Remember the exodus from the Ponte to the open end and vice-versa?

It was In the Oakwell Review produced for the Littlewoods Cup third round match with Wimbledon on this day in 1988 that the club confirmed that on the advice of the Police and to prevent trouble with visiting fans, a fence was to be erected behind the main stand to prevent supporters from transferring from the Pontefract Road End to the Spion Kop at half-time.

 

Was a sad day when that half time migration was ended for whatever reasons. I don’t remember any serious problems occurring before the gates and fences, but that’s not to say that there weren’t any over the years. It was always traditional in my early years of watching the Reds that we played towards the Ponty end first half so we knew which end to be at from the start. These days it’s the opposite of course.

 

Remember it being a thing more in the 70s than the 80s. Used to be more via the Brewery Stand from what I can remember?

 

It was always more expensive to stand on the Terrace side so you couldn’t have cheaper Ponty end people mixing with the elite could you?

 

Remember the early 70s very well, meeting Rotherham supporting school mates on the halfway line at half time. At that time you just walked down at the front of the Brewery Stand.

 

It was better doing it across the pitch and round the side of it at Rochdale away one year! Must have outnumbered their fans by a lot that day.

 

83/84 Fulham at home was when they tried to stop the movement when a metal fence was erected behind the main stand. I can recall a group of about 40 blokes arguing with Michael Spinks

 

Remember that day at Rochdale. Would’ve been the promotion season under Clarke I think?

 

There was a kind of hole on the dividing fence, approximately 5 yards from the pitch perimeter wall. Me and my mate used to sneak through it sometimes until we became North Terrace regulars in about 1980ish

 

I think so - my memory isn’t the best, but I think it was around then, in the halcyon days of Pele and Fudge and scarves on the wrists

 

I actually thought the atmosphere improved when they stopped us standing on the Kop. Instead we all congregated at the back of the Brewery Stand at that end and stomped the hell out of the wooden floorboards.
I remember Ronnie Moore coming over to us celebrating a goal for Rovrum. He got dog's abuse from the crowd and then later a police caution for incitement.

 

I can remember going to watch us play Chelsea and we ran round the front of the dug outs at half time so we could get into the north terrace. Bobbies came in and chucked us out.
It was nothing to do with trying to get into the away end though, we were just doing what we’d always done in the brewery and Ponty, by going to the end we were kicking into.

That’s one of the rare times I’ve been in the West Stand in all the years I’ve been going to Oakwell. Went with some different mates and that was their regular thing.

 

I daresay a lot of Tarn fans stopped standing regularly on the Kop from 1979/80ish anyhow. . . Obviously games at home to the likes of Wrexham, Charlton etc would still see a few on there (normally from kick off) but the "exodus" to the Kop was well gone.

 

Remember it well, then when it was stopped we changed to moving to the Brewery Stand somewhere near the penalty area.

 

Yeah, I can only remember going on the kop once. Can’t remember who we were playing but they’d not brought many fans and we were doing really well in the league. Either Clark or Hunter era.

This whole thread brings back memories though. Ponty for one half and Brewery for the other, depending on which way we were playing.

Also when it was a biggish game you could see that little brewery singing section from the ponty end, giving it to the away fans. Haha

 

I always likened it to the migration of the wildebeest on the Serengeti.

 

Was 0-3 to the Reds. I had the score on a domino number card,

 

I used to stand in the Terrace, when I was a young boy. First went as a 6 year old, with my 11 year old brother. Just the two of us. No adults went with us. You are right about the price. We paid 1/- in the terrace. It was 3/- for adults, but only 2/6d in the variously named Popular Side, Paddock, Brewery Stand. It was 2/- behind the goal at the same time.