Burnden Park

[MancWanderer]

Saw this on the ‘I belong to Bolton’ Facebook site

Says 1972

i don’t remember that building (indoor football or whatever it was back in the day) outside the Burnden side that early? Although the wooden fencing on St Peter’s Way maybe says it was? Thought that was only built 75/76 or later?

 

[Tonge moor green jacket]

My thoughts too on the extra building.

I'm probably completely wrong, but I thought it went up after I started going, and that was around 1980.

Iirc, my first game was against Barnsley 1982.

Edited December 27, 2023 by Tonge moor green jacket

[globaldiver]

I still miss Burnden, our home.

[Whitestar]

First went around 73 and it was there then and didn't appear to be anywhere near new to me.

[MickyD]

26 minutes ago, Whitestar said:

First went around 73 and it was there then and didn't appear to be anywhere near new to me.

I thought same. Started going in 73-74 and don’t recall it not being there.

[Tonge moor green jacket]

Fair enough chaps.

Maybe I was thinking of the all weather pitch next to it.

[MancWanderer]

I just don’t remember it in 72/73 but will happily accept it was there. Genuinely thought it was built later

Was only 8 and obviously remember the important stuff like the hot dog wagons 

[Whitestar]

What is interesting is,, the arial photo is pre flood lights, so probably early 60s??

However i can remember first time ever going was a night match and me & my dad walked across that land at the back of the embankment and down the steps towards the back of the Burnden Paddock, now what i can also remember is going again but was either on lever end or embankment but can remember a little train or maybe just a shunter unit, stopping near the scoreboard and a couple of blokes looking out to see the match for a few minutes.

If that was the case then surely the tracks must have still been there, was there a bridge built between the time of that photo and the closure of them train lines???

 

 

 

 

[Tonge moor green jacket]

The tracks are there, together with the bridge over Manchester Road.

[Mounts Kipper]

There’s a lodge behind burnden paddock did they fill that in when they built st peters way, what was it called? 

[Dr. Feelgood]

2 hours ago, Whitestar said:

First went around 73 and it was there then and didn't appear to be anywhere near new to me.

Agreed. I was a regular earlier than that but went to the Burnden Padfock from 73 or 74. It was there, established with its own flood/Ocean at times.

[Mounts Kipper]

2 hours ago, globaldiver said:

I still miss Burnden, our home.

All us burnedites will always miss it till the day we die. 

Edited December 27, 2023 by Mounts Kipper

[Tonge moor green jacket]

1 minute ago, Mounts Kipper said:

There’s a lodge behind burnden paddock did they fill that in when they built st peters way, what was it called? 

Noticed that myself, no idea on its name.

I assume its a water supply for the Mills near by. Now a little industrial site.

[Zico]

45 minutes ago, Whitestar said:

What is interesting is,, the arial photo is pre flood lights, so probably early 60s??

However i can remember first time ever going was a night match and me & my dad walked across that land at the back of the embankment and down the steps towards the back of the Burnden Paddock, now what i can also remember is going again but was either on lever end or embankment but can remember a little train or maybe just a shunter unit, stopping near the scoreboard and a couple of blokes looking out to see the match for a few minutes.

If that was the case then surely the tracks must have still been there, was there a bridge built between the time of that photo and the closure of them train lines???

 

 

 

 

And what is interesting is there's fans who'd have been going for years and never been to a night game because they didn't exist

Then came a night game 

Must've been strange the first time

[MancWanderer]

1 hour ago, Zico said:

And what is interesting is there's fans who'd have been going for years and never been to a night game because they didn't exist

Then came a night game 

Must've been strange the first time

Remember my first night game at Burnden 

We beat Swansea 5-1 in the League Cup. 76/77?

It absolutely threw it down. Looked amazing under the lights. Don’t think even then my dad had been to many night games 

[Casino]

2 hours ago, Mounts Kipper said:

All us burnedites will always miss it till the day we die. 

