Ok people I think it's time for this thread (or one like it). With only 5 games to go at the Willows lets re-live some of the best (and worst if you want

) moments, matches, Players etc that have graced the old girl and, if you have any a few photos of the place then feel free to share them with us.

Anyway just to remind you what it's all about, here's a shot from Yesterday (kindly lent by Paul McNally, cheers fella)

Beautiful, well I think she is!

So long the Willows



Had many happy times there as a visiting fan. One or two victories but mostly drubbings.



Must move with the times but it's still always sad to see the end of a loved stadium. These places hold thousands of memories.

that cup win over wigan

plus a league and john player win over wigan within days of each win

and the great team of 74 & 76 with all that pace in the backs

now 1 to 5 in the legends must be Charlton,Fielding, Watkins, Hesketh, and Richards, so many great tries.

I remember being sat in the Main Stand seats once, and a big scrap broke out. I'm not sure who it was against (something tells me it was Cas). But it was a really nice sunny day, and I remember Martin Offiah lying down on his side on the grass just in front of us, whilst everyone else was over on the other side of the pitch whilst it was being sorted out by the ref



Also, his drop goal against Braford

She will be sadley missed but she is in need of being put down.

Best memory was when Richard Webster ran the width of the pitch to Get Jason Critchley with the most brutal high tackle ever when he was playing for Keighley.

Got to say that the try against Hull KR this season is the best I think I've seen in 40 years of going to the Willows.

Oh yeah and the Offia drop goal.

Silly as it sounds i think the willows isnt as outdated and in ruins as alot of folk think,i was stood having a crafty fag up by the north stand at half time last night pondering in deep thought looking around the place.The place is well kept,the north stand is one of my fav stands in any stadium ive been to(when was it built)the clubhouse end is unique in many ways with such a great facility behind it.Whats wrong with the main stand?The terracing around the stadium is in very good nick and far from hardly crumbling! The shed is the shed at the end of the day !The playing surface is easily one of the best in super league. The only thing that i think lets the place down is the dire toilet facilities and food and drink outlets,plus it does look a bit of a sh it tip in places from the outside!

Best time ever (apart from the CC Cup win over Wigan and Neil Baker's double chip)....... erm...... The Cougar Crawl at home, absolute class and the ultimate payback !

I'll raise a glass or 7 to the old girl

How the terracing is deemed safe at creator odsall is beyond me,the jungle/wheeldon road/collesium what ever it called is full of asbestos !!Belle Vue is in a league of its own and bar the big terrace stand at craven park,the rest of the place needs blowing up!

From an atmosphere point of view, when Leeds and Hull fans used to come in the shed. Used to make for a quality atmosphere. Always managed to give as good as we got as well.

My first ever game Salford 4 Castleford 0,also maybe even that same season i remember beating sheffield with a last minute drop goal 17-16ish (i think)

Is that the game where John Duffy got drop kick from near half way line which just nicked it for us at end?

no it was Watson, and svery time i think about it, goes 10 yards more

If that's the one I'm thinking of, it was against Warrington.

My first memories were in the 1950s when as kids we were let in at half time for free and the little old man from Luckettis ice cream. He would take a big square shiny metal tin round the terraces selling his ice cream [ same size as a choc ice wrapped in paper , he would shout out " ices , ices " and us kids would follow him round shouting " ices ices , all ice and no cream " then he would chase us off . Also standing on the score board that was on a mound where the clubhouse now stands Happy days.

When we beat oldham and warrington in the lancashire cup to make the final of the cup where we lost the cup on the worst reffing mistake ever when hampson who should have been sent off scored wining try to deny us cup. Also the 1996 challange cup win over wigan how can any one forget that day

climbing in through Weaste cricket club in the seventies! The smell of the liniment when the players used to come out many years ago. Meeting my dad every home game stood under the same flood light with his mates, finding I am doing the same as my dad standing in the open terrace under the flood light with my mates. recent good memories beating Wigan in the cup and ending there long unbeaten run. Worst game that still stands in my memory Castleford putting, I think 70 odd points past us.

What I will not miss is the toilet facilities!

Good Topic this K.O.T.S.
Some of my best moments
Watching my Daughter lead the team out against Leeds but we got walloped


C.C V Wigan
Cheeky Girls singing at half time.


the Parachutist flying in to the side of the north stand. ( ouch)
The Salford cougar crawl
Mc Avoy drop goal attempt v Bratfud when it nearly took the corner flag out
the Aussie games in the world challange when we played Adalaide.
The Shed atmoshphere in the 80s & 90s when away fans were allowed in. Hostile or what.
The playing surface. ( MUST BE ONE OF THE BEST IN THE SUPER LEAGUE IF NOT THE BEST?)
The friendly against Wigan in the snow

Worst moments
The toilets at ther moment
some of the Death Burgers that have been served there over the years


the drubbing by Cas


seeing Chris Charles in a Salford shirt for the last time.

.

three great games from 70's

a win over New Zealand 32-31 (winning 32-0 at half time)
a big over New Zealand 50-2

and a game against Australia 12-15

Wigan CC game, end of, Will take that memory to the grave with me. Got to agree with Karlos about away fans in the shed in the 90's, Leeds being by far the most hostile and there were a fair few scuffles IIRC. I hope we can recreate the old atmosphere one last time before we go to Barton.

