Thetownend.com

Happened in the 80's.

We won.

Why was it played there???

Chalkies Shorts says:  Police advice. :banging:

I say:  Waterlogged pitch at Twerton (for a few weeks). :nod:

Who is right??? ???

Pint of beer on this!

IIRC it was to do with the transfer of Trevor Morgan from Rovers to City. As part of the deal Rovers got to play one home game at Ashton Gate. The original idea was to play City but this was thought to be too much of an advantage to City so they did the next best thing financially which was to play Swindon.

It was not long after they had been forced to quit Eastville. Seems unthinkable now for Rovers to borrow Ashton Gate but this would have been a only a few years after they played several games there after the fire at Eastville.

There was no police involvement, Rovers were not forced to play the game there it was a commercial decision.

Morgan scored both goals in a 2-1 win for Rovers at the County Ground that season and also scored for City on the final day when a draw stopped them getting into the play-offs.

I went to that, i thought it was because eastville had closed and Twerton wasn't ready? I think we won 4-3 but my memory isn't what it was and happy to be corrected on that

Eaatville wasnt actually closed as such but Rovers could no longer afford the rent. They played all their home games at Twerton that season except the one against us.

It was indeed a 4-3 win.

I think that it was because of fire at Eastville which burned down the changing rooms. This came after the financial problems that were forcing Rovers to move. I think that Rovers hastily moved to Ashton Gate for what turned out to be 5 or 6 games, but there was uproar in the city and many refused to attend (except for the Swindon game). Rovers then agreed a deal to move to Twerton to appease the fans.

I was at the 4-3 game and can't remember a 90 minutes filled with such highs and lows! Brilliant!!

NMH

swindon-town-fc is trying to put something on Youtube to show it was waterlogging....

I must admit thats how I remember it too, I was on the open bank that day and Rovers had a shed load of loanees playing that day and Twentyman being captain and playing either his first game or first few games for the Rovers that day.....and a pretty crap crowd of only around 8,000 as well when they were expecting a lot more IIRC with around 3,000 Town fans there.

The fire was in 1980, well before the match in question.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastville_Stadium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastville_Stadium)

The financial problems were probably more a result of the fire than preceding it. Rovers were actually the senior team in the region for a while with us and City in Div 4 but they were always struggling financially, hence why we were able to sign Steve White and Tim Parkin from them as they were trying to cut costs.

I reckon they just fancied a change of scene.

Here you go - the HTV preview, plus the report after the game.  Still think it's inconclusive!

http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/MediaPlayer/MediaPlayer.asp?ID=GXy2VRfYa7o (http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/MediaPlayer/MediaPlayer.asp?ID=GXy2VRfYa7o)

Good enough for me.......that pitch was a shit heap....chalkie get the beers in!

Good old Roger Malone! A bumbling buffoon in anyone's book!

NMH

HTV loved the City.........good old red Roger!

'Good' ? Nothing good about him! Is he dead yet?

NMH

If he did there would be black armbands at city!

I can't view it at work. I'll have a look at it tonight. Still not convinced but later on I may be. Hold the thought of the pint for now.

Merlin or bar under the Arkells!!?

 I think the crap pitch is a coincidence...the game would have had to be planned some time in advance to get permission.

 Good to see the home game...my first kid was born that day, I went along after a sleepless night, then some beers and remember fuck all about it.

 

Thanks for downloading it - agree its still inconclusive. I'll do a bit more digging but Flash I'm quite happy to buy you a pint. The evidence is more in your favour than mine. Because i normally haven't got a clue what I'm dong until the day before the game, lets make arrangements then.

http://www.doingthe92.com/display_ground_extended_clubs.asp?step=29&ID=51

That link reckons it was do avoid crowd trouble

As i say before to avoid crowd trouble a match at Ashton Gate between Town and Rovers would be madness.

Like holding Middle East peace talks in Israel!!