Shelbourne FC – Pyro On The Pitch.com

Football Special Report #10 – Early Modern Part 3: Stadium Disasters (Shelbourne Fanzine Special/Preview)

For the fifth time, Pyro On The Pitch has adorned the pages of the illustrious Red Inc. – the longest running fanzine in the League of Ireland, produced by the supporter group Reds Independent of Shelbourne FC. Click here for our now-online debut in RI, with a Shels-focused installment of Pyro On The Pitch (the series), and here for our second outing where Retro Shirt Reviews breaks down some amazing Auld Reds’s kits from the late 70s to the early 90s.

In Early Modern #1, which you can now also find online by clicking here, we looked at the “early modern” periods of certain well known kit features. For part 2 (soon to appear online), we turned our attention to the fascinating, cross-pollinating worlds of hooligans and ultras, and the origins of these fan cultures. And in the latest issue, RI67 – September 2019 edition, the grim subject of stadium disasters (leading up to the most famous ones in the 80s) gets a look.

For now, here is a small extract, some preview pics (not featuring images in the article itself out of respect for the dead) plus the brilliant front and back covers of the fanzine.

As football grounds with bad reputations go, Glasgow Rangers’ Ibrox in particular stands out as having a particularly dark history. The “curse” even stretches back before the first iteration of the current Ibrox Stadium, to the original, smaller Ibrox Park that existed from 1887-1899. Having already struggled to accommodate 30,000 that showed up for the 1892 Scottish Cup final, two weeks later a stand collapsed in the venue during a Scotland vs England international resulting in the deaths of two spectators.

There were also problems of another sort the following year for the 1893 cup final, when the match had to be abandoned and replayed due to the poor quality of the pitch. With the building of the superior Celtic Park in 1892, which would soon be the preferred hosting facility internationals and cup finals, combined with an inability to expand Ibrox in it’s current location, Rangers took out a lease on an adjacent plot of land and set about constructing a new and improved stadium to take them across the turn of the century.

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What Football Is Supposed To Look Like #11 – Stadion Special I (Gallery)

We do like a good mini-series within a series here at PyroOnThePitch.com and while compiling the latest What Football Is Supposed To Look Like special on heroic stadia of the past, it quickly became apparent that this too would be a multi-parter. Don’t expect the “best” or biggest grounds alone (or some of sort of all-time greats list), as we of course try and focus on all levels, but rather enjoy a specially prepared photo-collection (thanks as always to the original video uploaders, links at the bottom) of the features that made a few of our favourite archaic arenas legendary.

Goodison Park in the 70s, Everton vs Coventry City, Football League Division One, 26/11/1977:

65,000 in Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, watching the home side take a 2-0 lead en route to championship victory, Uruguay vs Brazil, Copa America final-1st leg, 27/10/1983:

Hebrew advertisements in Paris (and a French Adidas equipment shirt sans-Equipment logo), France vs Israel, World Cup qualifier, 13/10/1993:

The Irish Garda Band (police force) entertain the caged and walled crowd in Lansdowne Road ahead of the match, Republic of Ireland vs Northern Ireland, Euro qualifier, 20/09/1978:

Opening ceremony and away fans in Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, ahead of West Germany vs Italy, European Championships group stage, 10/06/1988:

Dutch banners visible from space on the running track in Munich’s Olympiastadion, Netherlands vs USSR (neautral), European Championships final, 25/06/1988:

The sinister white fences of Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, West Germany vs Netherlands, friendly, 14/05/1986:

Cages around the dugout and German 80s bench fashion, Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke 04, Bundesliga, 01/12/1984:

Cars zip past on local infrastructure behind Eastville Stadium, Bristol Rovers vs Millwall, Football League Division Three, 08/05/1984:

Streamers fill the behind-goal no mans land during a famous European win for the home side (having already knocked Manchester United in the first round), Widzew Łódź vs Juventus, UEFA Cup second round-1st leg, 22/10/1980:

Classic East German scoreboard at the Bruno-Plache-Stadion, 1.FC Lokomotive Leipzig vs Bordeaux, UEFA Cup first round-2nd leg, 28/09/1983:

The weird and wonderful architecture, and police dogs, of Stadion Galgenwaard, FC Utrecht vs Ajax Amsterdam, Eredivisie, 02/03/1980:

The beauty of bare terraces in Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden vs England, Womens’ European Championship final-1st leg, 12/05/1984:

The strangely shaped grandstand of the aforementioned Ullevi, Gothenburg, CIS vs Netherlands (neutral), European Championships group stage, 12/06/1992:

Quintessential eastern block bowl, Nepstadion of Budapest, Hungary vs Romania, World Cup qualifier, 13/05/1981:

The inner-city dog-racing ground of Harold’s Cross, Dublin, Shelbourne vs St. Patrick’s Athletic, League of Ireland, 1987/88:

The terraces, fences, and police of the not very Olympic Olympiastadion of Club Brugge vs Royal Antwerp, Belgian First Division, 26/01/1992:

Tranway End, Dalymount Park, St. Patrick’s Athletic vs Waterford FC (neutral), FAI Cup final, 20/04/1980:

The majesty of the old Mestalla, Valencia CF vs Real Madrid, La Liga, 05/01/1986:

Scenes from a snowy De Kuip (The Tub), Feyenoord Rotterdam vs Ajax Amsterdam, Eredivisie, 07/12/1980:

A football match on a building site as renovations take place at Stadio Luigi Ferraris in preparation for Italia 90, Genoa vs Lecce, Serie B, 01/05/1988:

Antique analog scoreboard still around years after it’s time, Vojvodina Stadium, Novi Sad, Yugoslavia vs Greece, friendly, 20/09/1989:

Great aerial shot of the Mambourg stadium surrounded by city, Royal Charleroi Sporting Club vs Anderlecht, Belgian First Division, 19/04/1994:

One more eastern block bowl, Vasil Levski National Stadium (named after a Bulgarian 19th century patriot and revolutionary, as also referenced by tenant club PFC Levski Sofia), Sofia, Bulgaria vs Switzerland, Euro qualifier, 01/05/1991:

Arms and banners of Granata Ultras, Stadio Comunale Vittorio Pozzo, Torino vs Ascoli, Serie A 04/06/1989:

A sophisticated enclosure at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Anderlecht vs Ballymena United, Cup Winners’ Cup first round-1st leg, 13/09/1989:

Time for athletics, Flamurtari Stadium, Albania vs Romania, Euro qualifier, 28/10/1987:

YouTube Links:

Everton vs Coventry City, 1977
Uruguay vs Brazil, 1983
France vs Israel, 1993
Republic of Ireland vs Northern Ireland, 1978 (BBC)
West Germany vs Italy, 1988
Netherlands vs USSR, 1988
West Germany vs Netherlands, 1986
Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke 04, 1984
Bristol Rovers vs Millwall, 1984
1.FC Lokomotive Leipzig vs Bordeaux, 1983
FC Utrecht vs Ajax Amsterdam, 1980
Sweden vs England, 1984
CIS vs Netherlands, 1992
Hungary vs Romania 1981
Shelbourne vs St. Patrick’s Athletic, 1987/88
Club Brugge vs Royal Antwerp, 1992
St. Patrick’s Athletic vs Waterford FC, 1980
Valencia vs Real Madrid, 1986
Feyenoord Rotterdam vs Ajax Amsterdam, 1980
Genoa vs Lecce, 1988
Bulgaria vs Switzerland, 1991
Torino vs Ascoli, 1989
Anderlecht vs Ballymena United, 1989
Albania vs Romania, 1987

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StickeRound-Up #1 (Gallery)

“Stick around for the Sticker Round-Up!”. Get it? A friend of the site suggested “Stick ‘Em Up”, which was also a worthy name contender for the new sticker-based feature here on PyroOnThePitch.com.

Although we usually focus on the football world of the past there are exceptions, such as our following of the Finland national team via the POTP social media pages. Another is our adherence to the philosophy of “support your local club” – especially important now more than ever in the face of the super-corporation clubs literally attempting to take over the world – and respect to those do.

In most major towns and cities around Europe the evidence of these fans is all around, although the majority who walk by are oblivious to meaning of the stickers covering many poles, posts and pubs. To those who know it is clear that ultras, hooligans and other dedicated supporters are everywhere and in this series we document the calling cards of football street art found during recent journeys close to POTP HQ (and sometimes further afield).

Fidelis Andria – Brigata Fidelis: