Forgotten Football Grounds | Eastville Stadium
Today I do a video on Eastville Stadium, the former home ground of Bristol Rovers from 1897-1986.
For copyright purposes I cannot show the game or any Highlights otherwise my channel will be taken down, I hope you understand this. If you have a problem, then create your own channel, upload the highlights and enjoy being shut down
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You'll be surprised that I never saw Rovers play there. When I first moved to Bristol, not being a football fan, I looked out of my kitchen window one night to see the floodlights at Eastville illuminating the greyhound racing at the same time as those at what is now The Memorial Stadium illuminating a rugby match. I'm still not interested in 'egg-chasing' (sorry, I know you're a League follower), but it was a 'road to damascus' - type moment for me; I decided to attend Rovers' next home match, in January 1997 (a dire 1-1 against York City) and I've been a diehard supporter ever since. Another great production; please don't apologise for the lack of more info - I reckon you do a really good job there. If you do one about Millwall's 'The Den' you may want to mention that their last match there was a defeat - to Bristol Rovers. How about Shrewsbury Town's 'Gay Meadow', with the man in a coracle retrieving lost balls from The River Severn? Up The Gas!
I thought you would have gone to Eastville before judging by previous comments.I will probably do The Den next.
Bristol Rovers, one of the best kits in English football.
Thanks for this, as a Gashead since 1967, who spent a good few years watching at Eastville, this brought back many happy memories, especially of my great hero as a child…Harold Jarman, a flying winger!
Cheers Paul
My first away game outside London was in 1978 at Eastville. It was a crazy game of football and the final score was Bristol Rovers 5 Charlton Athletic 5. Their striker Paul Randall scored a hat trick I think. Rovers fans have had a tough time since they left Eastville. They have moved grounds several times. I can understand how they feel as we had to leave The Valley for 7 years from 1985 to 1992. Hopefully Bristol Rovers can get a new ground built in the near future.
I went to that Game and never forgot it. I was in the tote end. Now i am 60years old
@@glennbaker5430 Yes, what a crazy, entertaining game it was. Charlton had a team that used to attack but couldn't defend back in those days. All the best to Bristol Rovers for the future. We are actually playing you away on Good Friday.
@@inspireyou2396 Good luck They were the days. Time has gone so fast But a Game that I have told my Grandkids about.
@@glennbaker5430 Even after 45 years I have to say that was one of the dodgiest penalty decisions I have ever seen lol
Great video, great pictures, great days, great memories, thank you so much for highlighting our old ground, gone now but never forgotten.
Thanks for watching the video. It was an interesting ground to research
Great video. Thanks so much. My youth. So many memories.
Cheers, thanks for watching.
Thanks for posting the video really enjoyed it :-) i never saw a Rovers game at Eastville but did go to the dogs on many occasions as my mum back in the day used to walk the dogs on the track before the race. Its a shame what happen to us down Eastville as probably could of been a nice ground by now but not to be so instead many a fun day out Twerton and now The Mem 🙂 UTG
Thanks for watching the video. I know of someone who used to go to the Speedway there or down around Bristol anyway.
i’m a 22 year old gashead and this was the best insight into our old ground i’ve seen! it’s been hard for me to picture what it must have been like supporting rovers when they were at eastville but this video helped paint the picture in my mind that little bit more🤝cheers mate UTG
Cheers, thank you for the kind words
The memories, me old man used to take me when I was a lad. Moved to the USA when I was 11. I still can remember watching Ian Holloway,Mickey Barrett, Vaughan Jones,Gary Mabbutt,Phil Kite,Alan Ball,Tony Pullis.I believe the manager was Bobby Gould.I remember the tote end.Cant believe I remember all that. I'm 50 now,I got to admit me eyes welled up watching this.Thanks for taking me Dad,R.I.P
Thanks for watching the video
Cracking video mate... So many wonderful memories of watching my beloved Bristol Rovers at our beautiful, crumbling, ramshackle Eastville
Thanks for liking the video
Couple of great photos of the open away end that I had not seen before, good video, thanks, as a Gas Head always enjoyed the visits of Forest, Wolves, Chelsea and Sunderland.
