Re: The Willows : Wed Nov 19, 2014 9:23 am  

The problem with the Willows was that it was hemmed in on both sides by houses. The people living in those houses wouldn't be too pleased to see a gigantic stand suddenly appearing at the bottom of their back yards, and I doubt the club would ever have got permission to build anything bigger than what was already there. There probably wasn't enough land to build a big stand either. If the club is ever to progress, it needed to move away.

Re: The Willows : Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:45 pm  

The problem is we haven't progressed. I understand the AJ Bell is more modern but I feel as if we've gone backwards since leaving the Willows.

Why did we have to leave anyway? I can swear it was a better stadium than Wakefield's.

Re: The Willows : Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:52 pm  

who also would have moved if financial issues had not stopped them.

I loved the Willows, and miss it every game, but recognise that we had to move: RL would not allow us to stay and retain our Super League status.
Like two other favourite grounds: the Athletic ground at Rochdale and the iconic Watersheddings, they have gone. As have so many others.

Re: The Willows : Wed Nov 19, 2014 5:00 pm  

God the Willows was nice but some people must wear rose tinted specs.

Wazzing into an open drain, showered in rust every time a ball hit the roof, dodging dog turds on the walk through the back streets to get to the ground, Norman Collieresque sound over the PA even the threat once of decapitation when part of the roof fell in during a light zephyr.

No it was old and traditional but let's be realistic, we'd have been looking forward to the visit of Hemel, South Wales and the likes if we'd have stayed.

We might not have even made it this far.

Barton has it's faults, many will be ironed out when the road is finished (what many forget is that the facilities around the ground can't start until it is finished as part of the agreement when everything was signed), the main issue is the owners and the way what is already there is being run, you do suspect that soon one way or the other something will be done.

Re: The Willows : Wed Nov 19, 2014 7:51 pm  

The longer people continue to cling on to memories of The Willows, the longer it will take for Barton to feel like our home stadium.

We really need to start doing things to improve the matchday atmosphere at Barton from next season onwards. It's time to finally move on from The Willows.

Re: The Willows : Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:54 pm  

Fact the Willows was at the heart of the Salford Community which your club represented and sometimes with style.
Barton is a stadium stuck in scrub land in an area purporting to represent Salford which we all know was manufactured by boundary changes in the 70's, it is inaccessible as a walk to stadium and is a nightmare to leave if in a car. A new road will not change the fact that the move to that stadium has stopped the Salford club representing the community it once did.

Re: The Willows : Wed Nov 19, 2014 11:42 pm  

Marshy1 wrote:

Fact the Willows was at the heart of the Salford Community which your club represented and sometimes with style.
Barton is a stadium stuck in scrub land in an area purporting to represent Salford which we all know was manufactured by boundary changes in the 70's, it is inaccessible as a walk to stadium and is a nightmare to leave if in a car. A new road will not change the fact that the move to that stadium has stopped the Salford club representing the community it once did.

Pretty much agree with all of this. We might never get the Willows back, but we will always have the memories.

Our highest crowd in recent times was 10k on the last day at the Willows. Yet now we're averaging 3k at Barton and the regime are looking for answers they seem to be wanting to move the club as far away from Weaste as possible. Baffling.

Re: The Willows : Thu Nov 20, 2014 12:50 am  

MarioRugby wrote:

Pretty much agree with all of this. We might never get the Willows back, but we will always have the memories.

Our highest crowd in recent times was 10k on the last day at the Willows. Yet now we're averaging 3k at Barton and the regime are looking for answers they seem to be wanting to move the club as far away from Weaste as possible. Baffling.

The fact that you agree with Marshy say's it all.

I wish my dear old Nain was still alive today as she used to love Tripe.

The Willows was a hole, nothing more and nothing less, we moved or we perished. It was anachronism and we have gone to a ground with better facilities, the fact that some could stumble from a local pub in Weaste into the Willows was the main concern when moving.

Mario why don't you grow some Cajonies and say you either don't like the Doc or the new regime as that seems to be the main basis of all your arguments.

Re: The Willows : Thu Nov 20, 2014 6:28 am  

MarioRugby wrote:

Yet now we're averaging 3k at Barton and the regime are looking for answers

Where do you get this figure?last season the average was over 4,500.
Someone asked if you are a wigan fan in another thread, are you?
Everything you come out with is negative about salford.

Re: The Willows : Thu Nov 20, 2014 2:27 pm  

Marshy1 wrote:

Fact the Willows was at the heart of the Salford Community which your club represented and sometimes with style.
Barton is a stadium stuck in scrub land in an area purporting to represent Salford which we all know was manufactured by boundary changes in the 70's, it is inaccessible as a walk to stadium and is a nightmare to leave if in a car. A new road will not change the fact that the move to that stadium has stopped the Salford club representing the community it once did.

Oh give over Marshy. The only people fretting about what is and isn't Salford are a dwindling band of Swintonians who are still fighting a battle they lost over 40 years ago. Barton, like Swinton, is part of Salford, and has been since before most of the people living in those places were born.

You're OK with scrub land, semi-right about it being inaccessible as a walk (I walk it), wrong about it being a nightmare to leave (at least no more than any other SL stadium car park - obviously, you'll have to take my word for this), and way off mark with the community guff. You missed public transport, which is another factor. What keeps people away more than anything else is that the club has failed, so far, to give them a reason to go.