"Three sides of the ground are fine, but......"

Hillsborough will never be a great ground again till the Leppings Lane stand is pulled down. It's still dangerous, with its inadequate concourses, nasty stewards and too many seats crammed in. And these days you have to be a millionaire to buy a ticket to sit in it too. The other three stands are fine, though. No wonder Wednesday fans love it. Personally, I liked it better when the East Bank was a vast open terrace. Nowadays it has a corrugated roof painted an insipid blue but the North Stand still looks great; its exposed girders are a 1960s timepiece. The old stand opposite is a cracker too.

Location

The ground is in a dismal part of Sheffield's Northern outskirts. It's all tyre showrooms and warehouses. Wednesday are definitely the team that people from the big estates like Parson Cross and Shirecliffe support. It's a tribal thing, really. Don't wear a Blades scarf up there if you want to stay in one piece.

View

Grand view from all 4 sides but "comfortable" would be a kind description of the two end stands.

Facilities

Like Bramall Lane, the Kop end is the one that lacks concourses, having been built on a mound with no space underneath. The South Stand is best for facilities.

Food & Drink

If you don't mind running the risk of being crushed (I know!) you can get a drink at half time in the Leppings Lane stand. I expect the areas patronised by home fans are less dangerous.

Police & Stewards

On my last but one visit the stewards at the away end took the balloons that young Chesterfield fans had just bought from street traders and threw them in a bin. Inside the ground the kids on the three other sides still had their balloons so clearly there was no safety issue. They were just bullying for the sake of it.

Atmosphere

Hard to say. Just like Sheffield United fans, Wednesday supporters raise the roof one day and are miserable the next, so any rating between 1 and 5 is possible depending on what's happening on the pitch.

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