| This is going to get quite a lot of stick 07:26 - Apr 19 with 5554 views | R442D |
But I've been thinking, we always claim a lack of atmosphere is at our club.
But that's not exactly true.
The Sandy makes a lot of noise, but due to the way its built, the sound doesn't carry well.
So, here's the big one:
Would you have the away fans moved the sandy, and have the Willbutt's Lane Stand as another home stand?
In order to actually hear the home fans, and in turn, drown out the away lot.
Obviously for big numbers, we could share the willbutts end.
But it's just a thought.
You get a better view, and make better noise.
Prices not to be as expensive currently though.
Makes sense surely? |  | | |  |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 13:24 - Apr 19 with 1490 views | maybee |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 13:18 - Apr 19 by TalkingSutty |
Does anybody remember Portsmouths last league visit to Spotland when they filled the Sandy Lane (late 70s i think) ?
I remember a old chap in a flat cap standing behind the goal waving a massive Pompey flag. I think i bought the newspaper style programme from the Roundhouse newsagents in Littleborough prior to the game.
At that time i think we had the poorest team i ever witnessed at Spotland,it was very,very grim. Memory tells me that Pompey filled the Sandy on that day, but in reality they probably brought about a thousand. |
Aye TS...they're on the list I posted earlier.
Seem to recall that they came on a special train, and were all bladdered!!! I reckon there were 700 or so of them in a crowd of just under 2000. Fanatical supporters.
At the game down at Fratton Park, there were probably less than ten Dale fans there. |  | | |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 13:46 - Apr 19 with 1464 views | R17ALE |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 10:40 - Apr 19 by maybee |
The club has officially given the Sandy to away fans on occasions. Leeds were housed there when they beat us 3-0 in the League Cup.
It was on a regular basis that away fans "took" the Sandy back in the 70's...less so in the 80's. However, in those days, supporters were allowed to change ends at half time.
Away fans who "took" the Sandy (when they shouldn't have been there) include
Huddersfield
Blackburn
Aston Villa
Walsall
Portsmouth
Wigan
Barnsley
Hull
Wrexham
Bradford
Grimsby
Plus the ones TVOS recalls. Luton was particularly bad.
A shared Sandy was also quite common...when neither set of supporters were strong enough to oust the other. Halifax was always a good example of this.
Back in the 70's, my Grandad used to take me to various other local games when Dale were playing too far for us to go. I used to be fascinated at Gigg Lane, as every team that brought supporters with them used to chase the bury fans round and round the ground throughout the match. I kid you not... Aston Villa must have covered miles chasing the rather nippy but undernourished buckets at one game. Suppose they hadn't discovered batteries and black shell suits back then!!! |
Talking of Villa, they overan Spotland in a league game in the 1971-72 season. According to legend they outnumbered us in a gate of nearly 6000.
Which reminds me of a famous Moggy story!
Back in those days our fringe was called The Town Gang due to their habit of ambushing visiting fans in and around Drake Street. Fans usually came by rail back then.
Usually visiting fans on a football Special would be escorted down Drake Street, past where Bar 5 is now, and then turn right by Nat West.
What would sometimes happen is that Moggy (or another) would stand outside Nat West and would goad the visiting support in the hope they would break the Police cordon and chase him up the steps to the Parish Church, where the Town Gang would lie in wait!
When we played Villa, Moggy was in his usual spot and, as the escort approached, he antagonised them, so they broke rank. What Moggy didn't realise, that such was the volume of visiting support, the cordon was snaking back half way up Drake Street.
In his words, "I turned round at the foot of the steps and there were 1000's of them coming through the car park. I got to the top of the steps and looked down and they couldn't funnel themselves onto the steps. It was like a bottle neck. Anyway I shouted out, leg it, there's bloody 1000's of them. Some did get up to the graveyard and carried on chasing me. I legged it past the Observer buildings, over Drake Street, onto Milnrow Road. They were still chasing me! It carried on through Newbold and I finally shook them off when I reached Rochdale Hornets!! (Morrisons for the younguns!).
Now I don't know if all that is strictly true, but I hope it is, as it's an amusing tale!
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| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 13:57 - Apr 19 with 1446 views | D_Alien |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 13:46 - Apr 19 by R17ALE |
Talking of Villa, they overan Spotland in a league game in the 1971-72 season. According to legend they outnumbered us in a gate of nearly 6000.
Which reminds me of a famous Moggy story!
Back in those days our fringe was called The Town Gang due to their habit of ambushing visiting fans in and around Drake Street. Fans usually came by rail back then.
