Everton - Goodison Park

Everton FC

Goodison Park

Goodison Road

Liverpool

L4 4EL

0871 663 1878

Official Website
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Ground Number: 197
Wednesday 21st March 2012
Everton 0-1 Arsenal
Barclaycard Premiership





MY VISIT

For the 3rd match in my three-day treble, I decided upon Everton v Arsenal. It was originally going to be a non-league game at Carlton Town, but some fixtures were rearranged and so I had the opportunity to tick off one of the ever-dwindling list of the 92 Football League clubs that I still have left to do. On the day I had to leave my hotel by 10am and with breakfast finishing at 9.30, I checked out at 9.15 and went and had breakfast before setting off just before 10. First stop was Bootle FC to take some pictures of their ground - the Delta Taxis Stadium which was pretty decent for North West Counties League level. After that, it was a short journey to Goodison Park, where I parked up for free in a road called Heathcote Road and after taking some pictures of the outside of the ground in daylight, before getting a bus into Liverpool city centre. Whilst there I went shopping, went down to the Albert Dock and saw some of the Beatles museum amongst other things. Then it was to a great pub called the Ship and Mitre, which had about 15 different ciders on and were having a festival. After 4 halves, it was getting near 6 and so got a taxi back to the ground as I couldn't be bothered to go and find where the bus stop was. It cost me over £7 though, and added to the £13ish that I had spent in the pub, it was turning into another expensive day on my week away. After chucking my stuff in the car, and getting my ticket I went and got some samosas and chips from a local takeaway before making my way into the ground.

I had paid £34 for my ticket (one of the cheapest I could find) I thought it was going to be quite a decent view, being near the top of the lower tier of the Gwladys Street stand. But as well as a low roof, there were pillars in the way. The view wasn't horrendous but was pretty poor and I was glad in the second half when I could move down a few rows and get a better view. The game wasn't up to much really, easily the least entertaining of the 3 I went to this week. Thomas Vermaelen's goal for Arsenal on 8 minutes won it for the visitors. There were a few other chances, but no one really came that close. After the game, I got out of Liverpool quite quickly and thought I was in for a nice clear run home. How wrong I was. A two-hour delay on the M6, thanks to the idiots closing between 2 junctions and not making adequate arrangements to keep the flow of traffic going. There were a large number of Leicester fans coming back from Blackpool as well as the Arsenal fans from Everton who were caught up in it, despite the "scoreboards" above the motorway promising only a 10-minute delay. I eventually got home at 3am, after 3 days of football, 820 miles done in my car and a considerable dent made in my wallet.

THE GROUND

GOODISON PARK is a real old style football ground, and while it looks great and more interesting than the modern stadiums, there are a lot of seats with a poor view. I was in the Gwladys Street end, which was 2 tiered and behind the goal. Opposite me was the Park End, the only modern stand in the ground. The 2 stands along the side are older stands - the one on the right being the bigger one, with 3 tiers, while part of the one on the left housed the away fans. There are numerous pubs and takeaways around the ground, so you won't go hungry or thirsty, but a trip into Liverpool is well worth the effort.  

Gateshead - International Stadium

Gateshead FC

International Stadium

Neilson Road

Gateshead

Tyne and Wear

NE10 0EF

0191 478 3883

Official Website
Twitter

Ground Number: 196
Tuesday 20th March 2012
Gateshead 1-0 Bath City
Blue Square Premier






MY VISIT

After the previous day's game at Curzon Ashton, it was the longest journey of the 3 for me, up at Gateshead. It was not a stadium I was looking forward to going to, it having a large running track around the pitch normally makes the view poor. But I wanted to complete the Blue Square Premier league, so it had to be done, even though Gateshead are rumoured to be moving to a new stadium in the next few years. After a hearty cooked breakfast, I went back to my room for a bit, as I had time to kill. I left the hotel at 12 and visited some grounds en Route



Newton Aycliffe - basic ground, fenced off in a nice park area
Bishop Auckland - Smart modern ground, opened last year
Crook Town - A proper ground, sadly I didn't get to see much of it as it was locked up
Tow Law Town - My favourite ground of the day - a charming ground with some very nice touches
Esh Winning - a basic ground in the middle of nowhere, again shut up so I didn't get to see much
Brandon United - Very high fences all around, so I couldn't see a thing and only got a picture of the sign



