I saw about 10 matches there from about 77 to 93 & it was the best ground for me. It was so loud , even in the third division. if you were standing up you needed to get there early for a good/above worm eye view. It's no use putting statues up after you smash it to pieces. It should've been left as a museum to football in the town.
I'm a Palace fan and went there in 95/96 season. Derby were 2nd and we were 3rd and it was at the business end of the season. We lost 2-1 that day but I remember what a great game it was and the atmosphere was amazing.
God I loved this place, started goin from 86-87 season, seen some unbelievable games, and still to this day with the best atmosphere I’ve heard at a football match, baring in mind that it only held around 22 thousand. We should of redeveloped that place, ok it would of changed a lot but it was home, I feel like derby lost their identity when we left, pride park does absolutely nothing for me and never will. The walk down Shaftesbury st for a midweek night match with floodlights glowing in the mist an fog, picking up a milk crate to stand on from a nearby shop because I was to small to see, is an image that will stay with me forever. I’ve been to some grounds over the years but this was the best 👍🏻
Greatest atmosphere for a night game in British football - only ground that came close was Newcastle’s - magic feeling - can’t be matched ever - nothing lasts forever - Jimmy the cockney Ram
Hi there, an excellent video telling the interesting back story of this famous ground. You make one error however, it is not forgotten in Derby and never shall be.
Nice Post for the football historians it's amazing just how many clubs have moved stadium these day's it's a shame really I used to love the old Upton Park and I am a Liverpool fan aswell I just remember the atmosphere there being so good even tho I never attended the stadium personally it looked like a great atmosphere?? 😄
I think the whole Taylor Report meant a lot of old Stadiums had to go. Not many clubs could afford to make their ground all seater and some it wasn't feasible at all.
@@historyoffootball87 that's a good point pal I don't think that's necessarily the case for all of the clubs but I know what you mean they have to be all seater since the premier league started basically in when was it 92-93 well they were not all at first actually but they all had to rebuild the existing stadium because of law the Taylor report ie oldTrafford, Anfield, and villa Park, for example where being rebuilt in the early nineties but as you said it ain't possible to rebuild some stadium's tho is it bof course the irony is you can have a huge stadium and not fill it I don't know what the capacity of pride Park is for example but I doubt they will fill it up next season because they are in league one that's probably twice as big as the old baseball ground I would guess pal ? don't get me wrong they still have unbelievable support tho derby I hope they come back to their halcyon days personally forgive me for the tangent but my basic point is a lot of the traditional bigger clubs are no longer in the premier league are they it's amazing how the game changes over the years isnt it m8??🤣
It was Great, my first game was a night match in 1973 I was 7, v Wolverhampton W. in the league Cup we won aswell that was it I got the Dcfc bug n always went. Now at Pride Park but I recall some great matches, at the BBG, like v Leeds utd 1975 what a match and that bully Norman Hunter smacked Franny Lee in face cus he couldn't catch franny when had the ball. Then the same season n another night match v Real Madrid O' my We hammered um 4-1. I was 10 n them memories will live with me for always.
Born in 91 and only saw reserve games in the BBG with my Dad. The fog and atmosphere in those evening games, with how close you were to the pitch, coupled with watching old videos, made it feel so real. The old Score board and the old Clock. Great memories and very sad we lost what would have been an incredible museum to a great history.
The birthplace of my interest in football, as a 7 year old. My Mum worked there at the time so got in free.Best memories would be the 4-1 win over Real Madrid in 1975 with Charlie George's hat trick,and Van der Laans header against Palace in 1996. Seeing 3 Newcastle players getting sent off in the same game in 1992 a first for me. Could not beat standing on the popside for atmosphere and doubt you will ever find a ground with the same atmosphere ever again.
When Leys fired up the furnaces during night games, smoke used to envelope the pitch during the game, sometimes you couldn't see past the halfway line but the atmosphere in the ground was awesome!
As a Man City fan i went there many times, and have so many memories of the place ..... I saw us get a few pastings there over the years, 4-0, 6-0, you name it, but i always enjoyed visiting the place ..... that pitch was quite something else!
