cup 1959-60.

Which one have I missed ?

 

The 4th Round Burnley Cup tie 1958-59 that was abandoned at half-time and rescheduled 3 days later? 1 match but 2 bumper crowds at Ewood within hours of each other! 

That reached 50000 didn't it?

[Upside Down]

Question: what was the ticket price back in the old days and what would that be now when inflation is taken into account? 

[JohnD]

When was the official capacity reduced to just 19k? Was it before or during Jack's rebuild?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

5 minutes ago, 47er said:

The 4th Round Burnley Cup tie 1958-59 that was abandoned at half-time and rescheduled 3 days later? 1 match but 2 bumper crowds at Ewood within hours of each other! 

That reached 50000 didn't it?

I don’t know. Just imagine Waggott rubbing his hands at the thought of that.

The game that actually got played had 43,000 on.

Edited March 25, 2023 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[simongarnerisgod]

1 minute ago, JohnD said:

When was the official capacity reduced to just 19k? Was it before or during Jack's rebuild?

late 80`s i think,after some safety work it went back up to just over 20k in the early 90`s

[R0verb0y]

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Man City in the FACup in the late 1960’s was the last 40,000 plus gate. Yes, it was packed.

Certainly was! 😦  I remember coming over from Blackpool with a colleague who was a Man City fan; but can't now recall why it was a Monday night match - lo-o-ong before the era of rearranged fixtures for the convenience of Sky TV.

Said colleague was severely erm, "hacked" off with me reminding him for the rest of City's successful Cup run that Jim Fryatt's goal in our 4-1 defeat was the only one they conceded in that run!

Incidentally, perhaps it was a bit too much of a "niche" statistic; but I was a bit surprised not to have heard any of the commentators last weekend mention that both of the grandfathers of Tommy Booth played for City in that 5th Round game.

[wilsdenrover]

10 minutes ago, R0verb0y said:

Certainly was! 😦  I remember coming over from Blackpool with a colleague who was a Man City fan; but can't now recall why it was a Monday night match - lo-o-ong before the era of rearranged fixtures for the convenience of Sky TV.

Said colleague was severely erm, "hacked" off with me reminding him for the rest of City's successful Cup run that Jim Fryatt's goal in our 4-1 defeat was the only one they conceded in that run!

Incidentally, perhaps it was a bit too much of a "niche" statistic; but I was a bit surprised not to have heard any of the commentators last weekend mention that both of the grandfathers of Tommy Booth played for City in that 5th Round game.

I think you mean Tommy Doyle

[R0verb0y]

19 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

I think you mean Tommy Doyle

Mea culpa, @wilsdenrover , so do I!😏

In mitigation, it's been a lo-o-ng day today.