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Post by nolongernonleaguegas on Jan 3, 2015 2:08:53 GMT
I'm to young to have ever been in the tote end but everyone talks about it and say how amazing it used to be and how big the crowds were in them days.. Sounds a bit of a silly question but if it was that great how come the last crowd there was only 3,500? Just curious
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2015 2:30:57 GMT
during the 1970"s there was a lot of crowd trouble and towards the end of that decade attendances nationwide were pretty poor everywhere and after the heysel disaster english clubs couldnt play in europe but the authorities got to grip with these issues and attendances rose and more women and children went back to football.. i think the early 1970"s were exiting times for rovers and large crowds watched league cup games against top clubs in an electric atmosphere and the team was always in the div 3 promotion mix[lge 1] but by the time of the last game those days were long gone and football was in a slump. i think we all have a rose tinted view of our 10-16 year old days and in all honesty at times this season the atmosphere at games has been great,,barnet[h] gateshead[h] eastleigh ,,,in the 1950"s rovers had there biggest crowds and my dad talks of that era with fondness.
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Post by torontogaz on Jan 3, 2015 2:39:01 GMT
I'm to young to have ever been in the tote end but everyone talks about it and say how amazing it used to be and how big the crowds were in them days.. Sounds a bit of a silly question but if it was that great how come the last crowd there was only 3,500? Just curious The last game was not a big crowd as most thought we would never leave....it had been discussed so many times we didn't believe it...kind of like the new stadium plans circa 1, 2, 3 etc etc
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2015 2:56:28 GMT
I'm to young to have ever been in the tote end but everyone talks about it and say how amazing it used to be and how big the crowds were in them days.. Sounds a bit of a silly question but if it was that great how come the last crowd there was only 3,500? Just curious The last game was not a big crowd as most thought we would never leave....it had been discussed so many times we didn't believe it...kind of like the new stadium plans circa 1, 2, 3 etc etc but that still dosnt explain the attendance? lower than any crowd we will get this season in the conference!!
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Post by Gasshole on Jan 3, 2015 7:08:38 GMT
Selective memories, generally only think about the good times. For me as a kid in the seventies it was a magical place, The whole site was gigantic.Many years later I went to watch the Dodgers in LA , outside the stadium I had flash backs of how I felt as a kid at Eastville.Fond memories of huge crowds, before IKEA , before the south stand burned down in 1980 ( I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing the day I found out).the South stand was my stand, it was old , unique in shape and features ,smelled of tobacco, full of character and characters. Fkin tragedy when that went up in flames.A few years on the tote and ended up in the north enclosure with all the casuals. These were my formative years and I can chart my history through different parts of the ground and seasons we played. By 1986 it was a bit of a dump, crowds of 25,000 had dwindled to the faithful 5000. Near the end I remember playing City in the FA Cup, they were a division below us, I am sure there was about 15,000 for that game. Capacity had been reduced to 12,500 safety reasons in the end. Eastville had died long before we left. Every once in a while I would go back on a greyhound night and sneak up into the North stand seats with a beer and remember the good times. Put some money on and cheer the blue dog home.
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Post by Mark Ash on Jan 3, 2015 8:41:27 GMT
All long before my time, though I did used to go to football in those days. Very different times, although I did think the other day against Torquay, that if we ever get the new stadium, many will look back on being in the Blackthorn with fondness. We were packed in more than average, the drizzle was blowing through the floodlights, pressure's on for an equaliser, penalty, man sent off, Taylor slams it in, crowd erupts... It was all very atmospheric in a way that the blue/red sanitised plastic arenas of today just aren't. I know all about Hillsborough and I understand the need for decent facilities, but we will miss being on packed terraces on nights like that. It may not be Eastville, but it's football as it's always been, going right back before the war. Sitting in a premiership-style all-seater ground isn't like that.
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Post by Mark Ash on Jan 3, 2015 8:44:23 GMT
Of course we may never move and I'll be cursing Sainsbury's and Trash forevermore lol!
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Post by empirebaypete on Jan 3, 2015 9:10:17 GMT
The early 70's mate. I was a young un. My mum used to take me to all the league cup games. Manchester United. QPR & Birmingham were big in those days too. Norwich City & Stoke City, with Gordon Banks in goal.
