End of an era. Burnden

[ZiggyStardust]

1 hour ago, victor meldrew said:

early in the documentary there is a single white rose on the railings outside the main entrance , that's mine that is.

anyway someone put on facebook a while ago a great article from i think the guardian ,about how Bolton town centre had it's heart ripped out by the middlebrook retail park , and the fact that BWFC had moved away as well.

so Bolton council , it's your fault that the town centre is dead , because you wanted the club out of town.

Dumplington, and the head scratching response of scrapping free parking in the Town Centre, did for it. Scrapping the traditional market hall for independant traders was probably the final nail. 

 

 

[Marc505]

13 minutes ago, Dr. Feelgood said:

 

Here's a tip ... don't read the Guardian. Especially anout economics. But, really, in general. They usually start with their preferred conclusion & work back.

"The Grauniad" era of this forum revisited. Gives me nightmares.

[Take Hunt Off]

2 hours ago, MancWanderer said:

Same here. The Greaves era at Burnden was simply brilliant. Such a shame that it was allowed to become such a dump. Wish we could have stayed in the area. I know that it’s probably been covered on here a few times but was there any reason that the area couldn’t have had a stadium like The Reebok built?

As much as I loved Burnden it was falling to pieces , going back right to the sixties there was no ground development ( apart from the supporters club  , latterly the ‘executive suite’) unlike other progressive clubs like Coventry , Leeds , Newcastle.

Then again it was built on a rubbish tip , subsidence was always a problem .One close season a hole appeared in the Manny road stand & two stanchions were floating in mid-air.

[Tonge moor green jacket]

To redeveloped burnden would surely have required the same sort of transport links to be created. Particularly given the bigger capacity. 

The multifunctional role of the stadium we have now requires the car parks etc, which in total adds up to a lot of space.

Doing that on the same site would have required compulsorily purchasing housing (if permission had been granted) and very likely road upgrades.

A new build direct onto a dual carriageway etc would have been cheaper, particularly when included within a bigger overall scheme.

[Rudy]

I don’t know if my parent’s neighbour has an old burden seat in his back garden or a Reebok one that got skipped but he has one. Wish I did 

[Dimron]

20 hours ago, Casino said:

Have you still got it?

Lost I'm afraid, sent my mate over to collect it with the trailer, he got delayed (by days) and by the time he got there the bastard demo contractor had weighed it in.

[Dimron]

1 minute ago, Rudy said:

I don’t know if my parent’s neighbour has an old burden seat in his back garden or a Reebok one that got skipped but he has one. Wish I did 

Got a big lump of the BWFC carpet from the original fit out

[radcliffe white]

Bwfc carpet

home team dressing room sign

Piece of turf 

[Rudy]

1 minute ago, radcliffe white said:

Bwfc carpet

home team dressing room sign

Piece of turf 

Am I right in thinking the centre spot went to the Reebok?

[radcliffe white]

4 minutes ago, Rudy said:

Am I right in thinking the centre spot went to the Reebok?

Think you maybe right on that 

[RONNIE PHILLIPS]

12 minutes ago, Rudy said:

Am I right in thinking the centre spot went to the Reebok?

It did. 

[Dimron]

I didn't agree with the move but as it was happening I decided to be part of it, hence me spending a year up at Red Moss tip with Birse.

Living near Lincoln the travelling was actually more difficult, I used to drive a couple of hours to my mum's and then either walk across Leverhulme or get the bus into town... nice and easy, no more than 20 mins. After the move it was drive to my mum's and get into the car again, queue in traffic and park somewhere in Horwich then walk to the ground. After 2-3 years I gave up my ST.

Thing about Burnden you could approach from all directions and go on spec... you might be having a lunch time pint in town and then decide to go to the match. The Breezeblok needs too much planning and you can only get there effectively by car. My mate said to me early on it was like going to the pictures not a football match.

Burnden could have and should have been redeveloped but Orbit Developments courted Georgian House Hargreaves who wanted his hotel and they needed a lead for a sports and retail development.

Maybe in my lifetime we will move back into town as the necessary cars are becoming ecologically taboo and grants might eventually be available. The Breezeblok has served it's purpose for the developers and it is sitting on prime land.

 

[Dimron]

21 minutes ago, Rudy said:

Am I right in thinking the centre spot went to the Reebok?

I think the groundsman sold the embankment penalty spot 100 times!

[bolton_blondie]

48 minutes ago, Rudy said:

Am I right in thinking the centre spot went to the Reebok?

Thats what my dad always told me

[Ros Coe]

On 05/09/2021 at 22:19, Dimron said:

Proper ground

I brought a turnstile in the final auction and never did anything with it

My mate did the same and fitted it on the side of his house, so you had to go through it when going from front to back garden. Can’t remember how he got round the one-way only issue 🤷‍♂️ He’s no longer with us now so can’t ask him either..

