The Madejski Stadium - Reading FC

- Ground Number 33 -

- 01/10/2011 -

- Reading FC 0-0 Middlesbrough FC -

Another trip to London with my Mother was booked. However, there was a problem. The fixture list hadn't yet been announced, meaning we had no match to go to! We had agreed to go West Ham or Brighton if either of them were at home. Sods law! They were both away. So we decided to go to the more modern of all the stadiums on offer - The Madejski Stadium.

Built in 1998 the stadium is named after club chairman John Madejski, and replaced Elm Park as Readings home. The Madejski Stadium is also home to London Irish Rugby Union team.

When we booked the trip we thought it would be thermals weather. How wrong could we have been? England was basking in it's hottest weather for months. October 1st turned out to be the hottest October day on record and saw temperatures reach 31 degrees.

Setting off from London Waterloo at 12 O'clock we caught the tube up to Paddington, then the Great Western service to Bristol. Stepping on the train to Reading was a welcome break from the heatwave... air conditioned trains! This was a brilliant experience. Being a regular user of Northern Rail trains means I am used to trains with radiators on, even in the middle of August.

The train journey to Reading only took 20 minutes, arriving in Reading at around 13:30. After deciding it was far too hot for a pie at the stadium we nipped to M&S to buy some snazzy sandwiches before our onwards bus journey to the stadium.

This is where we got completely lost. We needed to find a particular bus stand in order to get to The Madejski. However, it wasn't signposted and the station was under refurbishment.

After 10 minutes of walking up and down trying to find somebody in a football shirt, we asked a man in a fluorescent jacket - Always a winner. He pointed us around the corner where there were around 5 buses parked up. They weren't just any buses though. These buses looked like something from the future; Double deckered, air conditioning, comfy seats, WI-FI! AND they were hybrid. A far cry from my local bus route (582 between Leigh and Bolton!)

We arrived at The Madejski and it reminded me of our visit to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan (Sevilla) a couple of months earlier. Weather wise. Nothing else. We couldn't wait to get through the turnstiles and into the shade!

Programmes at Reading are of decent quality and are priced at £3, I also received a team photo from a group of cheerleaders. I also bought a Reading FC polo shirt for £10, which allowed me to get out of my soaking wet Bolton shirt.

Sitting in the lower tier of the West Stand offered a great view of the pitch. Saying that though, there isn't one spot in the stadium which has a poor view. It is very well designed.

To my left was the North Stand - I don't have any interesting facts for this stand, apart from the fact its capacity is 4,946. Oh, and there was a strange looking man taking photos of the cheerleaders at half time when I ventured up there.

Opposite was the East Stand. If you are a fan of the sun, then this is the stand for you. The most exciting fact about this stand? It has a smoking section outside.

The away fans were housed in the impressive looking South Stand. With a steep gradient it looks like a great stand on which to create a great atmosphere.

The fact I haven't written much about the stands is nothing against The Madejski Stadium - in fact I really like it. However, all of the stands are just a bit too generic and have nothing to them.

Middlesbrough had started the season off very well, and were the in form team going in to the fixture. Marvin Emnes had been in rich goalscoring form, and was the man to watch. Despite the match finishing 0-0, it was a hard fought, enthralling contest between two footballing sides.

Reading started the game brilliantly, with constant pressure piled upon the Middlesbrough defence. Reminded me of watching Bolton really... Lots of pressure, but doing nothing with it.

Carl Ikeme in the Middlesbrough net was the man responsible of keeping out Reading striker Adam Le Fondre (Who I look like according to Mark Jupp - @Only1Eliza).

However it was Federici in the Reading net who produced the most saves as the match progressed. On the half hour mark he made a great double save to prevent Marvin Emnes from giving his side the lead.

It was goalless at half time after what had so far been a thrilling end to end encounter.

As the stands at The Madejski are all connected I decided to go for a walk around the stadium. It somewhat reminded me of the best stadium in the country... The Reebok.

