The 'North Stand' under construction.

[THE FLASH]

Found this in an old Anglo Italian Programme circa 71.

[reeves4england]

Awesome. I always used to wonder why the Arkell's was a slightly odd shape, then seeing old pictures of a stand raised above ground level confused me even further until I discovered the history of the ground. Always interesting to see how the CG has developed!

[leefer]

Found this in an old Anglo Italian Programme circa 71.

Ive got the same picture...but it was after the great hurricane of the eighties!

[4D]

I've got some photos somewhere of the DRS being built (and they are in colour).

[THE FLASH]

Get em on here!!

[Ironside]

Some of the videos on YouTube ref the old black and white games and the 70's/80's games have some good crowd shots showing how the ground has changed over the years. Worth a scout if you're interested in that sort of thing.

[Arnold.J.Rimmer]

I always used to wonder why the Arkell's was a slightly odd shape,

doesn't look odd to me

[Ardiles]

I started watching in 1990, and in the years immediately following that the ground changed quite considerably with the building of the lower 'tier' of the North Stand and then the replacement of the Shrivenham Road Stand.  At the time, I had hopes that the job would be finished and there was talk, briefly, of extending the Town End.  If I recall, there were plans mooted to take the roof off, build a row of Exec boxes and then put another tier behind that.

I love the County Ground, and hope we never go down the Reading route by building out of Town.  (I linked to another a few days back where some Reading fans were discussing their move to the Madejski, and I'll add it again below for anyone who missed it...interesting read.  Start near the bottom of the linked page and then carry on to the one after.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=506677&page=6 )

But...I've also thought that what the County Ground really misses is a proper End.  We all know that the Town End kills the accoustic unless you're in it, which is a shame.  I hope that, ultimately, we stay where we are and build a ground to be proud of - 18,000 to 20,000 capacity probably - with at least one decent end that can generate some serious noise when needed.

[suttonred]

doesn't look odd to me

 

Dont forget they only added the bottom seats early 90's i think. Before then there was just brick with a 20 foot drop from the lowest seat in the Arkells

[Anteater]

 

Dont forget they only added the bottom seats early 90's i think. Before then there was just brick with a 20 foot drop from the lowest seat in the Arkells

I'm pretty sure that when they first built the (the then New North Stand) Arkells the seating went right down to pitch level, it may have been part of the old seating utilised for the purpose but eventually got rid of.

[suttonred]

I dont remember, as i didnt start going regularly until about 76 when i'm pretty sure it was all brick wall no seats, then again age dims the memory.

[Ralphy]

The north stand was built behind the stand that was already there.

The 'front tier' if you like was only built in the early 90's when Ardiles was manager.

[nevillew]

 

Dont forget they only added the bottom seats early 90's i think. Before then there was just brick with a 20 foot drop from the lowest seat in the Arkells

 

Dont forget they only added the bottom seats early 90's i think. Before then there was just brick with a 20 foot drop from the lowest seat in the Arkells

That was true for a while but then (after the Bradford fire), they had to put a number of fire escapes down from the front on the stand.

[suttonred]

I'd forgotten those, and the manky clear plastic canopy style tunnel.

[Reg Smeeton]

I'd forgotten those, and the manky clear plastic canopy style tunnel.

My mate's company did those stairs....he reckoned the spec required by SBC, was such, that you could have driven a large herd of elephants down them.