Thursday 14 February 2008

Awaydays #16 - Walkers Stadium

The club: Leicester City (The Foxes), Walkers Stadium

The ground: Possibly what Home Park really should be like, but taller. The whole stadium is full of clean lines and very neat, with a high space frame roof, wrap-round bowl seating (but seems to not be faceless at the same time). 8/10

The facilities and food: Huge concourse and some of it wasn't in use, a more than ample number of bars, toilets everywhere you looked. It coped very well with the 2,000 strong support. Better than last season - the pies had improved considerably (much have changed brands). The usual fayre available, and they didn't run out which is good for this season. The catering staff were efficient. 7/10

The stewarding/police:Everyone was searched before entering and had any Holloway related materials confiscated, but once in we were left to our own devices and stood for the whole game. The police like to search the official coaches - even without your knowledge during the game - so watch out. They also like to stop and search on the way to the ground. 5/10

The travelling: All of Leicester's sports grounds are located within the same area and next to the A594, from the M69 (off the M6) the signs direct you straight there, plus they are at pains to point out on them that there is no match day parking - instead there are a couple of municipal car parks near by or on street parking. 6/10

The surrounding area (what's there to do outside the ground): Shop at Morrisons or get drunk in the pub. 5/10

The home fans (their contribution to the atmosphere etc): As poor as last year. Considering they had organised a Holloway support day we could have been the only people in the stadium. The attendance was very noticeably low with plenty of empty seats. The local chavs were very restless and spoiling for a fight. 3/10

Total score: 34/60

Awaydays League Table:

Barnsley (Oakwell Stadium) - 42

Blackpool (Bloomfield Road) - 38
Charlton Athletic (The Valley) - 38
Crystal Palace (Selhurts Park) - 38
Hull City (KC Stadium) - 38
Sheffield United (Bramall Lane) - 38
QPR (Loftus Road) - 36

Cardiff City (Ninian Park) - 34

Leicester City (Walkers Stadium) - 34
Portsmouth (Fratton Park) - 34

Burnley (Turf Moor) -33
West Ham (Boleyn Ground) - 31
Layer Road (Colchester) - 32
Stoke City (Britannia Stadium) - 28
Torquay United (Plainmoor) - 27
Watford (Vicarage Road) - 27


Note that I was unable to go to Carrow Road or Portman Road.

1 comment:

Lord Hutton said...

When we had the bike sheds and the Kop we were unstoppable
Now the new stadium and the corporate guff has ended all that.
That's why I go once a season.
It's all bollox now, the big money has killed it