Not fit for modern day football...

I'm going to go against the consensus on here. I hate Blundell Park. I've hated it since the Barrett Stand was demolished and latterly the open corners were taken down. I hate the cheap looking red seats, I hate the clutter hidden in places on public view. I hate the haphazard nature of it all and I hate the scruffy nature of everything in it. Even those magnificent floodlights that were brightly painted decades ago are now a shadow of their former selves. Our ground epitomises the depths our club has descended to. I'm embarrassed by it as a facility to watch the game of football in the year 2018 and I'm sure it's not very appealing for prospective players. It's not like we can fall back on a state of the art training ground at Cheapside either. Blundell Park will always hold some great memories for me, but I'll be happy the day it's raised to the ground because it will mean we'll have made a huge step forward as a club..

I don't hate the ground, but it's certainly never been the same for me since they got rid of the Barratts. It made BP a really intimidating place to come when we had four low-lying stands surrounding the pitch.

That is a lovely piece, but he's actually incorrect about the Main Stand. I used to have a standing section in front of the seats, with maybe about seven steps up before the seats started. I used to stand behind the dugout as a kid and watch through the railings.

Quoted from Bigdog

I'm going to go against the consensus on here. I hate Blundell Park. I've hated it since the Barrett Stand was demolished and latterly the open corners were taken down. I hate the cheap looking red seats, I hate the clutter hidden in places on public view. I hate the haphazard nature of it all and I hate the scruffy nature of everything in it. Even those magnificent floodlights that were brightly painted decades ago are now a shadow of their former selves. Our ground epitomises the depths our club has descended to. I'm embarrassed by it as a facility to watch the game of football in the year 2018 and I'm sure it's not very appealing for prospective players. It's not like we can fall back on a state of the art training ground at Cheapside either. Blundell Park will always hold some great memories for me, but I'll be happy the day it's raised to the ground because it will mean we'll have made a huge step forward as a club..

I am loathe to agree with this post but I nod my head in agreement albeit sadly.The ground is tired out it needs to be replaced if we are to have any chance of progressing.A Club with an average gate of over 4k in a catchment area the size of NE Lincs playing at league 2/Conference level can and should be an attractive and fairly easy project to build up if the potential is realised.The right circumstances and the right infrastructure in place no reason Grimsby couldn't build and maintain 10k gates .

Quoted from Bigdog

I'm going to go against the consensus on here. I hate Blundell Park. I've hated it since the Barrett Stand was demolished and latterly the open corners were taken down. I hate the cheap looking red seats, I hate the clutter hidden in places on public view. I hate the haphazard nature of it all and I hate the scruffy nature of everything in it. Even those magnificent floodlights that were brightly painted decades ago are now a shadow of their former selves. Our ground epitomises the depths our club has descended to. I'm embarrassed by it as a facility to watch the game of football in the year 2018 and I'm sure it's not very appealing for prospective players. It's not like we can fall back on a state of the art training ground at Cheapside either. Blundell Park will always hold some great memories for me, but I'll be happy the day it's raised to the ground because it will mean we'll have made a huge step forward as a club..

Agree and it's a pity we can't do something like Notts County did with their once excrement tip.

Great read!

Quoted from Bigdog

I'm going to go against the consensus on here. I hate Blundell Park. I've hated it since the Barrett Stand was demolished and latterly the open corners were taken down. I hate the cheap looking red seats, I hate the clutter hidden in places on public view. I hate the haphazard nature of it all and I hate the scruffy nature of everything in it. Even those magnificent floodlights that were brightly painted decades ago are now a shadow of their former selves. Our ground epitomises the depths our club has descended to. I'm embarrassed by it as a facility to watch the game of football in the year 2018 and I'm sure it's not very appealing for prospective players. It's not like we can fall back on a state of the art training ground at Cheapside either. Blundell Park will always hold some great memories for me, but I'll be happy the day it's raised to the ground because it will mean we'll have made a huge step forward as a club..

100% with this.  Since the corners were removed it's been particularly horrible and soulless.  I like the Pontoon, but the Main Stand is a disgrace, I can't believe it's still standing.  The views from the Upper are magnificent, and we'll not get the same in a new ground, BUT it is a safety risk; the exits are woeful and simply not fit for purpose in these days when we know full well about potential hazards inside stadia.

The Osmond is awful too.  I know the home fans should come first when attracting customers, but I went in there for the Braintree playoff semi, the first time there in some years, and it's dire.  Away fans deserve better too, no wonder many stay away.

We need a new ground, no denying it.  Yes, there have been some good times, but personally, as someone who has been regularly since 1989 (when we had a couple of incredible seasons), all in all there have been at least as many bad days as well.

Just like Wembley, history is irrelevant; it's got to go, time has moved on, football has changed, and so have basic rights of the consumer.  BP is a dump, and I fear we're stuck with it forever...........

Quoted from mariner83

[url=https://footballandmaterialculture.com/2018/04/23/not-fit-for-modern-day-football-or-a-magical-monument-for-119-years-of-footballing-history-blundell-park-grimsby/]https://footballandmaterialculture.com/2018/04/23/not-fit-for-modern-day-football-or-a-magical-monument-for-119-years-of-footballing-history-blundell-park-grimsby/[/url]

What a great read.... a big thank you for sharing!  

I agree with others it is a good read.

We keep mentioning the new stadium, but rumour has it that is not going to happen, and that is why JF seems to want to pack it in.

If that is the case, what do we do? I still think a full Blundell Park is a great sight; of all the stadiums I have been to I still love it, it is just that it hasn't been touched for 20 years.Of course I would love to move to a new stadium that would be the pride of Lincolnshire with  fishing heritage built into the design and situated in the heart of a rejenerated town. Sadly the prospect of that happening under the current regime is virtually nil. Even if we got a new stadium does anybody think it wouldn't be built with every possible corner cut, every expensive design feature ignored and would essentially be a shiny tin box?

Are there grants available to improve the stadium? What would a new main stand cost, with new dressing rooms etc? Does the much vaunted conference facilities and training venue have to be on the same site?

The floodlights when they were painted black and white all those years ago looked great, how come they have been allowed to return to  rust?

Can't a clever architect re configure the BP site and map out some improvements that could be done piecemeal whilst keeping its essential character?

I don't blame Fenty for trying for a new stadium, as it represents his only hope of getting his money back due to increased income streams, but if that is a non starter then perhaps honest John can tell us if he is to step away from the club or what his plans are to rejuvenate BP?  

Quoted from tanga_the_indestructible

I don't hate the ground, but it's certainly never been the same for me since they got rid of the Barratts. It made BP a really intimidating place to come when we had four low-lying stands surrounding the pitch.

That is a lovely piece, but he's actually incorrect about the Main Stand. I used to have a standing section in front of the seats, with maybe about seven steps up before the seats started. I used to stand behind the dugout as a kid and watch through the railings.

Thanks. I thought I was going mad until you confirmed by recollection

It just goes to prove what a backward board of directors we have always had since the Findus stand was built,

We were going to have modern changing rooms put in the Findus at a later date,

Still waiting