Southampton in the FA cup too.
Not only that. I remember going to see The Rovers against Aston Villa in the third division. We used to get there when the gates opened to get a place on a barrier. When we played Bournemouth I sat right down the front and was on Match of the Day. No ipads or stuff in those days. You got there early and waited......... and waited. Those were the days. I was talking to a Villa fan about this down the beach the other day.
I did have a Tshirt with 100% Original Tote End Veteran on it or something similar.
It's a rag now. I cut a bit of it up the other day to tie the tomatoes up with. I got my daughter to hold it up and I took a picture before cutting it up.
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Post by Thegasaregoingup on Jan 3, 2015 9:25:21 GMT
Before the South Stand burnt down I was in a crowd of 35,000 watching an FA Cup 3rd round game against Arsenal (we lost 3 - 0) and about the same time we played City at Ashton Gate in front of 36,000 in the FA Cup and drew and had 34,000 on a Tuesday night for the replay. After the stand burnt down I can remember playing Ipswich in the cup in front of 20,000 at Eastville. my dad tells me they had 5,000 for reserve games in the 50's.
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Post by empirebaypete on Jan 3, 2015 9:41:21 GMT
Before the South Stand burnt down I was in a crowd of 35,000 watching an FA Cup 3rd round game against Arsenal (we lost 3 - 0) and about the same time we played City at Ashton Gate in front of 36,000 in the FA Cup and drew and had 34,000 on a Tuesday night for the replay. After the stand burnt down I can remember playing Ipswich in the cup in front of 20,000 at Eastville. my dad tells me they had 5,000 for reserve games in the 50's. That Ipswich game, the pitch was covered in snow. I was in the South Enclosure that day. My mate and I were drinking vodka most of the match out of hip flasks.
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Post by cookinongas on Jan 3, 2015 10:25:00 GMT
The cup game against Arsenal was 1967, Arsenal filled the tote end and that was when GASHEADS decided to never let the tote belong to anyone else again. The worse thing about the south stand fire was having to play our home games for a while at TRASHTON and i think im right in saying we never won a game whilst there. Re the OP question, it was like now and has always been, get a good home draw in the cup or a good run in the league and gates went up and down. I was a season ticket holder in the North enclosure but remember only being able to get a muller rd ticket for the game against Man U. the one where we won the replay at Old Trafford
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Post by empirebaypete on Jan 3, 2015 10:30:57 GMT
The cup game against Arsenal was 1967, Arsenal filled the tote end and that was when GASHEADS decided to never let the tote belong to anyone else again. The worse thing about the south stand fire was having to play our home games for a while at TRASHTON and i think im right in saying we never won a game whilst there. Re the OP question, it was like now and has always been, get a good home draw in the cup or a good run in the league and gates went up and down. I was a season ticket holder in the North enclosure but remember only being able to get a muller rd ticket for the game against Man U. the one where we won the replay at Old TraffordReally? I was in the Tote End that night. I found the programme for the game a few months ago. Scanned it all in and posted it on the forum.
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Post by Staffordshire Gas on Jan 3, 2015 10:36:01 GMT
In the fifties we were in the Tote End with rattles and hunting horns.At P Vale once some Rover's fans were arrested and escorted away and had 'TOTE END' emblazoned on their T shirts.Locals asked me what on earth 'Tote End' meant?Brian Godfrey and Frankie Prince played that day. Still live up here all these years later and have to suffer the Stoke,Vale and Wolves fans taunts but wouldn't swop Rovers for any of 'em .See you at Nuneaton.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2015 11:02:09 GMT
I'm to young to have ever been in the tote end but everyone talks about it and say how amazing it used to be and how big the crowds were in them days.. Sounds a bit of a silly question but if it was that great how come the last crowd there was only 3,500? Just curious This was not a glorious end to our time at Eastville and we were looking at playing our games in another city. Many of us did not think we would survive and had already given up, this was a situation that everybody knew would happen (the lease for the ground had already overrun) yet nobody done anything about it until it was too late. sound familiar ? In its heyday the Tote was a fantastic cauldron of noise, the Eastville roar as it was then called. Sadly by the time of our last game there the team, the ground and the support were but shadow of their past glory.
