Ricoh Rewind (1 Viewer)

[TrueSkyBlueLiam]

Last week we talked about the Spion Kop. This week, we're reminiscing once again. For this week's Cooks Question, i want to know what were your thoughts on leaving Highfield Road for what known simply as 'The Arena' back then. What emotions were you going through? Were you excited at this new era for the club? Let me know your thoughts and i'll read out as many as i can on this week's edition of Sports Lounge, live from 10am Thursday on 98.6 Hillz FM. Dont forget to follow us on Twitter @Hillz_SL and check out interview and past shows via my official Mixcloud page, www.mixcloud.com/liamcook

 

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[Nick]

I am just amazed you used #bantersaurus

 

[TrueSkyBlueLiam]

It's my DJ nickname Nick. The name was thrown around a few times after i started and somehow it stuck

 

[fernandopartridge]

It was exciting to be in a new stadium, it felt like it could be a new beginning for the club, and may have been if not for the actions of the club's owners at the time and the Council, contriving to make a complete pig's ear of the setup of ACL and the club's owners not doing the right thing with regard to writing off their debts. It could have been a clean start, instead it was just quickening the descent to where we are now.

I hate the place now and would love to be back at Highfield Rd.

 

[skybluetony176]

Echo what FP said other than is don't hate the Ricoh. It rocks when it's full it's just that we never fill the place kills the atmosphere. Something I never experienced at HR, even half full it rocked. Or maybe that's my rose tinted glasses effecting my memory. Miss HR dearly and wish we'd never left, mainly due the financial woes it has landed us with but we are where we are and we have to make the best of it.

 

[lifeskyblue]

All my favourite football memories are of standing on the Spion Kop or sitting in the west stand. Happy happy times. You can't turn the clock back but you can still dream of Highfield road packed and rocking


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[NorthernWisdom]

Didn't want to leave HR, the last game there was amazing mind you, and Jimmy Hill leading the singing... spine tingling.

First game, rushed opening, not fully open, random wires dangling from a non existent ceiling... didn't feel like a brave new world to me!

Great first result, new beginning, put those negative thoughts aside man, it'll all turn out alright...

 

[skybluesam66]

Best moments at ricoh are few and far between
Gillingham this season/Gillingham last season
Blackburn in the cup
Qpr first game
preston jpt
preston under dowie to go top

but then youre struggling

HR was the top flight for most of us , so will surely have better memories

ask Leicester fans - they would have gone for F S before this season , but now i bet they wouldnt swap the crisp bowl (or whatever its called now) for the world

its not about the stadium its about the memories associated with it

 

[I_Saw_Shaw_Score]

The loudest The Ricoh has ever been was when Westwood saved Ebanks Blakes penalty 94th minute v Wolves & we won 1-0 that moment is yet to be beaten in terms of volume.

PNE in the JPT those 2 minutes at the end were pretty special!

 

[steve82]

I'm more of a traditional football ground man. Highfield road any day for me, the walk up....ect. You don't get that at modern day grounds.
Blackburn in the cup replay was good, leon the masked raider.
QPR opening game.
Gillingham thus season
Peterborough this season and last.

 

[Moff]

Honestly never wanted to leave Highfield Road, and was disgusted with Richardson for selling it off too quickly. I liked Highfield Road, it was and always will be to me 'home', and I liked where it was as well.

Have never taken to the Ricoh, and wasnt really excited about the move there. It is and always has been a pain in the arse to get to as opposed to HR.

 

[shy_tall_knight]

I find the Ricoh so cold and the walk to it fairly uninspiring not saying terraceed houses in Stoke / Hillfields was great its just walking along a canal in the dark having been beat justs tens to bring to a horrible end the average match day experience at the Ricoh. there have been fond memories as I have spent a lot of the games with my sons but last year despite the youngest being a ST holder he just didn't want to go. This year has been better as the crowds are bigger. A redeveloped Highfield Road, would have been my preference. I would leave the Ricoh no problem don't feel like our stadium despite all the sky blue seats.

Best moments the Gillingham Return and PNE comeback in the JPT
Worst moments Crewe anti climax and Swindon at home last season, 5,000 home fans easily beat pathetic display had Div 4 written all over it.