Usually visiting fans on a football Special would be escorted down Drake Street, past where Bar 5 is now, and then turn right by Nat West.
What would sometimes happen is that Moggy (or another) would stand outside Nat West and would goad the visiting support in the hope they would break the Police cordon and chase him up the steps to the Parish Church, where the Town Gang would lie in wait!
When we played Villa, Moggy was in his usual spot and, as the escort approached, he antagonised them, so they broke rank. What Moggy didn't realise, that such was the volume of visiting support, the cordon was snaking back half way up Drake Street.
In his words, "I turned round at the foot of the steps and there were 1000's of them coming through the car park. I got to the top of the steps and looked down and they couldn't funnel themselves onto the steps. It was like a bottle neck. Anyway I shouted out, leg it, there's bloody 1000's of them. Some did get up to the graveyard and carried on chasing me. I legged it past the Observer buildings, over Drake Street, onto Milnrow Road. They were still chasing me! It carried on through Newbold and I finally shook them off when I reached Rochdale Hornets!! (Morrisons for the younguns!).
Now I don't know if all that is strictly true, but I hope it is, as it's an amusing tale!
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Aye, and I was literally "ambushed" by Moggy after an evening game against Bolton - League Cup, I think!)
I used to walk home along Mellor St then through Broadfield Park. Moggy and a few of his henchmen were waiting in the bushes! Luckily, I described how I'd seen him cleaning the windows down our street earlier that week, even what he was wearing - before he believed I wasn't on my way back to the train station! |  |
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| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 15:00 - Apr 19 with 1413 views | DorsetDale |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 13:24 - Apr 19 by maybee |
Aye TS...they're on the list I posted earlier.
Seem to recall that they came on a special train, and were all bladdered!!! I reckon there were 700 or so of them in a crowd of just under 2000. Fanatical supporters.
At the game down at Fratton Park, there were probably less than ten Dale fans there. |
Just checked the stats for pompey games:
9th sept '78 dale 0 pompey 2 att: 1479
22nd sept '79 dale 1 pompey 2 att: 2423
think it'll be the '79 game being referred to. I also remember there being some big fook*** amongst 'em. They outnumbered us so must have had at least 1300 in the Sandy. Don't know how true it is, but at the time was told they had a further 5 coach loads that due to traffic never made it to Spotland! | |
| YOU do not have the right to give someone else permission to tell me what I can and can't do. |
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| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 15:11 - Apr 19 with 1397 views | sandylaner1 |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 13:46 - Apr 19 by R17ALE |
Talking of Villa, they overan Spotland in a league game in the 1971-72 season. According to legend they outnumbered us in a gate of nearly 6000.
Which reminds me of a famous Moggy story!
Back in those days our fringe was called The Town Gang due to their habit of ambushing visiting fans in and around Drake Street. Fans usually came by rail back then.
Usually visiting fans on a football Special would be escorted down Drake Street, past where Bar 5 is now, and then turn right by Nat West.
What would sometimes happen is that Moggy (or another) would stand outside Nat West and would goad the visiting support in the hope they would break the Police cordon and chase him up the steps to the Parish Church, where the Town Gang would lie in wait!
When we played Villa, Moggy was in his usual spot and, as the escort approached, he antagonised them, so they broke rank. What Moggy didn't realise, that such was the volume of visiting support, the cordon was snaking back half way up Drake Street.
In his words, "I turned round at the foot of the steps and there were 1000's of them coming through the car park. I got to the top of the steps and looked down and they couldn't funnel themselves onto the steps. It was like a bottle neck. Anyway I shouted out, leg it, there's bloody 1000's of them. Some did get up to the graveyard and carried on chasing me. I legged it past the Observer buildings, over Drake Street, onto Milnrow Road. They were still chasing me! It carried on through Newbold and I finally shook them off when I reached Rochdale Hornets!! (Morrisons for the younguns!).
Now I don't know if all that is strictly true, but I hope it is, as it's an amusing tale!
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that was an entertaining read 
can't imagine what going to a football match was like back in the 70's/80's |  | | |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 15:47 - Apr 19 with 1375 views | TalkingSutty |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 15:11 - Apr 19 by sandylaner1 |
that was an entertaining read
can't imagine what going to a football match was like back in the 70's/80's |
At times it was scary, there was a ruck at nearly every game and most of those took place inside the ground.
I can still remember trouble against Newport County, Port Vale, Donny Rovers, Halifax, Bradford City, Huddersfield Town (that kicked off in the Sandy Lane) and probably the worst of the lot when Blackpool came to town.
