West End. (1 Viewer)

KenilworthSkyBlue · Sep 29, 2020

Evo1883 said:
I disagree, Highfield Road was a football stadium, the ricoh arena is an events arena.. I prefer brammel Lane, Portman Road, goodison Park, Upton Park (before knocked down), fratton Park much more than I prefer our generic bowl

I actually find the ricoh to be one of the worst generic bowls too, such a boring, soulless mundane stadium.

Fair enough if that's your preference, I too appreciate the old-style football stadiums like those you've mentioned.

Just to touch on your last point though. Is it the stadium that's soulless, boring and mundane, or is that the stigma talking? If that's what you genuinely think that about 'modern stadia' that's your prerogative, but there seems to be a lot of animosity attached to your view of the Ricoh.

At the end of the day, most football stadiums are going to be the above adjectives mentioned if throughout the years they've hosted sub-par football, been filled with distain and frustration, and consistently seated, on average, probably less than half of its actual capacity - sometimes even below a third of its capacity. Personally, I don't see how a stadium can be soulless, boring or mundane on its own. Unless it's not simply not been built for football of course. E.g. West Ham's Olympic Stadium.

Joy Division · Sep 29, 2020

Liquid Gold said:
It was pretty depressing having 5k at the Ricoh during a midweek game against FGR too.

I don't disagree with that at all

bringbackrattles · Sep 29, 2020

Loved Highfield Road from going there in the 60's the place was great as we were winning under Jimmy Hill with big crowds. Then in the West End with my mates in the fight or flight era ! That's all we knew back then a " proper " football ground. But I also liked the Ricoh too and accepted we as a club were moving forward. I'm probably easily pleased as I liked our grounds no matter what.

Brylowes · Sep 29, 2020

Taken from what would appear to be almost the same spot but nearly 40 years on, the old
West End didn’t look to have aged to badly

shmmeee · Sep 29, 2020

Is this all an argument about filling in corners?

“Soulless bowl” always seems to be the insult, is it just the fact it’s not separate stands like the 70s?

Personally I think nothing screams tin pot club more than separate stands.

usskyblue · Sep 29, 2020

Eeewwww HR wasn’t perrrrfect. Fuck off.

Home is never perfect. HR’s imperfections made it fucking perfect....and it was OURS

‘East End, give us a song,
East End, East End give us a song’

They’d sing - applause

‘Main Stand, give us a song
Main Stand, Main Stand give us a song’

Mumbles - Boooooo

The Ricoh, and I’d wager, any similar sized bowl could never compete with HR for that true feeling of home.

Ring Of Steel · Sep 29, 2020

Joy Division said:
I'm not sure I'd agree with worst, I'd put Middlesborough, Reading, Southampton, Leicester, Stoke ahead.

No chance. Don't know if you ever went to Stoke for example but it was cold, silent, miles away from anything, stands miles from the pitch, open corners, very depressing place. The Ricoh is noisier than all of those, its all about the high roof which was designed in. Funnily enough when Stoke had success it turned into a cauldron and was full every week.

I'm not having a pop at HR, it was home, but the Ricoh does get a massively undeserved bad press.

Ring Of Steel · Sep 29, 2020

shmmeee said:
Is this all an argument about filling in corners?

“Soulless bowl” always seems to be the insult, is it just the fact it’s not separate stands like the 70s?

Personally I think nothing screams tin pot club more than separate stands.

Its funny what time does. When all the 'old' grounds were still around we were often mocked for having a crap ground and no atmosphere. Most teams looked at HR as a dump.

Now though when you read the eloquent eulogies by older football fans you'd think it was like the Albert Hall- a "proper old fashioned ground", "used to love going there", "a fantastic place to watch football"- well not many thought it when it was here.

Home is where the heart is and due to everything that has happened to CCFC our hearts were never really in the Ricoh as it was associated with defeat, letdowns, crises, embarrassments, indignities- thats the bottom line here.

usskyblue · Sep 29, 2020

Ring Of Steel said:
Its funny what time does. When all the 'old' grounds were still around we were often mocked for having a crap ground and no atmosphere. Most teams looked at HR as a dump.

Now though when you read the eloquent eulogies by older football fans you'd think it was like the Albert Hall- a "proper old fashioned ground", "used to love going there", "a fantastic place to watch football"- well not many thought it when it was here.

Home is where the heart is and due to everything that has happened to CCFC our hearts were never really in the Ricoh as it was associated with defeat, letdowns, crises, embarrassments, indignities- thats the bottom line here.

The Ricoh is associated with Wasps and The Spice Girls.