Great vid mate! Started watching there in 1965 with some great years and memories.My Uncle Bill always had a couple of pints before the game in the Cambridge and in the late ‘60’s, he and his mates got chatting to a nice chap (over a beer or two), about football in general, who wasn’t from the area. They invited him to watch the match with them as they stood just where the players came out and he said he’d see them just before kick-off. Anyway he hadn’t turned up and the players were running out when they heard a shout of ‘Bill…up here’. The chap in the pub was the Referee!
I was one of those that attended the Spurs game. What an incredible atmosphere, and pleasure, to be one of those attending the record ground capacity game.
Can't be repeated unless we re-build old style grounds. Which by the way I'm all for. WHL was another that is sadly gone I went under Jol and it was bouncing.
Really enjoyed that ...the baseball ground what a ramshackle old stadium with the worst pitch ever ... as a chesterfield supporter my memory of this stadium is from December 21st 1976 FA cup 2nd round replay chesterfield v walsall after drawing at Saltergate and fellows Park this tie went to a 3rd game at neutral ground for a replay on a freezing cold December evening chesterfield lost this match 0-1 how on earth we lost this game I will never understand to this day walsall keeper mick Kearns was just unbeatable making save after save absolutely unbelievable.... fond memories of the old baseball ground..
I use to stand on the Osmaston end behind the goal. I will never forget the good times we had there. I also worked in part of the Ley's works so for evening games mid week many of us worked overtime and just walked the short distance down Colombo Street to the ground after work.
This was a really good video I support Boro but found this video on Derby County Baseball ground fascinating and all your old photos were brilliant and I enjoyed the knowledge immensely.
My dad worked for RR and when he did the afternoon shift he took me to the baseball ground in the Normenten end to watch the match and then go to work .I now live in Pisa but still Derby fan
@@historyoffootball87 you can come over and do the story of the stadium because in a few years they will have a new stadium maybe still in the same place the project has been made
Used to play 5 a side about 2005 at the Shaftsbury centre next door to the BBG before it was demolished. If the ball went over the fence into the remains of the old stands etc. remember having to step over the rubble to get the ball back. It was hard to believe I had once stood on the terracing there 30 odd years earlier!
I’m an Everton fan and not looking forward to a new stadium soon ; it’s going to feel like playing that home games will feel like playing away for while .my memories of baseball ground where in the 70s it’s a like a mud bath .playing surfaces resemble snooker tables now that’s progress for you
@@historyoffootball87 enjoyable game last night for Ukraine effort ; over 30 thousand spekkies including my 2 lads and myself .. cone on derby love to see you back the top flight
@@historyoffootball87 yes, not saying I don’t like it’s just there’s something peculiar going on there. I actually wondered if you were an AI robot trying to sound ‘regional’ 😆but programmed badly. I can even point out the ‘American ’ sounding words. I don’t know maybe you’re from the isle of man who’s accent I’ve never heard in 50 years of living in Britain ??
My family is originally from Liverpool, I live in North East England, I have also lived in Australia, funnily enough I have two family members who live on Isle of Man. I have never set foot in either USA or Canada.
@@historyoffootball87 I was thinking the same. Brilliant. NE wise, I could hear all the way from Middlesborough up to Ashington. And definitely Belfast.
So many great memories from the BBG, from my first match in 1965 against Middlesbrough to the final league match in 1997 against Arsenal. I was also at the Spurs match in 1969 which saw the record attendance of 41,826. By the 1990's I was a C Stand season ticket holder!
I’m a Manchester United fan and I went to the Baseball ground in August 1989. It was just after Michael Knighton said he was going to buy us and the away end was packed that day. It seemed over capacity because it was uncomfortable standing on the terrace and Knighton came out to see if he could do something about it. It sorted itself out and we watched a 0-0 draw.
Good to see a channel about the history of football. Maybe the fans under 30 might realise that football did exist before the P/L started in 1992 or that the Champions league was preceded by the far more exciting European Cup. Players such as Jackie Milburn, Dixie Dean and Stanley Matthews would run rings around todays overpaid players for peanuts.New subscriber ( history one of my favourite subjects no matter what storyline).
I have plenty more of these videos in the future. You can tell a lot of people on social media think football started in the 1990s, whenever they do all time tables and it shows Aston Villa or Everton up there, people are shocked.
