Football Ground Map
Football Ground Map
I'll qualify that question straight away, as it depends whose perspective you are looking at it from. A good stadium means different things to different people. A chairman would see it as a place from where he or she can extract the most revenue, be it from bums on seats, pies and pints, corporate hospitality, advertising or other non-sporting events. Fans see it as something completely different. Even among fans it is split broadly between two sets. Season ticket holders who see the ground as a home from home every other weekend throughout the season, and the away fans, ticking off a new ground, spending the day in a new and strange part of the country. It is this last group I am referring to. What makes a good football stadium for away fans?
Let's be honest. The away day experience is about so much more than just the 90 minutes on the pitch or the result. It is about the journey down there, meeting with friends, working out your accas for the day, placing no deposit free bets, watching the game with one eye on your rival's results or on your acca, hopefully spending your winnings, discovering new pubs... the list goes on. In many instances the only reason, and only time you will ever go to certain towns and cities will be to follow your team, or visit the stadium, and the two are intrinsically linked. And that is the thing, the stadium is so much more than just the four sides around the pitch, and it is that that many developers and chairman seem blissfully unaware of.
It may seem obvious, but the ground should be easy and straightforward to get to, whether you are driving, and more importantly if you are using public transport. Any business that requires a half hour walk through a soulless industrial estate or along a dual carriageway; an even longer wait for “special buses†to ferry you to the ground, or a twenty-minute drive into the middle of the country for you to enjoy their product has not got the customer's best interests in mind. Reading and Bolton are a couple of the worst examples of this, Huddersfield one of many redeveloped grounds that show that it can be done well.
Being located in the centre of a city comes with its own problems when you are looking to move, redevelop or simply expand the ground, though two very fine — if eye wateringly expensive — examples of this are North London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal. The Emirates set the benchmark of what a modern footballing stadium could be and Tottenham went one better, building one of the most incredible stadiums anywhere in the world. A city centre location gives very good public transport access — though parking is a major problem — a huge variety of drinking and dining choices as well as the option of making a weekend of it. It may go against what I initially said, but those two grounds in themselves are worth the visit just to tick the box and marvel at just how visually stunning they are.
It is stadiums like that, along with the historic and prestige clubs that play there that make football tourism such a popular thing for foreign visitors to UK shores, and likewise for UK visitors to clubs in Europe.
Back to the bread and butter of what makes a stadium a good stadium for away fans. If you picture the typical away day, you arrive by (a hopefully) fairly direct, not too circuitous train journey. The nearest station should be in walking distance to the town/city centre, or at least a good selection of (away fan friendly) pubs and restaurants. These should then be in easy walking distance of the ground. The away fans should not be corralled into the most rundown part of the stadium, open to the elements, obstructed views and subject to ear-splitting Tannoy announcements. After the game, it should be an easy walk back to the station. That is the recipe for a perfect away trip, regardless of the result. The more a stadium can answer a firm yes to of all of those points, the better the experience it provides to away fans. I may be biased, but Portman Road is a perfect example where everything is within easy distance of the station, both rail and bus, as well as providing ample car parking.
Hopefully the likes of the Madejski Stadium are a thing of the past. New builds will be more receptive to the needs of the average fan, but that brings us to another point. More and more grounds are being developed or moved completely. It is worth making that trip to your favourite ground one more time, or perhaps to visit that one you have never managed to make it to, before it is too late.
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