 

[chiefdave]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but I was excited to have a new ground at the time. Don't get me wrong I loved HR but apart from the new stand it was in a bit of a state and there was limited room for improvement.

I think the problem with the Ricoh are more to do with our lack of ownership (for example there's not ever been as much CCFC branding as there should be) and the fact we don't have much in the way of good memories there.

If it was full every week and we were winning I think peoples opinion would be a lot different.

 

[NorthernWisdom]

for example there's not ever been as much CCFC branding as there should be.

tbf McGinnity & co took that all down in HR too!

 

[chiefdave]

tbf McGinnity & co took that all down in HR too!

Probably flogged it down the car boot sale.

 

[Terry Gibson's perm]

I was pleased when we moved and was excited as I thought it was a new beginning, HR had memories some good and some bad getting chased down the road by the park in the 80's and having to jump over a wall was a highlight it helped that my dad built some of the walls in Hillfields so knew a good escape route with hindsight we should have stopped at HR and redeveloped the ground but lack of money meant that would never happen

The ricoh is just too big for us and always feels empty and cold and feels unfinished even now the steps up to the ground with hand rails like scaffold pipes and the weeds where they have never laid the grass.

the original plans for arena 2000 were very exciting but maybe a bit beyond us

 

[Hobo]

HR was going past it's sell by date, of course we have great memories of it. The Ricoh has a great atmosphere with a decent crowd in it. I think it was the right move....except it was messed up by various parties. The club is in a sad old state and not where it should be.

 

[ollyservetta]

never wanted to leave , wasn't just HR, it was the town centre ,the pubs ,fishy moores ,gosford green , tiffineys ,great days ,

 

[letsallsingtogether]

Got to admit the Highfield road days can never be replicated
Used to love meeting up with the lads in The Dive, stop get chips go to the game and back to town centre.
Mind you some times you had to run the gauntlet through the away fans.
Now we park up go to the game watch the match and straight back home.
Sometimes we go to Casino but it will never the same. Thsts why the away experience is far better.

 

[Johnnythespider]

Loved HR and lived just up the road from it for 13 years, but I was excited about the new stadium and thought it would take us to the next level, that was the dream, based on us owning the ground and reaping the rewards. The truth has turned out to be a nightmare, we have never owned it and probably never will and the whole thing has been soured by the politics and squabbles between the various owners and acl/council, the stand out moments for me are the first game there, the return from Northampton and seeing the specials in the jaguar hall.

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[Sky Blue 1987]

Gary mcallister scoring the free kick against newcastle when i think we won 5-1 at highfield road. We set up a two man wall in front of the ball and parted as he struck it, was revolutionary at the time!

 

[singers_pore]

At first I thought the stadium looked great and much bigger than HR, plus no obstructed views. I thought the club would exercise its option to buy half and the other half later. Then SISU arrived and fucked it up. I enjoy having the casino and hotel on site, which is very convenient when I come to the UK. But the stadium now feels like a soulless bowl and the thought of being tenants to the egg chasers is annoying to say the least.

 

[Harry Krishner]

Never wanted to leave HR and have never really got used to the Ricoh.

As a native of Stoke HR was ever-present as I was growing up- I could see the floodlights from my bedroom window and hear the cheering when I was a little kid; the road outside our house would be full of cars and the pubs packed on match days. There was even the odd brawl.

When I grew up and moved overseas, HR would be the first landmark I'd see from the airport bus arriving back in Cov, and I'd know I was home- and usually a game within a day or two.

I feel the heart was ripped out of the city when HR was demolished- along with the scene of all that glorious history- beating Liverpool 5-1, Man Utd on numerous occasions, 3-0 against Villa on Boxing Day (?) and of course '87. I still go to the Ricoh, but feel the experience akin to going to a shopping mall in the US- none of the old brick terraced houses with corner pubs, just another stadium in a soulless shopping centre which has almost become the norm to the great detriment of the game. I also hate driving to games and associated parking hassle, and really miss being able to walk past the Hastings etc and knowing who I'd see if I went in there.

The Ricoh is a pain to get to, and has rarely fulfilled expectations. Almost the worst scenario back in 2000 was a 32,000 seater with crowds of 10,000, and that is more or less what we've ended up with. The station fiasco is more of the kind of thing people have come to expect.

