Thanks so much for these, my friend. Chic Brodie, the former Brentford Goalkeeper, will never have forgotten Layer Road as an incident during a game there between Colchester and Brentford, which the Commentator found hilarious, ended his career and he has never owned a dog since. "DOG ATTACKS GOALKEEPER-COLCHESTER V BRENTFORD 1970" is the title in Capitals with 206K viewers...on UA-cam..
@@historyoffootball87 you’re welcome brother. Love football and as a Derby County fan it was your Baseball Ground video that got me hooked. I mainly go to non league these days as the atmosphere reflects what a lot of these places once had... Atmosphere 🤷♂️
Layer Road was one of those I never made it to during the 80s/90s, when I managed to do 62 of the then 92 following Bristol City. They managed to play in all four divisions in that period. Shame, because it looks very old school.
I went there twice to support Rovers. You had the choice of either a poor view from the terrace at one end of the ground or a better view from a small seated section right at the other end. I tried the terrace the first time (I always prefer standing if possible) but, as I say, the view was abysmal. The toilet facilities were also awful - worse than those at the Vetch Field, Bootham Crescent or Chesterfield's old Recreation Ground, and that's saying something. Second time I sat in the seated section, but the atmosphere was poor and it was weird celebrating our goals with folk from the other end of the ground. Mind you, I still preferred it to their current identikit breeze block & plastic home. Up The Gas!
You're welcome my friend. I love learning about history of all sorts, despite the fact our political leaders fail to learn lessons from it, it seems, and I always enjoy your presentations on old football grounds. Here's an idea - what about former cricket grounds (not necessarily 'County Grounds' but those 'outgrounds' no longer used for First Class matches)?
I went to Layer Road many times during the nineties and twenty hundreds as a mate of mine lived in Colchester, and I must admit that it was like travelling back in time to the sixties so far as the facilities were concerned. Still it was a friendly place and had its charms (except when you were struggling to get to the stands as the entire crowd had to move through one narrow passageway to get to the exit). But the football was good and there was one old stalwart who kept everyone amused as he constantly barracked the referee rather than the opponents. I have to take issue with you though on the view; I never went in the visitor's terrace, although I believe this was usually located behind the goal at the Layer road end, and being next to the pitch would have been a good view even if it sometimes got crowded, but once seating was installed behind the goal at the other end I found this both comfortable (once you had struggled your way in) and provided an excellent unobstructed view, and I often sat in the next section to the visiting fans As for your comments on the replacement ground, it may not have the charm of the Layer Road, but nostalgia can be taken too far. It is a modern well designed stadium with good views from every seat, the only drawback being that it is located at the edge of the town next to an industrial estate and since the stopped the match buses from the station or town canter it is a long walk (with no chance of getting a cab for the return journey.
The view from the away terrace was poor if you weren't near the front, as it wasn't very steep. When it comes to your newer ground, it's just that so many others look more or less the same (e.g. Shrewsbury Town, Northampton Town, Oxford Utd., etc.). Up The Gas!
A fantastic ground. Emotional to look back at it. That beauty got us to 10th in Championship. So many memories!
I do remember when Colchester United were in Championship.
Thanks so much for these, my friend.
Chic Brodie, the former Brentford Goalkeeper, will never have forgotten Layer Road as an incident during a game there between Colchester and Brentford, which the Commentator found hilarious, ended his career and he has never owned a dog since.
"DOG ATTACKS GOALKEEPER-COLCHESTER V BRENTFORD 1970" is the title in Capitals with 206K viewers...on UA-cam..
Just watched it again and the commentator says "What A Tackle!, What A Great Tackle!"...
Bar side on a Friday night. Great atmosphere and memories
Thanks for watching
@@historyoffootball87 Thanks for the work you put in to generating this content
Love your videos dude 😊 don’t give in to the haters and keep doing what you love 🤘
Thanks for supporting the channel
@@historyoffootball87 you’re welcome brother. Love football and as a Derby County fan it was your Baseball Ground video that got me hooked. I mainly go to non league these days as the atmosphere reflects what a lot of these places once had... Atmosphere 🤷♂️
Great work
Thank You
Layer Road was one of those I never made it to during the 80s/90s, when I managed to do 62 of the then 92 following Bristol City. They managed to play in all four divisions in that period. Shame, because it looks very old school.
I think it had very little done it to it from 1910-2008, apart from what I mentioned.
The barside 🍻😊
Brilliant memories
I went there twice to support Rovers. You had the choice of either a poor view from the terrace at one end of the ground or a better view from a small seated section right at the other end.
I tried the terrace the first time (I always prefer standing if possible) but, as I say, the view was abysmal. The toilet facilities were also awful - worse than those at the Vetch Field, Bootham Crescent or Chesterfield's old Recreation Ground, and that's saying something.
Second time I sat in the seated section, but the atmosphere was poor and it was weird celebrating our goals with folk from the other end of the ground.
Mind you, I still preferred it to their current identikit breeze block & plastic home.
Up The Gas!
Thanks for watching the video
You're welcome my friend. I love learning about history of all sorts, despite the fact our political leaders fail to learn lessons from it, it seems, and I always enjoy your presentations on old football grounds.
Here's an idea - what about former cricket grounds (not necessarily 'County Grounds' but those 'outgrounds' no longer used for First Class matches)?
There might be a channel that already does that. On my Rugby League channel I do a series about all the old grounds as well.
I went to Layer Road many times during the nineties and twenty hundreds as a mate of mine lived in Colchester, and I must admit that it was like travelling back in time to the sixties so far as the facilities were concerned. Still it was a friendly place and had its charms (except when you were struggling to get to the stands as the entire crowd had to move through one narrow passageway to get to the exit). But the football was good and there was one old stalwart who kept everyone amused as he constantly barracked the referee rather than the opponents.
I have to take issue with you though on the view; I never went in the visitor's terrace, although I believe this was usually located behind the goal at the Layer road end, and being next to the pitch would have been a good view even if it sometimes got crowded, but once seating was installed behind the goal at the other end I found this both comfortable (once you had struggled your way in) and provided an excellent unobstructed view, and I often sat in the next section to the visiting fans
As for your comments on the replacement ground, it may not have the charm of the Layer Road, but nostalgia can be taken too far. It is a modern well designed stadium with good views from every seat, the only drawback being that it is located at the edge of the town next to an industrial estate and since the stopped the match buses from the station or town canter it is a long walk (with no chance of getting a cab for the return journey.
The view from the away terrace was poor if you weren't near the front, as it wasn't very steep.
When it comes to your newer ground, it's just that so many others look more or less the same (e.g. Shrewsbury Town, Northampton Town, Oxford Utd., etc.).
Up The Gas!