Quirks of the old Bloomfield Road

C

Chishandfips

Well-known member
So what little quirks do you remember from the old Bloomfield Road.

Two from me. I will always remember all the rubbish piled high under the West Stand after the Bradford fire - my Dad made us move from the Kop end to the South end because he was so concerned. The bloke who used to wander round the ground with the Gazettes.
 
The gents urinals behind the West stand stank to high heaven.
When passing the open windows of the home changing room on Bloomfield Road, you could smell the winter green rub. If ever I smell that now, it takes me right back to those happy days.
I loved the old Bloomfield Road, but todays stadium is cleaner and safer.
 
The guy who used to put the half time scores up by hand and you had to look at the programme to see which teams they related to
 
We had a great little arrangement one season behind the west whereby an old boy on the turnstile used to let us jump over for a quid a head. Thought he'd have a heart attack he was that nervous. We pushed our luck by asking for a program as part of the deal. He seemed to get a bit disillusioned then 🙄
 
The little windows on the back wall of the south looking down into the offices beneath.
 
The odd looking North West stand. Always looked a waste of the available space to me.
South Paddock - those surges whenever we scored.
If you were in the middle or near the bottom of the paddock, you had to run down the terrace to keep your balance, because there weren't enough fans in the South to maintain the surge all the way down!
 
Also waiting for the coin toss, seeing which way we were attacking. If we were shooting towards the Kop first half I’d go down the back of the west stand and sit where the St. John’s ambulance was parked
 
Standing in the south east paddock.
Looking up at the scratching shed roof,the girder stamped with Lanark steel.
Made feel sad about the demise of Third Lanark and in awe of Hugh Curran,who went on to have a fine stint at Wolves.
 
Brett scores for fun said:
The gents urinals behind the West stand stank to high heaven.
When passing the open windows of the home changing room on Bloomfield Road, you could smell the winter green rub. If ever I smell that now, it takes me right back to those happy days.
I loved the old Bloomfield Road, but todays stadium is cleaner and safer.
Click to expand...

When the old ground was demolished I acquired the wooden "Gentleman's Toilet" sign that adorned those urinals, as our group used to meet up thereabouts at half time. It wasn't really somewhere you wanted to linger! Your feet would be swimming some days.

The sign ended up on my garden wall. When I put it up I swear it still smelt of the urinal.

Happy days!
 
We were a little different, we had the Atomic boys and the three ducks (not all at once) Donald, followed by Douglas then finally Puskas) and I can remember the noise made by the hundreds of wooden rattles when the players came out and when we scored a goal, had a corner or awarded a free kick.
Wonderful atmosphere.
 
The old South Stand was not particularly big but when you treated yourself to a sit down in it as opposed to the paddocks for a game, it seemed like you were up in the gods.
I only sat in the corner stand between the west and the kop once but im sure my Dad told me it was Fleetwoods old stand from the days when they used to play next to the North Euston. Can anyone confirm that?
 
PNENIL said:
The old South Stand was not particularly big but when you treated yourself to a sit down in it as opposed to the paddocks for a game, it seemed like you were up in the gods.
I only sat in the corner stand between the west and the kop once but im sure my Dad told me it was Fleetwoods old stand from the days when they used to play next to the North Euston. Can anyone confirm that?
Click to expand...
I always thought it was the remnants of the ‘motor’ stand - which was originally in place prior to the kop being constructed.
 
The front of the Scrattin Shed was way lower than the pitch, bit of a drop onto concrete if you were one of the kids sat on the top and got skittled
 
Sitting on the wall in front of the Scratching Shed watching our overlapping right back bomb up the wing, within a few yards of me.
 
Never been in the South Stand toilets, but far worse than either the West Stand or the Scratching Shed toilets were the ones behind the old Kop.
Particularly when it had rained, you needed Wellies to even venture near the 'Bogs'.
And it wasn't all rain either.😒
 
PNENIL said:
The old South Stand was not particularly big but when you treated yourself to a sit down in it as opposed to the paddocks for a game, it seemed like you were up in the gods.
I only sat in the corner stand between the west and the kop once but im sure my Dad told me it was Fleetwoods old stand from the days when they used to play next to the North Euston. Can anyone confirm that?
Click to expand...
I thought it was our first north stand.
 
Suddick's Ghost said:
When the old ground was demolished I acquired the wooden "Gentleman's Toilet" sign that adorned those urinals, as our group used to meet up thereabouts at half time. It wasn't really somewhere you wanted to linger! Your feet would be swimming some days.

The sign ended up on my garden wall. When I put it up I swear it still smelt of the urinal.

Happy days!
Click to expand...
Brilliant Sudds, what a great piece of BFC memorabilia. There weren't many 'gentlemen' that used those urinals. They did stink like a sewage drain, a yellow river was 'flowing' out of the entrance by 3pm, and the poor women could see the men's heads stood aginst the wall. No health and safety in them days.
Oh happy days.
 
In the 80's we travelled to the games from Cheshire with our 2 young daughters. We'd arrive in the morning and go straight to the club shop. We would then walk into the ground to pitchside. George the chief steward for years (lovely guy) would let us stand on the turf and in the tunnel to take photos.
The next occasion we had such freedom to enter Bloomfield Road - other than at a game, was to clean the seats of seagull poo for two days; which we're very proud to have been a part of.
 
Brett scores for fun said:
Brilliant Sudds, what a great piece of BFC memorabilia. There weren't many 'gentlemen' that used those urinals. They did stink like a sewage drain, a yellow river was 'flowing' out of the entrance by 3pm, and the poor women could see the men's heads stood aginst the wall. No health and safety in them days.
Oh happy days.
Click to expand...
Also got two wooden seats out of the old West stand. Bolted them onto my shed so me and my dad could sit and look at the grass on summer saturdays. Sadly the seats perished after a few years. Even sadder, it was only after I took them to the tip that I found out that they were from the original Wembley.
 
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