Forget it

Esoterica · Sep 29, 2020

Some people like the pre match pints, some people like the post match pints, some people like the tension that builds on the walk up to the stadium, the singing at away fans along the way, some people like the memories of the place: 50,000 vs Wolves, watching your all time favourite player, being small and overwhelmed but feeling safe because your Dad's huge hand is crushing yours, returning the gesture years later when your old man is too frail to get up there on his own. Highfield Road had all of that because of it's central location, the length of time we were there, and that our best periods as a team were at that location.

As a stadium the Ricoh is fine and if it was built on the same site as HR there would be a lot less arguing. Not many people enjoy a drive to an out of town stadium, to watch Newport, with 5000 other people who will all go their separate ways as soon as the final whistle goes. Win or lose the bars around HR would still have plenty of people in after a game and even though it would only need a few 100 to fill them, it would give the impression of community close the stadium.

It's a real pity about the lack of rental agreement and then BHCD for this season as there would have been many good memories created this season adding soul to the Ricoh bowl. 20k in there week in week out, playing Robinsball and getting results and people would slowly start to fill up the 'on the pitch' memory banks. Not sure there's too much that can be done about the peripheral bits because of the location though.

Liquid Gold · Sep 29, 2020

Ring Of Steel said:
Its funny what time does. When all the 'old' grounds were still around we were often mocked for having a crap ground and no atmosphere. Most teams looked at HR as a dump.

Now though when you read the eloquent eulogies by older football fans you'd think it was like the Albert Hall- a "proper old fashioned ground", "used to love going there", "a fantastic place to watch football"- well not many thought it when it was here.

Home is where the heart is and due to everything that has happened to CCFC our hearts were never really in the Ricoh as it was associated with defeat, letdowns, crises, embarrassments, indignities- thats the bottom line here.

That could be one thing.

For me though it's the fact that it's literally the minimum effort put into getting as many people around a pitch as possible that far too many teams have resulting in our ground looking no different to anybody else's, no personality in the place at all. Add to that that it's right on the edge of the city next to a shopping park with none of the typical football infrastructure around that takes the day away. the Ricoh, like all the other terrible bowl design grounds is emblematic of the commercialisation of football to me, I hate them all equally, our one isn't hated more because we didn't have success in it.

Give me squeezing into Fratton Park after having a few drinks on the way down from Pompey centre over walking through another industrial estate to the same ground with a slightly different colour seat in Derby, Southampton, Coventry etc etc etc any day.

Ring Of Steel · Sep 29, 2020

KenilworthSkyBlue said:
Fair enough if that's your preference, I too appreciate the old-style football stadiums like those you've mentioned.

Just to touch on your last point though. Is it the stadium that's soulless, boring and mundane, or is that the stigma talking? If that's what you genuinely think that about 'modern stadia' course that's your prerogative, but there seems to be a lot of animosity attached to your view of the Ricoh.

At the end of the day, most football stadiums are going to be the above adjectives mentioned if throughout the years they've hosted sub-par football, been filled with distain and frustration, and consistently seated, on average, probably less than half of its actual capacity - sometimes even below a third of its capacity. Personally, I don't see how a stadium can be soulless, boring or mundane on its own. Unless it's not simply not been built for football of course. E.g. West Ham's Olympic Stadium.

Its the 'in thing' to go around saying that football was amazing in the 1970s & 1980s and everything about it today is crap.

Lots of things today are crap- atmospheres in general, prices, being treated as a 'customer', players diving around etc, however you have to balance that against what we had then which included very small crowds at most grounds, hooliganism, and the terrible quality of football.

Its the same as anything else, the minute something becomes a 'thing' it loses its edge and feels inferior to the people that used to class it as their own almost exclusive hobby. The minute thousands of 'consumers' rocked up with painted faces and outnumbered the old fans (around '96?), going to football lost its edge as a pastime- and thats what we miss, the edginess- rough & ready grounds, the ever present sense of danger, trying to find a ground by walking towards the floodlights with 10 mins to kickoff without a ticket, seeing your left back boot a winger up in the air after 2 mins to 'let him know you're there', having to get in 45 mins before kickoff to get a place on a terrace if it was a big game & feeling the atmosphere build & build, every part of a ground unique and each stand filled with different types of fans- all that excitement has gone and its not the same. Better now or then? Not for me to say but football then was different completely to how it was then, its almost a different sport completely.

Joy Division · Sep 29, 2020

Ring Of Steel said:
No chance. Don't know if you ever went to Stoke for example but it was cold, silent, miles away from anything, stands miles from the pitch, open corners, very depressing place. The Ricoh is noisier than all of those, its all about the high roof which was designed in. Funnily enough when Stoke had success it turned into a cauldron and was full every week.

