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The ground is still there. But in severe disrepair. It was Haslingdon towns ground. They collapsed and if my memory servers me well Stand athletic were the last team to play there. It's was a shame nice ground and an all weather 5 a side pitch at the back.
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Old football ground help on 12:11 - Apr 3 with 6310 views
Old football ground help on 12:06 - Apr 3 by brady
The ground is still there. But in severe disrepair. It was Haslingdon towns ground. They collapsed and if my memory servers me well Stand athletic were the last team to play there. It's was a shame nice ground and an all weather 5 a side pitch at the back.
Talking about old football grounds did anybody else play on Turners, Dunlops or Tweedale & Smalley's grounds ? All were top grounds that were venues for finals.
Didn't there used to be a football ground at Cutgate near the main road ?
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Old football ground help on 08:55 - Apr 4 with 5558 views
Going to the other extreme in the Rochdale Amateur Leagues, did anyone play Thornham at Gravelhole? Grew up in that area, must have been one of the most dangerous pitches in the UK.
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Old football ground help on 09:57 - Apr 4 with 5518 views
I remember playing a constantly postponed cup match donkeys years ago and the only pitch available on that sunday was behind a church and when we eventually found it and played the entire pitch was like cinders from the old church furnace spread everywhere.. Not a single blade of grass on that pitch very dangerous so dangerous the keeper had two pairs of trackie bottoms on....
Cannot remember where that pitch todayis but christ that was bad......
My all time favourite Dale player Mr Lyndon Symmonds
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Old football ground help on 13:17 - Apr 4 with 5446 views
Talking about old football grounds did anybody else play on Turners, Dunlops or Tweedale & Smalley's grounds ? All were top grounds that were venues for finals.
Didn't there used to be a football ground at Cutgate near the main road ?
I remember going to that Cutgate ground to watch a Youth Cup Final on an Easter Monday between Syke Youth Club and Haggate Lads from Heywood,got to be around 1962/63. Fantastic game,one of Syke`s players broke his leg,no subs in those days,but they took Haggate to extra time and were unlucky to lose,3-2. We used to wag school on Friday afternoons from the Tech in 1965 and go up to the defunct Dunlop Bowls Club to play five a side on the greens,one of us keeping a look out for the coppers. Brights had a good ground,didn`t play on it myself,but saw some great games on there.
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Old football ground help on 14:54 - Apr 4 with 5380 views
Old football ground help on 10:14 - Apr 4 by electricblue
I remember playing a constantly postponed cup match donkeys years ago and the only pitch available on that sunday was behind a church and when we eventually found it and played the entire pitch was like cinders from the old church furnace spread everywhere.. Not a single blade of grass on that pitch very dangerous so dangerous the keeper had two pairs of trackie bottoms on....
Cannot remember where that pitch todayis but christ that was bad......
I've played on most of the pitches mentioned on here. Gravel hole was indeed horrible but without doubt the most dangerous one was the one you allude to at foxholes, a shocking pitch very dangerous It seemed to have a cinder base Im sure an amateur player lost a leg to tetanus after playing on there in the 60s Icant remember his name first name was Daz? That the pitch continued to be used after that was nothing short of criminal.
This is not the time for bickering.
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Old football ground help on 18:33 - Apr 4 with 5257 views
I played on Gravelhole, never again thank God. Anybody else play on that pitch at Springfield Park with the hump in the middle. I remember scoring a goal there with a long shot that I thought was going all along the ground but ended up in the top corner. I also hit the upper deck of a No 17 bus parked at that bus stop on Manchester Road with a shot when I miss hit a corner that was cleared to me at Dunlop's old ground
Bright's had a good little ground just off Whitworth Road behind a nursery If I remember it correctly. . Another one to forget was the Uncouth at Firgrove, it was like playing on corrugated iron. I remember playing against Whitworth Valley and getting changed in a smoking pen at the old Ircast Foundries. Getting changed in a garage to play on Stoneyfield was another one.
Heymain Recs in Heywood is one I remember well. The touch lines were marked out with saw dust. I made a lung bursting run from right back for about 70 yards. When I looked up near goal everybody else had stop playing and were laughing at me. I'd run out wide in a spot where the saw dust had blown away and I was yards out of play !
Those were the days and I'd do it all again if I could
[Post edited 5 Apr 2019 13:16]
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Old football ground help on 03:58 - Apr 5 with 5152 views
Old football ground help on 16:30 - Apr 4 by kiwidale
I've played on most of the pitches mentioned on here. Gravel hole was indeed horrible but without doubt the most dangerous one was the one you allude to at foxholes, a shocking pitch very dangerous It seemed to have a cinder base Im sure an amateur player lost a leg to tetanus after playing on there in the 60s Icant remember his name first name was Daz? That the pitch continued to be used after that was nothing short of criminal.
