10:52am Thursday 11th March 2010
By Gill Johnson
READER Derek Peel has come across a family photo, taken in the days when it took more than a bit of snow and ice to postpone a football match.
It’s taken at Ewood Park in the 1950s and shows a bit of fire in the goalmouth!
A the time Derek’s grandfather Bob Mackay worked as a groundsman for Blackburn Rovers.
He said: “Back in those days when we had a really keen frost before a match it was a common thing for the groundstaff to work all through thenight to try and defrost the penalty areas by burning braziers all night !
“I often remember my granddad working all night on Fridays to try and get the pitch ready and this is what the photo shows.”
“It’s interesting to see the conditions in which football was played in those days. The penalty areas might have been part defrosted but the rest of the pitch would be rock hard with just the lines swept clear of snow.
“The match would be played with a red ball.”
Derek thinks the photo was taken at the Darwen end, but maybe you can definitely place it.
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