But I will still go when I'm back. It's still "our" club - just about, and there are still plenty of familiar faces- more so at away games where the fanatics are concentrated. It is also a decent stadium, although the seating is far from the pitch, and is a wonderful sight when full. This season has been a good one by recent standards, and we still live in hope of promotion and some upward momentum.

PUSB.

 

[Covstu]

We moved into the arena will a lot of hope and positivity for the future of our club, shame it was our downfall. We didn't realise the plotting and deals done by certain people in charge at the time which then eventually left us homeless. Sadly the Ricoh has constantly been linked with failure and disappointment. Oh well onwards and upwards!

 

[clint van damme]

I have no feelings for the Ricoh whatsoever and very few precious memories.

If I had Bill gates like wealth I wouldn't spend a penny on the team before I'd bought every house and flat on what was HR, knocked them down and rebuilt the stadium, (although it would be a 70,000 seater!).

 

[jimmyhillsfanclub]

I hate the ricoh.....fucking horrible soul-less plastic dump of a ground in the middle of fucking nowhere.....its a 100% shitty "experience" ....one which I very rarely endure these days.....away games only for me

My best ricoh memory.....finding a bag of weed in the car park

 

[Hcut PUSB]

Cant remember who said it and I apologise to the OP or quote whichever takes you fancy

"Highfield Road was a crumbling shithole but it was our crumbling shithole"

I am not adverse to going to watch my team anywhere apart from Northampton lets be politician clear here. What I am starting to feel sad about is my lad who is twelve will never really get the whole going up the city experience that we had as kids, he has watched city as an ST since age 5 but is almost happier going away than home.
Don't get me wrong we sit with and have done for several years a great bunch of people and we have a good time and banter but ya know something's missing.

 

[letsallsingtogether]

I hate the ricoh.....fucking horrible soul-less plastic dump of a ground in the middle of fucking nowhere.....its a 100% shitty "experience" ....one which I very rarely endure these days.....away games only for me

My best ricoh memory.....finding a bag of weed in the car park

You must have been smoking that weed☺

 

[Big Phil]

I will always have fond memories of an absolute goalfest at the Ricoh on Saturday 14 April 2007. Very enjoyable afternoons sporting entertainment that was, compounded by the large group of women outside who told me that I looked just like a rockstar and that they wished more of the local Cov blokes could look as dishy as me.

 

[torchomatic]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but i never wanted to move from HR. None of my mates did either.

The east stand proved we could have made HR more fit for purpose.

The Ricoh is a little soulless. An identikit stadium like many others and whilst it's nice to have a decent view it'll never compare to HR.

I have countless good memories of HR but very few from ten years at the Ricoh.

Shame , the Cities football club and fans deserve so much more.

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[Mr T - Sukka!]

Ricoh 100 times better than HR!

HR memories 100 times better than Ricoh. (Keane, Dublin, Whealan etc.)

 

[Otis]

Ricoh 100 times better than HR!

HR memories 100 times better than Ricoh. (Keane, Dublin, Whealan etc.)

Well yep, spot on.

However, at HR is where we had all our good times and we were there for most of our lifetimes.

The Ricoh is only 11 years old and it's been nothing but a downhill trend.

Obviously people are going to look more fondly on our better days. I think that has little to do with the stadium.

We get promoted this season and then go up again, the Ricoh will suddenly hold warm memories and a lot of people's thoughts will undoubtedly alter.

 

[NorthernWisdom]

I think that has little to do with the stadium.

Not true. I hate identikit flat pack stadiums.

At least Arena 2000 was claimed to hav some originality before it got watered down.

 

[Otis]

Not true. I hate identikit flat pack stadiums.

At least Arena 2000 was claimed to hav some originality before it got watered down.

Well yeah, I agree on that point, but HR was a very poor ground. It's just where we had our success.

I am certain that if we have good times at the Ricoh people will be a lot more fond of it.

That's what I was saying. Was talking in terms of fond memories because of success.

 

[italiahorse]

The East stand was top notch but the other 3 stands were dire.
The days of just turning up watching football and going home had long gone.
Clubs realise that just as much money could be made outside that 90 minutes and HR was unsuitable.
Parking was poor particularly if you were a resident.
Personal experience for me was having my car broke into on several occasions during night matches.
Good decision to move but poorly implemented.