"One of the few remaining English grounds with character"

Despite spending a few seasons in League 1 Leeds United is still a big club, and I find it hard to decide if Elland Road gives you that impression or not.

From a distance the stadium looks impressive, with the newest stand, built in the early 90s, dominating your view.

But inside the ground the old place looks run-down. Many of the stands haven't seen renovation in decades. The away end is one of the few in the top two leagues where pillars still obscure your view of the playing surface. The stadium certainly isn't pretty, but you do get the sense of history.

Outside the stadium is a statue of Billy Bremner that's a great photo op.

Inside the stadium, prior to kick-off they play a video of past glories from the 70s and 90s to that famous (yet I find incredibly irritating) "marching on together." So you do get the sense that this ground has seen many great moments.

The seating is uncomfortable, so just stand!

The atmosphere from the home end is brilliant, without a doubt one of the best in the land. Usually when we go away Swansea fans drown out the home end's attempts at creating an atmosphere, but there was a great competition between our fans and the Leeds fans when I went.

After the game, be careful because Leeds fans can be a bit troublesome.

Location

Pretty easy to get to off the M62.

Not in the city centre, but there are plenty of buses that go.

View

One of the worst, in the away end anyway.

There's no point trying to sit if you're taller than Verne Troyer, your legs won't fit. Stand up, and get ready to swerve your head, because there are pillars that get in your way.

Away fans are located in the corner of the stadium.

Facilities

The concourse is just a wide concrete space. Toilets aren't too bad, and are pretty clean.

Food & Drink

The usual. But there were larger queues than normal when I went.

Police & Stewards

Stewards were good, but the police were poor.

During the game there was no trouble at all between our fans and theirs, just good banter.

However when leaving the ground to catch our bus a huge crowd of home fans were waiting, and were pretty intimidating. I'm used to this, but it wasn't great for my 9 year old sister. A steward kindly told us where to wait if we wanted to wait a bit before leaving the ground.

But the police plan for getting us to our buses was to open up a small corridor through the Leeds fans, leading to the buses. This didn't work. There were nasty scenes as the police lost all control. A few of our fans clashed with their fans and it threatened to turn really bad.

Considering Leeds United's reputation, I was surprised the police had no idea how to control the situation.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere was great, really intimidating with loud singing from the home end.

Leeds fans, I was impressed. Probably the best atmosphere I've ever heard for a regular league match (i.e. not a derby or cup clash). And it was pretty good-humoured during the game.

Be aware that outside the ground some home fans can be a little bit too eager. It's not the kind of place where you want to be bragging overly after a win, that is unless you're ready for somebody to take exception.

Be careful around the ground. By all means show your colours, but don't wind up the home fans. My experience tells me it doesn't take much to push them over the edge!

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