I realised just how lucky we were sitting in the West Stand, with everybody in the East Stand suffering from sun stroke and dehydration. However, their plight was short lived when the Reading mascot - Kingsley The Lion - came around and handed out some free Dominos Pizza to some lucky fans! Just what you need when it's hotter than The Bahamas.

I later found out that Kingsley is a character amongst football mascots. He isn't quite as good as the breakdancing badger at Fulham, or the foul mouthed Duck at Preston, but he has been sent off!

"During the first half of the home match against Newcastle on April 30, 2007 Kingsley was shown a red card by referee Mike Riley for standing too close to the pitch. It was reported that one of Riley's assistants confused Kingsley for one of the players and almost flagged him for offside. Steve Coppell, the Reading manager, said "I can see why the referee was getting confused. He does look like so many of my players."

After using my camera to great effect; zooming into my mother from across the stadium. I noticed another man with a camera. Fair play (I thought)... Until I noticed he was zooming into a woman who was stood near the corner flag - Whether they were related or not I will never know, but I highly doubt it as he did in fact resemble a paedophile.

The second half kicked off, and the children in front of me discovered the joys of shouting abuse at the players who were taking corners. The victim this half was Middlesbroughs' Tony McMahon. He was subjected to many awful words such as; "SAUSAGES!" and "FATTY!".

Middlesbrough were shooting towards their own fans, which resulted in the team playing with far more confidence and danger. Boro were unlucky not to take the lead when Emnes hit the post.

The final stand out opportunity of the game came when Barry Robson turned the Reading defence and saw his shout bounce off the post.

We exited the stadium not having a clue how/where to get our bus back to the Train Station. So after running about, looking at the number on each and every service we finally found it. At first it seemed a bit disorganised, but this was probably the case as we weren't regulars.

We really enjoyed our day out at The Madejski. Despite it being different to many modern stadia it isn't a stadium I would rush back to. However if Bolton drew them in the cup I will definitely be making the trip!



Welcome To Reading




Approaching The Madejski




My Turnstile




Walking Around




The Ice-Cream Van was recalled




Me outside The Madejski




Outside The Madejski




Me inside The Madejski - Bolton top.






Changed into my Reading Polo Shirt

 


East Stand




North Stand




South Stand - Away End




West Stand




View from the top of the North Stand



Fans




Mills header




Simon Church



St. Andrew's Stadium - Birmingham City FC

- Ground Number 9

- 12/03/2011

- Birmingham City FC 2-3 Bolton Wanderers FC

I had visited St. Andrew's with my Dad the season previously to watch Birmingham v Hull. It was a very poor game, and nothing too exciting happened. So instead, I will review the day that Bolton Wanderers made it to Wembley!

I was sat eating in Chiquitos at Old Trafford when I found out that we had drawn Birmingham away in the Quarter-Finals of The FA Cup, and I immediately started planning my trip with my mates Danny and Callum.

Some idiot at The FA decided the match would take place at 12:45, which meant a very early start for us. We got a train from Manchester at around 09:00 and it was a relatively comfortable journey down to Birmingham. When we arrived in Birmingham we didn't have a clue where to go, so we followed some home supporters in the hope that they were walking to the stadium. The walk to the stadium was a very long one, which took around 30 minutes.

We arrived at the stadium and went into the club shop. Some little child piped up "Ewww daddy, there's a Bolton fan in our shop". Now if that was my child, I'd have explained to them why this was not only wrong to say, but also that it wasn't a problem. I know I'm a Boltonian but I'm not going to bite or pass on a contagious disease.

Now, one thing that really annoys me about St. Andrew's is the area in which it's situated. It is a fair while away from any transport links and you can't just simply enjoy a nice walk around the stadium because it is situated next to a railway line, a housing estate, warehouses and shops.

After having my photo taken with Birmingham's mascot, and buying a programme we decided to go to the turnstiles. This is when a cocky steward gave us a lecture on how he enjoyed his trip to Wembley a couple of weeks previously, and how he was looking forward to going again.We told this particular steward that we would be back after the final whistle to wind him up!

