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Saint Andrews; Enternally grateful to the Owners & KB
Topic Started: Sep 6 2005, 02:54 PM (769 Views)
Blueshrew
Steve Claridge
[ *  *  * ]
The post about crap turnstiles got me thinking about a game at St Andrews in August 1986 v Derby.

As I drove into what is now the Kop car park in my Mk1 Sierra I noticed the orange clay car park was now covered in 2 ft high weeds and clusters of grass. I parked by the wall about 5 yards from the turnstile and walked up to the rusting blue barrier. A small queue had formed as one of the turnstiles was not in use, because a friend's, (Pete's) MK4 Cortina, (which was burnt out) was wedged up against it. The car had been stolen from outside the Bulls Head in Hall Green 2 weeks before and had been in its current position for over a week.

As I waited a group of Derby fans (15 to 20) appeared in the car park looking for trouble. Some of the Blues fans ran at them from the queue and the small posy of potential hard men from Derby tried to run through one of the 2 – 3 foot kicked in gaps in the rotten wooden fencing. The gap was resized to 5 foot instantly but to be honest it neither, improved or depreciated the overall look of the place.

As we entered the ground the sun shone off the broken glass cemented to the top of the walls as a deterrent to those who would not pay the entrance price. I walked up the stairs at the back of the old Kop onto the terrace. The pitch was surrounded by fences and barbed wire however the grass looked great.

The football that was served up was absolutely crap and the game ended 1-1. I generally look back with rose coloured specs at the past but thinking of this day has made me realise what a dump St Andrews had become, what a crap team we had and what a fantastic job the Owners and Karen Brady have done to deliver us from the third world in every aspect of football to the 21st century. With the plans they have for the new ground I for one as a mad Blue Nose will be eternally grateful for there efforts.

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Oby
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Mikael Forssell
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
I so remember those days mate----Good Post---- ;)
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TJDIXI
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Trevor Francis
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
Good post.
I remeber a similar day that was beautiful sunshine and seering heat and as we steppede through the turnstile on the kop (the one next to the railway shack(i mean stand) the loudest clap of thunder resonated around the empty pearches and the heavens opened as in the distance the lightening forks guided there way to the aston dump. It rained all game and every blue nose i saw on that day was a shivering wreck in t-shirt and bemuda shorts

On the upside i thought the catering was better than the gristle burger tripe we endure now.
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Oby
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Mikael Forssell
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
Tjdixi, the only thing thats NOT changed is the catering, it was bad then and its still bad! :(
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sam jordan
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OB1
Sep 6 2005, 03:13 PM
Tjdixi, the only thing thats NOT changed is the catering, it was bad then and its still bad! :(

it is over priced, but are any other grounds any better? fulham was rubbish, man city aweful, man utd terrible... liverpool crap... so maybe its just football caterteres everywhere, although we should soon be getting new catererers at the Vile game...

i did annouce that in a previous "heard it here first" exclusive " we don't need journalists" post!
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S.W.Blue
Jose Dominguez
[ *  *  * ]
Ahh the good old days.......I remeber them well.
Great post. :blink:
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tobedeleted
Unregistered

fantastic memories and a great post; i remember many games and i cant recall a really bad one :rolleyes:

but the way the club is now to just 10 years ago is miraculous, and these "newbies" should have been there to appreciate what we have now....imo
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bluebob
Jose Dominguez
[ *  *  * ]
ah the memories, squashed on the main stand and everyone with wet ankles. Great post Blueshrew sort of brings things into prospective.
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littleboyblue
Peter Enckelman
[ *  *  * ]
Ahhh...........The good old days of division 2 and 3 football, I remember them although don't remember too much detail of each individual game. Proccy is right, the transformation this club has made since the Golds/DS took over is nothing short of remarkable and should be applauded. We have only been in the premier league for 4 seasons yet all over everywhere we are held in the same grouping as Charlton, Tottenham, Blackburn, Middlesborough etc, that in itself is a remarkable achievement considering how long they have been competing in this league. The very fact that we are mentioned in this way is testament to the way that the Golds/DS have run the club and continue to establish us first and foremost as a premiership side and when we are ready cup success/Europe will be a natural progression. This is not the stage we are at at the moment and we need to realise this, we need to learn to walk before we can run and with a few more seasons of continuous improvement in the squad we will get there. We need to lower our expectations downwards ever so slightly, we are not yet ready for Europe and our expectations should be such, unfortunately we all get carried away, myself included :( . The very fact that we are here and continue to improve is fantastic and we are going in the right direction unlike our friends in B6 :lol: . KRO everybody, we are on the rise and we will get there when we are ready to do so.
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Davejh
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Keep Right On !!!!
[ *  *  *  * ]
Top Post !!!!

