The Main stand, includes the players tunnel, the gym, the paddock and wooden seats.. Read on!
--THE BOOTHEN STAND--
THE MAIN STAND
THE MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE VICTORIA GROUND
I suppose the Boothen Stand could be
considered as the Main stand at
Stoke, after all it was the Stand
where the main entrance, the
dressing room, the dug outs, the
tunnel, the directors box and the
board room / trophy cabinet(!) were
all located. Despite the fact that there
was a great view on offer from this
Stand I hardly ever used it appart
from a couple of Anglo Italian Cup
games in the lower Paddock and a
few friendlies in the stand. LEFT is a
view taken from the Butler Street
Stand at the final ever league Game against West Bromich Albion as fans swarm on to the
pitch after the final whistle. The view shows the Boothen Stand on the opposite touchline...
VIEW'S FROM THE BOOTHEN STAND
ABOVE: TWO VIEWS ARE FOUND, BOTH TAKEN FROM THE BOOTHEN STAND,
THESE BEING (LEFT) : A VIEW OF AN EMPTY BOOTHEN END TAKEN FROM THE
STAND, AND (RIGHT): A VIEW OF THE STOKE END STAND TAKEN FROM THE
BOOTHEN STAND PADDOCK.
PLAYERS TRAIN ON THE VICTORIA GROUND PITCH , MARCH 1997
(LEFT:) THE PLAYERS TRAIN ON THE
VICTORIA GROUND PITCH,
COACHED BY CHIC BATES AS THE
SUN TURNS THE BUTLER STREET
STAND AND THE BOOTHEN END IN
TO SILHOUETTES ON THE HORIZON.
GOALS, MEMORIES AND MOMENTS FROM THE BOOTHEN STAND
A view from the corner of the Butler Street
Stand and the Boothen End of the Boothen
Stand. As can be seen the stand stretches
the full length of the pitch with a lower
paddock section below the stand. The
tunnel is found central on the stand with
the two dugouts flanking it on either side.
The Stoke City Dug Out is the one found
on the left in this picture, closest to the
Boothen End. The Directors box is found
directly above the tunnel and at the back
of that was where the press box used to be
located. The Camera gantry was found on a make shift platform directly above the tunnel
STOKE VS TRANMERE
ROVERS 16/9/95 (DIV 1) 0-0
After a pretty poor start to the 1995/96
season I think that this game was the
turning point that eventually lead to
Stoke reaching the Playoffs. Stoke
battered Tranmere from start to finish
and should of won by several clear goals,
but it was to be one of those days and the
end result finished 0-0 with much
brighter things just around the corner.
The Boothen Stand Paddock can be seen
in the background of the picture as Pesch
crosses from the left wing in front of the
Stoke End Stand.
THE STANLEY MATTHEWS
SUITE
Over the years the Stanley Matthews suite was
a venue to various social events , dinners, meet
the player evenings and presentations. The
Matthews suite was one of the most notable
ground improvements to take place at the
Victoria Ground before it was demolished and
was located on the corner of the Boothen End
and Boothen Stand.
Pictured is a mean and moody looking Larus
Siggurdson collecting a bottle of champagne for
a man of the match performance in a league game. Presentations like this were very common
in the Matthews suite over the years and the place had a kind of warmth about it that made it
seem special.
CELEBRATIONS IN
THE DIRECTORS
BOX!!!
Stoke clinch a spot in the
95/96 1st Divison play offs
after defeating Southend
United 1-0 thanks to a
Mike Sheron goal in their
final home game of the
season.. This match was
agony and seemed to go on
forever but finally the
referee blew his whistle to
secure Stoke an end of
season 4th place spot. Pictured here in the foreground are Big John Gayle and Simon
Sturridge, whilst golden boy at the time Mike Sheron can be seen in the background..
THE BOOTHEN PADDOCK
A view from the seating section of the Boothen stand,
almost is if the camera is floating in the air and looking
down the long stretching Paddock that runs the length of
the pitch.. Perfect if you enjoy standing up at a game at
pitch level watching the match from the same view as
managers would of done in the dugouts..