As we entered the away end at St. Andrew's it struck me just how much of a weird layout it was. There are burger vans, and ice cream vans on the first level of the concourse. You then go up a flight of stairs to get on to the second concourse. Whilst going up these stairs you are above the away changing room, which means you can smell the deepheat!

Finding our seats was a challenge by itself. Previous away fans had obviously peeled off the seat stickers meaning everybody just sat where they wanted. The view from our seats was pretty good, it would have been even better if I wasn't a very small 15 year old boy!

Opposite where we were seated was the Tilton Road Stand. Built in 1994 it joins on to the Kop Stand which runs down the length of the entire pitch. These two stands are probably the nicest and house the majority of home supporters. To our left was The Main Stand (Garrison Lane End) which was built in 1954 and contains media facilities and a gantry. It is in need of work, as it looks completely outdated in a relatively new stadium.

ESPN were in their first season of FA Cup coverage, and still hadn't raised the money to hire a studio at St. Andrew's so this gave us the opportunity to fire abuse at Kevin Keegan and DJ Campbell who were stood directly in front of us.

The match kicked off and Bolton looked to be on top, and this was confirmed when Johan Elmander scored after 21 minutes. Birmingham then woke up and Cameron Jerome equalized just before the break after poor defending from the Wanderers.

Now, I would usually go and get a pie at half time... or at least go and stretch my legs. But the pies at Birmingham weren't brilliant on my last trip, and I couldn't be bothered walking up and down the depressing concourses. So I decided to stay in my seat and read the matchday programme, which was a very good read - priced at £3.

The second half kicked off, and I was already dreaming of seeing Super Kevin Davies leading the lads out at Wembley. On the 68th minute, SKD earned himself a penalty and dispatched it straight past Ben Foster in the Birmingham goal. 3,500 Boltonians went crazy, and we began to sing ♫ Que Sera, Sera ♫ Little did I know that as I was singing this, ESPN were busy beaming me to viewers all around the world.

The game continued, and Bolton were on the back foot as Birmingham searched for an equaliser. Then on 80 minutes, Kevin Phillips lobbed Jussi Jaaskelainen with a brilliant goal.

Now personally I could not be bothered paying to see yet another FA Cup replay at The Reebok, so I really wanted us to score, but it looked unlikely.

Birmingham continued to pile on the pressure, and looked extremely dangerous. Hitting the post and having one cleared off the line. However, Bolton decided to go back to playing as Bolton do. If you're not familiar with the Bolton way of playing it involves; A defender hoofing it forwards, somebody knocking it down, and a striker finishing.

It was the 93rd minute. The defender was Paul Robinson. Kevin Davies was the man knocking it down. The striker was Lee Chung-Yong. (Just add these names into the description of a Bolton goal above).

We went absolutely mental. We could not believe that Bolton were actually going to Wembley! I felt like crying... In a manly way of course. By the time we had finished celebrating St. Andrew's was already empty.

Walking out of the stadium, the cocky steward was in hiding and the resident yobs were throwing rocks at bottles at us. It was a long, tiring walk back to New Street Station, but it was a joyous one at that!

I don't intend on visiting St. Andrew's again in the near future. It is a great stadium, worthy of Premierleague football, but I don't take a liking to it.



Me outside St. Andrew's




Fabrice Muamba!




Danny and I with Birminghams' Mascot




Rear of The Gil Merrick Stand




The Kop





The Main Stand

 


Gil Merrick Stand Upper




View from The Gil Merrick Upper (v Hull)




The Main Stand




Birmingham v Hull



View at Birmingham v Bolton




Bolton celebrating their second goal




♫ WE'RE GOING TO WEMBLEY!



Deepdale Stadium - Preston North End FC

- Ground Number 7

- 13/02/2010

- Preston North End FC 0-0 Blackpool FC

Well, here it was! A chance to visit 'Britains Newest City'. I could hardly contain myself to be honest. My mum won free tickets to the game at work, and it was another stadium to tick off my list. The match had been hyped up all week on the local news... so it was inevitably going to be an awful game.

I had wanted to visit Deepdale for a while as they were my local Championship team.