That ground on Foxholes was the pitch Heybrook played on before they created the playing fields off the big hill as we used to call it. I played on Foxholes many a time and didn`t find it too bad. Mind you I would`ve played on anything to play for Heybrook Juniors,think it`s been built on now. You don`t mean Daz Brown do you Kiwi? He stood on a rusty nail,got Haemophilia and died in his early twenties.
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Old football ground help on 06:45 - Apr 5 with 5125 views
Old football ground help on 03:58 - Apr 5 by DiddyDave
That ground on Foxholes was the pitch Heybrook played on before they created the playing fields off the big hill as we used to call it. I played on Foxholes many a time and didn`t find it too bad. Mind you I would`ve played on anything to play for Heybrook Juniors,think it`s been built on now. You don`t mean Daz Brown do you Kiwi? He stood on a rusty nail,got Haemophilia and died in his early twenties.
Not Haemophilia,Septicaemia.
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Old football ground help on 07:06 - Apr 5 with 5121 views
Old football ground help on 08:55 - Apr 4 by EllDale
I played on Turners. Beautifully drained pitch. Played at Fothergill and Harveys as well, by the railway line. That could get boggy though....
I remember the pitches at Turners being constructed in the late 1950's. When I played on them in the mid 1960's they were still bedding in and the drainage wasn't quite sorted out. Being our own pitch we played on them in any conditions. I've played in games with pools of standing water on the pitch, when the ball landed in them on a windy day it would sail away like a galleon !
It was the fact that you could get a game every Saturday that got me playing for them. I'd turned up at Lenny Barn for a game only to be told that the game was off. I was working at Turners by then and they'd been nagging me to sign for them. So I wandered over to Turners ground where a game was taking place and signed.
The facilities were first class, their own groundsman and green keeper etc. I worked in the maintenance and every spring the plum job was to go up to the ground and service all the mowing machines etc. You could spin that job out for a week if the weather was nice.
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Old football ground help on 09:31 - Apr 5 with 5075 views
Old football ground help on 03:58 - Apr 5 by DiddyDave
That ground on Foxholes was the pitch Heybrook played on before they created the playing fields off the big hill as we used to call it. I played on Foxholes many a time and didn`t find it too bad. Mind you I would`ve played on anything to play for Heybrook Juniors,think it`s been built on now. You don`t mean Daz Brown do you Kiwi? He stood on a rusty nail,got Haemophilia and died in his early twenties.
Wasn't his wife called June Mills ? She later married Stuart Chadwick if my memory serves me well.
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Old football ground help on 09:41 - Apr 5 with 5069 views
Did Stan Milburn turn out for Turners the odd time?
You could always get a game if you turned up at Lenny Barn or Firgrove with your boots. At Firgrove you could end up with an away game on your "home" pitch due to fixture vagaries.
I had a spell playing for a team whose home games were at St Joseph's school which was more or less brand new then. Massive pitches and a nice warm shower!
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Old football ground help on 09:57 - Apr 5 with 5057 views
I played on Gravelhole, never again thank God. Anybody else play on that pitch at Springfield Park with the hump in the middle. I remember scoring a goal there with a long shot that I thought was going all along the ground but ended up in the top corner. I also hit the upper deck of a No 17 bus parked at that bus stop on Manchester Road with a shot when I miss hit a corner that was cleared to me at Dunlop's old ground
Bright's had a good little ground just off Whitworth Road behind a nursery If I remember it correctly. . Another one to forget was the Uncouth at Firgrove, it was like playing on corrugated iron. I remember playing against Whitworth Valley and getting changed in a smoking pen at the old Ircast Foundries. Getting changed in a garage to play on Stoneyfield was another one.
Heymain Recs in Heywood is one I remember well. The touch lines were marked out with saw dust. I made a lung bursting run from right back for about 70 yards. When I looked up near goal everybody else had stop playing and were laughing at me. I'd run out wide in a spot where the saw dust had blown away and I was yards out of play !
Those were the days and I'd do it all again if I could
[Post edited 5 Apr 2019 13:16]
We used to play our home games on that pitch at Springfield Park, loved it. It was a home pitch for sure and we always played uphill in the first half if we won the toss, to save our legs in the 2nd.
Also played on Turner`s in a Cup final on Boxing Day when it was frozen solid, we were runners up after leading :( The Uncouth Rd was a nightmare as was the one off Bury Rd/Sandy Lane (the name escapes me) at the back of Redbrook school. If it rained pieces of glass and metal used to come to the surface!
Whitworth Workers with the old factory wall running alongside the pitch?
Played on both pitches off Ings Lane. The one nearest Spotland was St. Clements old pitch and I played against Stan Milburn on there when he was in his 50`s. He was so clever to make up for his lack of speed and stood out like a sore thumb because of his class.
As you say, happy days and the happiest of my life certainly.
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Old football ground help on 10:22 - Apr 5 with 5035 views
Another bad pitch was Kirkholt W M C. Aldwych I think it was called. You always wanted to play them before the end of September after that it was a mud heap.