It wasnt unusual for the HOME fans to be kept inside the ground after the final whistle until the away fans had been dispersed  |  | | |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 16:10 - Apr 19 with 1360 views | DorsetDale |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 15:47 - Apr 19 by TalkingSutty |
At times it was scary, there was a ruck at nearly every game and most of those took place inside the ground.
I can still remember trouble against Newport County, Port Vale, Donny Rovers, Halifax, Bradford City, Huddersfield Town (that kicked off in the Sandy Lane) and probably the worst of the lot when Blackpool came to town.
It wasnt unusual for the HOME fans to be kept inside the ground after the final whistle until the away fans had been dispersed |
Blackpool were bad. We got attacked in Norden after a night game whilst waiting for't Ribble bus home to Red Lumb.
Bastards would've nicked my scarf had the bus not turned up just in time!! | |
| YOU do not have the right to give someone else permission to tell me what I can and can't do. |
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| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 17:06 - Apr 19 with 1337 views | PotterDale |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 07:48 - Apr 19 by funkkk |
It should happen. It won't happen. |
No |  | | |
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| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 17:07 - Apr 19 with 1337 views | PotterDale |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 08:59 - Apr 19 by raadale |
It is suprising this has never been thought of before... ;) I'll quite happily move to the Willbutts end when they take the seats out of it. The lack of atmosphere is due to sitting down. Sod that. |
Yes | | | |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 17:09 - Apr 19 with 1335 views | PotterDale |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 09:38 - Apr 19 by AtThePeake |
If you prefer to stand up, then fair play, but you can't say that being in a stand with seats means a lack of atmosphere, several teams have come and created a really good atmosphere in the exact same stand... |
"you can't say that being in a stand with seats means a lack of atmosphere"
Yes you can, because it does [Post edited 1 Jan 1970 1:00]
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| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 17:15 - Apr 19 with 1325 views | PotterDale |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 12:59 - Apr 19 by BrighouseDale |
If the TDS was £15 and the Sandy was £18, I'd still pay £3 extra to stand up. |
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| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 17:20 - Apr 19 with 1317 views | AtThePeake |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 17:09 - Apr 19 by PotterDale |
"you can't say that being in a stand with seats means a lack of atmosphere"
Yes you can, because it does [Post edited 1 Jan 1970 1:00]
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Funny how most away teams come, go in a seating stand, and still manage to out-sing us then. |  |
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| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 17:48 - Apr 19 with 1298 views | KenBoon |
Seats don't stop people singing. Just like not having a roof doesn't stop people singing. Anyone who claims that the human body cannot sing whilst sat, or at least try to evolve to singing whilst sat down - its been decades now - is not of this world.
IMHO you create a good atmosphere through numbers. The majority of fans will join in songs if others start them. In the Pearl Street you have a dozen or so and often they cannot be bothered, especially when the team isn't playing well. In the Sandy there's probably more but its a terrible stand with terrible views. The solution is to join the two. It'd be stupid to close the Pearl Street (the one stand we own) to keep the Sandy Lane open. If the Sandy Lane regulars were in the Pearl Street the atmosphere would be excellent. Surely savings would be made by having the Sandy closed too, so this along with a better atmosphere and hopefully more fans that may attract, would lead to reduced turnstile prices. |  | | |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 18:00 - Apr 19 with 1285 views | R442D |
Typically, we all seem to have gone off track and brought in other points.
Here's what the idea around it was.
1. Better sound. Because the way the Sandy is constructed it gets drowned out.
Leading onto:
2. If we do swap, away fans get blocked out. No sound from them gives their players less of a push.
Also, as for 'they won't come if we give them the crap stand' that's rubbish.
If its an important game or they want to go -they will come.
Also,
3. A better view. It's the best stand in the ground.
So it makes sense does it not, to actually be able to watch the game of football you've paid to see. Hill play's great football, and you'll miss out watching it from the Sandy -its a fact. You won't see the tatics in the sandy, just players running towards and from you.
4. No one said you had to sit down.
Plenty of fans in the TDS stand up. Simple.
5. It looks like we actually fill our stadium, instead of having an empty stand.
6. I said we could change the cost to the sandy price.
I fail to see how we haven't taken this idea seriously, just because some people would rather 'stand up'. | | | |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 18:41 - Apr 19 with 1254 views | SimpkinsLeftPeg |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 17:20 - Apr 19 by AtThePeake |
Funny how most away teams come, go in a seating stand, and still manage to out-sing us then. |
In the majority of cases around the country the away fans out-sing the home section, regardless of seating/terracing. The Willbuts just has great acoustics, whereas the Sandy does not. At places like York it will sound like the home fans are liveliest, due to the open end away fans are housed in.
