crest2
BuiltWithNOF
Grounds

Football, it is said, is a funny old game, and people either love it or hate it for various reasons. Most people in the game, though, feel that the only 'true' supporter is the one that supports his own local team, win or lose, through the bad times as well as when they just happen to have won something. By 'support', I mean actually going to watch games, both home and away.

So, true supporters will know what I'm on about in this section. It is a personal view, and many of you will disagree with me, but I hope, too, that you will recognise that I am trying to be honest.

My first visit to a league ground was at, of all places, West Ham. My Mum took me after having been there herself a few weeks earlier. But when I started to go to Highbury County School, it was Arsenal that I first visited on my own, and I've been an avid supporter ever since. And I'm happy to say that both Mark and Cheryl followed in my footsteps.

Since those early days, football grounds have changed a lot. Firstly by covering the terraces and, since Hillsborough, the all-seater stadium. It still irks most football supporters that the Hillsborough killers, to this day, have never faced prosecution.

Anyway, these are my thoughts on some of the grounds I have visited. Because of obvious bias, Arsenal, where under the new North Bank, it's more like a shopping mall, with various food outlets, betting shop, live music, and video screens wherever you look, is excluded from this list.

  • GROUNDS:
  • Best:
    • Merchandise United
      • Yes, I hate to admit it, but I really rate this ground. Haven't been there since they rebuilt the Stretford End.
  • Best Feature
    • Eindhoven
      • Heating
  • Worst:
    • Luton
      • Entry to parts of the ground is over the tops of people's back gardens.
    • Orient
      • The main facade looks like corrugated iron
    • Tottenham
      • Tottenham high Street is a busy shopping centre. Getting in and out of the ground is absolute bedlam.
  • Easiest to find outside London:
    • Aston Villa
      • The ground is immediately visible as you turn off the M6 on to the A38 Aston Expressway.
    • Leeds
      • Again, it's bang in front of you as you drive down the exit slip road.
  • Worst Toilets:
    • Luton
      • From the upper tier, they used to leak on to the terrace below. Naturally, this is where they put the away supporters.
    • (Old) Wembley
      • The so-called Mecca of football. What a joke.
  • Weirdest:
    • Coventry
      • Sky blue this. Sky blue that. Even sky blue bloody toilets. Weird!
  • SUPPORTERS:
  • Best:
    • Newcastle
      • I recall a match when Arsenal beat Newcastle 2 - 0 at Highbury. The Newcastle fans made an incredible racket right up until the final whistle. That's true support.
  • Friendliest:
    • Blackburn
      • On our first visit, we got 'follow me' directions from more than one local supporter as we drove in.
    • Sheffield Wednesday
      • At Wembley, after seeing their team beaten in a final for the second time in a few days, they still shook our hands on the way out of the ground.
  • Least Friendly:
    • Leeds
      • On my first visit, back in 1971 (the first Double year) I few of us were chased from one part of the ground to another. After the match, our coach was attacked and some windows broken. On my second visit, we went into 'The Feathers' opposite the ground - very intimidating.
    • Merchandise United
      • It's quite something when you see a supposed human being literally snarling like a rabid animal.
  • Most ignorant:
    • Watford
      • Used to go there a lot when I lived in Bushey. They don't seem to have quite grasped the concept of rules, or of fair play.
  • POLICE:
  • Least Friendly:
    • Watford
      • At most grounds, if supporters are searched, it's before you go in. Not at Watford; they take your money first. Once I went there with Cheryl and Mark, and a friend of Mark's, a Watford Supporter. They searched all of us. And the leer on the policeman's face as he searched Cheryl makes me cringe to this day. I know that if I'd said anything at the time, we'd all have been thrown out. After the game, we weren't allowed to walk directly to our car, but were forced, despite protests, to walk the long way round.
  • Most Friendly:
    • Blackburn
      • When asked where we could eat before a game, one policemen told us where the pubs were that were full of Arsenal Supporters.
    • Leeds
      • Inside the ground, surprisingly chatty and ready to share a joke.
    • Merchandise United
      • Unexpected humour outside the ground.
  • Most Helpful:
    • Blackburn
      • See 'most friendly'.
    • Chelsea
      • "May I help you, sir" is not the greeting one expects in the away end. Another time, the police & stewards guided Cheryl and me to alternative seats when the mood of the home fans turned ugly.
  • Most Stupid:
    • Norwich
      • After I had entered the ground wearing a heavy coat and carrying a bag without getting searched, someone behind me wearing skintight jeans and a t-shirt was searched thoroughly. Please explain.
    • QPR
      • At they end of each game, they position mounted police across each exit. Why?
  • Most Violent:
    • Tottenham
      • In his anxiety to 'steam in' to an argument between some fans and stewards, one young copper crashed in to me knocking me flying, down some steps and leaving me in the tender care of St. John’s. Needless to say I reported this at the local nick.
  • OTHER:
  • Best Hot Dogs outside ground:
    • Sheffield United
      • Real Bockwurst. Say no more.
  • Worst Rip-Off
    • (Old)Wembley
      • No Question.

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