[bwfc2003]

12 hours ago, Dimron said:

I didn't agree with the move but as it was happening I decided to be part of it, hence me spending a year up at Red Moss tip with Birse.

Living near Lincoln the travelling was actually more difficult, I used to drive a couple of hours to my mum's and then either walk across Leverhulme or get the bus into town... nice and easy, no more than 20 mins. After the move it was drive to my mum's and get into the car again, queue in traffic and park somewhere in Horwich then walk to the ground. After 2-3 years I gave up my ST.

Thing about Burnden you could approach from all directions and go on spec... you might be having a lunch time pint in town and then decide to go to the match. The Breezeblok needs too much planning and you can only get there effectively by car. My mate said to me early on it was like going to the pictures not a football match.

Burnden could have and should have been redeveloped but Orbit Developments courted Georgian House Hargreaves who wanted his hotel and they needed a lead for a sports and retail development.

Maybe in my lifetime we will move back into town as the necessary cars are becoming ecologically taboo and grants might eventually be available. The Breezeblok has served it's purpose for the developers and it is sitting on prime land.

 

You do know there is a railway station at the ground??

[Traf]

2 hours ago, bwfc2003 said:

You do know there is a railway station at the ground??

Is it next to nandos?

[DazBob]

15 hours ago, Dimron said:

I didn't agree with the move but as it was happening I decided to be part of it, hence me spending a year up at Red Moss tip with Birse.

Living near Lincoln the travelling was actually more difficult, I used to drive a couple of hours to my mum's and then either walk across Leverhulme or get the bus into town... nice and easy, no more than 20 mins. After the move it was drive to my mum's and get into the car again, queue in traffic and park somewhere in Horwich then walk to the ground. After 2-3 years I gave up my ST.

Thing about Burnden you could approach from all directions and go on spec... you might be having a lunch time pint in town and then decide to go to the match. The Breezeblok needs too much planning and you can only get there effectively by car. My mate said to me early on it was like going to the pictures not a football match.

Burnden could have and should have been redeveloped but Orbit Developments courted Georgian House Hargreaves who wanted his hotel and they needed a lead for a sports and retail development.

Maybe in my lifetime we will move back into town as the necessary cars are becoming ecologically taboo and grants might eventually be available. The Breezeblok has served it's purpose for the developers and it is sitting on prime land.

 

Some good points in there ruined by your referring to it as The Breezeblock like a 12 year old Blackburn fan would.

[superjohnmcginlay]

Away at my caravan last week, a pie muncher saw my lads Bolton top and gave him a programme from the last match at Burnden from his brother in laws collection who had recently passed. A cracking gesture even from a pie eater, I already had my programme and my ticket framed. So going to frame his copy too. 

Loved that night, kopped off with a lass in the Burnden Terrace. There were a few ripping things off the back of the terrace end of the match so i snaffled a bit of the white timber which I still have. I was 16 when we left, I don't think I was aware of the enormity of the evening until a couple of years later 

Do miss Burnden, shame I wasn't quite old enough to be drinking alot round town, sneaked in the OId Three Crowns a couple of times, always wanted to go in Chester Moonshiones but never succeeded, it was only when it when it was Revolution and we moved to Reebok that I made it in there!

 

 

 

 

[Dimron]

7 hours ago, DazBob said:

Some good points in there ruined by your referring to it as The Breezeblock like a 12 year old Blackburn fan would.

Sorry pal. it's what us builders called the job after Reebok decided to sponsor it, before then I recall it was going to be the Nat Lofthouse Stadium. The dingles just picked up on it.

I also remember a rumour that Reebok were going to install their sponsored players as BWFC... I was told Klinsmann was a definite for the opening game 

[Dimron]

7 hours ago, superjohnmcginlay said:

, sneaked in the OId Three Crowns a couple of times, 

My Uncle Eddies pub 🙂

[Dimron]

11 hours ago, bwfc2003 said:

You do know there is a railway station at the ground??

A token gesture... how are you going to transport 30,000 idiots on 2 carriage rattlers?

[tomski]

33 minutes ago, Dimron said:

A token gesture... how are you going to transport 30,000 idiots on 2 carriage rattlers?

Agree on that plus for years it didn’t even operate. 
 

In other business I have my ticket framed from last match also.

[Marc505]

I hope I'm not tempting it to happen again any time soon, but those years where there'd only be rail replacements to and from the stadium I don't miss one bit. Even added an extra 10 minutes on by pissing about getting to Lostock as well. Seemed to always start just in time for August.

[tomski]

Don’t start me off about Lostock station. I’ve wasted so much of my life waiting for no one to board on or off the train there ha