After all those, plus filling up with fuel (which took nearly 30 minutes due to it being by far the cheapest petrol station I have seen whilst away (140.9p for diesel), it was past 4 when I got to Gateshead. I opted to park up, walk to the Metro station and get a tram into Newcastle City Centre. After having a look around some shops to kill time, I made my way to a pub called The Bacchus, as I had looked on my phone for pubs that served nice cider. This certainly came up trumps, after a pint of Thistly Cross and a bottle of Apple Floris Belgian beer, I was feeling a lot happier about having come to Gateshead for a game. After a short tram ride back to the stadium, it was time to get something to eat. I went into the local Asda as there wasn't much else around, plus the fact that I was running out of cash fast, and could use my card to pay. It may not be Gordon Ramsay's idea of a great meal, but 2 mini french sticks, cut with my car key and filled with tikka chicken went down a treat and were pretty nice. I got my stuff together and made my way to the ground. After paying £14 to get in (double what I paid last night) I went and had a look round. There wasn't much in the concourse, a basic range of club merchandise and a tea bar. There was also a bar underneath the stand, but you had to use that before you went through the turnstile.

The view was not as bad as I had expected, maybe it was the earlier drinks putting me in a good mood that made the view seem a whole lot better than any other athletics ground I had been to. I had planned to meet Shaun Smith of the 100 Football Grounds website and got a text from him saying he would meet me at half time. Some Gateshead fans were very happy to see me up there and we talked about old times and old games until kick off. The game was OK, nothing special, but certainly not a boring game. The only goal came through Jon Shaw, Gateshead's top scorer, after a long spell of pressure by the home side. They pretty much dominated throughout and should have had a few more. Whilst the score was still 1-0, there was always a danger that Bath could nick a goal and a point. They had a few half chances but nothing serious, but probably had the better of the final exchanges. In the end, the "Heed" fans were just happy to hear the final whistle. I did meet Shaun in the end, at half time. We had a good chat, I had met him at Hayes just under a year ago, so I knew he was a decent fella. We watched most of the second half together too. I got away pretty quickly from the ground, and made decent time home, despite a long stretch of the A1 being down to 50MPH because of roadworks. I got back to the hotel at around 11.20, having had another good night.



THE GROUND

As previously mentioned the INTERNATIONAL STADIUM is not suited to football, being an athletics venue. It is quite an impressive one at that though, having an all seated capacity of 12000, with both side stands being covered. When there is a large away following, away fans are located in the opposite stand, but on this occasion, with it being a long away trip for Bath in midweek, only the main stand was open. The seating in this is quite steep, meaning that high up, the view is not as bad as it could have been, though it's still not ideal. I had previously been to the International Stadium on a weekend up in the North East to take pictures, at the time only one stand was covered, this has since been improved. They have also taken away a scoreboard behind one goal and replaced it with a smaller, more basic one on the running track.

The other facilities a pretty basic, a small range of official merchandise and a typical tea bar for a football ground. There is also a bar underneath the stand before you go in, but I didn't try it. I'd recommend that you got a tram into Newcastle if you've time to spare, as there is a much better range of stuff to do, it is the best City in the UK in my opinion.

Curzon Ashton - Tameside Stadium

Curzon Ashton FC

Tameside Stadium

Richmond Street

Ashton Under Lyne

OL7 9HG

0161 330 6033

Official Website
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Ground Number: 195
Monday 19th March 2012
Curzon Ashton 2-1 Woodley Sports
NPL D1 North






MY VISIT

This was my first match in a set of 3 that I had planned "up North" for my week off. Originally it was meant to be Manchester City against Chelsea, but that horrible mob from West London only went and won a FA Cup game, meaning that their game would have to rearranged. On the day I set off just before 11 and had a nice clear run up the motorway, arriving just after 2 after a brief break at services. I checked into my hotel, paid for courtesy of some spare air miles that I had in my account and spent a few hours relaxing in the hotel before I set off for the game. Bad news was had in this time when I found out that half the people I had been planning to meet during this mini-break couldn't make it, but I had to make the best of my few days away. There were quite a few miles of roadworks, but in the end, there was no major delay. I got to the ground in plenty of time, arriving just before 7.




