| I really miss the old North Stand 08:25 - Dec 22 with 7657 views | chrismakin |
Looking at some old pictures, it really was a great home end |  |
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| I really miss the old North Stand on 08:41 - Dec 22 with 3940 views | Dennyx4 |
I don't think we would have gone down, if we had just built the one stand at Churchmans end. |  | | |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 08:42 - Dec 22 with 3937 views | azuremerlangus |
Yes- it certainly had atmosphere which all-seater stadia lack.
Anybody else get a special invite to the Police interview room inside it to discuss the said atmosphere? |  |
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| I really miss the old North Stand on 09:05 - Dec 22 with 3867 views | Churchman |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 08:41 - Dec 22 by Dennyx4 |
I don't think we would have gone down, if we had just built the one stand at Churchmans end. |
I think you are right. Aside from the financial aspect, the atmosphere in the ground the following season without any stand at all was odd and at times non existent.
I think hindsight suggests waiting until the end of the following season would have been the smart thing to do. |  | | |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 09:20 - Dec 22 with 3816 views | trncbluearmy |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 08:42 - Dec 22 by azuremerlangus |
Yes- it certainly had atmosphere which all-seater stadia lack.
Anybody else get a special invite to the Police interview room inside it to discuss the said atmosphere? |
nice cup of tea and friendly tete a tete if I remember correctly
tasteful decor to, pics of all known faces on wall
TWTD |  | | |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 09:37 - Dec 22 with 3765 views | unstableblue |
I've said it a hundred times, the North Stand, should have been a cheaper constructed single bank. A steep bank, given the depth available, with all the fans connected. It didn't need to increase by 4000 - indeed we rebuilt our 'atmopshere' stand, without actually increasing its ability to generate volume, which was criminal.
I do feel sorry for those fans who started supporting after standing was stopped; the atmosphere and electricity on a packed midweek game was remarkable - the way fans surged forward, crazy.
Imagine fans who have only watched Town in the Marcus era! also having never seen a team consistently attack sides. Criminal. |  |
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| I really miss the old North Stand on 10:19 - Dec 22 with 3686 views | gainsboroughblue |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 09:37 - Dec 22 by unstableblue |
I've said it a hundred times, the North Stand, should have been a cheaper constructed single bank. A steep bank, given the depth available, with all the fans connected. It didn't need to increase by 4000 - indeed we rebuilt our 'atmopshere' stand, without actually increasing its ability to generate volume, which was criminal.
I do feel sorry for those fans who started supporting after standing was stopped; the atmosphere and electricity on a packed midweek game was remarkable - the way fans surged forward, crazy.
Imagine fans who have only watched Town in the Marcus era! also having never seen a team consistently attack sides. Criminal. |
As a teen, I used to watch those surges from my Churchmans vantage point with jealousy. thinking 'only a few years and that'll be me'. My first full year in there was it's last as an all standing affair in 1991-92.
Awesome stand. |  |
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| I really miss the old North Stand on 10:24 - Dec 22 with 3663 views | Alan_Handsome |
The caged walkway between the two sets of fans was something to behold ha ha ha imagine having to walk down there as a copper, with livid fans either side of you. I remember the north stand as fondly as i remember those little blue/green disabled cars that used to pull up on the apron of the pitch in front of Churchmans. As a young lad i was always blown away that they were joystick controlled, rather than having a steering wheel. |  |
| You can't polish a turd....but you can sprinkle it with glitter! |
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| I really miss the old North Stand on 10:35 - Dec 22 with 3640 views | unstableblue |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 10:19 - Dec 22 by gainsboroughblue |
As a teen, I used to watch those surges from my Churchmans vantage point with jealousy. thinking 'only a few years and that'll be me'. My first full year in there was it's last as an all standing affair in 1991-92.
Awesome stand. |
Yes I too coveted being in there in my early teens, from the Churchman lower, or standing behind dug out in the lower Pioneer.
