Staying put

So, my slightly pretentious goodbye to the Memorial Ground has turned out, thanks to the credit crunch, to be premature.

Whoops.

What this means for Bristol Rugby, Bristol Rovers, Newport RFC, Cheltenham Town FC and a patch of ground that used to be Buffalo Bill's in Horfield we'll have to wait and see.

My gut feeling is not good, though.

Last day at the Mem

Memorial Gates, 3 May 2008

A sad day with a disappointing result. Bristol were a point down at the death, but there was to be no repeat of Jason Strange's drop goal heroics as his kick was charged down a the final whistle.

So, the Mem is now consigned to being a part of my history.

I got quite a few snaps of the last day, and there are plenty more on Flickr.

Goodbye to the Memorial Ground

So, it's definitely happening. The Memorial Ground is to be demolished. Two years from now a new all-seater Mem will arise, far removed from the Ground that I have known and grown up with.

There's regret that T will never stand on the terraces and watch Bristol with me as I did (and still do) with my Dad, but I know things have to move on.

Be that as it may, now seems an apposite time to recall the words on the Memorial Gates which I have passed hundreds of times on the way to and from my place on the terrace, and which, for me, has always made this more than a rugby ground.

IN PROUD AND GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THE SERVICES RENDERED TO THEIR COUNTRY IN THE GREAT WAR BY RUGBY FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF BRISTOL THIS GROUND WAS ESTABLISHED. AND IN THE WORLD WAR OF 1939-45 THE RUGBY FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF THIS CITY GAVE THEIR SERVICES AND THEIR LIVES. TO THEM ALSO IS THIS GROUND A MEMORIAL.

Bristol Between the Wars
Originally uploaded by brizzle born and bred