Photos: Ledyard Football Fans Stood In Rain For Home Team

Colonels fans who wanted to sit and watch the first home game of the season had to rub elbows with Windham Whippets fans on the bleachers on the "away" side of the football field Friday night.

The bleachers on the "home" side were inspected a year ago by an engineering firm and were found to be "at the end of their useful life" and were removed this summer.

"It actually is pretty disappointing," said Shannon Lozier, a Ledyard High School junior huddling under an umbrella behind the home team. "There really is nowhere to sit and we can't support our team from the other side."

Football fan Kaitlyn Turner, who was found with her elbows propped up on the fence behind the Colonels, said that the absence of the bleachers "stinks" but even if there aren't bleachers all season, she'll still show up to support the team.

But, Colonels fans won't have to stand all season. The town passed a $325,000 bond issue in the spring to replace the bleachers and the new ones are expected to be ready for Montville on Friday, Oct. 28.