The Stadium Are REAL Home

[nufc101]

Why can't we have are real home back !!
I am a young supporter of Poole Town and last Friday friday night for the very first time in my life i visited poole stadium, i look at the old stand and nearly cryed.
All though i never saw poole town play here as this was before my time i had a soft side for the old ground, just looking at them old fashion floodlight told me that a good standard of football was once played here.
I ark a question, if we still had the stadium we could of been where weymouth F.C are today or even better.
Who knows one day Football may return to Wimborne road lets keep are fingers cross and hope something happens.

[chrisreeves]

Do please make yourself known to me at the next game(DTFC at Tatnam tonight 7.45 don't forget)and I will give you some more detail about how things came about and the discussions we have had over the last few years re the stadium

[bobjhere]

For those of us fans who have not lived in the area for many years perhaps someone could explain what efforts have been made to get us back to our reall home. After all, the stadium was originally built for the football club.

For those of us who were around in the late 60s when the team were playing (and occasionally winning) local derbies with Yeovil and Weymouth it is embarrassing to be losing to teams the reserves used to play.

[nufc101]

Yer well said this club was great years ago and have had to put up with second best we should be in that stadium and kick the f**king speedway and dogs out !!!
We were climbing up the football league system quiet nicely and now we droped straight down it.
Did you no Poole is the second largest settlement (by population) in England without a professional football team. The largest is Dudley in the West Midlands.

Poole Stadium was built for football so why aint there any football being played there !!!

[benito]

Thought i'd put my five eggs in. As when it comes to The Stadium ("Our Stadium") I can really got annoyed. My understanding of the situation is that we (PTFC) were promised a new ground at Turlin Moor so the directors took the decision to move out with only a promise of a new ground, and share with AFC Bournemouth. Then the residents of Turlin Moor complained to the then council, headed by what I can only describe as a DOLPHIN KILLER Mr.Bernard Ewart (who was a local man from Leeds! christ I hope he has gone back!) The new ground that we were promised was then taken away before we got it.
We were then relocated th the County Ground, Hamworthy. Also at this time we were promised £240k to upgrade this ground to southern league standard! (remember that?) I think a small amount of this money was spent on hard surround and barriers ect with the balance to be used at a latter date.
Guess what ! we never GOT IT Mr.Ewart and his friends went back on their word and reallowcated it somewhere else. (Just imagine what we could acheive with the best part of £200K now)
Then even better news Hamworthy Utd with their newly improved ground throw us out and leave our team to play at (who can remember them all?) Bournemouth Electric, Bashley, Wimbourne, Poppies, Holt, Hascalls Rec ect ect.
Anyway back to the Stadium when the council leased the stadium to Bristol Scott (or whoever the lease was to, my understanding was that they had to as part of the lease to improve the stadium which they have started opposite the main stand ect. Then after a certain amount of time the grandstand, which as we can all see has not been touched since we left! surely this means they are in breach of the lease.
Yes we should be playing in the stadium right now. The council should force the tenants to refurbish the main stand. By that I mean demolish it and move it back so the football can fit back in the middle. Afterall they had £200K (ish) of our money to chip in! and also they could ask the Speedway to contribute as they would also benifit.
All I have written about the Stadium is what I can remember,it might be a bit out but I know it is quite close. One last thing over the door of the old stand is a plaque with out badge on why can we not at least get it back and refit it on the new one. One tiny bit of the stadium they can't have!

[lionking]

As an Andover supporter i can remember the days of Poole town at the stadium back in the southern league days! Have always had a soft spot for Poole, lovely town and working there from time to time my links are fairly strong!
It saddens me to see, what can only be described as the demise of Poole Town Fc, although slowly creeping back up where you belong is promising!
Never knew the ins and outs of your leaving Wimbourne road, but read with interest the "stitching up" by an outsider obviously with no interest in football, but obviously a speedway fan!
When we played you last season in the evening may of been the cup, i can remember turning to a fellow Andover fan after hearing the hum of the bikes at the stadium and looking round your current placement and saying these guys belong and deserve to be back at your home!
You obviously are making the best of what you have and fair play, also we signed the petition for your clubhouse which again seems like someone with no interest in the club but hell bent on making it as hard as possible to get settled!
Anyway looks as though you are having a pretty good season and i hope one day our 2 teams will meet again(not involving our demotion but your promotion!) soon!
Best program i have seen in a long long time and all credit to whoever does that!
Good luck the Dolphins and this is one part of Hampshire that hopes we see you back where you belong very soon!
Best of luck for the rest of the season!

