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13/1/10
Bishop's blog

Why we should make the Cowsheds the home end again.

Here’s a question for all you Rovers diehards. Why is this website named “The Cowsheds?” Were the guys indulging in a spot of sentimentalism when naming it, or have they failed to notice that since 2000 the huge Kop at the Bebington End has become the gathering point for our most fervent and noisy fans?

Behind the town goal had always been regarded as the home supporters end right from the day Prenton Park was opened in 1912 but when a five span pitched roof was erected in 1931 it was soon christened the “Cowshed” by supporters themselves because that is exactly what it looked like. The acoustic properties of that steel roof also ramped up the volume and most of the club’s most fervent fans were able to generate quite a roar when Rovers attacked. They became the 12th man.

That changed though when the massive 5,696 seat Kop stand was opened in 1995. At that time attendances approached 10,000 regularly, we were pushing for promotion in what is now called the ‘Championship’ and the home support largely migrated from the Cowshed to the massive new edifice which was split between home and away supporters with a ‘dead zone’ between to separate the lunatic fringe from tearing each other apart.

By 2001 supporters groups finally persuaded the club that the Kop should become the exclusive home of Rovers most fervent supporters on the basis they would be able to generate a fantastic atmosphere in the ground. Away fans meanwhile switched to the Cowshed - though the Police were less than pleased as it presented a greater security problem in their view.

The famous Worthington Cup semi final against Bolton in 2000 perhaps clinched the swap of ends. Over 5,000 vociferous fans, many on the edge of hysteria, packed the Kop and almost sucked the ball into the Bolton net three times as Rovers headed for Wembley.

On that night Aldo acknowledged they were our 12th man and as pivotal in our success as the Liverpool Kop had ever been at Anfield.

But times change and now here we are playing before a total gallery of five thousand, scattered around a 16,500 capacity stadium and much of the atmosphere that once made Prenton Park, particularly on a Friday night, a venue to be feared has simply vanished.

Thus what I am about to propose will no doubt bring the wrath of Kop regulars clattering down about my head. Indeed, I can hear many fans screaming “no way” as they read this now. But please give me a hearing and think about it. That’s all I ask.

Even if you put the tradition aspect to one side, doesn’t it make sense to congregate all your most fervent and vociferous supporters together and largely fill a smaller stand where the noise generated wouldn’t get lost within an auditorium second only in size locally to the ship building hall at Lairds?

If you don’t know it guys and gals I can tell you we can hardly hear the Kop from where I sit in the home paddock and the spectre of 1,200 people dotted around this cavernous stand looks somewhat less than threatening. Even the drummer seems to make only occasional appearances these days.

In short, we have effectively passed any advantage to our visitors who often manage to make more racket in the Cowshed with 600 travelling supporters than the 4,800 wearing Rovers colours around the other three sides. When stands are sparsely populated the players can hear every moan and groan and it can hurt.

So for the time being lets go back to our roots, populate our traditional home end and re-create the days when the Cowsheds set the tone and mood of a match rather than waiting for the players to get their act together and responding accordingly. If we ever aspire to a higher grade of football and the missing thousands return then perhaps we could reconsider but that’s a long way off in the future.

So what of the Kop I hear you say? Well, I’d close it, all bar the first 20 rows on the main stand side for the use of away supporters. Those seats are about the most acoustically ineffective in the stand and any chanting by away fans would simply be lost in the open air. The police could also manage access and egress to the car park without the need to block Prenton Road West with coaches after the match.

The club could thus save considerably on the cost of stewarding, lighting, litter-picking and catering for the remaining three quarters of the Kop. Perhaps they could even earn some extra income by draping huge adverts over the upper seating or better still, sell them to MK Dons! Only joking…..

While my proposal is undoubtedly radical and would be unpopular with Kopites, particularly season ticket holders, we would not be the first club to close a section of their ground because it was essentially too big for current needs.

Blackburn for example regularly close three quarters of their Darwen end stand, Bradford have mothballed the upper part of their recently re built Main stand while Wigan Athletic often play with fans occupying just three stands.

While there is an economic advantage to my proposal it’s more about trying to improve the atmosphere, and ramp up the noise levels to help Les and the lads in the battle for survival ahead. In some parts of the ground the old joke about having to walk 10 yards for a light (that’s if smoking were allowed!) seems relevant again.

Let’s face it, even if we opened the gates and let people in free we would struggle to fill Prenton Park because it’s the product that attracts the casual fan, and at the moment it is neither glamorous nor cool to support Tranmere Rovers. Less than 8,000 turned out on an admittedly foul night for a FA Cup tie with a Premiership club.

Clearly, we are down to the hard core of loyal fans who will turn up come what may – as long as we are in the third tier of football’s hierarchy. If we go down, you can be sure more will jump ship.

So it’s vital to do everything we can to make it ‘Fortress Prenton’ again. Surely the sight of a packed Cowshed – our spiritual home - with drums banging, flags waving and chanting “ superwhitearmy” has to be better than lots of little groups dotted around a largely deserted stand all wondering where the Kop magic went?
 

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