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midland red
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Mikael Forssell
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
Youngsters today, they don't know when they're well off. :angry:

We dreamed of a seat to sit on in the rain, we made do with a corrugated sheet that got painted once in five years.That we could hide behind in the rain. :angry:
Balti pies! Huh, we made do with bovril and crisps, don't talk to me about prawn cocktail sarnies. :angry:
Bloody Rolls and Saab. We made do with rolls and sausage :angry:
Bloody PR and Admin we made do with the bloke selling the Argus on New Street: :angry:

Gold Suite after-match drinkies...rollox, we made do with the hot chestnut man, next to the bloke with the Argus : :angry:

Bloody kids, they don't know when they're well off.....

:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:
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anna
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Great posts from all of you :D

I loved KB when we kicked off after the refurb - there was more than 2 ladies toilets at the back of the Kop & they worked, toilet paper, running water & hand dryers :D

The tinshed at the back of the Tilton which was our clubshop has to be mentioned :rolleyes:


Remember the photo cards ID we had? Into the portacabins at the back of the mainstand at the first home game of the season & the cabins were just about demolished as no-one had told the fans??? :blink:

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bezza
Joe Hart
[ *  * ]
i remember my first game at stans - 4 september 1982. i turned up with stitches inmy chin (from a footballing injury the night before at youth club). we were playing Stoke, in the team was the quality of coton, langdon, dennis, hopkins, harford et al. stoke brought mark chamberlain along with them and he absolutley single handedly tore us apart and they won 4-1 (not the best welcome to the religion known as Blues). i was stood in the kop corner at the cattell rd end and i remember glancing round and saw a crucifx attached to the floodlight and asked my grandad "WHY"? Istill have the matchday program from that game - as with all blues matches i have attended since.

i haven't look back since. yeah it was rubbish and in need of refurb but it was home.

I am now 32 and in the RAF moved around abit and visited some of the top grounds in the world - but to me St Andrews has and will always be the best stadium in the world!!
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gnrcoma
Bob Hatton
[ *  *  *  * ]
Blueshrew
Sep 6 2005, 02:54 PM
The post about crap turnstiles got me thinking about a game at St Andrews in August 1986 v Derby.

As I drove into what is now the Kop car park in my Mk1 Sierra I noticed the orange clay car park was now covered in 2 ft high weeds and clusters of grass. I parked by the wall about 5 yards from the turnstile and walked up to the rusting blue barrier. A small queue had formed as one of the turnstiles was not in use, because a friend's, (Pete's) MK4 Cortina, (which was burnt out) was wedged up against it. The car had been stolen from outside the Bulls Head in Hall Green 2 weeks before and had been in its current position for over a week.

As I waited a group of Derby fans (15 to 20) appeared in the car park looking for trouble. Some of the Blues fans ran at them from the queue and the small posy of potential hard men from Derby tried to run through one of the 2 – 3 foot kicked in gaps in the rotten wooden fencing. The gap was resized to 5 foot instantly but to be honest it neither, improved or depreciated the overall look of the place.

As we entered the ground the sun shone off the broken glass cemented to the top of the walls as a deterrent to those who would not pay the entrance price. I walked up the stairs at the back of the old Kop onto the terrace. The pitch was surrounded by fences and barbed wire however the grass looked great.

The football that was served up was absolutely crap and the game ended 1-1. I generally look back with rose coloured specs at the past but thinking of this day has made me realise what a dump St Andrews had become, what a crap team we had and what a fantastic job the Owners and Karen Brady have done to deliver us from the third world in every aspect of football to the 21st century. With the plans they have for the new ground I for one as a mad Blue Nose will be eternally grateful for there efforts.

Do you work for them by any chance?
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Coorslite
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Frank Worthington
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
Stood there shivering,me and my Dad, drinking hot choclate from a flask, laced with rum and some cheese sarnies me mum made for us, because the catering was crap. Bovril like water. Remember all the corrigated iron walls, we used to bang on it as we came in and as we left. Made hell of a noise. Coming through the turnstiles with my Dad and the copper stopping and searching me old man and not touching me, with all my scarfs and blue's gear on each arm, my Ben Sherman, Crombie, kecks up to the top of the 24 holers on ya Dr Martins. Not once was I search, but my Dad almost every time. Just got to laugh. It was St Andrews and we knew no better, but now it has changed for the best. It will get better and maybe larger if we get a new stadium.