[nufc101]

This is a picture of the main stand today, Look how sad it looks. davesplace2.co.uk/Wherein/Photos281-300/where292.jpg

[nufc101]

I wanted to know also when we left the stadium did we change the clubs logo and the clubs colours because the Poole Town F.C sign on the main stand is yellow and blue and the logo on that plaque hanging over the door of the old main stand is diffrent to the one we have now.Why was this changed ?

[benito]

Hello nufc101 Yes the old stand does look pretty sad! and do you no why because it should not be there at all. It should have been pulled down and rebuilt (and of course moved back enough to get the football back in) as I posted before I believe this should have already been done by the lease holder. But don't hold your breath with this council. After all they are jumping through hoops because we have a couple of garden sheds on the Tatnum field!
(What bloody criminals we all are ) As for the changing of strip/club crest I believe it has something to do with the renaming of the team in 1991 after Derek Block very nearly killed it alltogether ( but don't quote me ) Please Quote super DOUG HUG he'll know! come on Doug don't be shy get it the internet cafe and enlighten us.

[chrisreeves]

Benito isnt far off the mark but there are a number of vital issues missing insofar as this particular nightmare is concerned,as I have already offered I am quite happy to tell the full story to anyone who wants to know!!!!

[bobjhere]

Yes, we would love to hear for the full sstory - via the messageboard

[nufc101]

This has been the most view subject on the P.T.F.C message board.
This must mean people want to see something done about the Stadium and getting Poole Town F.C back in the Southern League and getting a new main stand at Wimborne Road !!!!!!!!

So come on people lets do something about it and make it in the news..............

[parky]

good sentiments nufc but if you had watched football in the stadium you would know that when the crowd was only 100+ there was just no atmosphere in the old place. for a start we were so far from the pitch you just felt cut off from the action.

[bobjhere]

The atmosphere wasn't bad when we were getting gates of 700-800. What we need is someone with the vision to get us back to the stadium, back the the Southern Premier, and back to that level of support

[silverfox]

I can remember back to when the stand was opened (1960??), together with the 'old' greyhound stand (which had a zig zag roof).
Fo those of you pining after The Stadium, let me tell you it was a pretty soulless place to play football. The only times that there was any atmosphere in the ground was when Town played Watford in the FA Cup reply in 1962/3 with 9126 in the ground and again several years later in a similar FA Cup game.
The speedway and greyhound tracks separated the crowd from the pitch and the corners had to be taken on boards to accommodate the speedway corners.
I had a soft spot for the ground, but only because i grew up supporting the Town at that ground. When I went back in later years as Manager or Coach of a team playing against Poole Town it was a grim experience - 2-300 people sat in the stand and you could not hear them from the pitch.
From my experience you needed at least 2000 there for there to be an OK atmosphere, and even from the opening of the 'new stand, that did not happen very often - maybe games v Weymouth!. Don't forget that in the 60's, teams like Andover, Dorchester and Salisbury were in lower leagues.
Concentrate upon making the new ground something to be proud of!