I'm not having a pop at HR, it was home, but the Ricoh does get a massively undeserved bad press.

I meant as in all those are worse than the Ricoh

Ring Of Steel · Sep 29, 2020

Joy Division said:
I meant as in all those are worse than the Ricoh

I humbly apologise

The Great Eastern · Sep 29, 2020

usskyblue said:
Eeewwww HR wasn’t perrrrfect. Fuck off.

Home is never perfect. HR’s imperfections made it fucking perfect....and it was OURS

‘East End, give us a song,
East End, East End give us a song’

They’d sing - applause

‘Main Stand, give us a song
Main Stand, Main Stand give us a song’

Mumbles - Boooooo

The Ricoh, and I’d wager, any similar sized bowl could never compete with HR for that true feeling of home.

The one exception I can remember was the 1st home game after winning the 87 cup semi final. Absolutely electric atmosphere before the game against QPR started with the West End leading the singing. In turn, it was
Scoreboard, scoreboard give us a song...
Then it was Sky Blue, Sky Blue give us a song.... Both areas replying with much gusto and even getting generous applause from the QPR contingent !
Then it turned to 'Main stand, main stand, give us a song' to which a song sprang from the end nearest the West End which prompted huge cheers from the rest of the ground and the rest of the stadium joining in ! To cap a wonderful 45 minutes or so of unanimity amongst the Cov fans, the team then proceeded to whack 4 goals past QPR to complete a memorable afternoon.
I miss HR for a lot of different reasons but the Ricoh was a massive upgrade. Just a shame that the product on the pitch didnt match the original ambitions of the club to be a middle range Premiership set up.

Ring Of Steel · Sep 29, 2020

The Great Eastern said:
The one exception I can remember was the 1st home game after winning the 87 cup semi final. Absolutely electric atmosphere before the game against QPR started with the West End leading the singing. In turn, it was
Scoreboard, scoreboard give us a song...
Then it was Sky Blue, Sky Blue give us a song.... Both areas replying with much gusto and even getting generous applause from the QPR contingent !
Then it turned to 'Main stand, main stand, give us a song' to which a song sprang from the end nearest the West End which prompted huge cheers from the rest of the ground and the rest of the stadium joining in ! To cap a wonderful 45 minutes or so of unanimity amongst the Cov fans, the team then proceeded to whack 4 goals past QPR to complete a memorable afternoon.
I miss HR for a lot of different reasons but the Ricoh was a massive upgrade. Just a shame that the product on the pitch didnt match the original ambitions of the club to be a middle range Premiership set up.

Remember that well, Easter Monday I think it was. The Main Stand even joined in with the Mexican Wave much to the delight of everyone else.

steve cooper · Sep 29, 2020

hill83 said:
WT4 Row N Seat 94. Never sat on it though, only stood on it when we scored.

I think I had the seat behind you

fatso · Sep 29, 2020

JimmyHillsbeard said:
unconformable truth. Despite the nostalgia we all fee for the place (me included), Highfield Road was pretty shite to be honest. The East stand was the last one constructed in the top flight to use cantilevers and view restricting pillars. Simon Inglis’ Football Grounds of England’s book (strangely a big deal after the Taylor Report) really lambasted it. The need to upgrade was obvious and that paved the way for the disastrous course of action that we then embarked on with Arena 2000!

Of course we’ve forgotten most of this and Highfield Road was always full, the views were unobscured and panoramic and we hardly ever lost there.

The ground itself had seen better days, and an upgrade was long overdue.
But having said that, the old place did have an atmosphere all of its own.
Nothing can replace the feeling you got when attending a night match at H.R.

I remember the anticipation building as I walked across Gosford green, heading towards the bright floodlights, drawing me in, like a moth to a fire, and on up the narrow streets to the ground, you could hear the fans already inside singing, and those of us marching up the roads would join in.

Liverpool, Man Utd, Leeds etc, yearly visitors to the Mecca of local football.
Great days indeed, And never equalled at the sterile Ricoh Arena.

LastGarrison · Sep 29, 2020

Ring Of Steel said:
Its funny what time does. When all the 'old' grounds were still around we were often mocked for having a crap ground and no atmosphere. Most teams looked at HR as a dump.

Now though when you read the eloquent eulogies by older football fans you'd think it was like the Albert Hall- a "proper old fashioned ground", "used to love going there", "a fantastic place to watch football"- well not many thought it when it was here.

Home is where the heart is and due to everything that has happened to CCFC our hearts were never really in the Ricoh as it was associated with defeat, letdowns, crises, embarrassments, indignities- thats the bottom line here.