After paying a very reasonable £7 to get in. plus £1.50 for a big thick programme, the first thing I did was make my way to the programme shop that I had heard about. It didn't disappoint, having a huge selection to chose from and all at good prices. I picked up 20 random fanzines for £4 and also a pennant for the same price - normally I'd stop at £3 to save space on my wall, but this friendly club deserved my money. After taking some pictures around the ground, I got myself a snack for dinner. The tea bar didn't have the greatest range in the world, but a fairly decent hot dog at £1.05 was great value. The game actually kicked off around 10 minutes late for some reason or other. The first half was entertaining, Curzon racing into a 2 goal lead, courtesy of a brace from their number 10 Kristian Dennis. They looked like adding a few more to cement their position at the top of the league, but playoff chasers Woodley Sports got back into it before half time with a goal from their right back Aaron Chalmers. A good first half then, and the second half, despite producing no more goals, was still a fairly decent affair. Woodley probably had the better off it, having several chances to level the game, but it was not to be, neither could Curzon convert any of the chances they had to put the game to bed. So I had a good day out, with plenty of people recognising my Wycombe coat and being friendly, as well as expressing their surprise at my attendance. Most of the other 205 fans that went would have got home before me, the journey taking just over an hour, meaning I got back to my hotel at 11PM.



THE GROUND

TAMESIDE STADIUM is an excellent non-league stadium, that is probably Smarter than a few grounds in the Football League. I had previously been there to take pictures on the way to a Wycombe away game at Bury in April. Certainly, the builders would have had a higher level than where they currently play in mind when they constructed the stadium. One one side is a decent sized main stand, holding around 500, and with a good bar and conferencing facilities built into it. It also serves as an area for the junior and adult teams that use the 3G pitches nearby to use for snacks and getting changed etc. On the other side is a large covered terrace, which probably holds just under a thousand at a push. The rest of the ground is open terracing, but all very modern. As mentioned before, the club shop is excellent and the tea bar is OK. As for other places to go, the ground was a bit far away from anywhere else from what I saw, you probably have about a 10-15 minute walk to the nearest pub or takeaway. All in all, though, I would recommend a visit, it's a decent ground, inhabited by a nice friendly club.

Doncaster Rovers - Keepmoat Stadium

Doncaster Rovers FC
Keepmoat Stadium
Stadium Way
Lakeside
Doncaster
DN4 5JW

01302 764664
Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 192
Saturday 3rd March 2012

Doncaster Rovers 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
nPower Championship






10 FACTS ABOUT DONCASTER ROVERS

1: The club was established in 1879 by Albert Jenkins, a fitter at Great Northern Railway. He gathered some friends to play their first ever match - a game against Yorkshire Deaf & Dumb Institute. Despite taking a 4-0 lead, they ended up drawing 4-4. The club didn't have a name at that point, but on the way back from this game, they stopped for a few pints at the Hall Cross pub and came up with the name that the club has kept to this day.

2:  Rovers moved into their current Keepmoat home in 2007. This replaced the dilapidated Belle Vue. Though once a glorious 40,000 venue when it opened, decay and ever-tightening safety regulations meant that it had around a 7,000 capacity when they came to leave. Prior to this, Doncaster played at the Intake Stadium up until 1915 when the army commandeered the ground for World War 1> when football resumed in 1920, they played at Bennetthorpe for 2 years before moving into Belle Vue. Amazingly, the old wooden main stand saw service at all three grounds before finally being retired in 1985 following the Bradford City fire.

3:  The club has spent the vast majority of its time in the Football League. After sporadic membership in the early 1900s, Doncaster became more permanent members in 1923. They would remain up until 1998 when a catastrophic season saw them relegated to the Conference. They'd return here in 2003 after 5 seasons away. That 1998 finish of 24th in the bottom tier remains their worst finish, with their best, 7th in the second tier came in 1902. In more modern times, the club enjoyed a respectable 12th place in the Championship as recently as 2010.

4:  Those wilderness years in non-league were spent in the Midland League for much of their early history - finishes ranging from league winners in 1897 to 17th in 1897. When they were relegated to the Conference in 1998, they initially started with a disappointing 16th place finish before improving and eventually going up in 2003 after a 3rd place finish and a penalty victory over Dagenham & Redbridge in the playoff final.

