Harry Potts Longside sounds good to us
Last updated : 23 January 2002 By Tony Scholes
It is the one name that supporters in general will never refer to it as. It gets ‘North Stand' from some, ‘Longside' from others and for those of us who would still dearly like to see our former great recognised inside the stadium we call it the ‘Harry Potts Stand'. We of course would never of have objected to the Harry Potts Longside sponsored by James Hargreaves and I'm sure it would have done our sponsors no harm at all.There have been calls before for the name to be put right and they have fallen on deaf ears with the explanation that it is a commercial decision. That can only suggest that the sponsor would not be happy with sharing their name with Longside or indeed with Harry Potts. I would have thought they would have been more than delighted to.
Now you have your chance to let them know what you would like and Clarets supporter Thomas Entwistle has launched an online petition to get the name LONGSIDE restored to the name. We are only too happy to give it some support. The petition can be found at www.petitiononline.com/longside/petition.html and you can just click on this link and sign it.
Whatever sponsor comes in to put their names to stands it is a name that is just ignored by supporters anyway. The first of its kind at Turf Moor was when the Cricket Field Stand became the ‘Burnley Building Society Stand'. It has since carried the names of National & Provincial, Hansen Offset, Endsleigh and Lookers but is still known simply as the Cricket Field Stand.All the supporters are asking for is that the original name should be officially restored but as you sign this petition please don't forget Harry. I'm sure Burnley's greatest ever manager would love to look down on the team that Stan is striving to get back into the top league.