Let I guess around 15 an older lad at the factory where I had a holiday job said do you want to go to Portman Road tonight... went, drank illegally in a pub on Vernon Street I think.. then entered the madness! Jam packed and rocking, cage, raucous, sense of mild danger, eruption at a goal... cannot remember who we were playing! Fisons or Radio Orwell kit I reckon. | |
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| I really miss the old North Stand on 10:39 - Dec 22 with 3630 views | PrideOfTheEast |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 10:19 - Dec 22 by gainsboroughblue |
As a teen, I used to watch those surges from my Churchmans vantage point with jealousy. thinking 'only a few years and that'll be me'. My first full year in there was it's last as an all standing affair in 1991-92.
Awesome stand. |
100% assuming that was possible with the planning.
The design makes no sense from any perspective since we didn't add ANY corporate facilities at all when they could have done so even with the current design in that bar in the top tier. Badly planned and a complete waste of money in hindsight.
Churchmans (more space) was built with premium seats in both seats, the suite in the lower tier and legends. |  | | |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 10:49 - Dec 22 with 3603 views | judespiveyg |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 09:37 - Dec 22 by unstableblue |
I've said it a hundred times, the North Stand, should have been a cheaper constructed single bank. A steep bank, given the depth available, with all the fans connected. It didn't need to increase by 4000 - indeed we rebuilt our 'atmopshere' stand, without actually increasing its ability to generate volume, which was criminal.
I do feel sorry for those fans who started supporting after standing was stopped; the atmosphere and electricity on a packed midweek game was remarkable - the way fans surged forward, crazy.
Imagine fans who have only watched Town in the Marcus era! also having never seen a team consistently attack sides. Criminal. |
In response to your last point, I've only seen Ipswich from Keane, my first game was the Pablo Coventry game not long after my 8th birthday.
I never feel sorry for myself and others my age, you have no idea just how low my expectations are for this team, it can literally only get better at this point and I certainly won't take it for granted when it does. I always feel more sorry for you older lot who have memory of seeing an Ipswich team which is actually good, must make watching now so much more painful. |  |
| I survived Ipswich 0-0 Burton |
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| I really miss the old North Stand on 11:07 - Dec 22 with 3560 views | Radlett_blue |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 10:39 - Dec 22 by PrideOfTheEast |
100% assuming that was possible with the planning.
The design makes no sense from any perspective since we didn't add ANY corporate facilities at all when they could have done so even with the current design in that bar in the top tier. Badly planned and a complete waste of money in hindsight.
Churchmans (more space) was built with premium seats in both seats, the suite in the lower tier and legends. |
Sheepy's biggest mistake. He became caught up in the hubris of Town doing so well in the Premier League & the ballot for tickets, while he was also seduced by the the bankers who persuaded him that funding stadium development by securitising season ticket income (effectively, signing away a large chunk of Town's future revenue) was wise.
Of course, if we'd stayed in the PL for another 5 years, it might have been a different story, but I thought the argument for developing the North Stand was flimsy at best. |  |
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| I really miss the old North Stand on 11:14 - Dec 22 with 3545 views | wkj |
It was a fantastic place to be. Hindsight can be cruel, but I don't know of many people that understood why both Churchmans and North were added onto so close to one another.
I have to admit, had ME got us in the Premier League, I wouldn't have been surprised if he decided to move town out of PR and locate us elsewhere in the town. |  |
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| I really miss the old North Stand on 11:21 - Dec 22 with 3530 views | TieDyedIn95 |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 11:07 - Dec 22 by Radlett_blue |
Sheepy's biggest mistake. He became caught up in the hubris of Town doing so well in the Premier League & the ballot for tickets, while he was also seduced by the the bankers who persuaded him that funding stadium development by securitising season ticket income (effectively, signing away a large chunk of Town's future revenue) was wise.
