Posted by Chrissy Matthew Wrend. Fabulous picture but doesn't this just highlight how much that West Stand needs to be replaced. I'm as nostalgic as the next Reds fan but it really needs to be addressed some time in the next few years.
As soon as I saw it I thought the same and was about post that until I saw your post. Nostalgia is all well and good but given the Kop, original Ponty End and Brewery stands are all long gone it makes little sense to preserve something no longer fit for purpose. Some decent media press facilities and a camera position rather than that hideous gantry might make some of the reporters a bit more pre-disposed to write more positively about little ol' Barnsley too!! We would also be able to reposition the changing rooms and entrance to the pitch on matchdays so the players run out onto the pitch from the halfway line rather than 'enemy' territory. Nothing to do with 'nostalgia' but it is really naff that the home side has to run the gauntlet of visiting fans 4 times a match. Great picture though!
Whenever people suggest leaving Oakwell for a newer, more modern stadium, take a look at that photo. We've got a wonderful ground in Oakwell, perfect for our club. It's modern enough with a traditional style, a proper football ground in a world of indentikit 'facilities'. Great location, training complex on site, it's a lovely ground and that picture does it justice.
Yes, that thought did strike me as well, but I would still like a new stand on that side complete with changing rooms and a half way line access to the pitch, just like it used to be
Considering our new owners appear not to have taken up the option to buy the land/ground as was intimated they would following the take over I can’t see them spending on redevelopment of the ground unless we ever got in the premier league.