First Trip to Roots Hall

[Ian38018]

Hi Folks

I do hope no-one views this as spam, I am not selling anything.

I am one of those sad Groundhopper bods, doing the 92. I finally got to visit Roots Hall last weekend, and a few pix'n'scribbles may be found below, should anyone find a neutral's perspective of any interest.

http://ian38018.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/roots-hall.html

(any help/correction with names welcomed)


BW

Ian 38018 :smiles:

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

Fair report, some good pics too. The main match things missing are IMO, 1 the stinker of a ref, 2 the good Rovers support for a nothing fixture & 3 the injury subs( &red card) to our two midfielders changed the game for the worse.
Enjoy your travels.

 

[AndyT]

Really enjoyed that, Ian. Top stuff and a nod to 'The Grapes of Wrath' as well. :cool:

 

[LBBlue]

Good stuff - and the last two paragraphs remembering John McKinven - is what being a real football fan is all about.

 

[Firestorm]

I can see the top of my head in one of the pictures.....

 

[AndyT]

Btw, Ian.

If you send a PM to 'Suffolk Shrimper' he's written a really good book about the 92 club.

Worth a read on your travels.

 

[South Bucks Shrimper]

Great review. I particularly like the photo of the old boy in the white/blue shirt, updating Facebook, standing under the clock! :winking:

 

[OldBlueLady]

So glad you chose to "walk out" and "ride back" on the pier - what many of us locals do!

 

[Zeuss]

So glad you chose to "walk out" and "ride back" on the pier - what many of us locals do!

When I was very young,we always did that.Doubt very much whether it’s still the case,but back then it meant the train ride back was free of charge.Despite that my dad would always leave us at the end-of-pier station ,setting off walking quickly and claiming he’d be first back and sometimes he was!

 

[OldBlueLady]

When I was very young,we always did that.Doubt very much whether it’s still the case,but back then it meant the train ride back was free of charge.Despite that my dad would always leave us at the end-of-pier station ,setting off walking quickly and claiming he’d be first back and sometimes he was!

Always did that from when I was little, and it was always a Boxing Day walk for the family with my grandparents living in Southchurch until my much younger cousins appeared on the scene. Still do it now, kind of a reward for the walk out!

 

[Firestorm]

Great review. I particularly like the photo of the old boy in the white/blue shirt, updating Facebook, standing under the clock! :winking:

A certain Mr Walton of this board

 

[Barling Magna]

Really enjoyed this. Thanks. And John McKinven - one of Southend's greats.

 

[NZamba Legend]

Great review. I too love the barrelled West Stand architecture. I hope this is incorporated into the 'new' stadium in homage to the magnificence of the North Bank and West Stand. I hope someone can make this happen.

 

[Mad Cyril]

Hi Folks

I do hope no-one views this as spam, I am not selling anything.

I am one of those sad Groundhopper bods, doing the 92. I finally got to visit Roots Hall last weekend, and a few pix'n'scribbles may be found below, should anyone find a neutral's perspective of any interest.

http://ian38018.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/roots-hall.html

(any help/correction with names welcomed)


BW

Ian 38018 :smiles:

If you had started at Roots Hall you wouldn't have bothered with the other 91 grounds.

Could have saved you a few quid.

 

[edwardss2]

There is also that unique smell that you get as you enter the East Stand between the Far Post Bar and the snack bar. Generations of beer, burgers and other stuff I guess. I hope this is incorporated into the new stadium, it is somehow very comforting.

 

[wivs]

There is also that unique smell that you get as you enter the East Stand between the Far Post Bar and the snack bar. Generations of beer, burgers and other stuff I guess. I hope this is incorporated into the new stadium, it is somehow very comforting.

I think that might be my aftershave. :winking:
Great report, one of my early memories at Roots Hall was McKinven breaking his leg against Lincoln, I'm sure I read somewhere later that it was a done by a certain Graham Taylor?

 

[Juggler90]

Regarding the parking point - really? Other than the boys' school, there's not much in the way of car park parking but there's loads of street parking around Roots Hall and there's no residents' only parking restrictions in place. I can't remember the last ground I went to that didn't have restrictions in the area around the ground on matchdays.

As an aside, I dated a girl in Bathgate for two years (15 years ago) and spent a lot of time there. The locals used to tell me (over a Buckfast or 5) the local prison was the only prison in the country where people tried to break in and not break out.

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

Regarding the parking point - really? Other than the boys' school, there's not much in the way of car park parking but there's loads of street parking around Roots Hall and there's no residents' only parking restrictions in place. I can't remember the last ground I went to that didn't have restrictions in the area around the ground on matchdays.

As an aside, I dated a girl in Bathgate for two years (15 years ago) and spent a lot of time there. The locals used to tell me (over a Buckfast or 5) the local prison was the only prison in the country where people tried to break in and not break out.

Ah yes I hadn't picked up the bit about the parking.
There are parking restrictions on a few roads around the ground that are weekdays only maybe he didn't read the signs properly?
In all my 35+ years going to Roots Hall I have never had a problem finding free street parking.
Bury, Rochdale, Oxford, Peterborough and even some bigger ones like Sheffield United and Portsmouth are pretty easy for street parking.

He hasn't been to Exeter yet wait until he sees the parking restrictions around there! EDIT he has been to Exeter let's see if he mentions parking there. Nope no mention of parking at Exeter.

 

[Ian38018]

Hi Folks - thanks for all your kind words.

[h=1]Massimo Giovanni - I had not quite noticed the fact the Southend midfield was decimated by the injuries. Perhaps I can be forgiven, as a visitor ignorant of many of the players.[/h]
[h=1]South Bucks Shrimper - Yes i can remember seeing him. Handsome chap, I thought at the time. Got his phone number? :winking:[/h]
[h=1]Barling Magna - When researching my book, I tracked down and interviewed a number of old Bathgate players. I rather wish I had taken the time with John. Although, to be fair, he was only fleetingly at the club.[/h]
[h=1]Juggler90 - You will be thinking about Shotts prison. All mod cons and creature comforts in there. Southend to Bathgate for two years? Must have been love. I probably contributed to my own problems with the parking business by not arriving until the last minute.[/h]
[h=1]Up the Shrimpers - I flew to Exeter, so no parking issues. The worst place for parking I have encountered was Gillingham. All resident-only within a two mile radius of the place, it seemed.[/h]
Best wishes to all

Ian38018