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First County Visit:	Saturday 10th November 1979
Competition:	Football League Division 4 – (Tier 4)
Result:	Scunthorpe United 1 – 1 Stockport County
Attendance:	1,967
Away Trip:	16
Away Day:	20
County Line-up	1 David Lawson; 2 Paul Edwards; 3 John Rutter; 4 Ken Fogarty; 5 Mike Czuczman; 6 Les Chapman; 7 Steve Lovell; 8 Les Bradd; 9 Phil Henson; 10 Terry Park; 11 Tommy Sword
Scorer:	Les Bradd
Manager:	Players & Directors Committee
County Visits:	8

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FROM FOOTBALL TO FOODSTUFFS

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Very few vestiges of their former use are apparent – maybe a plaque at the entrance to the B&Q at Huddersfield, or possible the naming of streets on the new housing sites bringing back memories of greats of the past.  The ghost of the years when crowds teemed in the area must look down and bemoan what’s on view. 

Arguments surrounding progress will always be brought forward, and to some degree that is true. Equally a fire sale of a site in order to raise much needed funds has seen grounds which were at the epicentre of town and city life disappear and in their place have risen out-of-town utilitarian stadia devoid of soul, built to a standard breeze block plan. To me they’ve taken much of the life out of football as a vital factor is delivering community cohesion. 

So, for example the demise of Gay Meadow and its replacement with the New Meadow is a classic example.  From a bystanders perspective Shrewsbury Town now has little identity.  Frankly you could add the Colchester Community Stadium to what is a sorry list of these iniquities. Which is all by way of introduction to the first of the grounds visited which eventually fell in thrall to the seductive tones of developers.

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The move to the newly built Glanford Park was the first entirely new ground in the league since the erection of Roots Hall 33 years previously.  It’s more than ironic as this particular reflection is being crafted that Scunthorpe are now talking about moving to another new ground.  Stadia that once had lifespans of a century or more are now seemingly cast aside after less than 30 years!  There’ll be more to come – there’s little doubt of that.

Turning to the Old Show Ground.  It was a ground breaking stadium.  The very first cantilever stand in England.  The majority of football followers in the 60’s will of course remember the edifice erected at Hillsborough which post-dated it by three years.  Far grander than its predecessor in Scunthorpe, holding 10,000 as opposed to a more modest capacity, it has certainly stood the test of time.  Sadly that can’t be said of that at the original home of the Iron.  Despite initial thoughts about moving it to Glanford Park this proved impossible and down it came as the Old Show Ground bit the dust in 1988.

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The work of the locally based United Steel Structural Company in 1958 was largely based upon them having a product to sell throughout football.  Preferable finance terms were offered to Scunthorpe United as a sweetener for USSC to get that toehold in the football market. Sadly this wasn’t the case, but the company have left a long term footballing legacy, as well as another, and more famous, iconic structure which stands to this day – the Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope.  The latter may well be offering insights into far galaxies.  Their more down to earth construction revolutionised football watching.  A design which didn’t have those annoying posts either partially or totally obscuring the view can only have been an immense improvement.  Indeed these days it is highly unusual for any new construction to have any issues like that.

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If the East Stand was ground breaking, the rest of the ground was a monument to the traditional lower league ground.  Covered terraces behind both goals, and a main stand which appeared to be an aggregation of a few different structures.  Certainly it didn’t afford the best view in the house. – in decent weather decamping to the terracing which stood on either side was a better proposition. The place purportedly held 25,000, even in its latter days.  It can’t have been tested that often – indeed a cursory look at the record books shows that the record crowd was just under 24,000.  I made eight visits in total before the bulldozers and wrecking balls came into play.  Those eight games attracted a total gathering of 16,581 – all brought together that would still have left a hefty tract of the ground unutilised.

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Six weeks prior to my first game at the Old Show Ground, County had ended up on the wrong end of a 6-1 scoreline at Valley Parade.  That defeat saw the end of Mike Summerbee’s 18 month reign in charge at EP.  His successor was still to found as the trip to Lincolnshire took place, and the team was purportedly run, as it had been for the previous 5 games by a “Players and Directors Committee”.  I can’t recall that specifically, but it’s certainly a reasonably novel concept.  With the point at the OSG that afternoon their tenure had seen a haul of 6 points from 6 matches, (that in the days of 2 points for a win).  Better than the start made by the man subsequently appointed. 

Jimmy McGuigan started at County by masterminding a 5 goal home defeat to Newport County the following week, (a game in which a very youthful John Aldridge bagged four).    Despite some intensive research I can’t uncover who may, or indeed may not have been on this Committee, but it’s a sure fire bet that Eric Webster, to whom County owe so much, must have had a hand in it.  The strange thing is that the managerless team signed a player subsequently inducted into the County Hall of Fame…the incomparable Tommy Sword.  Striker; centre half; expert penalty taker, and the scorer of a goal on a night when much unfancied County triumphed at Roker Park.  Tommy Sword’s name is still fondly recalled over 35 years later!

The Old Show Ground was hardly a fruitful venue for me. Eight visits and only a sole victory to chalk up. That came on Good Friday 1986. Les Chapman had taken over in late 1985 after Murphy departed for Saudi Arabia and had made a more than decent impact. In the 23 games he had been in charge we had won 12, drawn 7 and lost only 4. He had lifted us from 18th to 6th and with 4 teams being promoted hopes were high of a promotion push. An early lead from a Tommy Sword penalty was doubled by Mark Leonard shortly after half-time. Scunny drew level before the County fans went into in ecstasy as Leonard got a late winner. The 3 points took us to 5th and it was an exultant trip back over the Pennines. And sadly that was as far as it went. The remaining 8 games delivered only two points. Hopes of promotion were dashed, and in one of the most inexplicable decisions taken by a County Board, (and trust me there have been plenty of them!), Chapman was replaced in the summer by Jimmy Melia. What happened next, even from a distance of getting on for 30 odd years still leaves longer standing County fans shuddering at the memory.

Nine years after my first visit the Old Show Ground was no more.  Frozen food, fruit and veg and other assorted foodstuffs took the place of Division 4 football.  It took 2 years after that for Glanford Park to emerge on the horizon for me.  Easier to access undoubtedly, but truly soulless it certainly was and still is.  A change for the better?  Never on this earth.

Let’s hope this talk of another new ground provides a creative architect with the scope and opportunity to create something meaningful; in keeping with football and which offers some attraction.  Sadly I fear that the manufacturers of breeze blocks will be in receipt of another windfall.

November 2016

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VISITS

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Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Away Day
Sat	10/11/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Scunthorpe United	D	1	1	1,967	20
Fri	19/09/80	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Scunthorpe United	L	0	2	2,005	29
Tues	30/03/82	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Scunthorpe United	D	0	0	1,815	57
Tues	07/09/82	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Scunthorpe United	L	0	3	1,945	61
Wed	26/12/84	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Scunthorpe United	L	0	1	2,881	105
Fri	28/03/86	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Scunthorpe United	W	3	2	2,025	130
Sat	21/02/87	Today League Division 4	Tier 4	Scunthorpe United	W	2	1	1,752	140
Tues	29/09/87	Barclays League Division 4	Tier 4	Scunthorpe United	D	0	0	2,191	148

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ON MY JOURNEY WITH COUNTY AROUND 180 GROUNDS

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Previously – PRENTON PARK Next stop – THE SHAY