Of course, if we'd stayed in the PL for another 5 years, it might have been a different story, but I thought the argument for developing the North Stand was flimsy at best. |
To be fair looking at it now seems madness but there was no way we could have sustained ourselves as a top flight entity at that time with a 19-20k stadium, especially when the demand for tickets at that time was nearly double that and the revenue that could have produced us would have been game changing for the club.
And in the clubs defence we were still getting 25k in there regularly until Evans bought the club and the rest is history. The demand was there at the time, it's just you were never going to sell the tickets at the price Evans wants to charge to anyone but the die-hards for the terrible football we have served up during the Evans era so the numbers vanished.
The biggest mistake was selling Wright and Scowcroft in the same window. Had we recruited Marshall as backup and stuck to the likes of Counago and Miller as the only incoming players we'd have probably stayed up. |  |
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| I really miss the old North Stand on 11:34 - Dec 22 with 3501 views | jontysnut |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 09:37 - Dec 22 by unstableblue |
I've said it a hundred times, the North Stand, should have been a cheaper constructed single bank. A steep bank, given the depth available, with all the fans connected. It didn't need to increase by 4000 - indeed we rebuilt our 'atmopshere' stand, without actually increasing its ability to generate volume, which was criminal.
I do feel sorry for those fans who started supporting after standing was stopped; the atmosphere and electricity on a packed midweek game was remarkable - the way fans surged forward, crazy.
Imagine fans who have only watched Town in the Marcus era! also having never seen a team consistently attack sides. Criminal. |
the hairs on the back of my neck used to stand up walking towards the North stand from the Black Horse listening to the singing, Then once in seeing the mob from the Falcon turn up. Surging forward during attacks, limbs everywhere after a goal. At its best the atmosphere would crackle.Wonderful times. |  | | |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 11:38 - Dec 22 with 3490 views | sticklegs |
You also need to remember that Churchmans also added to the excellent atmosphere. Sometimes I'd go in there with my mates and fondly remember the 'chanting battles' against the North Stand....along the lines of "can you hear the North Stand sing..etc etc." . That was all lost when it became all seater. |  | | |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 11:49 - Dec 22 with 3465 views | jontysnut |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 11:38 - Dec 22 by sticklegs |
You also need to remember that Churchmans also added to the excellent atmosphere. Sometimes I'd go in there with my mates and fondly remember the 'chanting battles' against the North Stand....along the lines of "can you hear the North Stand sing..etc etc." . That was all lost when it became all seater. |
'Give us a song, Churchmans' | | | |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 11:54 - Dec 22 with 3449 views | PrideOfTheEast |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 11:21 - Dec 22 by TieDyedIn95 |
To be fair looking at it now seems madness but there was no way we could have sustained ourselves as a top flight entity at that time with a 19-20k stadium, especially when the demand for tickets at that time was nearly double that and the revenue that could have produced us would have been game changing for the club.
And in the clubs defence we were still getting 25k in there regularly until Evans bought the club and the rest is history. The demand was there at the time, it's just you were never going to sell the tickets at the price Evans wants to charge to anyone but the die-hards for the terrible football we have served up during the Evans era so the numbers vanished.
The biggest mistake was selling Wright and Scowcroft in the same window. Had we recruited Marshall as backup and stuck to the likes of Counago and Miller as the only incoming players we'd have probably stayed up. |
Wouldn't we have been 25k ish with just the Churchmans being developed? | | | |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 12:00 - Dec 22 with 3432 views | trncbluearmy |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 11:34 - Dec 22 by jontysnut |
the hairs on the back of my neck used to stand up walking towards the North stand from the Black Horse listening to the singing, Then once in seeing the mob from the Falcon turn up. Surging forward during attacks, limbs everywhere after a goal. At its best the atmosphere would crackle.Wonderful times. |
Yeah watching all the lads, must have been 100 plus easy, walking across the cattle market and those inside signing "there`s more of us to come"
now that was a proper matchday experience as people seem to describe it nowadays, in our day it was just having a bloody good time! | | | |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 12:04 - Dec 22 with 3423 views | Keaneish |
Me too - its never been the same since in my opinion. Used to love the atmosphere it gave being so close to the away fans divided by a mesh fence. |  |
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| I really miss the old North Stand on 12:08 - Dec 22 with 3417 views | Radlett_blue |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 11:14 - Dec 22 by wkj |
It was a fantastic place to be. Hindsight can be cruel, but I don't know of many people that understood why both Churchmans and North were added onto so close to one another.