We arrived in Preston early as usual, and parked in a pub car park. Parking around Deepdale is a pain, but I don't think they get too many attendances like the one on this particular day,

I bought my matchday programme for £3 and a Preston shirt for £5, just for the crack. The programme seemed more bothered about how Manchester United were doing in the Premierleague and Champions League. Perhaps this was because Darren Ferguson was in charge at Deepdale?

We had tickets for the Sir Tom Finney Stand, and the view was extremely good. To my left was The Bill Shankly Kop which housed around 3,500 Blackpool fans. Blackpool sold out their allocation for this Lancashire derby and made a brilliant atmopshere, turning Deepdale into a sea of tangerine. To my right was the Alan Kelly Town End, and directly in front of me was the brand new Invincibles Pavilion. The Invincibles Pavilion has media facilities, a gantry, executive boxes, and dugouts. When Deepdale was re-developed they took inspiration from The Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa, Italy. This is shown in the way that the stands at Deepdale are all of the same height and design.

The outside of the stadium is well designed, with a club shop plonked in the middle of nowhere, a football museum with nothing in it, and a Fitness First Gym built into the away end.

Deepdale is the oldest continually used football stadium IN THE WORLD.

Playing for Preston that day was Danny Welbeck, a promising young striker who I had seen play for Manchester United a couple of times. Unfortunately, he did not perform at all on this occasion and didn't seem to even understand the offside rule.

You'd have been laughed at if you'd have said Blackpool would be promoted just 3 months after this game. The team lacked creativity and had no real fight about them.

I can't really say a lot about the match itself. So here is a quote from The BBC's match report to give you a taste of what happened...

"The 86th league meeting between West Lancashire rivals Preston and Blackpool ended in a disappointing goalless draw."

I didn't bother experiencing catering at Deepdale as I have heard numerous reports that they have the worst pies in the football league.

The most enjoyable part of the day was watching numerous Blackpool fans arrested for lighting orange coloured flares.



Preston v Blackpool




Me outside Deepdale




The non-existant National Football Museum. It's now in Manchester.




Sir Tom Finney




Me inside Deepdale




Blackpool Fans




View of Deepdale





A flare in the Blackpool end



Turf Moor - Burnley FC

- Ground Number 4 -

- 14/02/2009 - 

- Burnley FC 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers FC -

.

I don't know why we decided to go to Burnley on Valentines Day in 2009, but one things for sure... I fell in love with watching other teams! Probably because Bolton were under the reigns of Gary Megson at the time!

On our way to Turf Moor, Dad and I didn't have a clue what to expect, but I was very excited. I had watched Burnley beat teams such as Fulham, Chelsea and Arsenal in the League Cup about a month prior to visiting so I knew about their manager - The God himself, Owen Coyle - and their in form striker Martin Paterson.

We arrived in Burnley at around 13:00, and chose to park at neighbouring Burnley Cricket Club, which is situated directly behind the David Fishwick Stand at Turf Moor. Parking cost us £3, but only after the parking attendant came to the conclusion we weren't supporting Wolves. He obviously charges more if you are an away supporter!

After getting to Turf Moor far quicker than we expected, we proceded to purchase our tickets from the Ticket Office. We chose to sit in the cheapest area of the stadium - Jimmy McIlroy Stand Upper - and it came to £29 for an adult and a child. The exit from the Ticket Office was a strategic one, as you had to exit through the club shop! Where were we? Old Trafford?!

We decided to have a stroll around the stadium to keep ourselves warm. Along the way we met a couple of interesting characters. First of all, the programme seller who didn't seem happy when I came to him whilst he was eating his hotdog. The programme cost £3. Then an old woman approached us, trying to sell her 'Golden Gamble' tickets. My dad said "No thanks." To which she then replied in a very patronising tone "Well, you've got to be in it to win it!"

The walk around the stadium was a long, tedious process. So after two walks around Turf Moor, the turnstiles finally opened, and we went in. We were the first people in the stadium, and my first impressions were very good. It was a typically Northern setting for a football match. You could see the Lancastrian hills around Burnley, old chimneys which still stand, and of course... the grey clouds!

