| FORUMS > Warrington Wolves > 'The Zoo' |
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Quote: sally cinnamon "The opposition didn't fear coming to Wilderspool as much as we liked to reckon they did.
Maybe for a brief period in around 1985-88, we had a great pack and a good record at home, they feared it then, but for most of the rest of the time they didn't look too scared because home defeats were a regular occurence.
Teams feared going to Odsal and Valley Parade in the Elliott and Noble era and they had about the least intimidating set of fans ever although the fat women who waved pom poms and sang to Wooly Bully might have given some of the opposition players the chills.'"
I think you may also be missing the 1950's and 1970's period when we had a strong, aggressive pack also.
In actual fact the statistics look pretty impressive for the Zoo, showing we won 73% of all home games, drawing 4% and losing 23%. The HJ doesn't even compare.
P 1590 W1155 D65 L370
Courtesy of www.odeauk.fsnet.co.uk/archive/allgames.htm |
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Quote: sally cinnamon "The opposition didn't fear coming to Wilderspool as much as we liked to reckon they did.
Maybe for a brief period in around 1985-88, we had a great pack and a good record at home, they feared it then, but for most of the rest of the time they didn't look too scared because home defeats were a regular occurence.
Teams feared going to Odsal and Valley Parade in the Elliott and Noble era and they had about the least intimidating set of fans ever although the fat women who waved pom poms and sang to Wooly Bully might have given some of the opposition players the chills.'"
I think you may also be missing the 1950's and 1970's period when we had a strong, aggressive pack also.
In actual fact the statistics look pretty impressive for the Zoo, showing we won 73% of all home games, drawing 4% and losing 23%. The HJ doesn't even compare.
P 1590 W1155 D65 L370
Courtesy of www.odeauk.fsnet.co.uk/archive/allgames.htm | |
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Wasn't it Fred Lindop who christened it 'The Zoo'? I'm led to believe that he used to say 'if you can referee there, you can referee everywhere'.
Warrington crowds are best when provoked. A bit of 'biff' or controversy helps get us behind the team. An ideal start to every game:-
- Warrington kick off
- Opponent takes the ball up. Tackle
- Second drive, 1 in from the ruck. Tackle - pushed back.
- Third drive, 1 in from the ruck. Tackle - bit high. No penalty.
- Fourth drive, 2 in from the ruck. Very hard tackle. Ball dislodged. Opposition player starts fighting. Brawl ensues.
- On report*. Warrington penalty.
- Warrington try
DER DER DER DER DER DER, DER DER DER, DER DER DER, DE DER DER DER DE DER DER DER DER DER WIRES!
*Ben Westwood and Adrian Morley not guilty
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| Quote: Ian [77] ""Wasn't it Fred Lindop who christened it 'The Zoo'? I'm led to believe that he used to say 'if you can referee there, you can referee everywhere'.
Warrington crowds are best when provoked. A bit of 'biff' or controversy helps get us behind the team. An ideal start to every game
If you are going to dish out a bit of biff, best to do it very early in the game. It would take a brave referee to take decisive action just after KO.
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[quote="Eddie Hemmings said not ":1h9um51j]
"Remember last time they were here, the Huddersfield Giants, they lost to a Luke Walsh drop goal. He's only scored four drop goals in his St Helens career has Luke Walsh and each and every one of them have been scored by Luke Walsh"[/quote:1h9um51j]: |
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| Quote: mark_m "
If you are going to dish out a bit of biff, best to do it very early in the game. It would take a brave referee to take decisive action just after KO.'"
Especially if refereeing an international between GB and the Aussies. Do we have a referee that brave? |
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| Quote: Thelonius "Especially if refereeing an international between GB and the Aussies. Do we have a referee that brave?'"
I just knew some smart ar$e would mention that one but realistically when has that EVER happened before or after? Pretty standard tactic around the amateur game as well; kick the ball from kick-off at the opposition danger man and then gang tackle him with extreme prejudice or give the ball carrier a good rattle around the chin. |
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[quote="Eddie Hemmings said not ":1h9um51j]
"Remember last time they were here, the Huddersfield Giants, they lost to a Luke Walsh drop goal. He's only scored four drop goals in his St Helens career has Luke Walsh and each and every one of them have been scored by Luke Walsh"[/quote:1h9um51j]: |
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| Quote: mark_m "
I just knew some smart ar$e would mention that one but realistically when has that EVER happened before or after? Pretty standard tactic around the amateur game as well; kick the ball from kick-off at the opposition danger man and then gang tackle him with extreme prejudice or give the ball carrier a good rattle around the chin.'"
 You're welcome.
Must admit, that is the only occasion that I can remember when a player saw red so early. However, the tactic nowadays would be a little like 'buy now, pay later' with the on report system. |
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| Quote: Thelonius "
Somehow (and regardless of the overeaction from SKY commentators  ) it would be nice to see the return of the biff.
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[quote="Eddie Hemmings said not ":1h9um51j]
"Remember last time they were here, the Huddersfield Giants, they lost to a Luke Walsh drop goal. He's only scored four drop goals in his St Helens career has Luke Walsh and each and every one of them have been scored by Luke Walsh"[/quote:1h9um51j]: |
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| Quote: mark_m "
Somehow (and regardless of the overeaction from SKY commentators ![]()
See the Footy Show last night?
Matty Johns calling for the same (and some great 'Biff' clips too ). Though as one of the guest players pointed out (can't remember who), they way the judiciary are going over there, could end up facing 6 matches for sledging soon!
