Seems like they have made a proposal to their local council for a new 18k seater stadium. Fans seem generally behind it and see it as a chance to break away from the ‘greedy stadium owners’.
Only been there 20 years ish, so probably helps not as much attachment to it as longer standing ones.
They were losing too much money with people turning up in double decker buses and with ladders looking over the fence behind the goal.
They've not been in that one 5 minutes...well 20 years...but it's the equivalent of 5 minutes as stadiums go.
I tried to get a better view over the Oakwell wall from a ladder, but I couldn’t get it through the turnstiles!
Kassam was never really interested in the football club only in the commercial development of the site. he creams off all the match day catering money and charges a pretty substantial rent. There have been several approaches to the city council to develop a new stadium close to the new Oxford Parkway station to the North of the City just off the A34 and close to J9 of the M40. Whether it will actually happen is another matter.
Why did they never finish the ground? One of the weirdest looking grounds I've seen. Up there with Kenilworth Road and Bristol Rovers.
Kassam would not agree to a fourth side until support warranted it. Thus it still has 3 sides. There have been attempts to have a temporary stand built for the few big games that there have been but again the stadium owner has not agreed to these requests. I would fully support a move elsewhere for what it is worth.
when I first went to Bristol Poly (50 years ago now) my lodgings were just round the corner from the Memorial Ground. I once went to watch Bristol rugby team play there. Once Eastville was sold off Rovers have struggled for a home ground. They were at Twerton Park (Bath City) for a while. I am sure there current home was only ever intended as a stop gap solution. They have been trying for a while to build a new stadium closer to the motorway network on the outskirts of the City. The obvious solution (a ground share) is one that neither Rovers or City would contemplate.
3 sided grounds are the new thing. Sheffield Utd pioneered it back in the day. Oh foolish us for rejecting it.
unfortunately they built the stand on the wrong side, otherwise we would be watching more test cricket in Sheffield.
Will they (Oxford) be the first to move to a new ground twice in "recent " times? I still remember them playing at The Manor Ground (John Aldridge, Ray Houghton et al)
Hello, fellow Bristol Poly alumni here! I lived 2 streets away from the ground back in the day, The Golden Lion was a great pub frequented by Rovers fans and students alike. Some of the pubs nearer the ground were best avoided though! Always preferred Rovers to City as a result of living there - South of the river were Ashton Gate is- what a sht hole.
In 1971 my lodging were directly opposite the Wellington on Gloucester Road. I think this pub is now a haunt of Gas supporters. I played for one of the poly football teams for a couple of years. We used pitches on Muller Road, Dorian Road and occasionally the one behind the cricket ground at Ashley Down. In 1971/2 I played in the team that was entered in the Bristol Wednesday League, which catered for workers who worked weekends , including Police. Given that we could not fulfill fixtures during the he holidays we had a fixture backlog and had to play 2 games back to back one one occasion. I think that we lost both.