Jump to content

Capacity of Love Street


Recommended Posts

Can anyone clear up something that has always puzzled me? Either my understanding of the capacity of Love Street has always been flawed, or official attendances back in the day were even more understated than some believe they are today.

My understanding was that the capacity of the old Stadium at its highest was 53000, To my mind the first redevelopment that would have decreased that capacity was to the East Terracing around 79/80 which I understood reduced the capacity to 35000. Then of course once the seats went in the capacity reduced dramatically.

So, thinking about games such as the 77 cup game against Dundee Utd, the 77 Div 1 game against Clydebank and the 77 Premier Div game against Rangers, they had recorded attendances of 16300, 14700 and 24500. Given that all of these games were pre redevelopment of the East terracing that suggests that in all of these games the ground was more than half empty. My memory albeit as a 10/11 year old was that ground was rammed for all of those games. 

So, were we a bit fibby about attendances back then, or is my understanding of the capacity a load of old bollocks?

Link to comment
Share on other sites


45 minutes ago, TPAFKA Jersey 2 said:

Can anyone clear up something that has always puzzled me? Either my understanding of the capacity of Love Street has always been flawed, or official attendances back in the day were even more understated than some believe they are today.

My understanding was that the capacity of the old Stadium at its highest was 53000, To my mind the first redevelopment that would have decreased that capacity was to the East Terracing around 79/80 which I understood reduced the capacity to 35000. Then of course once the seats went in the capacity reduced dramatically.

So, thinking about games such as the 77 cup game against Dundee Utd, the 77 Div 1 game against Clydebank and the 77 Premier Div game against Rangers, they had recorded attendances of 16300, 14700 and 24500. Given that all of these games were pre redevelopment of the East terracing that suggests that in all of these games the ground was more than half empty. My memory albeit as a 10/11 year old was that ground was rammed for all of those games. 

So, were we a bit fibby about attendances back then, or is my understanding of the capacity a load of old bollocks?

Was the capacity really 35000?  the 3-2 defeat in a cup game against Celtic in the early 80s was packed to the rafters with 1000s 

locked out of the ground, yet the crowd was given as 27000...  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, scrappy coco said:

Was the capacity really 35000?  the 3-2 defeat in a cup game against Celtic in the early 80s was packed to the rafters with 1000s 

locked out of the ground, yet the crowd was given as 27000...  

Exactly. There was folk locked outside. I could have used that game as another example. Like I say, maybe I’m just wrong about the capacity, but I’m pretty sure it’s right. I’m far more inclined to believe the attendances were pockled. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds, which was produced after the Ibrox Disaster, recommended a change to the equation that was used to calculate the capacity of standing areas. 

That resulted in capacities of terraced areas being slashed by the new calculation without any actual changes to the stadia, so the 46,000 figure, or whatever it was, would have been vastly reduced long before the Love Street end was rebuilt. 

Edited by Dirty Sanchez
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The attendance v Rangers in 1968 (the Hugh Gilshan game) was 43,653.

Nine years later with, nothing having been done to the ground, the attendance against the same bigots was 24,596.

I was at the game in 77 and it's unimaginable to  see where another 19,000 fans could have fitted in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Eric Arthur Blair said:

The attendance v Rangers in 1968 (the Hugh Gilshan game) was 43,653.

Nine years later with, nothing having been done to the ground, the attendance against the same bigots was 24,596.

I was at the game in 77 and it's unimaginable to  see where another 19,000 fans could have fitted in.

That’s exactly the point I was making. Agree completely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Dirty Sanchez said:

The Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds, which was produced after the Ibrox Disaster, recommended a change to the equation that was used to calculate the capacity of standing areas. 

That resulted in capacities of terraced areas being slashed by the new calculation without any actual changes to the stadia, so the 46,000 figure, or whatever it was, would have been vastly reduced long before the Love Street end was rebuilt. 

That all makes sense but regardless of what the actual capacity was listed as, as EAB states, the ground didn’t change and to me the laws of physics dictate that you couldn’t have fitted twice as many people in at any of those games.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, Eric Arthur Blair said:

The attendance v Rangers in 1968 (the Hugh Gilshan game) was 43,653.

Nine years later with, nothing having been done to the ground, the attendance against the same bigots was 24,596.

I was at the game in 77 and it's unimaginable to  see where another 19,000 fans could have fitted in.

I was at that game as well and I'm pretty sure it was all ticket, don't think it's possible to fudge up to 19000 off the 

attendance especially when the majority were sold too Rangers fans, although I do remember the crowd being massive..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, scrappy coco said:

I was at that game as well and I'm pretty sure it was all ticket, don't think it's possible to fudge up to 19000 off the 

attendance especially when the majority were sold too Rangers fans, although I do remember the crowd being massive..