5: The aforementioned 1997/98 season was a complete disaster. Doncaster had to wait until the 2nd December for their first win, a 2-1 home victory over Chester City. They'd win just four times all season, losing a record 34 games out of 46. The -83 goal difference and 113 goals conceded, was not helped by having the former lottery salesman at Stockport County and owner's puppet Mark Weaver in charge for much of the season. Defeats to Cardiff City (7-1) and Leyton Orient (8-0) summed up the season as did an attendance of 580 for a game against Rochdale. The real villain of the peace was owner Ken Richardson who had already been banned from horse racing and bankrupted non-league Bridlington Town before turning up at Doncaster. In 1995, he paid a former SAS man to burn down the main stand in a faked insurance claim. The botched attempt was more like the work of Frank Spencer than James Bond - as well as being unsuccessful, the agent also left his mobile phone at the scene, with a call traced back to the owner. This is just part of the story, you can read more HERE and watch the below Youtube video for much more.

6:  In the FA Cup, the club have reached the 5th Round on a number of occasions. The last of those was way back in 1956 when they lost 2-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. They reached the 4th Round as recently as 2009, losing to Aston Villa after a replay.

7:  In the League Cup, Doncaster Rovers are twice Quarter Finalists - losing 7-2 to Tottenham Hotspur in 1979 and 3-1 on penalties to Arsenal in 2006.

8:  Doncaster Rovers won the Football League Trophy in 2007, beating Bristol Rovers 3-2 at Cardiff's Millenium Stadium. They can also count two Conference League Cups to their name as well as four Sheffield Senior Cups and seven Sheffield County Cups.

9:  Famous fans for Doncaster Rovers include One Direction's Louis Tomlinson, TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson and magician Paul Daniels.

10: Famous players & managers for the club include comedian Charlie Williams, Billy Bremner, Dean Saunders and Joe Kinnear.



VISIT 1: DONCASTER R 1-1 BRIGHTON & HA

I had previously been to Doncaster's Keepmoat Stadium just to take pictures. The club were really friendly, letting me in to take pictures without issues. But once I had decided to do the 92, I had to go back for a revisit. The ideal opportunity arose when Wycombe were playing up at Scunthorpe - meaning I could get petrol money keeping down my costs down, dropping my mates off at Scunthorpe before going to the Doncaster game. On the day Paul was working till 9am, so I left early and got a breakfast sub in town, plus a paper and a drink for the journey. I got up to work at 8.55am, expecting him to be a few minutes early if anything. It was 9.20 before he emerged! The journey up went pretty smoothly. I had originally planned to stop at 5 grounds, but our late departure scaled this back a bit. Still, I got to see 3 good grounds on the way up at Worksop Town, Retford United and Gainsborough Trinity.



I dropped Paul off at Scunthorpe's ground at about 1.20, before heading to Doncaster. Due to problems on the M18, I had to come off a junction early if I didn't want to face a 40-minute delay, so I had to travel the last 10 or so miles on local roads. I got to the ground and parked up at a local factory for the reasonable price of £3. After a 10 minute walk to the ground and a quick look around the club shop, it was time to go in. I saw a bar but opted not to go in as I thought I could get a drink in the ground. But they only did Carlsberg and Tetley's which I didn't fancy. The Keepmoat was a nice ground but must have one of the loudest tannoys in Football with really noisy music played at some points, see this Youtube video of the halftime scores being read out to get an idea...

There was an amusing exchange between some Brighton fans in an executive box with Doncaster fans slinging such remarks as "Sit down you Southern c**t" and then to the bloke in charge of the commercial department at the Keepmoat (after the Brighton fans had been told to sit inside "Why did you sell the box to Brighton fans? Why don't you give it to people from Doncaster! As for the game, it saw the hosts have a lot of possession but high flying Brighton took the lead on 20 minutes. It was to be a former Wycombe trialist setting up a current Wycombe player for the opener. Liam Bridcutt who we had stupidly let go signed for Brighton a few weeks later and went on to net them £4m when he signed for Sunderland. Anyway, his pass set up Craig Mackail-Smith who netted from close range after being left unmarked. Doncaster equalised on 78 minutes - El Hadji Diouf scoring a penalty after his initial shot was handballed by visiting defender Joe Mattock.




After the game, I drove back to Scunthorpe to pick up Paul, but not before stopping to take pictures of Bottesford Town - one of the grounds I had missed on the way up, and also filling the car up with diesel. The journey home was not so smooth. The road people in their infinite wisdom had decided to completely close the M18 for a couple of junctions due to roadworks and so instead of a quick route onto the M1, I had to go down the A1 all the way to Leicester, which with jams and slow moving traffic on that as well, was really frustrating. And to make things worse, Wycombe had been well-beaten 4-1 at Scunthorpe, in another dreadful performance. I was glad I went to Doncaster then. We eventually got home at 9.15 after a good run down the motorway and ended up getting back not long after the coaches, not bad considering we left an hour later. I bought a couple of cans from a local shop to have before and during Match of the Day, before drifting off to sleep as I was up early for work again.

