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File:The Tote End, Eastville Stadium, Bristol 1986 (301079828).jpg

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The_Tote_End,_Eastville_Stadium,_Bristol_1986_(301079828).jpg (572 × 585 pixels, file size: 176 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

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The Tote End at Bristol Rovers former ground, Eastville Stadium, pictured from the North Stand on May 3rd 1986 during the club's final game there, a reserve match against Watford (final score 1-1, Rovers goal scored by David Mehew) in front of no more than a few hundred fans (only the North Stand was open that day). At the time speculation was rife that this game would be the final curtain, although it wasn't until June 1986 that it was confirmed that Rovers had indeed called it quits, even though their lease at Eastville had one more year to run.

Rovers were forced out because they could no longer afford the £50,000 per year rent being charged by their landlords, The Bristol Stadium Company. Quite simply, Eastville was costing Rovers around £2,000 per home game, which with falling gates in the 1980's (this was the era of Heysel and the Bradford fire) resulted in a loss for almost every match.

Sharing Bristol City's Ashton Gate was not an option because the rent there would have been on a par with Eastville. So for the next decade, Rovers played 12 miles away at Twerton Park in Bath (thank you, Bath City) before returning to Bristol in 1996 to play at the Memorial Stadium. The Tote End terrace at Eastville was demolished in August 1987, and the rest of the Stadium was reduced to rubble ten years later after the greyhounds relocated. A beastly Ikea superstore was built on the site in 1998.

Note: I took this photo with about ten minutes of the game left and if you look closely at the front of the Tote, you can just make out Rovers' Chief Executive, Gordon Bennett taking one last stroll around the ground.
Date
Source The Tote End, Eastville Stadium, Bristol 1986
Author Rick
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This image, originally posted to Flickr, was reviewed on December 30, 2007 by the administrator or reviewer File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske), who confirmed that it was available on Flickr under the stated license on that date.
Camera location51° 28′ 21.08″ N, 2° 33′ 53.18″ W Kartographer map based on OpenStreetMap.View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMapinfo

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3 May 1986

51°28'21.079"N, 2°33'53.176"W

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current11:36, 30 December 2007Thumbnail for version as of 11:36, 30 December 2007572 × 585 (176 KB)File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske) {{Information |Description= The Tote End at Bristol Rovers former ground, Eastville Stadium, pictured from the North Stand on May 3rd 1986 during the club's final game there, a reserve match against Watford (final score 1-1, Rovers goal scored by David M

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