Best away places to play and coolest fans

[UNIONFAN 10]

From all of my football experience in swva , which dates back to 92, I would have to say the one place for me is easy. Richlands.

I know their old field was not the best and there away bleachers wasnt top of the line for years, but the Blues have some of the most respectable, friendly, gracious fans I have ever seen in SWVA, SEKY, or NETN. What really sticks with me is how Richlands fans are the same at their home field as they are when they visit. The nicest people I have ever faced is the Blues fans. They have pride in there team but respect for there opponents and that always made it fun as a player and fan to go to Richlands

[lhsfan_1998 10]

Also, take a trip up to Louisa County close to Richmond. Outrageous atmosphere!! They have a live tiger for the mascot.haha

[Bigrhsfan 884]

From all of my football experience in swva , which dates back to 92, I would have to say the one place for me is easy. Richlands.

I know their old field was not the best and there away bleachers wasnt top of the line for years, but the Blues have some of the most respectable, friendly, gracious fans I have ever seen in SWVA, SEKY, or NETN. What really sticks with me is how Richlands fans are the same at their home field as they are when they visit. The nicest people I have ever faced is the Blues fans. They have pride in there team but respect for there opponents and that always made it fun as a player and fan to go to Richlands

 

 

Thank you for the kind words sir, and you can be sure that we have plenty of respect for the Union / Powell valley fans and program also ! I didn't mention Appalachia high school only because we never played them, at least not to the best of my knowledge, but i still respect what they accomplished over their many years. Heard a lot about their fan support !

[hoard 18]

I actually forgot about the Eastern Montgomery Stadium in Shawsville. Although small, the facility is very nice with both sides having adequate and comfortable seating. The stadium has a nice overall appearance and just a few years back was always packed to the brim. The folks in Montgomery County did a nice job with that school and the football field. Great accommodations for a smaller D1 school!

 

The new one is a complete 180 from the "stadium" at the former Shawsville High School. That place had the smallest seating capacity for a high school facility I've ever seen.

[Lance 228]

 

Lance, the panel was there but just knocked out(really a lawsuit waiting to happen). Other than that I liked Grundys stadium, not the best but pretty nice. Did Grundy ever actually fill up their home side? Its HUGE!

 

yeah...it was pretty much packed most of the time in the 80s. Before the visitors side was put in, you had the home folks from the middle going back towards the school and the visitors down there towards the hospital in that end section. You get two bands and all the fans packed in there it made for some great atmosphere back in the day.

 

They ended up putting the visitors side in when Grundy got shafted out of a playoff game because there was some rule on the books at the time about visitors seating capacity...i think it had to be something like 5,000 people and Grundy's home side only seated 3.000 or something along those lines, i'm not sure of the actual numbers...but after that, they put the visitors side in.

 

It's really not bad over there other than being next to the mountain and you get a few bugs early in the season.

 

Like I said, someone probably pulled that section up trying to steal it...Grundy does a pretty good job of keeping up with that sort of stuff...if they know something is messed up, it usually gets fixed quickly.

 

Now...if they would just invest in a good PA system and take those poles and loudspeakers down...

[chubzfan 16]

From all of my football experience in swva , which dates back to 92, I would have to say the one place for me is easy. Richlands.

I know their old field was not the best and there away bleachers wasnt top of the line for years, but the Blues have some of the most respectable, friendly, gracious fans I have ever seen in SWVA, SEKY, or NETN. What really sticks with me is how Richlands fans are the same at their home field as they are when they visit. The nicest people I have ever faced is the Blues fans. They have pride in there team but respect for there opponents and that always made it fun as a player and fan to go to Richlands

 

Union fan here also, agree with the post above, I sat on Richlands side last year because there wasn't any seats on Unions side. Great fans, and they knew I was a Bear fan.

[RichlandsAlum 678]

 

They ended up putting the visitors side in when Grundy got shafted out of a playoff game because there was some rule on the books at the time about visitors seating capacity...i think it had to be something like 5,000 people and Grundy's home side only seated 3.000 or something along those lines, i'm not sure of the actual numbers...but after that, they put the visitors side in.

 

 

I referenced the poor quality of Liberty's visitor seating. What you probably don't know is that the 2002 state semifinal against Grundy was very nearly moved to Brookville based on the aforementioned rule. The City trucked in enough temporary bleachers the week before the game to meet the minimum requirement. (And we did so because we were personally aware of the situation that Grundy had faced previously.)

 

Unlike Grundy, however, Liberty's visitor side still sucks badly.

[CPF 409]

yeah...it was pretty much packed most of the time in the 80s. Before the visitors side was put in, you had the home folks from the middle going back towards the school and the visitors down there towards the hospital in that end section. You get two bands and all the fans packed in there it made for some great atmosphere back in the day.

 

They ended up putting the visitors side in when Grundy got shafted out of a playoff game because there was some rule on the books at the time about visitors seating capacity...i think it had to be something like 5,000 people and Grundy's home side only seated 3.000 or something along those lines, i'm not sure of the actual numbers...but after that, they put the visitors side in.

 

It's really not bad over there other than being next to the mountain and you get a few bugs early in the season.

 

Like I said, someone probably pulled that section up trying to steal it...Grundy does a pretty good job of keeping up with that sort of stuff...if they know something is messed up, it usually gets fixed quickly.

 

Now...if they would just invest in a good PA system and take those poles and loudspeakers down...

 

 

I don't know Lance its still pretty annoying from a visitors standpoint. I used to have that annoying PA guy from Grundy saying "first down Grundy golden wave" in my head for days afterward.lol

[V-Cats 472]

Richlands has the best fans, Honaker has the best concession stand.

[Lance 228]

I don't know Lance its still pretty annoying from a visitors standpoint. I used to have that annoying PA guy from Grundy saying "first down Grundy golden wave" in my head for days afterward.lol

 

hey i'm 100% in agreement on the PA system...i bet if they passed around a hat at halftime to raise money for a new one, it wouldn't take long to have it paid for LOL...that seems to be everyone's biggest gripe with the place.

 

They need something with more low end to it, like what Tazewell has...in the mountains the high end of those speakers they have now just echos and gets lost...its hard to understand whats being said at times.

[stu_bean 1,058]

hey i'm 100% in agreement on the PA system...i bet if they passed around a hat at halftime to raise money for a new one, it wouldn't take long to have it paid for LOL...that seems to be everyone's biggest gripe with the place.

 

They need something with more low end to it, like what Tazewell has...in the mountains the high end of those speakers they have now just echos and gets lost...its hard to understand whats being said at times.

Interesting to bring that up about our sound system. I don't know how it sounds on the visitors side but it is nice on the home side.

 

Who else has a sound system worthy of praise around the area?

[BlueRazor 1,147]

To the two Union fans that was very kind. I can say the same about you and the Gate City fans. Two great football traditions and fans that love there teams. I try my best and did both games this year to go up to the players and fans after the game on the field and talk to them. We wish them the best and give them the praise they deserve. My picks would be Gate City and Union. Honaker is also a great football town with loyal fans and for sure the best food!.

[ojrussell 61]

I remember in the 50s? rhs & appy played in Richlands at the old field ,which was the Armory, now the police station. I believe it was a post season game . Can someone comment on this?

[falconfansrock 11]

I like VA High's field, I like ABingdon's as well, but one thing that I ABSOLUTELY hate at Abingdon is the location of the bathrooms and the size of them. It doesn't matter what side you sit on, if you have to go use the head, you will have to climb a steep hill on the way down and a steep hill on the way back. I can't understand why this has not been remedied yet.