The atmosphere back then was great, 6000 fans could make a lot of noise. Kept us warm that is why we sang so much. :lol:
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Blueshrew
Steve Claridge
[ *  *  * ]
gnrcoma
Sep 6 2005, 09:36 PM
Blueshrew
Sep 6 2005, 02:54 PM
The post about crap turnstiles got me thinking about a game at St Andrews in August 1986 v Derby.

As I drove into what is now the Kop car park in my Mk1 Sierra I noticed the orange clay car park was now covered in 2 ft high weeds and clusters of grass. I parked by the wall about 5 yards from the turnstile and walked up to the rusting blue barrier. A small queue had formed as one of the turnstiles was not in use, because a friend's, (Pete's) MK4 Cortina, (which was burnt out) was wedged up against it. The car had been stolen from outside the Bulls Head in Hall Green 2 weeks before and had been in its current position for over a week.

As I waited a group of Derby fans (15 to 20) appeared in the car park looking for trouble. Some of the Blues fans ran at them from the queue and the small posy of potential hard men from Derby tried to run through one of the 2 – 3 foot kicked in gaps in the rotten wooden fencing. The gap was resized to 5 foot instantly but to be honest it neither, improved or depreciated the overall look of the place.

As we entered the ground the sun shone off the broken glass cemented to the top of the walls as a deterrent to those who would not pay the entrance price. I walked up the stairs at the back of the old Kop onto the terrace. The pitch was surrounded by fences and barbed wire however the grass looked great.

The football that was served up was absolutely crap and the game ended 1-1.  I generally look back with rose coloured specs at the past but thinking of this day has made me realise what a dump St Andrews had become, what a crap team we had and what a fantastic job the Owners and Karen Brady have done to deliver us from the third world in every aspect of football to the 21st century. With the plans they have for the new ground I for one as a mad Blue Nose will be eternally grateful for there efforts.

Do you work for them by any chance?

No gnrccoma I dont work for them. I work in the automotive business. I am a season ticket holder. I first went to see the Blues in 1972 at the age of 8. As a young man I went to every game home and away and now at the age of 40 I go to home games with my son and the odd away game like the vile.

From the majority of the replies on here my memory is intact and we have moved on a million miles under DS, KB and the Golds.
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StAndrews4Eva
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Gil Merrick
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
Great original post and some fantastic memories being shared. A lot of this was around the time the violence and hooliganism was rife in football and my dad stopped taking me but i remember hearing stories of days like this.

It does make you think how far we, and football in gerneral, has come over the years.
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tobedeleted
Unregistered

gnrcoma
Sep 6 2005, 10:36 PM

Do you work for them by any chance?

ah good old grninacoma - by "them" you mean bcfc the club obviously, and the only people who refer to bcfc as "them" are vilers.......add to this the fact you dont go to any games, add to this there is never anything positive from you, either about the club,board or players.....can't you see why people dont take you seriously, or why some (not me, gov, honest!!) think you're a viler??? :rolleyes:
in any case, even the most misguided idiot would accept the club is a million times better than it was 15 years ago - wouldn't you??
;)
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jk35
Garry Pendrey
[ *  *  *  * ]
Great thread - great posts (apart from coma boy) and great, great memories of a truly awful time in our clubs history. But i tell you what - I loved it just as much then as i do now.

We should never ever ever ever forget what these people (Golds and Sullivan) have done for us and our club.

A stream of hot pi55 all the way down the steps from the bogs at the back of the Kop ??? We could accurately guess the attendance to within about 50 by how far the pi55 got down the steps, or how big the puddle was at the bottom !!!!!!

Truly great days - a proper education and upbringing into the harsh realities of watching footy - top class !! :)
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KPblueKP
Steve Claridge
[ *  *  * ]
The voice of sanity at last. My memories are similar to yours. A good result was when the game wasnt held up by fighting and pitch invasions and I didnt get food poisning or chased by the opposition on my way home.
It must be very dispiriting to the owners when supposed supporters dont appreciate how far we have come.
No I dont think our owners are perfect but then my wife doesnt think I am perfect either!
What I do know is that our owners and KB are very commited emotionally and financially and that whilst we might wish for more signings in certain positions we do have the best team ever and a very sound financial base for the future.
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BOXY
Jose Dominguez
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GREAT POST MATE I LOVED READING THAT
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TJDIXI
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Trevor Francis
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Yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn Coma

I remeber as a lad going to the ground to buy my ticket with my mum and dad (during the 5 days off school with a virus - which was the only days i took off in my entire time at Infants Juniors and secondary, used to get a certificate each year for 100% attendance) and seeing the players Paul Tait et al all qued up on the stairs in the main stand collecting there wages. Paul Tait winked at me and said "you'll alright kid" i was in awe.