INTERESTING FACT -  The stadium has a total capacity of 22,546, which is one seat for every three inhabitants of the town, no other league team has such a high ratio.

Situated to my left was The Bob Lord Stand, which has a capacity of just under 4,000. The stand houses executive lounges, dugouts and a trophy room. Built in 1974 it is named after Bob Lord, the former chairman. The stand has wooden seating... which to a young lad like me was a complete shock.

To my right was the largest stand at Turf Moor. The James Hargreaves Stand, which opened in 1996. The stand holds 8,154 spectators over two tiers. The television gantry is located in this stand along with the media area.

Straight in front of me was The David Fishwick Stand, which is the oldest current stand at Turf Moor. It was constructed in 1969 and backs onto the pavilion of Burnley Cricket Club. The away fans are usually given all of this stand. Like the Bob Lord Stand it has wooden seats.

We were sat in the Jimmy McIlroy Stand Upper. We chose to sit here as it had the cheapest tickets - due to it being the family area. The view was fantastic!

Burnley at the time were sponsored by Hollands Pies, and I have a theory that they had vents which poured pie odour into the stands. So in the end we cracked,  and bought two Hollands pies.

The ground was very empty, until 10 minutes before kick off. It then filled to the brim... well our section did anyway. An old woman sat down next to my dad, she then went right into his face and asked "Is he not here this week then?!".... "Sorry?" my dad replied. She then wrongly informed us that we were in a season ticket holders seat. To cut a long story short, nobody on our row had a clue where we were meant to be sitting, so we came to the conclusion that we were right.

Going into the fixture Wolves were top of the league and Burnley were chasing a play-off position.

It was the visiting team that started off the match better with Karl Henry having a shot from 20 yards out. However the Wolves pressure was short lived when on just 6 minutes Burnley took the lead. Wade Elliott fired the ball into the area and found Chris McCann who finished brilliantly past Wayne Hennessey in the Wolves net.

Wolves continued to pile pressure on the Burnley defence. Luckily for the Clarets, Brian Jensen - or the 'Beast' - was in inspired form and kept out shots from Matt Jarvis and Michael Kightly.

Sylvain Ebanks-Blake had gone into the match in impressive form and he nearly added to his goal tally when his free kicked curled just wide of the post.

Burnley defender Steven Caldwell was unlucky not to double the Lancastrian sides lead when he was denied twice by Hennessey.

The Wolves defence had fallen asleep and Burnley wasted another good opportunity when Wade Elliott headed over Robbie Blakes cross.

Half time arrived, allowing both sets of players to have a rest before what proved to be a frantic second half.

Martin Paterson had a number of chances, and fluffed each and every single one of them. We sat there wondering how this man was top of the Championship goalscoring charts. He was awful!

As Paterson continued to frustrate the Burnley faithful the match turned into a physical contest as both teams were guilty of giving away free-kicks. Wolves had a number of free kicks on the edge of the box, but were unable to test Jensen in the Burnley goal.

The match ended, much to the relief of many jubilant Burnley fans.

I really enjoyed my trip to Burnley and will return sometime in the future.

"They are all vital three-points in the Championship but having said that, we were fully deserving of the three-points" - Owen Coyle, Burnley manager.

"It is a young squad and I have no doubt that they have lost confidence. Sometimes it takes a lucky break to get back on top but you have to earn that luck" - Mick McCarthy, Wolves manager.

Welcome to Burnley Football Club

Outside The James Hargreaves Stand

Me inside Turf Moor

View from the top row of the Jimmy McIlroy Stand



The James Hargreaves Stand



The David Fishwick Stand

The Bob Lord Stand

The Jimmy McIlroy Stand Upper

A Lancastrian setting - Otherwise known as home.

The two teams emerging

Match action

♫ Owen Coyle! Owen Coyle! Owen Owen Coyle! He gets the ball, he scores a goal! Owen Owen Coyle!

During the match

Wolves free kick



Wolves corner