Yeah...read my post that you quoted again, there was no suggestion of a "fudge".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, TPAFKA Jersey 2 said:

That all makes sense but regardless of what the actual capacity was listed as, as EAB states, the ground didn’t change and to me the laws of physics dictate that you couldn’t have fitted twice as many people in at any of those games.

Ultimately, unless they were lying about the big crowds, the answer must be that they did indeed just used to cram people into stadiums in numbers that we can now see were unsafe.

Loads of clubs have got jaw dropping record attendances in relation to what seem like tiny stadiums (e.g. Cliftonhill 27,000 :huh:

If you look at Scotland v England at Hampden, in 1970 there were 137,438. In 1974, when the capacity had been cut, but with no changes made to the stadium, there were 94,487.

Looking at the video of the 1974 game, it's hard to see where the other 43,000 would have fit in.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Dirty Sanchez said:

 

Looking at the video of the 1974 game, it's hard to see where the other 43,000 would have fit in.

 

I was at that game with The Sandman.....we we're in the Schoolboys Enclosure in front of the Main Stand.

Seems like yesterday.:wacko:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, TPAFKA Jersey 2 said:

Can anyone clear up something that has always puzzled me? Either my understanding of the capacity of Love Street has always been flawed, or official attendances back in the day were even more understated than some believe they are today.

My understanding was that the capacity of the old Stadium at its highest was 53000, To my mind the first redevelopment that would have decreased that capacity was to the East Terracing around 79/80 which I understood reduced the capacity to 35000. Then of course once the seats went in the capacity reduced dramatically.

So, thinking about games such as the 77 cup game against Dundee Utd, the 77 Div 1 game against Clydebank and the 77 Premier Div game against Rangers, they had recorded attendances of 16300, 14700 and 24500. Given that all of these games were pre redevelopment of the East terracing that suggests that in all of these games the ground was more than half empty. My memory albeit as a 10/11 year old was that ground was rammed for all of those games. 

So, were we a bit fibby about attendances back then, or is my understanding of the capacity a load of old bollocks?

http://www.stadiumguide.com/lovestreet/

Club Records

 

Highest Home Attendance
Love Street - 47,438
Greenhill Road - 7,542
League Cup V Celtic, 20-08-1949
SPL V Kilmarnock, 31-01-09 (1st match at GHR) 
Lowest Home Attendance
Love Street - ??
Greenhill Road - 1914
??
League Cup V Hamilton Academical, 25-09-12
Highest ever attendance
127,940
Scottish Cup Final V Rangers, Hampden Park, 21-04-1962
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, TPAFKA Jersey 2 said:

Can anyone clear up something that has always puzzled me? Either my understanding of the capacity of Love Street has always been flawed, or official attendances back in the day were even more understated than some believe they are today.

My understanding was that the capacity of the old Stadium at its highest was 53000, To my mind the first redevelopment that would have decreased that capacity was to the East Terracing around 79/80 which I understood reduced the capacity to 35000. Then of course once the seats went in the capacity reduced dramatically.

So, thinking about games such as the 77 cup game against Dundee Utd, the 77 Div 1 game against Clydebank and the 77 Premier Div game against Rangers, they had recorded attendances of 16300, 14700 and 24500. Given that all of these games were pre redevelopment of the East terracing that suggests that in all of these games the ground was more than half empty. My memory albeit as a 10/11 year old was that ground was rammed for all of those games. 

So, were we a bit fibby about attendances back then, or is my understanding of the capacity a load of old bollocks?

Was at the all three games you mention,  and the 1968 game (which was pay at the gate)  77 Clydebank/Rangers games  I would say attendances were bang on,  The cup game against Dundee United the queues at the turnstiles were massive, the old ground was in disrepair, about 10 of us that left from the old pub The Dusty Millers all jumped a fence in Albion St to get in,  and we were not alone, there were at least 20k in the ground that day,  am pretty sure in 1968 plenty of the Rangers hoards must have skipped in too, The ground that day was a disaster waiting to happen, fans crammed like sardines,  frightening stuff,  Rangers fans left in there droves before full time, and had to leave by the running track spitting and cursing at the saints fans in the stand and enclosure as they left, 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, portmahomack saint said:

Was at the all three games you mention,  and the 1968 game (which was pay at the gate)  77 Clydebank/Rangers games  I would say attendances were bang on,  The cup game against Dundee United the queues at the turnstiles were massive, the old ground was in disrepair, about 10 of us that left from the old pub The Dusty Millers all jumped a fence in Albion St to get in,  and we were not alone, there were at least 20k in the ground that day,  am pretty sure in 1968 plenty of the Rangers hoards must have skipped in too, The ground that day was a disaster waiting to happen, fans crammed like sardines,  frightening stuff,  Rangers fans left in there droves before full time, and had to leave by the running track spitting and cursing at the saints fans in the stand and enclosure as they left, 

I was lifted over! :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...