Place is imbibed with meaning, love and hope. I spent some of my greatest moments as a child and young man at Fer Ark. I learnt about my roots, passion, joy, fear, hatred and love. I can just about remember my first visit. And my last. Most of the hundreds of visits inbetween however have long faded to a fuzzy mind meld of happiness tinged with disappointment. We identify ourselves with place. We are territorial animals. It doesn't matter where you go in life you always take with you your roots. I haven't lived in Hull for many years. Doesn't matter. It's still home. I've been to many football grounds around the world. None of them have ever evoked the excitement I felt as a 9 year old walking into Boothferry Park. And I know, none of them ever will. For me it will always be my favourite football ground.
Share these sentiments with you completely. I saw the first league match there as an 8 yr old and it was a major disappointment not making the last. All arrangements were in place but illness intervened. The 1-0 result to Darlington was not the ideal finish and even my wife showed some sympathy. Takes me back to a similar result playing Darlington in the 1948/49 promotion season when we started with 23 games with only 1 defeat which came at game 11 at home with the 1-0 result. Raich Carter era of course when the Boothferry Roar was certainly on a par with the Roker Roar at Sunderland, and better still we had a song to belt out for the team.
I also started when I was 9 Y/O, in the late fifties, and what stays with me was the smell when you enter the ground, it had an intoxicating aroma, which is hard to describe. However the smell of winter green when the players came out was certainly an abiding memory.
Still have mixed feelings about BP. Only saw decades of underachievement there which lead me to believe the ground was cursed, however nostalgia for oldschool terraces will remain with me forever.
Couldn't agree with Shack, John and BMB more. As I drive past Boothferry Park on my visits to Hull and am on my way to the KC, I can't but help to visualize The Tigers coming on to the lush turf to Tiger Rag, Bunkers Hill, the supporters singing the Boothferry Roar, Raich Carter directing the game with the ball stationary at his feet sending opposing players the wrong way with a little body movement, Jock Davidson's crunching tackles. And later on the six floodlight pylons, Chilton and Waggy scoring goals like there was no tomorrow and playing in all kinds of weather including blizzard snow conditions with a snow covered turf. Ah memories.