Thanks for watching and commenting
As a Gashead of 44 years (im 51 years old) i remember Eastville Stadium in all its glory prior to the South Stand Fire in 1980. It was a fantastic ground back in the day.
Thanks for watching the video Martin Shepherd
@historyoffootball87 you did a good job with limited info. Rovers only ever played in two locations before going to Eastville. First being Purdown' near the current Memorial Stadium from 1883 and then I believe somewhere in or near the St.George area of Bristol (as best I know) The Mem is only 1.5miles or thereabouts from the old Eastville Stadium site at the bottom of the Muller Road
Well done. You have done your homework. These photos bring back so many very positive memories.
Thanks for liking the video
I have only discovered your channel tonight pal, great stuff! I've always been interested in old demolished and forgotten stadium's, some great photos and information provided. Well done, you've got a new subscriber, keep up the good work👍🏻
Good win the other day as well. I were cheering on Sheffield Wednesday.
Top man! Cheers pal👍🏻
Really enjoyed the video brings back so many memories good old days utg
Thanks for watching
Many thanks for that very nice video . I was on the Tote End for a Bristol derby match over 40 years ago . City fans infiltrated and mounted coppers brought the horses on to the terracing. Spectacular manoeuvre which Stephen Spielberg probably would have admired !
I was watching highlights of a game on KZhead which was in the early 1980s between the two sides, both teams got relegated in the same year. It might have been that game.
@@historyoffootball87 That would be the 1980-81 season. City's stay of three or four years in the top flight had just come to an end in farcical circumstances,Rovers were devastated by the eve-of-season fire that burned down their main stand. Following Bristol's double relegation that season,Rovers stabilised in the old third division but City kept on plummeting. After falling to a third straight relegation they actually nosedived all the way to hitting the very foot of the league briefly in late 1982,before turning the corner and commencing a rapid recovery.
A geordie rovers fan . unusual😮
I'm not a Geordie nor a Bristol Rovers fan
@@historyoffootball87 fair enough
My first game was at Eastville, 1974.Good memories.UTG!
Thanks for watching the video
Great video mate I'm a 50-year old gas head it brought back a lot of memories thank you utg
Thanks for watching the video
Born and bred in Eastville from 1980, across the road from this stadium. As it happens i am a massive Bristol City fan, still sad what happened to this stadium.
Cheers, thanks for watching the video. I did a video on Ashton Gate recently.
nice video fella,lucky to have visited the ground back in 80s with millwall,its a shame we have lost so many proper old school grounds over the past 40 years,many re-placed with new soul-less stadiums that look alike,the old grounds stood out,tall floodlights at most grounds,the stands were different shapes/sizes at most grounds,next to go is everton's goodison park,lovely old ground,right on top of pitch,church in one corner
I think we all prefer the old grounds.
@@historyoffootball87 dont get me wrong there were some poxy grounds around but they had abit character still in funny way,they were part of the community,most are surrounded by houses,pubs,shops,now noticed some have moved further out next to retail park it seems!...millwall have only just got thru the threat off having to move again but out of london into kent,we own the stadium/den but lewisham council own the land all around,think we lease that off em,they wanted sell the land to property company,that would have have fucked millwall which would have ended us selling and moving out to a new stadium,no doubt in thr middle of a retail park in some in a field in kent,lovely brand new soul-less ground eating a bucket pop corn during the game like,we would have died,that passion,atmosphere,hostile, putting a little fear into the visting team+support,sometimes a little to much i would agree!!! we would lost that edge,we would have ended like the trainspotters just down the road,charlton, or the likes of fulham/brentford,nice fans,polite,aint got that edge,that thing that makes visting teams dread playing at yours
Most of the new stadiums as you said are built miles from the town centre and are near a retail park or something like that. It makes the clubs feel a lesser part of the community.