I was 14yrs old and just got picked to play for Derby Boys under 15's , it was also the first time l had played under floodlights. We played against Birmingham City Boys in the hardwick cup, it was an amazing feeling walking out onto the pitch which was a mixture of sand and water we won the game quite easily and my dream had true to wear the white and black of Derby and win the game. Just before the ground was closed some years later l managed to get some grass sods and l took them home and they are still a part of my lawn. I will always treasure the fans chanting my name during the game.
Francis Ley visited to US to recruit experienced workers for his foundry. Part of the deal for them was that he would set aside some land for them to play baseball. The land was next to the foundry where they were employed.
@@historyoffootball87 It did take off and it was big for a while but it was always in competition with cricket. Some Derby County players also played for a Derby baseball team that was part of a national league. That league was set up by Francis Ley and others.
It was actually waste land Sir Francis Ley bought off the Derby Borough Council. He had to get Gypsies off the waste land and then he built a Baseball Ground for his workers to play. It's rumoured that the Gypsies put a Curse on the ground.
Yes you are Correct there. He liked the game of Baseball and thought he would bring it to Derby England it was played for a bit but it didn't really appeal to enough. Derby County who were playing on Nottingham Rd- the Derbyshire County Cricket club needed a ground of their own and in 1895 they bought the Baseball Ground.
He went to America on a business trip he seen the Baseball game and liked it and thought he would bring it to Derby. No Americans came to work at Ley's Foundry.
Mate, you sound like youre a northener, from the east side, but then some words you say sound maybe a bit irish? im confused. can you tell us where youre accent originates from, i find it quite interesting.(i find accents very interesting) Brilliant Video by the way, i really enjoyed it. I really respect how you have researched into this ground so well. Kudos. Just subscribed to you! Also, im english but i lived in Australia for 19 yrs, and i have a whole load of english mates there who are nuts about footy back here, its all they chat about, so ill forward a few videos of yours on to them and im sure they will subscribe too. Take care brother. Stay well. !x
I live in the North East of England. I have never been to the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. I have lived in Australia as well in the past. Thanks for watching the video and commenting.
I started in the boys end then grew into the popside also a steward for 3 seasons I lived on Princess St I remember as a kid looking after the players cars for 50p they all had saabs at one time all std on the registration plates Michael Dunsford sacked me good old days ! Up the rams 🐏
Always remember the season '90/'91 stood on the popside unfortunately on the way to relegation. Majority of the popside faithful singing "always look on the bright side of life". Great memories even though we got relegated!
Spent a lot of time at 76 Pear Tree St with my Grandparents in the 80's and 90's. My great Uncle worked his entire life at Leys. We would listen to the matches from their back yard if we didn't get a ticket. As a Canadian raised English child I found that atmosphere amazing compared to North American sports.
My very first inter shop football match at Rolls Royce and I was asked to man mark silly Roger Davies, who worked at Royce's after his playing days were done. I think he played for 12 shop. Being raised in Canada had no clue who this old man was. He made me look stupid without being able to really run at all. This was 1990.
Thanks for the video. Just a few minor issues. Clough only won one league championship at Derby. Dave Mackay was the manager for the second. Sir Francis Ley’s surname is pronounced Lay, not Lee.
Derby County beat Finn harps (league of Ireland) 12-0 in a UEFA Cup 1st round tie on 15th Sept 1976. Finn harps were so poor that Derby could easily have scored 5 or 6 more goals on the night. I’d say this qualifies as the record score at the Baseball Ground.
Brian Clough used to tell the groundsmen to drench the pitch the night before a game so it was always very wet and away teams had not go used to i like the rams had as they played on most weeks, it was as good as having an extra player on the pitch.
I know they are to many but it is more of just a title I came up with along with the fact that people under the age of 30 probably do not know or care about these old grounds. The media also rarely mentions the old Stadiums.
a yes..1969-70 season me and my mate both aged 15 left in my Dad's car from Merseyside to watch our EVERTON at the Baseball ground. we were top of the league, i mean who are Derby? we got beat. but..we won the league title april 1st 1970. the ground was a typical put together cram 'em in old style ground (as Goodison still is!) but i loved it and love all these old grounds. i used to go away to most matches in my teens and The old Molyneux was my favourite, huge embankment on the south end. where oh where have these beuatiful stadiums gone?
