Post by empirebaypete on Jan 1, 2016 19:54:53 GMT
www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-2958860/From-luxury-flats-branch-Ikea-former-football-stadiums-transformed-hallowed-grounds-day-buildings-long-fans-left.html
Bristol Rovers - Eastville Stadium
Bristol Rovers may have left Eastville Stadium in 1986, but the club's links with the ground are remembered to this day, largely thanks to the club's nickname 'The Gasheads' - so called because of the ground's proximity to the Stapleton Gasworks, and the resulting smell.
The stadium had been built in 1897, with Rovers at various times sharing their ground with the Bristol Bulldogs Speedway team, circuses, and also - most famously - a greyhound track. It was also home to the short-lived Bristol Bombers American football team during 1986, the same year Rovers left the ground due to financial difficulties.
When league football was abandoned due to the Second World War, the club was forced to sell the ground to the Bristol Greyhound Racing Association, who paid £12,000 for it in March 1940, with Rovers agreeing to pay a yearly sum of £400 to allow them to continue playing there.
BEFORE: Bristol Rovers played at the Eastville Stadium from 1897 until 1986. The proximity to the Stapleton Gasworks, and the resulting smell, gave the team the nickname of 'The Gasheads'
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BEFORE: Bristol Rovers played at the Eastville Stadium from 1897 until 1986. The proximity to the Stapleton Gasworks, and the resulting smell, gave the team the nickname of 'The Gasheads'
AFTER: Eastville was demolished in 1998 and the spot where the stadium once stood is now home to the Bristol branch of Ikea
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AFTER: Eastville was demolished in 1998 and the spot where the stadium once stood is now home to the Bristol branch of Ikea
NEW HOME: Rovers moved to the Memorial Stadium in Bristol (pictured) in 1996. The club is now planning a further move to a new ground on the University of the West of England campus
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NEW HOME: Rovers moved to the Memorial Stadium in Bristol (pictured) in 1996. The club is now planning a further move to a new ground on the University of the West of England campus
As well as the gas smell and the racing track, Eastville was also famed for the flower patches behind each of the goals, and the nearby river which left the ground prone to flooding, while one of the most famous games to be played there was the 1972 Watney Cup final - the culmination of a short-lived pre-season tournament contested by the teams with the highest goal tallies from all four divisions. Rovers won the trophy, beating Sheffield United 7-6 on penalties.
A mysterious fire destroyed much of the south stand in 1980, and with it the club's offices and changing rooms. Six years later the ground's owners raised the rent, and Rovers were forced to leave their home - ground sharing with Bath City until they eventually moved to the Memorial Stadium in Bristol in 1996. The club is now planning a further move to a new ground on the University of the West of England campus.
Meanwhile, Eastville continued hosting greyhound races for another 11 years before it was demolished in 1998 and the spot where the stadium once stood is now home to the Bristol branch of Ikea.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2958860/From-luxury-flats-branch-Ikea-former-football-stadiums-transformed-hallowed-grounds-day-buildings-long-fans-left.html#ixzz3w1ZaBbJt
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Bristol Rovers - Eastville Stadium
Bristol Rovers may have left Eastville Stadium in 1986, but the club's links with the ground are remembered to this day, largely thanks to the club's nickname 'The Gasheads' - so called because of the ground's proximity to the Stapleton Gasworks, and the resulting smell.
The stadium had been built in 1897, with Rovers at various times sharing their ground with the Bristol Bulldogs Speedway team, circuses, and also - most famously - a greyhound track. It was also home to the short-lived Bristol Bombers American football team during 1986, the same year Rovers left the ground due to financial difficulties.
When league football was abandoned due to the Second World War, the club was forced to sell the ground to the Bristol Greyhound Racing Association, who paid £12,000 for it in March 1940, with Rovers agreeing to pay a yearly sum of £400 to allow them to continue playing there.
BEFORE: Bristol Rovers played at the Eastville Stadium from 1897 until 1986. The proximity to the Stapleton Gasworks, and the resulting smell, gave the team the nickname of 'The Gasheads'
+92
BEFORE: Bristol Rovers played at the Eastville Stadium from 1897 until 1986. The proximity to the Stapleton Gasworks, and the resulting smell, gave the team the nickname of 'The Gasheads'
AFTER: Eastville was demolished in 1998 and the spot where the stadium once stood is now home to the Bristol branch of Ikea
+92
AFTER: Eastville was demolished in 1998 and the spot where the stadium once stood is now home to the Bristol branch of Ikea
NEW HOME: Rovers moved to the Memorial Stadium in Bristol (pictured) in 1996. The club is now planning a further move to a new ground on the University of the West of England campus
+92
NEW HOME: Rovers moved to the Memorial Stadium in Bristol (pictured) in 1996. The club is now planning a further move to a new ground on the University of the West of England campus
As well as the gas smell and the racing track, Eastville was also famed for the flower patches behind each of the goals, and the nearby river which left the ground prone to flooding, while one of the most famous games to be played there was the 1972 Watney Cup final - the culmination of a short-lived pre-season tournament contested by the teams with the highest goal tallies from all four divisions. Rovers won the trophy, beating Sheffield United 7-6 on penalties.
A mysterious fire destroyed much of the south stand in 1980, and with it the club's offices and changing rooms. Six years later the ground's owners raised the rent, and Rovers were forced to leave their home - ground sharing with Bath City until they eventually moved to the Memorial Stadium in Bristol in 1996. The club is now planning a further move to a new ground on the University of the West of England campus.
Meanwhile, Eastville continued hosting greyhound races for another 11 years before it was demolished in 1998 and the spot where the stadium once stood is now home to the Bristol branch of Ikea.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2958860/From-luxury-flats-branch-Ikea-former-football-stadiums-transformed-hallowed-grounds-day-buildings-long-fans-left.html#ixzz3w1ZaBbJt
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to me it' just adds that extra dimension to match days hard to explain to others, 