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Post by wutangkillerbees on Jan 3, 2015 12:01:48 GMT
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Post by Topper Gas on Jan 3, 2015 12:21:45 GMT
In the fifties we were in the Tote End with rattles and hunting horns.At P Vale once some Rover's fans were arrested and escorted away and had 'TOTE END' emblazoned on their T shirts.Locals asked me what on earth 'Tote End' meant?Brian Godfrey and Frankie Prince played that day. Still live up here all these years later and have to suffer the Stoke,Vale and Wolves fans taunts but wouldn't swop Rovers for any of 'em .See you at Nuneaton. Frankie Prince played in our 1973 promotion team surely he wasn't playing back in the 50's? Looking back it's amazing how the club thrived at Bath given they were on the club was on it's knees when it left Bristol.
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Post by dragonfly on Jan 3, 2015 16:06:14 GMT
The cup game against Arsenal was 1967, Arsenal filled the tote end and that was when GASHEADS decided to never let the tote belong to anyone else again. The worse thing about the south stand fire was having to play our home games for a while at TRASHTON and i think im right in saying we never won a game whilst there. Re the OP question, it was like now and has always been, get a good home draw in the cup or a good run in the league and gates went up and down. I was a season ticket holder in the North enclosure but remember only being able to get a muller rd ticket for the game against Man U. the one where we won the replay at Old Trafford Prior to that 1967 Arsenal cup tie the singers would congregate around the south stand tunnel led by Gordon Bennett. We ended up on the muller rd bank that day due to the violence on the Tote by the Arsenal fans who also caused havoc on Stapleton rd. The next home game v Oldham the singers migrated to the Tote End and soon grew in numbers waving scarves, banners and flags. It sure was a sight to behold and to be part of. This type of vocal support was fairly new at the time although the Kop at Anfield were singing Beatles and Cilla Black songs complete in 1963. The Kop was probably the birth place of mass singing and chanting. At Eastville it was a good time to be around and witness and by 1970 I watched from the Jarman enclosure which gave a much better view of the games. I did not see the last game at Eastville , it had become a shadow of it's former self and the landlords seemed intent on destroying BRFC and after a poor start at Twerton the Cub was reborn. 3000 at Twerton made a hell of a din as we fought off relegation.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2015 16:46:52 GMT
The cup game against Arsenal was 1967, Arsenal filled the tote end and that was when GASHEADS decided to never let the tote belong to anyone else again. The worse thing about the south stand fire was having to play our home games for a while at TRASHTON and i think im right in saying we never won a game whilst there. Re the OP question, it was like now and has always been, get a good home draw in the cup or a good run in the league and gates went up and down. I was a season ticket holder in the North enclosure but remember only being able to get a muller rd ticket for the game against Man U. the one where we won the replay at Old Trafford Prior to that 1967 Arsenal cup tie the singers would congregate around the south stand tunnel led by Gordon Bennett. We ended up on the muller rd bank that day due to the violence on the Tote by the Arsenal fans who also caused havoc on Stapleton rd. The next home game v Oldham the singers migrated to the Tote End and soon grew in numbers waving scarves, banners and flags. It sure was a sight to behold and to be part of. This type of vocal support was fairly new at the time although the Kop at Anfield were singing Beatles and Cilla Black songs complete in 1963. The Kop was probably the birth place of mass singing and chanting. At Eastville it was a good time to be around and witness and by 1970 I watched from the Jarman enclosure which gave a much better view of the games. I did not see the last game at Eastville , it had become a shadow of it's former self and the landlords seemed intent on destroying BRFC and after a poor start at Twerton the Cub was reborn. 3000 at Twerton made a hell of a din as we fought off relegation.
Great post, thankfully someone who remembers things as I do. Other posts here and on previous similar threads seem to suggest that the Tote End signing was around earlier but you are quite right about the main singing coming from the area by the south stand tunnel (I was there as a youngster for about a year) before we moved to the tote end. Good times.
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Post by Topper Gas on Jan 3, 2015 17:09:02 GMT
Surely Goodnight Irene was being sang well before the late 60's?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2015 17:16:51 GMT
Surely Goodnight Irene was being sang well before the late 60's? I don't think anyone suggested it wasn't. Just that the main singing came from the South Stand before it moved to the Tote.
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