I'm sad that things have moved on in one respect because that pewrsonal touch has been lost to some degree, but it has overall been change for the better. We are all now in stadiums that have fire certificates, building regulations, Food Hygiene standards as well as the threat of violence in the ground diminished and a far more safer environment. If the Golds, DS and KB had not come we would have had a bigger capacity although i am glad we don't have to sit on the wooden benches that were planned in the same way crystal palace has 'developed' it's ground.
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TJDIXI
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Trevor Francis
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
i guess you could probably class KB as an owner too as she is likely to have a good few shares in the club by now through bonuses and time served etc.
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anglo-welsh bluenose
Bob Hatton
[ *  *  *  * ]
Blueshrew
Sep 7 2005, 07:46 AM

No gnrccoma I dont work for them. I work in the automotive business. I am a season ticket holder. I first went to see the Blues in 1972 at the age of 8. As a young man I went to every game home and away and now at the age of 40 I go to home games with my son and the odd away game like the vile.

From the majority of the replies on here my memory is intact and we have moved on a million miles under DS, KB and the Golds.

wow we are allmost the same age!! my first game was 1973 though. I guess I could be called a glory hunter as we were in the top flight then as well. Mind what we went through for the next 25 years was, at times, not much in the way of glory. I wish I had a time machine so that I can take all the people who are SOOOOOOOOO impaitiant for success back to the bad times so that they can enjoy this period as much as I do. Nearly all my memories involve us lossing.

Still I dare say the dark days will cycle back round to us at some point in the future. The third division was the pits though I hope that never happens again.

CP :D
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bluejumper
Steve Claridge
[ *  *  * ]
Blueshrew
Sep 6 2005, 02:54 PM
The post about crap turnstiles got me thinking about a game at St Andrews in August 1986 v Derby.

As I drove into what is now the Kop car park in my Mk1 Sierra I noticed the orange clay car park was now covered in 2 ft high weeds and clusters of grass. I parked by the wall about 5 yards from the turnstile and walked up to the rusting blue barrier. A small queue had formed as one of the turnstiles was not in use, because a friend's, (Pete's) MK4 Cortina, (which was burnt out) was wedged up against it. The car had been stolen from outside the Bulls Head in Hall Green 2 weeks before and had been in its current position for over a week.

As I waited a group of Derby fans (15 to 20) appeared in the car park looking for trouble. Some of the Blues fans ran at them from the queue and the small posy of potential hard men from Derby tried to run through one of the 2 – 3 foot kicked in gaps in the rotten wooden fencing. The gap was resized to 5 foot instantly but to be honest it neither, improved or depreciated the overall look of the place.

As we entered the ground the sun shone off the broken glass cemented to the top of the walls as a deterrent to those who would not pay the entrance price. I walked up the stairs at the back of the old Kop onto the terrace. The pitch was surrounded by fences and barbed wire however the grass looked great.

The football that was served up was absolutely crap and the game ended 1-1. I generally look back with rose coloured specs at the past but thinking of this day has made me realise what a dump St Andrews had become, what a crap team we had and what a fantastic job the Owners and Karen Brady have done to deliver us from the third world in every aspect of football to the 21st century. With the plans they have for the new ground I for one as a mad Blue Nose will be eternally grateful for there efforts.

Get up off your knees mate. Ok there's a fancy looking car park at the front, so what! They won't let me park there, so what good is it to me?

at least people could afford to go to St. Andrews then.

I have never been bothered about the state of the food, toilets etc.

I eat and drink before I arrive at the ground, and I go to the toilet after the game.

I am now forced to sit in a cramped seat and have to keep getting up to let in late comers, early leavers and those who can't go a couple of hours without going off to buy food and drink and half a dozen trips to the toilets. You can say what you like about the state of the old ground, but for me it was a lot less hassle and far more enjoyable than the current St. Andrews. Also if there were people round you that you didn't like, you could move, now you can buy a season ticket and find a load of foul mothed morons sitting behind you/in front of you etc. and you're stuck with them for the season.
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