I have to admit, had ME got us in the Premier League, I wouldn't have been surprised if he decided to move town out of PR and locate us elsewhere in the town. |
Why would Evans ever want to do that when Town don't own their ground, so have no asset to sell to fund it? | |
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| I really miss the old North Stand on 12:10 - Dec 22 with 3399 views | Radlett_blue |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 11:21 - Dec 22 by TieDyedIn95 |
To be fair looking at it now seems madness but there was no way we could have sustained ourselves as a top flight entity at that time with a 19-20k stadium, especially when the demand for tickets at that time was nearly double that and the revenue that could have produced us would have been game changing for the club.
And in the clubs defence we were still getting 25k in there regularly until Evans bought the club and the rest is history. The demand was there at the time, it's just you were never going to sell the tickets at the price Evans wants to charge to anyone but the die-hards for the terrible football we have served up during the Evans era so the numbers vanished.
The biggest mistake was selling Wright and Scowcroft in the same window. Had we recruited Marshall as backup and stuck to the likes of Counago and Miller as the only incoming players we'd have probably stayed up. |
We had no choice with Wright as he put a clause in his contract when he signed it a year before.
Scowcroft was in & out of the team so I could see why he wanted to go.
The real problem was that the players GB signed either weren't good enough or disrupted the team. | |
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| I really miss the old North Stand on 12:24 - Dec 22 with 3370 views | PrideOfTheEast |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 12:10 - Dec 22 by Radlett_blue |
We had no choice with Wright as he put a clause in his contract when he signed it a year before.
Scowcroft was in & out of the team so I could see why he wanted to go.
The real problem was that the players GB signed either weren't good enough or disrupted the team. |
Yep and in some cases not his first choice.
Had we signed Poom to replace Wright it would have been an upgrade for example. | | | |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 12:43 - Dec 22 with 3342 views | north_stand77 |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 08:42 - Dec 22 by azuremerlangus |
Yes- it certainly had atmosphere which all-seater stadia lack.
Anybody else get a special invite to the Police interview room inside it to discuss the said atmosphere? |
Haha! I was one of 'those' who may have invited you for a special chat!
Absolutely loved match days and was always allowed to work outside North Stand before game searching the queues- then inside during. If i was on a day off i would be watching from there anyway as I had always done from a young kid - was a brilliant atmosphere in there. |  | | |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 12:52 - Dec 22 with 3309 views | yesjohn99 |
| I really miss the old North Stand on 09:37 - Dec 22 by unstableblue |
I've said it a hundred times, the North Stand, should have been a cheaper constructed single bank. A steep bank, given the depth available, with all the fans connected. It didn't need to increase by 4000 - indeed we rebuilt our 'atmopshere' stand, without actually increasing its ability to generate volume, which was criminal.
I do feel sorry for those fans who started supporting after standing was stopped; the atmosphere and electricity on a packed midweek game was remarkable - the way fans surged forward, crazy.
Imagine fans who have only watched Town in the Marcus era! also having never seen a team consistently attack sides. Criminal. |
I was invited to a consultation type meeting with around 8-10 other supporters to discuss what we would want the new stand to look like and what facilities would be in it.
Everyone one said single tier/bank, much like Fratton Park. The planners/developers said it couldn’t be done unless the the housing on alderman road was purchased too due to space constraints.
Hindsight and all that but I do really wish I said ‘do not build’ and left it at that. | | | |
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