VISIT 2: DONCASTER 3-0 WYCOMBE (L1 11/8/18)

Originally, I’d intended to revisit Doncaster during the 2016/17 season. I’d gone as far as arranging to see a concert in Leeds in the evening and booking the required trains to Doncaster. But Wycombe went on a run of poor performances, the nadir being a 2-0 home defeat at home to Barnet. Before I’d even got home from that game, I’d explored my options and booked an extra train ticket to Goole, where a good time was had. I wasn’t going to miss out on my pub crawl though, Doncaster had a number of excellent pubs and so I still met my Doncaster pal Matty for a few pints before heading off to my game. I was glad when the fixtures came out and the away game was on a Saturday. I had brief thoughts of booking trains, but in the end, I decided to book on the Independent supporters club coach. My initial hope was that they would stop near Doncaster so I could go on another drinking session. As is turned out, we didn’t, stopping some 25 miles away in a place called Duckmanton, near Chesterfield. I needn’t have worried about going thirsty though, as The Arkwright Arms looked an excellent establishment - good food, 10 real ciders and 6 perries according to the website. Coach and ticket were booked and I spent the preceding week really looking forward to it.




I had a poor night’s sleep before the game, only getting around 5 hours interrupted shut-eye. I was already up when my alarm went at 7.15, getting dressed, having breakfast and walking down the shop to get a paper. I met my Dad at the coach stop at 8.15 and soon enough we were on our way. I was pleased to get a double seat to myself and cracked on with starting my blog before reading my paper. Various music and videos kept me company on the way up, but by 11.40 we were at our pre-match pub. A couple of new ciders were tried, namely Mr Whiteheads Hampshire Perry and Virtual Orchard Hop In. I also had a pint of my favourite Black Dragon Cider, all this in convivial company while watching the Haverhill derby in the FA Cup on the BBC website. It was a good stop and at 1.45 we left for the ground. 35 minutes later we were there and it was an absolute pleasure to head off to meet Ben and Andy, two lads who I’ve not seen for ages. My other mate, Matty couldn’t make it, so I headed to the club shop, buying a pen and a fanzine for a quid each.


From there it was to the away entrance where the relaxed atmosphere continued. I met my Dad in the ground and posted a few updates on social media. Gareth Ainsworth had adopted a very defensive line up and one of our new signings, Bryn Morris on loan from Shrewsbury was starting. He didn’t really see much of the ball and it was goalless at the break, the hosts enjoying the better of the shots on the possession. Wycombe were not out of it though, but we were relying on chances on the break, especially from set pieces. Wycombe withstood pressure well, but it finally gave in the 55th minute, Malik Wilks tucking into the bottom right-hand corner from inside the area. Wycombe really had no idea going forward, despite seeing a bit of the ball. Doncaster sealed the game on 76 minutes, a well worked ball from a free kick saw Joe Wright fire past a static Wycombe defence. It was 3-0 a couple of minutes later, more laughable defending saw James Coppinger take advantage after we lost track of the ball again. It was most disappointing to collapse so badly, but the scoreline was harsh on Wycombe and maybe should have only been a two-goal margin. It wasn't a happy journey home but I made practical use of it by uploading my blog.



THE GROUND

THE KEEPMOAT STADIUM is a smart modern ground, built in 2007. With a 15,000 capacity, it is ideal for Doncaster Rovers. The views and legroom are excellent.  It is pretty well designed too - you can get a good atmosphere going in there if you want, and despite some noise from the Brighton fans, the home support was mainly quiet. But I know a fair few of them, and they are a friendly bunch. Outside the stadium, quite a neat thing is a separate pitch with a small stand and athletics track - presumably used for some reserve games.

The tea bars are pretty poor, they had sold out of Yorkshire Wraps and had a very limited range of drinks. There is a retail park as well, as well as several food vans, but due to me getting there quite late, I didn't get a chance to explore properly. I heard that there was a bar at the ground that admitted away fans but have not had the chance to explore further.