You’re right of course. But to me
Fellows Park was like an old theatre. Higgeldy piggeldy, the paint peeling and the odd modern facility looking completely lost in amongst the ageing remnants of a time gone by. And yet its essence, its walls, its corrugated rusty roof and uneven steps echoed the beat of the working folk of Walsall who built it for the working folk of Walsall. It echoed of generations of fans and players who were proud to call it home and didn’t really care for those who visited and bemoaned its antiquity. It echoed the town. A hospitable welcome but no apologies for who we are and what we are. And if you came thinking you were better than us, turning your nose up at our rudimental residence then prepare for that nose to be bloodied mainly on the field but occasionally off it too. This is us. Like it or lump it.
By comparison and back to the theatre analogy the Bescot is the equivalent of a civic hall. Perfectly functional. But both the players and those played to know that they could be in any provincial town. “Good evening Scunthorpe…I mean Walsall”. There is nothing “Walsall” about it. A box. A coffin if you will. A cheap coffin which cost the earth and echoes to nothing more than a venue who’s job it is to generate enough money to pay the rent. It too is now crumbling but nobody really cares. Our rented accommodation literally stinks and whilst the show must go on I yearn to stand in my bit of the theatre, look around me and say “yes, this blessed plot, this earth, this place, this is Walsall”.
It was that very one, terraced stands always create a better atmosphere hopefully we can get this safe standing sorted at our ground n hopefully get a better atmosphere, because it was like a morgue against Carlisle you could have heard a pin drop
LOL. I had a similar conversation with a Tranmere fan I worked with about 15 years ago. He told me his nan lived in that road opposite Prenton Park (the one that goes up from the pub) and then I said," I probably parked outside her house". He said I doubt it because “she used to run outside and chase people away”.
Indeed it is Dave and evokes so many wonderful memories.
I was born and reared in a mouse/rat infested victorian built terrace hovel in Bescot street,Palfrey with one cold water tap, no heating, with a bog up the garden and with snow coming into the bedrooms and ice on the inside of the windows in winter, and for the last 3 years of living there it was officially classed as unfit for human habitation. We then moved up the road into a modern new built flat which actually had hot water, a bath, storage heaters.
Strange that all of my fondest childhood memories are from Bescot St.
@shady53 Indeed mate. My first house in Brace Street Caldmore was similar! Not sure of the date of this picture I’m guessing early 1980’s ?? The pitch looked absolutely divine.
Great post P.T.
Well written and thought out and certainly insightful.
I loved going to Fellows Park to connect with folks I hadn’t seen since the last home game and to be a part of the atmosphere the crowd generated. That atmosphere died when we moved to Bescot.
I think a lot of fans were very disappointed with Bescot Stadium. It just wreaked of cheapness and cost cutting. A tin-box knock-off of Glanford Park.
I was expecting something better than what we got.
There are similar sized towns to Walsall that have much nicer grounds, yes, there are bigger clubs, but they didn’t start off that way. I was hoping that we would step up to the plate and build a stadium that reflected the pride of the people - look what we ended up with!
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