I can honestly say that all i miss is the location

[bolty58]

1 hour ago, Casino said:

I can honestly say that all i miss is the location

We are all different. Yes, the location was a big part of it but there was much more.

I arranged a lunch with Nat in the old supporters club for myself, my old man and an Aussie bloke who played their daft game for what was then the Footscray Bulldogs. After lunch Nat took us for a stroll around the touchlines - full lap. The Aussie remarked that it was one of only a few stadia he had been to where, even empty, it made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. "You can feel the history" was another comment he made.

My Millwall mate called it 'intimidating'. Good if visiting teams arrived feeling like that.

The place even smelled of football.

Could never, ever be bettered by a soulless concrete bowl.

[only1swanny]

70,000 capacity in it's heyday, est 85000 for the match against Stoke  scary thoughts fitting so many in a small stadium. 

Makes you wonder how much these new bigger stadiums would hold if it were all terracing..

[Dr. Feelgood]

Full of history, fantastic when full. But successive financial crises leading to bit by bit selling off of adjacent land, safety requirements increasing, poor maintenance and by the end it was in a poor state.

The Burnden Paddock bogs must have been a health hazard.

Maybe it could have been knocked down & a new one rebuilt, but surrounded by tight terraced houses & no parking space I'm not sure.

I played one competitive match (Bolton Schools trophy) & it was a terribly sparce, bumpy pitch with a surprising 'crown green' type of effect. The cinder moat was intimidating of course.

I'll stick to my memories.

[Leyther_Matt]

6 hours ago, bolty58 said:

We are all different. Yes, the location was a big part of it but there was much more.

I arranged a lunch with Nat in the old supporters club for myself, my old man and an Aussie bloke who played their daft game for what was then the Footscray Bulldogs. After lunch Nat took us for a stroll around the touchlines - full lap. The Aussie remarked that it was one of only a few stadia he had been to where, even empty, it made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. "You can feel the history" was another comment he made.

My Millwall mate called it 'intimidating'. Good if visiting teams arrived feeling like that.

The place even smelled of football.

Could never, ever be bettered by a soulless concrete bowl.

And yet that soulless concrete bowl is developing plenty of history of its own in its time. 

[bolty58]

21 minutes ago, Leyther_Matt said:

And yet that soulless concrete bowl is developing plenty of history of its own in its time. 

Hoping it develops more this season and plenty more in the coming years and decades.

[bolty58]

13 hours ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

My thoughts too on the extra building.

I'm probably completely wrong, but I thought it went up after I started going, and that was around 1980.

Iirc, my first game was against Barnsley 1982.

Pretty sure it was there in the Armfield years (72/73) and I would have guessed a good few years before that. I have a good mate who is the son of a former club secretary (well known to a few on here) who might be able to help. I'll get back to you.

[Whitestar]

11 hours ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

The tracks are there, together with the bridge over Manchester Road.

I was meaning in the other direction towards Bury or wherever the line went to, i suppose the steps could have been added later but the always seemed old.

[Tonge moor green jacket]

9 minutes ago, Whitestar said:

I was meaning in the other direction towards Bury or wherever the line went to, i suppose the steps could have been added later but the always seemed old.

Ah right.

Expand the picture and look carefully at the tracks at the point where the A666 would be built.

I'm pretty sure the bridge is already there- you can see shadows which I think may be support structures.

Which makes sense, as the land either side is higher than what is the Croal Valley.

The bridge fairly recently reopened as part of the cycle track to Bury, and on occasions we've gone into town along it.

[Whitestar]

2 hours ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Ah right.

Expand the picture and look carefully at the tracks at the point where the A666 would be built.

I'm pretty sure the bridge is already there- you can see shadows which I think may be support structures.

Which makes sense, as the land either side is higher than what is the Croal Valley.

The bridge fairly recently reopened as part of the cycle track to Bury, and on occasions we've gone into town along it.

Yeah, looks like your right.

Anyone know what year that pi was taken?

The front on Manny rd looks to be grass or just cinders & muck.