I'm not sure that's strictly true as Highfield Road got mentioned a number of times by fans of opposition clubs on a post on insta (Football Away Days I think) of demolished grounds that you would like to see brought back. Just found the link:
I think as has been said it depends on what your definition is of a good/bad ground. Give me a shithole in the centre of a city over a new stadium on a out of town shopping area any day of the week.

hill83 · Sep 29, 2020

steve cooper said:
I think I had the seat behind you

I'd definitely recognise you then.

Legia Sky Blue · Sep 29, 2020

fatso said:
The ground itself had seen better days, and an upgrade was long overdue.
But having said that, the old place did have an atmosphere all of its own.
Nothing can replace the feeling you got when attending a night match at H.R.

I remember the anticipation building as I walked across Gosford green, heading towards the bright floodlights, drawing me in, like a moth to a fire, and on up the narrow streets to the ground, you could hear the fans already inside singing, and those of us marching up the roads would join in.

Liverpool, Man Utd, Leeds etc, yearly visitors to the Mecca of local football.
Great days indeed, And never equalled at the sterile Ricoh Arena.

Apart from that Bonfire night match against Bradford. I don't think I've ever been so depressed to be at a football match as that night!!

KenilworthSkyBlue · Sep 29, 2020

Ring Of Steel said:
Its the 'in thing' to go around saying that football was amazing in the 1970s & 1980s and everything about it today is crap.

Lots of things today are crap- atmospheres in general, prices, being treated as a 'customer', players diving around etc, however you have to balance that against what we had then which included very small crowds at most grounds, hooliganism, and the terrible quality of football.

Its the same as anything else, the minute something becomes a 'thing' it loses its edge and feels inferior to the people that used to class it as their own almost exclusive hobby. The minute thousands of 'consumers' rocked up with painted faces and outnumbered the old fans (around '96?), going to football lost its edge as a pastime- and thats what we miss, the edginess- rough & ready grounds, the ever present sense of danger, trying to find a ground by walking towards the floodlights with 10 mins to kickoff without a ticket, seeing your left back boot a winger up in the air after 2 mins to 'let him know you're there', having to get in 45 mins before kickoff to get a place on a terrace if it was a big game & feeling the atmosphere build & build, every part of a ground unique and each stand filled with different types of fans- all that excitement has gone and its not the same. Better now or then? Not for me to say but football then was different completely to how it was then, its almost a different sport completely.

Football has certainly changed since the 70s and 80s. The demographic of the spectators, the style of football, the hairstyles, attendance costs, transfer costs, the accessibility of the game, the personalities, and now the stadiums. So, it's of no surprise that certain generations have a slight disdain for the 'modern game', as in some ways football and the associated experience of a match day must be almost unrecognisable for them.

The game as a whole has transitioned to become far more spectator friendly, and stadiums have pretty much all transitioned to all-seater venues. Perhaps this combined with the game's commercialisation has caused the atmosphere to suffer as a consequence. I can only speculate. I wasn't around during the 70s or 80s so I'm not in a position to comment on the atmosphere, but from what I've heard it was electric at times, something that can't exactly be said for the Ricoh.

So, I think for those fans who were regular attendees during those years, there's certainly a stigma attached to modern stadia, probably surrounding the fact that they're everything wrong with modern day football. That to be fair, I can understand. It's human nature to oppose significant change, especially when there's a belief that such change hasn't bought about improvement. E.g. Loss of excitement, atmosphere, only being seen as a consumer etc.

Ring Of Steel · Sep 29, 2020

fatso said:
The ground itself had seen better days, and an upgrade was long overdue.
But having said that, the old place did have an atmosphere all of its own.
Nothing can replace the feeling you got when attending a night match at H.R.

I remember the anticipation building as I walked across Gosford green, heading towards the bright floodlights, drawing me in, like a moth to a fire, and on up the narrow streets to the ground, you could hear the fans already inside singing, and those of us marching up the roads would join in.

Liverpool, Man Utd, Leeds etc, yearly visitors to the Mecca of local football.
Great days indeed, And never equalled at the sterile Ricoh Arena.

Which is nothing to do with the ground though, it’s to do with being in the lower divisions. Location is far from ideal, that is for sure.

Deleted member 5849 · Sep 29, 2020

hill83 said:
I'd definitely recognise you then.

The annoying bloke who kept telling you to sit down?

shmmeee · Sep 29, 2020

Ring Of Steel said:
Which is nothing to do with the ground though, it’s to do with being in the lower divisions. Location is far from ideal, that is for sure.

