Isle of Man
Floodlights
turfed and transformed into a football ground. A year later the huge
banking along one side was covered by a concrete cantilever
stand and clubhouse, and then
behind the far goal by a quite awesome terrace which on first view
looks to be a sheer drop. In fact
the three steps are a yard deep
and give a superb, but precarious
view and pose a notinconsiderable danger to onrushing players, such is its proximity to
ABOVE—The former Ballacloan children’s home whose the playing area. Those students
who have seen pictures of Norwich
grounds were converted into a stadium in 1959
City’s Nest ground, vacated in 1938, can
visualise Ballacloan, albeit on a much
smaller scale. Surprisingly there are no
barriers around the pitch but at one time
there were some on the terrace, judging
by the remains embedded in the concrete,
but they are long gone, along with the
halcyon days when crowds were big
enough to justify them.
The second ground on the island worthy of
attention is the Bowl in Douglas, a stunning, bush and tree-lined stadium which
has hosted various sports and occasions
in its 60-odd year history. It has concrete
terracing around its whole with wooden
bench seating along two sides of the bowl
shape, vaguely reminiscent of Bromley
FC’s covered stand. Until the 90’s there
was a small area of cover straddling the
half-way line but it was swept away, when
the FA built their headquarters there in the
mid-90’s and replaced it with an extension
of the FA buildings. Most of the cup finals
are played there and it is also home to St
Mary’s FC, a bone of contention with a
number of other Douglas-based clubs who
covet use of the place.
Groundtastic
Wooden benches on one side of the Bowl
page 21
Issue 23