mikeyjh
Well-known member
What happened to the Baseball Ground, Mikey? I seem to remember you had one quite modern stand down one side, but one of the stands (was it the home end?) looked like a Lego block about to fall over. I don't know about old ground romance where the Baseball Ground was concerned; it seems to me the iPro/Pride Park is better in every way; lovely stadium with a good atmosphere, especially since you allowed your fans back behind the away end goal, easy to park and a short distance from the station and city centre. I think the Baseball Ground was quite a way from the station, wasn't it?
While we're on old grounds, does anyone know what happened to Rockingham Road, Kettering Town's ground? It was quite a decent stadium for a non league club, and considerably better than some lower league grounds. Also, has that white elephant that George Reynolds built for Darlington gone? I saw pictures of pre-season games involving them, and they were playing in a much smaller ground.
The BBG was eventually demolished in 2003 and now, unsurprisingly, is housing. The Ley Stand (latterly Toyota Stand was built in about 1970 but the other 3 stands were pre WWII and as you point out, a little on the rickety side! I don't think the BBG was a terribly nice place for visiting fans, dare I say a little intimidating? It was about a mile from Derby Mainline station, so a bit of a hike. I have to nail my colours to the romance mast, when I last visited in about 2002, I genuinely had a little tear in my eye - It's probably because that's where my happiest times were growing up, I loved it.
Just prior to the Fortress iPro being built, there were plans to redevelop the BBG in to a 26,000 seater stadium and while I think the design would have been cracking, it was probably the right thing to do, I just feel sad that some people will never experience, for better or worse, the older stadiums. The iPro is clearly easier to get to, but again I miss the walking through the old terraced houses to the ground.
I think you're right about the fans behind the goal, the club have worked very closely with fan groups and this, along with the new fan park outside amongst other things, was a fan driven initiative. I think it's made a big difference to the atmosphere.
Anyway, I miss the BBG, I even miss not strolling to Hove and watching from the North Stand!!
What's not to like about this away end? View attachment 59481