Picture from Stickypedia
Someone I used to know when I lived in Teesside bought a small rectangular piece of turf when Ayresome Park closed in 1995. A nice souvenir for the Middlesbrough Football Club supporter to remind him of the old ground. He rather brilliantly set this piece of turf in a window box and around it he build a football ground around it out of balsa wood, not a replica of the old ground but it was the thought that counted, he even marked out the lines using Tippex. Several other items from the closure of the ground are now owned by ardent fans such as seats and assorted furniture. Wembley Stadium was subjected to a similar souvenir stripping as I am sure were other now defunct grounds.
We are a bit more knowledgeable nowadays when it comes to memorabilia, some people own bits of the Berlin Wall for example because they knew that this would become an interesting piece of history. Clothing worn by famous people, bits of old buildings and the like all have a market, which brings me to something happening in Nottingham. Rock City is having its notorious main floor replaced for the first time in the venue's 39 year history. Anybody who has been to Rock City will be aware of the floor, because it is always as sticky as arseholes. The official line is that the floor's stickiness is a mystery because they clean it after every gig, but I suspect that to be slightly economical with the truth. Sections of the floor will be sold for around the £25-£30 ballpark after they have been cleaned, sanded and branded with the Rock City logo.
This is where Rock City have dropped a slight bollock regarding this. While it is ironic that if you buy a piece of the floor it will have been cleaned, how will be even be able to know for sure that it is indeed a piece of Rock City's dancefloor? For the true collector of live music artifacts, you would want the floor to remain as dirty and sticky as always, wouldn't you?
I was going to buy a bit to put in my kitchen as a fly catcher but I won't bother now.
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