"Cliftonville FC - Solitude"

i visited Solitude for the home match against North Belfast rivals Crusaders in the match which saw the visitors clinch their second successive titled (I can say "I was there..")

Location

Solitude is located in North Belfast, some 1 1/2 miles from York Street Station. It is located in a residential area, surrounded by Victorian terraced on three sides with Victoria Park on the other. The ground also suffers from having no car parking facilities, but parking in the surrounding roads is not a problem. Cliftonville is a very traditional ground (they are the oldest club in Northern Ireland), with the Main Stand similar to those at Glentoran and being quite iconic. There are bars along the Cliftonville Road, although I didn't visit any

View

The Main Stand straddles the halfway line, with only the lower tier in use during matchdays. This contained, during the match, a drummer and some quite noisy home fans. To the right of the Main stand is the social club (known as "the Whitehouse"). The right hand end of the ground houses the large "New Stand" which replaced the old "Cage" - this is where the majority of home fans sit. The left hand end houses the Away stand, which was packed to the rafters with noisy Crues fans. The far side of the ground is an inaccessible grass bank, having previously been the site of a terrace which was destroyed by fire. Views from all of the stands are good, although the away end does suffer from some pitchside fencing

Facilities

Toilets are clean. The club shop is in the corner of the New Stand, furthest from the Main Stand.

Food & Drink

Didn't get to sample any food or drink as the refreshment kiosk in the way end closed shortly after half time

Police & Stewards

Crusaders bought their own stewards for this match and they dealt with the jubilant fans with good humour. Bearing in mind what happened in the match, with the Crues winning the title, away fans were kept behind on police advice and, upon release from the ground we were warned not to show any colours in the immeadiate vicintity. There is some history of trouble between the two sets of fans, but it all seemed to pass off OK

Atmosphere

Once the Crusaders took the lead the steam seem to go out of the home fans sails. The small group in the lower tier of the main stand tried to make some noise, but the away fans were effervescent on the night with a host of songs and chants. As you can imagine, for such an occassion, the atmosphere was electric

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