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[markecky]

I've always wondered which corner of the ground this drawing is from.  Is it from the corner of Golf Rd and Moss Lane?  If so, was there a building on the right where the allotments now are?

Its just that the building on the right looks like the houes on Moss Lane, but then where is Thresher and the like?

I'm sure someone will know.

[Brian Flynn]

Ecky-whilst my first Alty match was in 1967 & therefore I never saw the ground like this,I am 99% certain that the drawing is taken from the corner where the Alty fans congregate when we are attacking the Chequers End.I think that there is some artistic license in the picture as the Chequers End was a grass bank until 1979 when it was terraced.The stand on the far side of the pitch is the old main stand & the covering to the left of it was also a covered terrace until the mid 1990's.Jack Thorpe's Groundsman's hut was behind that terrace & that is where JTH & I changed into our very attractive McDougall Rose Ballboy kits in the 1970's.

[markecky]

Cheers Brian, that what I though originally.

So basically the guy couldn't be arsed doing the houses and shops on Moss Lane and did some trees!

[ManagementGuru]

The one liner from Brian Flynn below: Chequers end was a grass bank til 1979 reminds me of the pride I felt on the first match of the season (although was it possibly Alty v Worksop August 1978 rather than 79 - Barry Howards debut, 0-1 at HT but the first of many 4-1 home victories that season) when I saw the Chequers end paved, terraced and barriered and I knew we were going places!

[SW]

I thought that terrace opened for the first APL season, think our first home game was against Telford? I seem to remember there was originally a small brick area at the front behind the goal, I assume to keep supporters a defined distance from the goal area. This was soon removed.

[Saughall Robin]

Yes it's taken from the corner of the popular side and the 20/20.

By the way, IIRC, the Red Robin Club end was stepped with wooden supports to the "terracing" along the lower half of it for quite a few years before it was concreted wasn't it?

Also, the snack bar with two windows at the golf road side of the main stand is missing off the picture and the area from there from the corner is shown as terracing when that WAS a grass bank.

[RedWhiteRedWhite]

Quite a contrast to how we see it today...

Am sure Google's imaging has been updated, as i dont recall the ground ever being this clear...

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&q=&ll=53.383396,-2.335094&spn=0.001465,0.003616&t=k&z=18&om=0

Great little ground!

[seasonticket]

This drawing was used on the front of programmes, as I remember, for many years before there was terracing at either end of the ground. Yes it is from the corner of Pop side and 20/20 end.
Before the concrete wall round the ground perimeter there used to be a corrugated iron fence that got more and more tatty with each passing season. At this time there were poplar trees between the pavement and the corrugated iron fence so maybe the artist was drawing in the trees correctly and using a large amount of artistic licence for what he showed of the ground. It was a very poor grond by todays standards for a fair time after the war.
At the twenty twenty end, roughly where Keith's chip van stands now, was a long wooden Supporters Club hut. This was used for whist drives and things during the week and on match days the ladys of the supporters club would brew tea and make sandwiches for the players after the game. How times have changed.

[markecky]

Thanks for these fascinating replies.

Whilst I got most of our "old school" experts on her...another question?

What the reaction to the selling of the social club (chequers) at the time?  Was it still open to fans on matchdays after the sale?

[Amsterdam Alty]

Quite a contrast to how we see it today...

Am sure Google's imaging has been updated, as i dont recall the ground ever being this clear...

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&q=&ll=53.383396,-2.335094&spn=0.001465,0.003616&t=k&z=18&om=0

Great little ground!

Note the floodlights are missing on the popular side this is a very up to date picture

[bighairedmike]

and there seems to be work going on on the bottom right floolight as you see the ground.

[Alex]

i bet this thread will bring the memories flooding back to daycare. do u remember what alty looked like in that first season in 1903?

[teasybeaver]

Actually you can see the popular side floodlights if you look closely.

This is definitely an updated snap though.

[SW]

My early memories, from 71-2 onwards.

Wooden benches in the stand and the paddock in front of it where no one ever stood,  Club shop as a hatch by the club end turnstiles, strange band music at half time, midweek games on Mondays, two page"rush programmes" for monday night cup replays, some sort of barrier things made of Dexion racking that were slotted into the fence either side of the tunnel at full time, Sliding down the grass bank in the rain, sitting on the fence behind the goal, 7:30 kick offs finishing at 9:10, round necked cotton shirts with no badge or sponser and the white stripes a faint pink after too many washes. jumpers for goal posts, marvellous!

[Amsterdam Alty]

only one though,

yeah daycare mabe on sunday you can recall to us the first time you saw the famous red and white stripes in 1903