Personally I never really liked the view from pitch level,
being so low down makes it difficult to actually tell what is
going on in the game, I have no idea's how some
managers manage to judge what is going on.. then again I
suppose some managers don't
This picture is also perhaps one of the best ones on
display for catching how awesome the Boothen end used
to look when it was full, the crowd seems to rise back
forever until they eventually disappear from site under
the shadow of the roof.
I suppose if the club had chose to redevelop the Vic instead of moving to the Brit the
paddocks may of been difficult to fit with seats.
TIME TO GO... HOME...
Again another view, taken from
within the deserted Boothen
Paddock and overlooking the
impressive Stoke End Stand..
The dug outs and tunnel can partly
be seen emerging from out of the
Paddock towards the centre of the
pitch and the camera gantry can
also be viewed, directly above the
players tunnel..
In the far off corner between the
Boothen Stand and the Stoke End Stand the Police Box was located...
IN THE DUG OUT.. ON THE
BENCH
A view of the Stoke City dug out during the
reign of Lou Macari during his second spell
with Stoke City, alongside him can be see
assistant manager Chic Bates and Coach
Mike Pejic.. The two dug outs were often
surrounded by supporters who occupied the
Boothen Paddock, This is what made the
Victoria Ground such a warm and homely
place for Stoke fans, but very intimidating to
any visiting supporters or players, and to be
honest in football that's the way I think it should be and hopefully it will start to happen at the
Brit.
STOKE SECURE 2ND DIVISION
TITLE.. 1993..
Stoke finish off the 1992/93 season in style by
clinching the championship in their second to last
home game of the season against Peter Shilton's
Plymouth Argyle side.. Nigel Gleghorn popped up
early on to secure a 1 0 win for Stoke City..
Pictured are the scenes after the final whistle,
viewed from the Boothen Stand as the players
look down at the pitch which is now a sea of red
and white stripes and what seems like a million singing heads...
THE DRESSING ROOM
A Black and white photograph inside the home
dressing room at the Victoria Ground.. The
shirts hang up on their pegs, ready to be
donned for action.. Thinking about it again I
have no idea why this photo was taken in
Black and white! It makes us look liek
Juventus.. hmmm.. now there's a thought.....
BEHIND THE SCENES
These photographs are actually by a photography student, David Slater who was given free
access behind the scenes at the Victoria Ground. These pictures go a very long way to
capturing a real sense of atmosphere of what it was like behind the scenes as the life of the
Vic drew to a close..
THE LAUNDRY ROOM
Located in the Boothen Stand and was
mostly the responsibility of Winnie Hudson
the kit superviser who was also assisted by
Kit man and Stoke Cult hero Neil "Nello"
Baldwin..
I don't really need to go in to what goes on
in here, do I?.. washing machines, kettles
for making tea and a lot of hard work!!..
THE STOKE CITY
BOARD ROOM,
REALM OF THE
CLOWNS
This is the place where
Stoke City Football Club's
Sugar Daddy Millionaires
have hung around in over the
years.. It has a very nice
carpet and a well polished
table.. nuff' said!..
In this picture are Paul
Doona (tosser) Peter Coates
(corpse), Keith Humpries
(Humpty Dumpty) Paul
Edwards (who?), Jez Moxey (Puppet) and the late Mike Potts (A great bloke, Stoke City
Secretary and true supporter..R.I.P..)
THE SCFC CLUB SHOP
The Stoke City Club Shop was located
on the corner of the Boothen Stand
and Stoke End Stand and was the main
output of Stoke City related
merchandise over the years..
The Club later also opened a shop in
near by Hanley to act out a similar
role that the shop and the Victoria
Ground played..
The Club shop at the Vic also acted as
a Ticket office where tickets for such
events as Cup games and away games could be obtained.
THE GYM
The Stoke City Gym was also
located within the Boothen stand, I
went in here a couple of times on
various opening days at the
Britannia Stadium..
Obviously what is found here a such
things as Gym and exercise
equipment (never!!), and also and
indoor five a side football pitch for
indoor match practice...
