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Vintage Blues pictures and film

Carshalton Blue
in Chelsea FC Vintage

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https://www.chelseafc.com/en/about-chelsea/history/stadium-history?pageTab=Pre-War

Part 2. Pre War (World War 2)

'After its creation, the stadium remained largely unchanged in appearance until the 1930s when the southern terrace gained a partial covering – a curious structure which would later lead to the nickname the ‘Shed End’.

Ironically, for a name that would become famous in football, the asymmetrical roofing was erected for another sport.

Covering roughly a fifth of the terrace area, and designed by the original Stamford Bridge architect Archibald Leitch, it was commissioned by the Greyhound Racing Association who for many decades held dog races on the track that enclosed the pitch. They wanted cover for the bookmakers and their betting customers.

Some 30 years after the structure’s appearance, a letter published in the Chelsea matchday programme from supporter Cliff Webb called for the Fulham Road End of the ground to be known as ‘The Shed’, and for more fans to join a vocal gathering there in order to rival the home end support at other grounds.

His requests bore fruit and the stand at the south end which opened to replace the old terrace in 1997 still bears the Shed name today. 

In 1939, the north end of Stamford Bridge gained an addition too, and it was also unusually architecturally.

There was a pressing need for more covered seating in addition to the original East Stand, so a new construction was commissioned and started in 1939, Archibald Leitch again involved in the design process.

Adjacent to the East Stand, its building was disrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War but when it was opened in 1945, supporters now had the option of sitting in a tier that was raised on stilts over the north-east corner of the existing standing terrace.

Some who used it even reported it shook when trains passed by on the track close behind, but it survived for 30 years until pulled down with the opening of a huge, new East Stand. The now-completely-open-again north terrace remained in use until 1993 when the move to an all-seater Stamford Bridge began in earnest.'

 

Yeah The Bridge was certainly designed by Archibald Leitch.

    On 21/12/2018 at 20:31, erskblue said:

    The Bridge in all its glory.

    The West Terrace looks vast in those aerial photos. If our capacity was 80,000 plus, I’m guessing somewhere round half the total would have been there.

    Was it the biggest side in football? I went to the Valley when the East Terrace was still around and that was huge.

    What would have been other contenders?I don’t think the Kippax or the Shelf come close.

    4 hours ago, Ewell CFC said:

    The West Terrace looks vast in those aerial photos. If our capacity was 80,000 plus, I’m guessing somewhere round half the total would have been there.

    Was it the biggest side in football? I went to the Valley when the East Terrace was still around and that was huge.

    What would have been other contenders?I don’t think the Kippax or the Shelf come close.

    The side terrace at Burnley was big, not sure of the capacity though.  Many grounds back it the 20’s were nearly all terracing, I’ve got a book of postcards of grounds somewhere and was surprised by the size of grounds of today’s smaller clubs, Port Vale for example. 

    Just now, erskblue said:

    Morning MK: Just having my coffee and my daily Chelsea walk down memory lane 'fix', before the peace and quiet is broken.

     

    1 minute ago, erskblue said:

    Morning MK: Just having my coffee and my daily Chelsea walk down memory lane 'fix', before the peace and quiet is broken.

    Nice one, my daughter and me just decided that my mrs was taking far too long to get up, so I took her breakfast in bed to get the day going. Pretty childish seeing as the combined age of me and daughter is not far off 90.

    7 minutes ago, chi blue said:

    Merry Christmas to all, and thanks to the many who post on here, keeps me entertained throughout the year, I wonder what we were all doing this time Christmas 1983 in the middle of THAT season!!!

    Morning Chi: On that season's Christmas morning. I was very probably sitting wearing that season's home top  (just received that very morning) and reading a new book.

    The home top I got then, was two sizes smaller ! than the same home retro one I got last Christmas:oldboy::biggrin:

    Edited by erskblue

    Merry Christmas all. Hope you have a great one. Some great memories, pictures and videos on here. Thank you to all of you for posting. A while back, someone (sorry, I can't remember who) posted on here that this thread is the best one on this forum. Have to agree.

    One of my favourite views of the ground:

     

     

    Stamford Bridge.jpg

    •
    2 hours ago, Boyne said:

    Merry Christmas all. Hope you have a great one. Some great memories, pictures and videos on here. Thank you to all of you for posting. A while back, someone (sorry, I can't remember who) posted on here that this thread is the best one on this forum. Have to agree.

    One of my favourite views of the ground:

     

     

    Stamford Bridge.jpg

    Easily the best thread on here, got a feeling it's us lot on here are of a certain vintage and are chilled out, some of the sh*t on the other threads from the youngsters is unbelievable sometimes, glad we were youngsters in the 70's and 80's when football was football and Chelsea were Chelsea. Now for the eating and drinking!!!! 

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