Scratching Shed

String o' beads · Post by **String o' beads** » Mon 20 Apr, 2009 11:56 pm

Why was it so named? I can't find a definitive answer having goggled round a bit. Kop's easy - various stadia have them, named for their resemblance to a steep hill named Spion Kop, scene of a Boer War battle. The only other vague reference is to chicken houses... Perhaps it was just that it *looked* like a chicken house.

zip55 · Post by **zip55** » Tue 21 Apr, 2009 12:40 am

Geordie-exile wrote: Why was it so named? I can't find a definitive answer having goggled round a bit. Kop's easy - various stadia have them, named for their resemblance to a steep hill named Spion Kop, scene of a Boer War battle. The only other vague reference is to chicken houses... Perhaps it was just that it *looked* like a chicken house. Maybe because you were all packed in tight, if one person itched, everybody itched ... just a guess.

blackprince · Post by **blackprince** » Tue 21 Apr, 2009 3:02 pm

Geordie-exile wrote: Why was it so named? I can't find a definitive answer having goggled round a bit. Kop's easy - various stadia have them, named for their resemblance to a steep hill named Spion Kop, scene of a Boer War battle. The only other vague reference is to chicken houses... Perhaps it was just that it *looked* like a chicken house. I think you have answered your own question it resembled a large chicken house - described as follows"Around the turn of the century it was common to have a "scratching shed" attached to the henhouse, which was a substitute for range during the winter. The scratching shed was usually open-fronted (that is, walled on three sides only, with chicken wire on the fourth side), with a thick layer of loose straw on the floor. Grain is fed in the scratching shed, which is where the birds get their fresh air, exercise, and sunshine."

dogduke · Post by **dogduke** » Tue 21 Apr, 2009 3:10 pm

It was known as the Sctaching Shed when I watched Leeds inthe early sixties

drapesy · Post by **drapesy** » Tue 21 Apr, 2009 5:52 pm

Leeds Road, Huddersfield and Valley Parade in Bradford both had similar structures - both long gone now of course. The one at Huddersfield was always known as the 'Cowshed'. Originally, and until the 1960's, the 'shed' was where most Leeds supporters gathered - being cheap and under cover - away fans would usually be in the open 'Kop' opposite(no segragation then of course). When a new roofed stand replaced the old earth -banked open Kop in 1969 the situation reversed and it was the 'Kop'(or Gelderd End to use a name fom the past!) that Leeds fans always occupied - as is still the case.

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Tue 21 Apr, 2009 6:09 pm

Gelderd end being better than a gelded end.

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Tue 21 Apr, 2009 10:42 pm

I think most grounds had a "shed" Gloucester Ru ground still does. I tremble to mention it on here, but I'm a Featherstone Rovers fan (no I'm not Fevlad) and PO Road used to have the Bullock Shed (named after Bullock of B&S buses fame)

drapesy · Post by **drapesy** » Tue 21 Apr, 2009 11:25 pm

Trojan wrote: I think most grounds had a "shed" Gloucester Ru ground still does. I tremble to mention it on here, but I'm a Featherstone Rovers fan (no I'm not Fevlad) and PO Road used to have the Bullock Shed (named after Bullock of B&S buses fame) I wouldn't say 'most' but they were by no means unusual.