Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Silent but Ledley]

Apparently, a big one is always best ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   SBL

[Hale Alty]

just watched mark bower's post match interview on youtube. he refers to altrincham's big pitch when talking about how we like to move it around. is it really that much bigger than amyone else's?

No, he was just looking for any excuse

He wasn't making any excuses.

[roytonmike]

Halifax always looks massive

Halifax was believed to be one of the narrowest pitches in the Football League back in the day. The surrounds of a pitch sometimes influence how wide or narrow one thinks it is.
I think the recommended dimensions used to be 115 yards long by 75 wide & the limits were something like 100-120 yards long by 70-80 wide?

[Sale Holmfield]

That's correct about Halifax, although there was the Halifax Dukes' speedway track around the pitch, back then. I don't know, but possibly its removal has allowed the pitch to be widened.

[One Foot in the Grave]

That's correct about Halifax, although there was the Halifax Dukes' speedway track around the pitch, back then. I don't know, but possibly its removal has allowed the pitch to be widened.

I remember when the speedway was going on, there was a problem between the club and the Football League because the corner flags overlapped onto the track using removable pieces of turf - this gave rise to complaints that they were unstable. The pitch is definitely wider now than it was back then !

[JD]

That's correct about Halifax, although there was the Halifax Dukes' speedway track around the pitch, back then. I don't know, but possibly its removal has allowed the pitch to be widened.

I remember when the speedway was going on, there was a problem between the club and the Football League because the corner flags overlapped onto the track using removable pieces of turf - this gave rise to complaints that they were unstable. The pitch is definitely wider now than it was back then !

Sounds like the Dukes were a Hazard!

[Hale Alty]

The issue with the corners was at Odsal, Bradford after the Halifax Dukes speedway team moved there for the 1986 season. I don't  remember the corners of the pitch needing to be moved at the Shay as there was room for the pitch in the middle of the speedway track. In fact just checking some old videos on YouTube shows the corners of the pitch intact as racing goes on. On a Saturday the speedway would start at 7.30 barely two hours after the football ended.  The speedway team left Halifax due to financial disagreements with the football club, and were in fact getting bigger crowds than the football team. It wasn't because of issues with the pitch. As the speedway track had recently been relaid at Bradford for the 1985 world championship final a move to Odsal seemed to make sense, although the crowds were never very good when I used to go.

[cheshire cat]

When they played at Belle Vue Doncaster Rovers used to claim they had the largest pitch in the football league

[Birkonian]

The issue with the corners was at Odsal, Bradford after the Halifax Dukes speedway team moved there for the 1986 season. I don't  remember the corners of the pitch needing to be moved at the Shay as there was room for the pitch in the middle of the speedway track. In fact just checking some old videos on YouTube shows the corners of the pitch intact as racing goes on. On a Saturday the speedway would start at 7.30 barely two hours after the football ended.  The speedway team left Halifax due to financial disagreements with the football club, and were in fact getting bigger crowds than the football team. It wasn't because of issues with the pitch. As the speedway track had recently been relaid at Bradford for the 1985 world championship final a move to Odsal seemed to make sense, although the crowds were never very good when I used to go.

The corner segments at the Shay were removable. They were basically a timber triangle containing a piece of mud. I remember Steve Peplow of Tranmere Rovers slipping on his backside trying to take a corner. Not a player who liked the physical side of the game he had a look of distaste at his dirty shorts.

[Hale Alty]

Maybe these were sections of  turf beyond the dimensions of the pitch area itself which was completely within the inside line of the track as this video illustrates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL6U02Sv_yY

ok having consulted one of the speedway groups on Facebook it appears I am recalling a period (the 70s) when the track was altered to AVOID the corners being lifted, as they had been in earlier times. it is therefore likely that the pitch was extended, or the track shape altered in the 80s which necessitated the corners you describe.

Actually if you watch that vid to the end there are two ariel shots from different eras - one with the corners intact, and one with the corners lifted. So there we are then.