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| Player Coach | 1983 | |
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30140_1616947121.jpg
[url=https://imgur.com/VgNZNOp:3becz1x8][img:3becz1x8]http://i.imgur.com/VgNZNOp.jpg[/img:3becz1x8][/url:3becz1x8]:d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_30140.jpg |
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| Quote: Tony Catsmith "Thats how me n TANCW met up, we'd stood practically next to each other for ages before realising who was who, funnily enough it's in the same area you were, just out of interest, were you anywhere near the ginger twin girls who had a wainwright vendetta?'"
Can't remember any ginger twins, maybe they were stood further down, we used to stand pretty near the back - near the bloody kids who would insist on banging the corrugated iron on the back wall. (How the hell it didn't go through God only knows)! The one bloke who does stick in the mind was some old fella who would bang on about RL being better in the 40's/50's etc.. every match, he would wear this flat cap no matter what the weather, until on one particular sunny occasion he was forced to take it off for a brief moment, revealing the longest 'comb-over' hair strand I have ever seen, it resembled one of Eddie Grants dreads...truly terrifying! |
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Apart from the obvious things that have already been mentioned, such as the fans being closer to the pitch and there being terracing around the corners at Wilderspool, there are some other major factors as to why the atmosphere was more intimidating.
Acoustically Wilderspool was much better at retaining noise. I think this comes down to the design of the rusty old roofs above the Fletcher and Railway ends. They were shaped in a sort of A Frame, perfectly demonstrated by these pictures:
www.worldstadia.com/ws/show-page ... nuData=924
farm3.static.flickr.com/2360/243 ... 24.jpg?v=0
This helped to trap the terrace sounds and have an amplifying effect which would reverberate around despite crowd size being smaller. The roofs at the HJ are straight and slant slightly upwards and outwards, which means that not as much of the sound is retained and a lot “escapes”.
Another major difference is between the two standing terrace designs at the HJ. The South Stand has an enormous gap between the back row of terracing and the roof which means that most of the sound just dissipates, as shown in this picture:
www.worldstadia.com/gallery/Engl ... 5/1464.php
The West Stand’s roof is much closer to the back row of terracing which means that more sound is trapped and that’s why the away fans always sound much louder than the home fans at the HJ. Plus the slightly smaller capacity of the West means that the fans are more tightly packed together behind the sticks, which intensifies the singing, etc, rather that it being diluted across several clusters in the South Stand.
For me the solution to this is simple, the home fans should have the West Stand and the South should be allocated to away supporters, although obviously home supporters could still go in there in great numbers if they wished, since not many visiting sides would come close to filling the circa 4,000 capacity.
Another option would be to introduce a second tier into the South Stand (which is presumably why the roof was designed so high), which would help the noise to reverberate around, but how realistic that is is anyone’s guess. |
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Apart from the obvious things that have already been mentioned, such as the fans being closer to the pitch and there being terracing around the corners at Wilderspool, there are some other major factors as to why the atmosphere was more intimidating.
Acoustically Wilderspool was much better at retaining noise. I think this comes down to the design of the rusty old roofs above the Fletcher and Railway ends. They were shaped in a sort of A Frame, perfectly demonstrated by these pictures:
www.worldstadia.com/ws/show-page ... nuData=924
farm3.static.flickr.com/2360/243 ... 24.jpg?v=0
This helped to trap the terrace sounds and have an amplifying effect which would reverberate around despite crowd size being smaller. The roofs at the HJ are straight and slant slightly upwards and outwards, which means that not as much of the sound is retained and a lot “escapes”.
Another major difference is between the two standing terrace designs at the HJ. The South Stand has an enormous gap between the back row of terracing and the roof which means that most of the sound just dissipates, as shown in this picture:
www.worldstadia.com/gallery/Engl ... 5/1464.php
The West Stand’s roof is much closer to the back row of terracing which means that more sound is trapped and that’s why the away fans always sound much louder than the home fans at the HJ. Plus the slightly smaller capacity of the West means that the fans are more tightly packed together behind the sticks, which intensifies the singing, etc, rather that it being diluted across several clusters in the South Stand.
For me the solution to this is simple, the home fans should have the West Stand and the South should be allocated to away supporters, although obviously home supporters could still go in there in great numbers if they wished, since not many visiting sides would come close to filling the circa 4,000 capacity.
Another option would be to introduce a second tier into the South Stand (which is presumably why the roof was designed so high), which would help the noise to reverberate around, but how realistic that is is anyone’s guess. | |
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| Quote: mr invisible "Another option would be to introduce a second tier into the South Stand (which is presumably why the roof was designed so high), which would help the noise to reverberate around, but how realistic that is is anyone’s guess.'"
Last time the club talked about expansion, that was the option being investigated - hospitality/function rooms in the space above the concourse/behind the back wall with a second tier above the terracing to hold a few rows of padded seats.
In fact, I noticed on Monday that a large section of ceiling had been removed in the South Stand concourse - why, I don't know - which revealed just how much space there is in there. |
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Bring back the biff
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| Quote: Bobby_Peru "
remeber that fella. he used to stand just behind me. you must have been pretty close to me too. The fella who used to shout ripisfugg..spleenout inspired most of my fantasy sides names too.......get him back to the hj. he'll sort the atoms out!
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| Quote: mark_m "If you are going to dish out a bit of biff, best to do it very early in the game. It would take a brave referee to take decisive action just after KO.'"
Steve Ganson sending Adrian Morley off after just seconds for his high shot on Robbie Kearns. |
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Moderator
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| Quote: Teddington Wire "remeber that fella. he used to stand just behind me. you must have been pretty close to me too. The fella who used to shout ripisfugg..spleenout inspired most of my fantasy sides names too.......get him back to the hj. he'll sort the atoms out!'"
you two must have been close to the "come on west aaaaaaaaaaam" fella from 2003 or the fella with the red and blue horn(crap) |
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