Anyone know historic Coventry? Where was the edge of town in 1899? Was HR the equivalent?

Deleted member 5849 · Sep 29, 2020

shmmeee said:
Anyone know historic Coventry? Where was the edge of town in 1899? Was HR the equivalent?

HR was out of the town, was green fields around it in the main.

That's why it got built there.

Deleted member 5849 · Sep 29, 2020

shmmeee said:
Anyone know historic Coventry? Where was the edge of town in 1899? Was HR the equivalent?

Try this:

Georeferenced Maps viewer - Map images - National Library of Scotland

maps.nls.uk

clint van damme · Sep 29, 2020

Fucking loved Highfield Rd. Missed it since the day we left.
Are my recollections coloured by rose tinted spectacles- yes definitely.

Does our absence from the Ricoh make me remember it more fondly - does it bollocks, still can't stand the place. Want to be back, but purely for reasons of economy and survival.

SBT · Sep 29, 2020

Only a few more years til we have an entire generation of younger fans who weren't even alive during the HR days. Assuming/hoping we get back to the Ricoh within a year or two, will be interesting to see how that changes how we feel about it.

Anyway, this is one of my favourite videos on the internet and I don't know why:

clint van damme · Sep 29, 2020

SBT said:
Only a few more years til we have an entire generation of younger fans who weren't even alive during the HR days. Assuming/hoping we get back to the Ricoh within a year or two, will be interesting to see how that changes how we feel about it.

Anyway, this is one of my favourite videos on the internet and I don't know why:

The legend will only grow when the majority of the fan base haven't actually been there.
My son and his mates hold it in high esteem even though he's the only one who went there and that was in his pushchair for Mickey Gynns testimonial.

Saddlebrains · Sep 29, 2020

WT6 ROW F. Cant remember seat number. Season ticket from age 13 in 2003until we left in 05 so only a couple of seasons.

But first game, boxing Day 1999 City 3-2 Arsenal, keanes flick.

The smell, the floodlights, the atmosphere, the walk to the ground, the click of the turnstiles the nervousness of never having been. Remember it like yesterday not 21 years ago.

Always has been and always will be home. Something about it that never fades from the memory.

Compare that to the fact we're playing in another fucking City and a decent percentage of the fanbase is happy to bin the ricoh off says a hell of a lot

shmmeee · Sep 29, 2020

Deleted member 5849 said:
Try this:

Georeferenced Maps viewer - Map images - National Library of Scotland

maps.nls.uk

View attachment 17111

Just got to wait for Cov to become a Mega City in 100 years for that city centre feel at the Ricoh then.

theferret · Sep 29, 2020

shmmeee said:
Is this all an argument about filling in corners?

“Soulless bowl” always seems to be the insult, is it just the fact it’s not separate stands like the 70s?

Personally I think nothing screams tin pot club more than separate stands.

There is nothing tinpot about Villa Park, Bramall Lane, Goodison Park etc. - the asymmetry is part of what gives these places their charm and indicative of how they have grown and changed organically over decades.

The Ricoh is a travesty. It is derivative and lacking in any sort of visual interest. It shares striking similarities with the King Power, St Mary's, Riverside and Pride Park, all built around the same time; the most notable similarity being that they're all shite.

Saddlebrains · Sep 29, 2020

theferret said:
There is nothing tinpot about Villa Park, Bramall Lane, Goodison Park etc. - the asymmetry is part of what gives these places their charm and indicative of how they have grown and changed organically over decades.

The Ricoh is a travesty. It is derivative and lacking in any sort of visual interest. It shares striking similarities with the King Power, St Mary's, Riverside and Pride Park, all built around the same time; the most notable being that they're all shite.

Nail on head

shmmeee · Sep 29, 2020

theferret said:
There is nothing tinpot about Villa Park, Bramall Lane, Goodison Park etc. - the asymmetry is part of what gives these places their charm and indicative of how they have grown and changed organically over decades.

The Ricoh is a travesty. It is derivative and lacking in any sort of visual interest. It shares striking similarities with the King Power, St Mary's, Riverside and Pride Park, all built around the same time; the most notable similarity being that they're all shite.

I just don’t see it with the old grounds personally. Speaks to a time before I was into football.

I’m not saying the Ricoh is some amazing stadium, like others I think they’re made through experiences the Ricoh has lacked. I was more curious as to whether the proponents of the “soulless bowl” stuff were against all stadium bowls, or if there was something specific about the Ricoh design they didn’t like.

After all, I’d expect us to end up as a bowl at the new ground, even if not straight away. It’s just the most efficient use of space.

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