[tonyw]

Great sentiments throughout this thread, but I can’t help thinking this could be a case of “Running Before You Can walk”. We all know a club of Poole Towns stature (currently more historically, but they’ll get there) and potential should not be playing its football at Tatnam Farm.
That said, Tatnam has come on leaps and bounds, and personally I believe it to be one of the better playing surfaces in the league (think of some of the cow fields the lads are asked to play on). The facilities have come on tremendously (great achievement with the stand for instance) and we all know the hard work going in behind the scenes to make further improvements. To me, one of the biggest drawbacks at this moment in time is the ground not being enclosed. Each week I count at least £50 -£60 watching “from the wrong side of the railings”. This is money that could be well spent on both team and ground – a real frustration this one. If anyone is reading this who watches from the “wrong side” …come on pay your fiver, support the team properly, and help the club financially. As for atmosphere, this would be lost at the Stadium given attendance numbers at present. Poole are known to be the best supported team in the league, and when it “kicks in” at Tatnam the place has a buzz about it (even more so if the railing dwellings actually CAME IN) . But however good at the farm, a couple of hundred people ain’t gonna work up the road. No atmosphere, may lead to lacklustre performances – vicious circle.
Would the club not be best served at this stage of its “comeback” to first and foremost continue to build a team fit for stadium football. A stadium is one thing, but to avoid the slippery slope (again) you have to have a team that drags people in (Mr Wenger take note) surely PTFC is still very much a project in progress in these terms.
Personally I would say Poole are best served where they are at the minute. As with the team, Tatnum has much potential - dependant of course on outside influences and how far the club can implement its visions.
A proud history, and a bright future to build upon – a step at a time.

P.S. How do we stand regarding the Tatnam if we get promoted this year ? (Yes folks, a bit of consistency and it could happen).

[chrisreeves]

There is so much I could say!!!!!!!!!!!!
The cabin application is the vital immediate issue -- it will be heard on thursdat 14th at the planning meeting at civic centre
which starts at 9.30am no guarentee when it will come on I'm afraid the residents will be there in force so a presence from the club's supporters would be great--best behaviour mind!!!I will be speaking and applause rather than jeers would be great

[mikeings]

The stadium was my second home in the late 60s and 70s, attending most football and speedway fixtures there. Whilst I agree it would be great to see the football return to the venue in reality is it going to happen? Even before the necessary alterations to the width and length of the speedway track to meet FIM regulations the corners of the football pitch had to be put on 'pallets'. The speedway track has been raised and whilst a successful method of removing a pitch is undertaken at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff to accommodate one annual speedway meeting the cost on a regular local basis would be enormous. The stadium would not exist without it being multi purpose and I am surprised that the powers that be have not extended the facilities to include say squash and conference facilities. Even when the Town were in the Southern Premier playing top non league clubs such as Yeovil, Wimbledon, Hereford, Cambridge etc the level of support was not good for a town the size of Poole. Look in the NLP for gates at Conference Nationwide matches and they are alarmingly low in most cases bearing in mind a lot of the clubs are now full time. They are 4 levels higher than Poole at present. I must admit that I have not seen the Town play for a number of years as I now live and work in Devon, But I do keep a close eye on results through NLP and this web site, and it is pleasing to see steady but sure progress in an upward direction. Good luck for the future and I may be there again soon.

[saleen]

chrisreeves said:

There is so much I could say!!!!!!!!!!!!
The cabin application is the vital immediate issue -- it will be heard on thursdat 14th at the planning meeting at civic centre
which starts at 9.30am no guarentee when it will come on I'm afraid the residents will be there in force so a presence from the club's supporters would be great--best behaviour mind!!!I will be speaking and applause rather than jeers would be great

I wonder if something can be organised in terms of a meeting place for PTFC supporters somewhere near the civic centre? To my mind it would be better to have everyone together rather than scattered around roaming the street around the main building, remember there is a police station right next door and if 50 or so people did turn up the police might wonder why!

If a organised gathering can be managed count me in.

[nufc101]

I just dont get this right 'Poole Stadium' was built for football after the War, Ok and i thing the football club has been pushed out of that place by the Speedway & Dogs so why could'nt of they been relocated to a new place.

After all that stand and the floodlights where put there for the Towns football club, and now we have had to suffer for no Southern League football.

[nufc101]

I see in the Echo the Stadium is up for sale could'nt we get it back !!!

www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/latestnews/display.var.1105122.0.stadium_sale_denied.php