There was something new at the Abbey Stadium on Saturday; Proudly perched on top of the old Disabled Enclosure in front of the supporters club was the unmistakable glow of a new Scoreboard. And what’s more, there was another one mounted on the edge of the control box at the corner of the South Stand.
Where did they come from, and what happened to the old one? UTAS got it’s best man on the case.
For those who don’t remember, the old scoreboard appeared towards the end of the 1990/91 season and was as much a part of the 90’s matchday experience as an Abbey Rabbit, Bacon Roll and the purchase of some garish Vandanel merchandise from the Club ‘Megastore’.
The club paid Glasgow Rangers £25,000 for the old scoreboard, which for some reason was then situated facing away from the vocal support of the Newmarket Road End, towards the away fans. Amongst it’s repertoire was the occasional encouragement to ‘COME ON YOU U’s’ and best of all a hypnotic flashing GOAL! GOAL! GOAL! in black and yellow when we scored. It would also show the scores from around the grounds at half-time, eliciting a huge cheer from the crowd when news of B*ro’s latest defeat flashed up.
Although the common rumour is that it only lasted for a season or two, it actually soldiered on for around ten years, finally giving up the ghost in the early 00’s after being whacked by one too many wayward Jonas Axeldal shots. It was eventually unceremoniously covered up by an ad board, before being removed and presumably scrapped this year.
So, the new ones then? We haven’t been able to see them in action but they look pretty smart from the pictures. We’ve seen people bemoaning the fact that they’re not massive video screens, but we quite like that they’re not. A huge telly strapped to the floodlights would look pretty out of place in our rustic ground.
We’re looking forward to seeing them in the stadium properly next season, and letting out a massive roar when they inform us of another B*ro loss.
The new scoreboards were purchased with assistance from the CUFC Lottery which is run by CFU. You can sign up at www.cufclottery.co.uk
Under The Abbey Stand 
“For those who don’t remember, the old scoreboard appeared towards the end of the 1990/91 season”
I know I’m a terrible pedant and I know it really doesn’t matter but…..
My first game at The Abbey was the last game of that season and I was sure the scoreboard went up after I’d been watching United for quite a while.
This is from the 100yearsofcoconuts site:
“In 1992 United purchased their first electronic scoreboard for £25,000 from Rangers, with sponsorship from Cambridge Cable, and it was unveiled before a match against Derby County(October 1992).”
“The wall at the Allotments End was not strong enough to support it, so it was mounted in front of the Supporters’ Club to the side of the Corona End stand”
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