I took this one during 85-6 a reserve game in a near deserted ground from the Laundry End.
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THe ground had already begun to demolish itselfâŚ
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@Exile True! What happened on that one, heavy snow and high winds had caused the stand to buckle. By the end of that month all had been demolished.
And just a week or two after Ken Wheldon mooted the idea of coming back and taking us back there - which would have really scuppered things for one or two people. As daft as it sounds Wheldonâs suggestion wasnât completely out of the question. We were in administration around the time that photo was taken. We were completely skint. The club needed âsavingâ by somebody. We needed a hero. But instead of Batman we got Robbin.
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@P.T Yes I remember Ken Wheldon making a few waves with what he said leading up to that time. Roy Whalley had a certain amount of smug satisfaction in media interviews that the damage sustained by the weather to the cowshed was further proof that a return to FP was a non-starter.
Used to stand around there myself there was one chap on his own with earphones in listening to the radio that always leaned up it
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Oh the demolition pics are making me sad.
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Couple of things. The reserve team fixture there, I think you can see Paul Jones and David Kelly playing.
Regards the account of the cowshedâs spontaneous collapse. Iâve always disputed this account, I know others have argued with me and said Whalleyâs account was correct. Thatâs their prerogative and if they want to bring evidence to the argument I will gladly concur. My account is that at that time I was working in the depths of the black-country ie. Cradley Heath and living in Wolverhampton, so obviously my route home (by car) would have taken me nowhere near FP. However, my parents were living in Pelsall so on occasions when I visited them straight from work I would come off the M6 at junction 9 and drive past FP. From memory Hillary Street was one way, and I would around this time drive down it and then head down Wednesbury Road through the town and onto my folks place. I would often do this on a Friday as I would go out for a few beers with my brother if we were going to the match the following day. That weekend our game was swansea away in the cup and likely to be off (actually on in the end) but I still stuck to the arrangement with my brother as that weekend it was my Dadâs birthday so I went over to have some drinks with the two of them, the weather was indeed bad and there was a bit of snow about, thatâs how vivid my memory is of the day. When I came past FP by the old car park there were fires set on the far side of the ground and I could see smoke as I approached at about 6pm. I pulled my car over and managed to get into the ground for a few minutes to see what was going on (via the old Hillary St exit gates that were open) to witness to me was the beginning of the demolition of the ground. I was actually quite upset, and remember talking to my brother and my dad later in the evening at Shelfield Catholic Club where we went for a few beers. At the time both myself and my brother had worked on demolition, ironically my brother was on the demo of the original Bescot site!! We both agreed thatâs what was probably occuring. Thatâs how vivid my memory is of that day, three days later the âspontaneous Collapse of the cowshedâ was reported.
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Sat in the stand for games when I was first taken by my dad, who wasnât well enough to stand for long. I liked it when the fans started stamping their feet on the wooden flooring if we got a corner and did my best to join in with my puny little legs. 
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Some very interesting observations there @geordiesaddler As you rightly say, Jonah and Ned in that reserve game photo. The heavy snow that fell was on the weekend of Saturday December 8th 1990 and I think, from memory, the cowshed didnât buckle till a week or so later not too sure. There could have been some initial clearance and burning on the far side of the pitch but Iâm pretty sure none of the demolition of the three stands took place before 13th January 91. I took my pictures over about a three week period and I dated them. When I find my original prints I will be able to establish in what order the stands were demolished. Not looked at those for ages far too depressing!
Just realised that it will be 45 years ago tomorrow (7th) since the famous replay win over Man Utd at FP. Unfortunately my first game wasnât until 1 week later when my dad took me down against Grimsby (and then Bury) in order to get vouchers to buy tickets for Newcastle in the next round.
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Yes @AndyWTaylor Jan 7th and Jan 25th are never lost on me! I saw at OT for the original game then the replay here followed by the Newcastle game then the 1-2 defeat at St Andrews that ended that wonderful cup run. Great times to be a Saddler. Between the Man Utd game and the Blues one we played 6 league games which included 4 wins and 2 draws - the 2-2 draw v Chesterfield the only game we conceded in that league sequence.
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Could well be, and in more Whallyesque moments Iâve thought the fires in question could have been something to do with something as innocent as keeping the workers, even security guards keeping warm. I was only on the premises for literally a minute or two as there were people about. The nagging thing for me was why this was taking place at early evening on a Friday? Iâve worked loads of building sites and unless youâre up against it you donât do stuff after 3pm in the winter on an unlit outdoor job, yet alone on a Friday, it just always struck me as a bit odd. If I had to put money on it I would say the cowshed was in the early stages of being demolished that weekend and it had nothing to do with the weather, but I guess weâll never know.
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45 years? Gosh, thanks for making me feel old. 
And Iâd already been going a few years by then.
Kearns Saunders Harrison Robinson Bennett Atthey Taylor Andrews Wright Buckley Birch. That was the team, can reel 'em off no probs and for the Newcastle game Fry came in at full back and Saunders moved to centre back to replace Stan Bennett. Donât ask me who scored against Orient the other day though, already forgotten that. 
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@JumboTrudgeon Some great players there you mentioned. There was a mini re-union from 74-5 organised by Steve Davies after the game v. Port Vale on 14.2.2015 in the Saddlers Club and the likes of Fry, Andrews, Birch, Caswell, Atthey, Harrison were there and it was fascinating to hear their recollections of that season.
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Training session at the Street End in the mid 1930âs. Note the old wooden seated stand towards the right that housed around 400 fans.
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I agree Geordie. As I intimate above, the double apex roof on the cowsheds had stood for thirty years and we had had some right weather during that time. That it should collapse just then was letâs just say convenient for some at a time the Bescot project was looking like an unmitigated disaster and uncle Ken was making âunhelpfulâ noises.
As you say we will never know.
In completely unrelated matters of course I notice that Mr Gilman was an absentee at yesterdayâs AGM. Iâm sure it was the weather.
It wasnât me @Boldmeresaddler âŚ