Mine just has to be Alt Park, Huyton. It was a muddy tip when it opened and an even muddier tip when it closed. The grand 'opening' was a Lancs Cup game v Wire in the late sixties. Referee Billy Thompson did a pre-match pitch inspection and sank so far into the mud that he couldn't get one of his wellies out. A couple of days later they found that the main stand was sinking and it turned out to be some weeks before they eventually played a home game.
I also hated the Willows. I went there as a kid on a Naylor's coach in 1968 and got a good hiding and my scarf nicked. Never liked it since, horrible dirty place.

Hull KR's

Old Chinese riddle;



Q What rugby league ground can an away supporter travel to, and yet never see the game ?

A Hull KR

HaHa

Odsal. Putting two the 54 cup final replay aside, and the 1990 Jacko-inspired CC win, some of my worst wire memories have been in that windswept crater.

You need binoculars to see the pitch.
It's got silly turned up corners.
It's got a weather system all of it's own and you need Oxygen cylinders to stand on the terracing
We generally get beat
The locals are idiots. Not violent, just idiots.

And, most notably, one balmy Yorkshire afternoon I decided to purchase a hot cup of tea from one of the snack thingies, in a feeble attempt to fight off hypothermia. Whilst returning with two cups in my hands down the terracing, in a precarious Edmund Hillary fashion, the styrofoam cups disintegrated and deposited tea at 100 degree temperatures over my hands which instantly blistered, went a funny colour and swelled to the size of baseball gloves.

One night in A&E later and a seething hatred of the landfill-site with seats pit was born.

I've just realised that this thread is about "old", non-existing grounds so I apologise, and duly nominate Knowsley Road on the strength of it's toilets. Amnesty International would have had a seizure if they'd seen them.

I stand by my odsal rant though. That tea was really, REALLY hot and my hands still go a funny colour in cold weather (but then, so do lots of my body parts).

My nomination still stands today too but i don't care.... step forward Belle Vue Stadium - hole. The low viewing perspective. The ridiculous flats. The cold. The rain. The wind. Paul and David March. Richard Agar. The crap scoreboard. It's . All of it. And I've witnessed some of our worst performances there to boot. Including that ridiculous day when we conceded a penalty after 79 minutes when we were winning by 2. Wakey went for goal. it hit the post and came back into play from which they scored a try and win the game.
There's also that v ridiculous stand painted Blue where presumably people sit. Its like a fooking war time air raid shelter.

Willows is a close second.

The Willows/Knowsley Rd

Craven Park- the view is terrible in the Zebrugge end and even worse in the 'well'. Saying that though I have been in their standing terrace and enjoyed it and we will have the new stand for us next year. If they were a bit more consistent, CP would probably be the toughest place to go to in Super League.

Don Valley- strange mix between Jubilee Oval and a municipal leisure centre. You couldn't see a thing and there was never any chance of an atmosphere.

Headingley. Considering how big of a club they are, the away end is abysmal. It's never an away game i enjoy going to particularly, when it should be one of the most anticipated games of the season.

Really? I love it. Good view of the field, close to the pitch and always a good atmosphere there. Whether it is a play off eliminator or a Challenge Cup round four game against Whitehaven, they manage to make it feel like a big occasion.

Odsal when it was railway sleepers on top of pit waste..If there had been a longish period of dry weather you would come away from the ground blacker than Al Jolson...We looked as if we had just finished a shift at the local colliery.

In the pre Snape era The Willows was a real dump. Volunteers used to go round the edge of the pitch at half time holding out a blanket for people to throw donations in to repair the stands.

In the post Snape era The Willows was a real dump. forgot that I played there once, dropped bloody everything. Another reason to hate it.

Knowsley Rd

hull kr...went there in the 80s when the coach windows got smashed and most got a good hiding thrown in as well..think ive only been there 2 or 3 times and never seen trouble...horrible place

Have to agree with Morriseyisawire Odsal is a dump
As for old grounds Knowsley Rd, always wondered was that mound of grass at the back of the away stand there to hold it up or there attempt on Wimbledon with Longy's lookout!

Agreed. Giz a roof and I'll be happy though, it'd improve the atmosphere a lot (as would banning the brass band).

water sheddings and thrum hall always freezing

Watersheddings horrendous place..I went there a few times and never ever saw half decent weather there and the roof leaked like a waterfall...!

I remember one year we drew Oldham in the cup and the game was postponed about 5 times before it was eventually played..!

Hence the name...

I watched us get beaten there a couple of times.
Roger O'Mahoney ran the show on one occasion so we signed him.
On another Mike Ford did the same so we then signed him!

I'm surprised that Naughton Park hasn't been mentioned.

Proably the only sporting venue in the country where the first thing you would do on getting home after the game would be to put your clothes in the wash and have a shower - remove the stench of The Grannox.

Naughton Park has to be in the running. The wall of the Gents toilet used to intrigue me. It looked like they had filled oil barrels with concrete and piled them on top of each other and there was the all pervasive smell of rotten eggs. It still could not beat the old Willows for grottiness though.

Polytechnics Ground London.
Who of you went there when Wire were pants of a team?