Location of the 'Chicken Run on the Goldstone East Terrace

[severnside gull]

I am sure I remember walking from the north to the south as a small child at half time. I'd forgotten that, it means I went in the old north stand. The west was all standing on the lower sections, not just up to the tunnel.

Indeed. But you couldn't get past the halfway tunnel (to the changing rooms) without climbing over the wall. To get from north to south usually involved schlepping the length of the chicken run and skipping through the gates which were usually unmanned except for big games. The memories people have compared to the 1946 ground plan begs the question when the concrete terraces were built/extended.

 

[severnside gull]

Interesting. I always thought the chicken run was the shallow terracing at the South end of the East Terrace so had that wrong. Why was it given that name?

Simply because it was long and narrow like a chicken run. Many grounds had them

 

[LowKarate]

Honestly! You guys. You get an answer and still everyone has a different view.

The map which I posted shows the original Chicken Run layout as shown in 1946 (at a time when the West Stand was the original small version and not the one that most of us remember, which was built in the late 50s) and very specifically the original Chicken Run was a special section closer to the pitch with an extra entrance charge over and above the rest of the East Terrace prices.

Clearly over the years that original East Terrace layout changed and popular memory has changed with it. When I started watching I thought it was the no-mans-land section between the North East corner away fans section and the North Stand, but I think that really is just a popularised view from that time. Older fans remembering it as the whole of the East Terrace would seem to be another popular view from an earlier period after the original zone shown in the map was removed.

So in some way, we are all correct.

On that harmonious note, why on Earth didn't Hughton take off Baldock at half-time yesterday? I just knew he was going to get another stupid card for some reason and I think we could have benefited from an earlier change.

 

[Bromley shrimp]

Never really stood there myself but my Dad did in the 40 's on that nor that north east terrace section and referred to it as Spion Kop but don't know if that was widely used or just his pet name.

 

[rocker959]

Yes. Transfers is an interesting yet long forgotten concept I imagine for people who wanted swap position at half time to follow the Albion attack.

Used to do it a lot when I was young . Transfer from the North Stand for 6d round the Chicken Run to the South if attacking that end in the second half. Remember seeing Alan Duffy snatch the ball from Kit Napier to take a penalty in the South goal against PNE and proceed to hit the bar . Napier not amused.