Post match drinkies with the players in the mid 90's in the VC after the game.

Favourite tries? One against Saints a few years back springs to mind where the ball must have gone through 15 pairs of hands. Try v KR this year and one of Paul White's v Sheffield was one of my favourite individual efforts,

Half-time Bovril, pre-Super League era.

Korky's conversion attempt.



Like Wardleyred says though, for an old bint The Willows still does it for me every time.

Forgot the try we scored again Hudds I think when Coley put in some monumental hits and they went backwards 30 yards in the set until Coley put in one last hit in thier own in goal causing them to drop the ball and he dropped on it to score. The hits were all accompanied by the roar.

As all you red fans are lamenting your memories of the Willows i thought I'd join in.

My favouite memory has to be when we won in 80's in I think then the Lancashire cup I remember Swinton were up for a hiding and we turned the tables and won.

I have always said that the Willows is a proper rugby ground and I have always had good banter with the fans come derby days.I am sure It could have been kept, spending a fraction of the cost that has been used at Barton but as many have said you have to move on.

The lasting best memory for me will be later this season when the last trophy to be paraded around there will Be Swinton crowned league Champions, now that is certainly going to be a send off for the old stadium.!!

Marshy its a no brainer, if we stay at the Willows we will not get a franchise,
yet teams like Leeds can stay at their own old grond with its old stands and uncovered ends.

It as to be my first game, v New Zealand in 1955,and to see the fastest man I have seen in a Salford shirt.
Wally MacArthur,also David Watkins first game v Oldham and to see the great players like Watkins Fielding Hesketh
Richards Charlton Gill Coulman Prescott,and the great Colin Dixon,also the best overseas player Neil Baker that we
have had in my opinion.And not forgetting the two first division championships,we won in the seventies,and not forgetting
all the rest,who made us.The great Red Devils.

I started my Salford education properly in the North stand with all the rest of the North stand enders they are a good bunch of lads, full of stats and facts, watching salford beat wigan in the northstand in the challenge cup was highlight especially when we scored and all ten of us jumped up in a sea of cherry and white.

Funniest moment was when ever there was 5 minutes to go in a match my dad would grab me and we would have to sprint from one end at the back of the northstand to the exit at the jeb end so we wouldnt get caught in the crowd coming out, id always run up one of the stair cases in the middle to see what i was missing i cant remember who we were playing but the salford player was Phil Mahon?? (ozzie standoff played for us mid to late 90s played for Hull kr and doncaster i think) anyway we had the ball coming away from the northstand so i started running shot up the stair case he was running sides with it so i ran down and heard a massive roar so i sprinted to the end of the stand looked and salford are under the posts all hands on hips he had thrown a interception it was very funny i couldnt believe i missed it

I remember one particular game against Sheffield Eagles it was dark Friday night the willows bitter cold may night 1999 Iain Watson dropped a goal from about 35 yards to win the match 17-16.
I was stood slightly to the left of the sticks in the north stand Salford were attacking the club end of the ground and as the ball glided over the post I caught a glimpse of the shed, I turned to look at the shed and it was rocking, it was strange really, The shed looked alive like a wild animal baying for Sheffield blood and the sight of Iain Watson dropping the goal had sparked it off into frenzy……fantastic.

From that particular moment I thought I needed to get in there. So after meeting a few people in the North stand who I got on with and were of a similar age to me ventured over into the heartbeat.
Going from the North stand to the Shed was like going from your local quiet friendly pub by your house to a Night club in the middle of town, the noise was deafening, thousands of people José ling for position all looking hard and scary.

But it was great fun, the adrenaline was amazing standing with thousands of other people who cared as much as me created (and still does) such a buzz when we score, every try is still sometimes greeted like it’s the one that wins us the grand or challenge cup final, that’s what matters.
From that point I was hooked.

It’s the people that make following Salford so great for me, what ever walk of life you come from your one of a special group of people who care, yes you might not know everyone by name and they might not jump up and down and scream like you do but you know they care just as much as you, ill miss them when we move (they will probably be there but they wont be standing in the same spot they are now) There is a old guy and his daugher who when i 1st went in the shed i stood with them, even now 10 years later i stop and chat to them on the way to my spot in the shed .

Singing against Hull / Leeds/ Hull KR fans in the shed and the amazing testosterone atmospheres created we gave as good as we got in those days, couldnt happen now rugby league has moved on with it being more family orientated now with football mentallity creeping in it was a good time and good place to be in them days.

Another game i remember was in 2002 we drew with wakefield and ian Watson dived over the blind side to keep us in with a chance of staying up, the crowd went mental and i bounced round the shed and ended up 20 yards further right than i started down at the bottom of the shed near the dug out.

When we got relegated in 2002 v castleford i remember invading the pitch and sitting on the 20 yard line infront of the club with the KOB for 20 minutes after like our world had caved in (which imo it had, it took me 3 days to get out of bed after that result)
Flicking GT's Glasses of his head accidently when we beat Leigh in the playoff semifinal in 2003 and seeing them sail over everyones head and he got them back in one piece.

Aron Moule scoring in 10 seconds v Hull in 2006 and getting my nose busted by solly celebrating

Commentating on Salford V Saints when we won with the famous quote "and mcguiness is running" and verbal diareea that followed, wouldnt change a thing it was ace.

There will be more i just cant think of any at the moment ill probably add a few more by the end of the season