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Wanderers Ways. Neil Thompson 1961-2021

Burnden Park Pitch


Underpants

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My grandad told me that they'd installed hundreds of Magee's wooden beer barrels under the pitch when it got raised. Not sure why that helps though???

I'm struggling to name two players on the England photo - second player in from the left on both the front & back row.

Back row,  in between Armfield & Flowers, front row, in between Connelly & Clayton.

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Left to right: Jimmy Armfield (Blackpool); Slater (Wolverhampton Wanderers); Flowers (Wolverhampton Wanderers); Springett (Sheffield Wednesday), goalkeeper; Parry (Bolton); and Wilson, (Huddersfield Town). Front row, left to right: Connelly (Burnley); Broadbent (Wolverhampton Wanderers); Clayton (Blackburn Rovers), captain; Baker (Hibernian); and Bobby Charlton (Manchester United).

 

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11 minutes ago, Farnywhite said:

image.thumb.jpeg.78c33e5bdf78065db6fa64eba5163ff3.jpegCouldn’t find a picture of the surface but never new there was what looks like a seated stand on the embankment in the 1920 S picture of Harry nuthall 

That's when Warbies first mobbed up...😀

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52 minutes ago, masi 51 said:

Dont think its our kit...Certainly not the first England team 

I don't know what the story is behind the photo. It says it's from 1960. Like you said it's definitely not Englands 1st, and it isn't the U23 team because Banks and Greaves were in the U23 about that time.

Edited by Underpants
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16 minutes ago, Underpants said:

I don't know what the story is behind the photo. It says it's from 1960. Like you said it's definitely not Englands 1st, and it isn't the U23 team because Banks and Greaves were in the U23 about that time.

It may be a Football League team.

There used to be  games between the English Football League, Scottish FL, Welsh FL etc. & it was usually a mix of players that weren't first choice internationals/older than U 23's/ established internationals.

These games were played around the country rather than at Wembley & full caps weren't handed out to players.

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3 minutes ago, Steejay said:

It may be a Football League team.

There used to be  games between the English Football League, Scottish FL, Welsh FL etc. & it was usually a mix of players that weren't first choice internationals/older than U 23's/ established internationals.

These games were played around the country rather than at Wembley & full caps weren't handed out to players.

I thought that. But the problem with that is that one plays in Scotland. Turns out he was the first player to play for England who had never played for a team in England.

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2 minutes ago, Underpants said:

I thought that. But the problem with that is that one plays in Scotland. Turns out he was the first player to play for England who had never played for a team in England.

They were a kind of 'trial' game for some players so perhaps they bent the rules a bit for Baker.

Did he go to Arsenal soon after or to Italy first?

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This is the list of players england had from that year. They are all there. So they were 1st teamers.

 

All I can think is that none in the picture played for teams South of Wolverhampton. So maybe Bolton was more convenient for them to meet 🤔

Screenshot_20200402-102728.png

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9 minutes ago, Underpants said:

This is the list of players england had from that year. They are all there. So they were 1st teamers.

 

All I can think is that none in the picture played for teams South of Wolverhampton. So maybe Bolton was more convenient for them to meet 🤔

Screenshot_20200402-102728.png

Possibly, yep.

Southern meet up must have been 3-a-side.

Looking at that list, so many of the players were Northern based.

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One of my earlies memories of first going to a game (73 ish) was the blue invalid cars coming up the tunnel from below Burnden Paddock and turn left at top to drive around the pitch. I reckon such was the height of the pitch that the drivers could only have had a 6" or so view of the play.

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8 hours ago, Underpants said:

England in Wanderers kit. But that's by-the-by.

 

I thought our pitch was always a raised surface. If my eyes are deceiving me then this picture says different.

 

FB_IMG_1585805868186.jpg

 

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Your dads right I've been going on since 1965 and pitch was risen then can't remember when heated pitch was put down guessing 70s .Was on the piss in Portugal years ago and got talking to a couple of Canadians on finding out I supported the whites one of them asked me if I new of the nickname for the ground, being fairly confident that my knowledge would be better than his I said I'd never known a nickname he said it was "the billiard table " on account of the pitch being raised up ! I'd never heard that before or since. 

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6 hours ago, Farnywhite said:

image.thumb.jpeg.78c33e5bdf78065db6fa64eba5163ff3.jpegCouldn’t find a picture of the surface but never new there was what looks like a seated stand on the embankment in the 1920 S picture of Harry nuthall 

It’s a Magees Ales bar, think I remember my Dad telling me there was one there and one on the Manchester Road side adjacent to the police control box, where I know there was a bar in the 70s and 80s.

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It seems that the picture was taken before a training game of 20 minutes each way with England running out 2-0 winners against us.

 

And the pitch level issue seems to be a camera trick because the pitch was raised just before WW1. And it's not an urban myth, the pitch was built on top of barrels. There you have it.

 

Thanks  to Simon Marland at the club for clearing this head Scratcher up.

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The newly built Burnden Park included a cycle track which was soon under used. As the popularity of the Wanderers increased the two side paddocks were extended over the track. The site lines must have been a problem as, even with the ditch, the front row fans only had a worm's eye view. The pitch was also cambered so they could not see the feet of the wingers on the opposite touch line. The former velodrome also explains the position of the nets in relation to the front rows of the Embankment and Lever Ends. Burnden Park was a big site - plenty of room for a modern stadium and a superstore.

Light the blue touch paper and retire to a safe distance !

 

 

 

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13 minutes ago, Underpants said:

It seems that the picture was taken before a training game of 20 minutes each way with England running out 2-0 winners against us.

 

And the pitch level issue seems to be a camera trick because the pitch was raised just before WW1. And it's not an urban myth, the pitch was built on top of barrels. There you have it.

 

Thanks  to Simon Marland at the club for clearing this head Scratcher up.

Ah, Grandad was right all along...

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