Stadium Fever

I'VE seen a sign of the future today - and it scares me a bit.
Bristol Rovers have unveiled plans for a 21,000-seater stadium just around the corner from where I live at the University for the West of England site.
Wow! It looks all-singing, all-dancing and there is no doubt it is something the club needs to move with the times.
But when I think of what it means to be a Gashead a small part of me fears that some of our identity will be stripped away.
For so long we have been football's nomads, moving from one rented ground to another before settling in at what, to be honest, is a down-at-heel rugby arena.
Through it all we've stood shoulder to shoulder on pretty dilapidated terraces, shouting on our team in the face of adversity.
It's the things that have gone wrong that have bound us together as Gasheads, always the poor relation compared with football's money-grabbing, soul-destroying headline grabbers.
I realise it is adapt or die.
But the Gashead spirit must go on.
And I think I've a couple of suggestions that would help.
A few years ago, working and living in London, I used to get along to White Hart Lane on the odd weekend off.
Not because I had any particular affinity to Spurs, it was mainly because it was the only ground for which I could get tickets at short notice.
I quickly noticed, though, how they quickly reminded fans of the club's history - thanks to a big TV screen which constantly played footage of action from their past to the refrain of Glory, Glory, Tottenham Hotspur.
Imagine a similar thing at the new UWE stadium. Before the players run out a looping piece of film portraying some of the great moments featuring the Gas: The crowds outside Eastville for that famous FA Cup tie against Newcastle in the 60s, the eight goals at Brighton, Paul Randall's two goals in the FA Cup win over Southampton in 78, the 2nd May 1990, Sammy Igoe's last minute charge against Shrewsbury at Wembley, the list is pretty endless.
You could play the footage with Goodnight Irene or Tote End boys playing in the background - reminding people that this is Bristol Rovers, this is what we are all about.
As has been mentioned before, we could also use poignant names for each part of the ground.
Wouldn't it be great to have the Tote End back, for starters.
Yes, let's move with the times.
But let's also remember the long, long road that got us there.