To the OP, I'm sure the idea has been coined several times in the past, but it is not a case of "oh we can't do that because some people like to stand". As others have mentioned, the Sandy is the cheapest option and has to be kept for home supporters. If there is to be a change in ends and the Willbuts is to be used for home fans, the club can't charge the same admittance fee as they would for the Sandy. There is a huge difference in quality between the two stands. I'm not even sure if it's legal to charge the same prices for terracing and seating.
I like the principle of using the Willbuts for home fans, but it is just not something that is going to happen, for the foreseeable at least. |  | | |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 19:14 - Apr 19 with 1181 views | funkkk |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 08:02 - Apr 19 by TalkingSutty |
You cant blame fans for wanting to stay in the Sandy, the fact that its the worst view in the ground is someting they choose to put up with.
I wouldnt want to be forced to watch my football from the Sandy and before the TDS was built that was the popular stand. Leave the Sandy laners alone. |
I actually go in the Sandy myself but I'd be up for anything that improves the poor atmosphere we have at most games.
I'm sure a standing area could be created elsewhere in the ground and improve the atmosphere greatly. |  | | |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 19:22 - Apr 19 with 1174 views | ArthurDaley |
After Willbutts new stand was built, the club wanted, people from the Sandy to go into the new stand at the same price for the Sandy. Then they could put away supporters in the Sandy with their coaches parked along the stand, so they could come out off the ground and onto the coaches.
After a bit of a demo outside the office after one game the idea was dropped.
One fan complained, i have stood in the same spot for 40 years and im not moving for nobody.
( dont know if the last bit is true) |  |
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| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 20:30 - Apr 19 with 1142 views | Dale_Pea |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 13:46 - Apr 19 by R17ALE |
Talking of Villa, they overan Spotland in a league game in the 1971-72 season. According to legend they outnumbered us in a gate of nearly 6000.
Which reminds me of a famous Moggy story!
Back in those days our fringe was called The Town Gang due to their habit of ambushing visiting fans in and around Drake Street. Fans usually came by rail back then.
Usually visiting fans on a football Special would be escorted down Drake Street, past where Bar 5 is now, and then turn right by Nat West.
What would sometimes happen is that Moggy (or another) would stand outside Nat West and would goad the visiting support in the hope they would break the Police cordon and chase him up the steps to the Parish Church, where the Town Gang would lie in wait!
When we played Villa, Moggy was in his usual spot and, as the escort approached, he antagonised them, so they broke rank. What Moggy didn't realise, that such was the volume of visiting support, the cordon was snaking back half way up Drake Street.
In his words, "I turned round at the foot of the steps and there were 1000's of them coming through the car park. I got to the top of the steps and looked down and they couldn't funnel themselves onto the steps. It was like a bottle neck. Anyway I shouted out, leg it, there's bloody 1000's of them. Some did get up to the graveyard and carried on chasing me. I legged it past the Observer buildings, over Drake Street, onto Milnrow Road. They were still chasing me! It carried on through Newbold and I finally shook them off when I reached Rochdale Hornets!! (Morrisons for the younguns!).
Now I don't know if all that is strictly true, but I hope it is, as it's an amusing tale!
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My dad has told me many stories about Moggy, quite the character! |  |
| Best buddy of' Irish_rafc' xox |
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| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 20:35 - Apr 19 with 1140 views | ChaffRAFC |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 20:30 - Apr 19 by Dale_Pea |
My dad has told me many stories about Moggy, quite the character! |
So has my Dad, but my Dad was a copper!  |  |
| If I hadn't seen such riches, I could live with being poor |
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| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 22:05 - Apr 19 with 1110 views | mikehunt |
| This is going to get quite a lot of stick on 19:14 - Apr 19 by funkkk |
I actually go in the Sandy myself but I'd be up for anything that improves the poor atmosphere we have at most games.
I'm sure a standing area could be created elsewhere in the ground and improve the atmosphere greatly. |
Is it at Basle where they have a seated area where their fans stand and sing? So they have erected crush barriers there to accommodate this. Obviously doesn't preclude them from Euro regulations and keeps the support lively. This seems like a good solution to this age old conundrum. |  |
| The worm of time turns not for the cuckoo of circumstance. |
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