WE ARE THE GAS,, great vid fella,,
Cheers Fred Vockings
Great series of videos and very well put together. How about taking a look at Borough Park, Workington? Record attendance 21,000 vs Manchester Utd, F A Cup 3rd round, January 1958. Bill Shankly managed Workington Reds before going on to Huddersfield and Liverpool.
Thanks for enjoying the series. I have always associated Workington more with Rugby League. I am more familiar with them as opposed to the football team.
@@historyoffootball87 Workington Town RLFC shared Borough Park with Workington AFC before Derwent Park was built. Billy Watson, groundsman at that time shared a great story of how both teams played on the same day just a few hours apart. He got the ground remarked etc and crowds of around 15,000 in and out just in time!
@@OlderHappierHealthier Derwent Park needs a good renovation to be fair.
Up the City!!
Bristol City??
Looks such a unique ground, even for 20th century English standards
Especially with the speedway/greyhound track.
It was so unusual that it always intriugued me,but I never got to see a match there. I did visit the site out of curiosity some years ago,but though I managed to work out what must have stood where there were scant clues and remnants to indicate that it ever existed,in what's deteriorated in the last several decades into a scruffy,even a bit seedy,area. The remaining parts of the ground were demolished towards the late end of 1997,apparently,to make way for the IKEA store. IKEA kept one of the four corner floodlight pylons up as a reminder of it,but following storm damage that reportedly had to be taken down and removed too for safety reasons in December 2003.
The way the ground looks reminds me of this historic ground in Sydney, Australia called Wentworth Park. It has the grandstand, then a greyhound track and in the middle a football pitch.
@@historyoffootball87 it reminds me of a mini Stamford Bridge, before the redevelopment.
The Record defeat by Luton by 12-0 was at Kenilworth Road and not at Eastville.
Check out the Olive Grove Stadium in Sheffield this was SWFC first home stadium the history around it is fascinating
Can you maybe do a video on the old den
I can do that.
@@historyoffootball87 thx mate you make great content
Cheers, I try my best
Pretty sure you've not done it yet, but maybe Scunthorpe's Old Show Ground?
I could do that one.
Horton park avenue?
Bradford Park Avenue's Old ground??
@@historyoffootball87 yes
I will do that one although it will be a challenge to find the information.
@@historyoffootball87 it won't be believe
GET RID OF ANNOYING MUZZAK
Whose Muzzak?
Only 3500 fans bothered to turn up for their last league game there. They talk a good game, Bristol Rovers fans, but they never walk the walk when it comes to supporting their club financially with bodies through the turnstiles and money in the coffers.
Yep,the DC was struggling at that time,but suggest Gasheads did'nt care is ridiculous. Ten years home was Twerton Park Bath. Rovers actually won the 3rd Division in these ten years,beating their rivals Bristol City into 2nd place. In the latter part of Eastville days,fans bought Paul Randall from Stoke City.Etc.That season both Bristolclubs went down,City went down again and went to the bottom of the 4th division for a while.The Reds ctowds went down to around 3500.The Gas,when their turn came to be bottom of the 4that crowds of around 7000. Etc. UTG!
Apologies for the poor grammar, my mobile is playing up.
@@sherlockbasel1932 you’re being very economical with the truth. When City were bottom of the 4th division crowds were low all over the country, including at Eastville where Rovers averaged LOWER than City in 82/83 despite being in a higher division. Rovers fans do this all the time, compare crowds from the 2010s with the early 80s but conveniently forget to mention that in the early 80s crowds at Eastville were regularly around the 3.5-4k mark and between 2-3k at Twerton a few years later. Meanwhile City have been treated to 4 seasons of rubbish yet crowds have increased while Rovers crowds have fallen.
I always wear a city top to ikea