Bloomfield Road - Advertising

Advertising

Even in the early days of Bloomfield Road's existence, advertising was in evidence around the ground, with "Winter Gardens", the town's entertainment complex, emblazoned above the southern half of the West Stand.

For around fifty years after Bloomfield Road's 1899 opening, adverts were restricted to hoardings around the ground. Eventually, however, the sloping corrugated-iron roofs of the East and West stands were painted in order to expand the advertising and, in turn, revenue options. Around 1950, the "Oh Be Joyful" slogan of Dutton's Brewery, based in Blackburn, was painted on the roof of the West Stand. This was replaced in the 1970s by Whitbread's "Whitbread Tankard. Cool, refreshing flavour".

Across the ground, on the East Stand, several advertisements graced the roof of the original structure between the 1950s and the point at which it was demolished. In the mid-1950s, the roof featured three black-on-white adverts; the northern quarter was given over to the Evening Gazette and The Green, while the middle two quarters featured an advert for Harold "The Riley Man of the North" Smith's Premier MG Garage on Bolton Street. The southern portion consisted of an advert asking patrons "Have You Tried Ismail's Tea?", in reference to the town's tea and coffee merchants Ismail & Co. Ltd., located on Birley Street. Above that, on a stanchion attached to the rear slope of the roof, was a billboard for Morrell's Steelworks.

The Evening Gazette and The Green adverts remained until the 1980s; however, that of Harold Smith's garage – which, along with the former two, was repainted in the reverse colours of white-on-black – was halved in length and re-branded "Premier Garage South Shore" in the mid-1960s. The Ismail & Co. Ltd advert, meanwhile, was amended. During the 1969–70 season this was joined, to its northern side, by an advert for Vauxhall & Bedford, which led to the Premier Garage advert being halved in size. Around 1976, the Evening Gazette and The Green paint was changed to black-on-green firstly, then black-on-white, while the Premier Garage and Vauxhall & Bedford sections were repainted to feature an advert for Lancaster-based Oliver Rix's British Leyland Garages in tangerine lettering on a blue background. Ismail & Co. Ltd.'s advert remained.

In the mid-1990s, the entire East Stand roof was painted tangerine and featured, in black lettering, an advert for Coucher & Shaw, a local solicitors company.

The last of these was the club's shirt sponsors between 1997 and 2001 – Telewest. Not long before this, however, the television-camera gantry, which was originally erected on the West Stand, was moved to the East Stand, somewhat negating the effectiveness of Telewest's advert.

After the western half of the Spion Kop was closed to supporters in the 1980s, billboards were introduced on the empty steps.