West Bromwich Albion FC - The Hawthorns

- Ground Number 35 -

- 19/11/2011 -

- West Bromwich Albion FC 2-1 Bolton Wanderers FC -

Ground number 36, and another dreadful performance from Bolton Wanderers. On the plus side I ticked another stadium off my long list, had the privilege of meeting a group of obnoxious stewards, and I caught a glimpse of Father Christmas!

The Hawthorns; Ground number 36. The highest ground above sea level in the football league. Home to some idiotic stewards. Home to the strangest programmes I have ever read... The list goes on really.

A brand new stadium awaited me and with Bolton putting on free coach travel to ALL supporters we took a strong contingent to the midlands. 2,600 to be exact, which equated to 37 coaches.

Callum, I and Danny Bolton* set off from The Reebok at 11:00 on the dot. Luckily we booked our travel relatively early and had been put on Coach 8, meaning that we had one of the decent coaches. It was great to see so many fans going to an away match. It was sods law that we would lose.

* Danny Bolton is not to be confused with my other away day friend Danny Bury. You may remember Danny Bury from previous blogs such as Swansea.

The 37 Coaches on Car Park E at The Reebok

The coaches leaving The Reebok (Photo by - @ChrisJGGrady)

We arrived at The Hawthorns at around 13:45. However, it was a further 15 minutes before we got off the coach as we decided to go on a tour of West Bromwich, with nobody - including the driver - knowing where the convoy was heading. We were eventually chucked off the coach in the middle of nowhere, with nobody on hand to direct us to the ground.

After using my fantastic geographical knowledge we ended up on the main road, when suddenly we passed a big shop specialising in washing machines and other useful home appliances. Danny was drawn by a nice washing machine in the window, but we concluded that he would struggle sneaking it into the ground.

We plodded on up the road, with The Hawthorns gates in sight. Then suddenly, underneath a bus stop, two policemen tried telling us we "weren't allowed this way."

Being the rebels that we are, we ignored them and walked straight past. Why do ALL away fans get treated like crap? It really annoys me. All we wanted to do was go to the club shop for a bit of warmth and a mooch around.

We were taking our usual photos outside the ground when suddenly a man approached us and offered to take one of the three of us. We accepted, as he didn't look like the type to run off with the camera. After the photo was taken the man started talking to us about "Scousers"... We're is West Bromwich! Why was he so bothered about scousers?

As you can see - Michael is slightly complacent

After having our usual photos outside the ground, and hearing some controversial opinions from the bloke mentioned, we decided to venture in the club shop. This turned out to be a rather boring, and uneventful experience. Even the people working in the club shop looked bored. However, there was a vibrant duty manager in there who enjoyed shouting things such as "Michael! Get those balls in that basket!" or "Michael! Line those shirts up in size order!".

Walking around to the away end Danny bought some chips, and I guzzled one of my Tangos as I thought it would be a bit risky trying to sneak two bottles in. As it was, I managed to successfully sneak one in.

The away end concourse was very small, with a nice laminate flooring - ideal for spilling your beer and pie over.

Our seats were right at the top of the Smethwick End. Running behind the goal, the Smethwick End houses the away supporters though they are only allocated part of the stand. The left hand side of the stand is given to the more vocal West Brom fans.

I'm pleased that we were sat at the top of the stand, as the bottom tier didn't offer a decent view. I was even more delighted when one of my Twitter friends Emily (@EmilyHolden1D) turned up and sat in front of me - How lucky was she? She had the privilege of listening to me moaning for 90 minutes.

The West Stand (formerly the Halford's Lane Stand) was to our left. The stand houses the main TV cameras as well as the press and commentary area. There are plans for the West Stand to be demolished to make way for a single-tier, 10,000 seated stand within the next five years. The stand has instead been refurbished, resulting in a cut in capacity.

To our right was the East Stand. Built in 2001 to replace The Rainbow Stand it holds 8,791 fans and is the largest stand.

Woodman Pub - Before demolition

Directly in front stood the Birmingham Road End. Built in 1994 it holds over 8,000 home spectators. Between this stand and the East Stand lies the Woodman corner, named after the Woodman pub which stood just behind it until its demolition in 2004.




So after taking a few photos of of the stands, and other interesting things I returned to my seat. I was quite happily munching away on my sausage rolls... when suddenly one of my fluorescent friends marched up the stand with a menacing look. Now, I wasn't doing anything wrong - but my past record with stewards made me fear the worst.

The fluorescent menace continued up the stairs, and approached me. However, because he was so fantastically obsessed with himself and his powers he took a different approach. He crouched down behind me. I ignored him. He then tapped me on the shoulder.
Mr. Fluorescent - "If I see your camera once more, I will confiscate it"
I nearly spat out my Tesco sausage rolls in disgust! I tried explaining to this plank that I was only taking photos for my blog. However, everytime I opened my mouth he interrupted me and told me he didnt care.

"Look, I've listened to you. Now let me finish. If there is that much of a problem with cameras in here, then why was it not confiscated when my bag was searched? And more to the point, why is he taking photos over there?"

The steward - I mean 'Supervisor' to give him his full title - turned around to look at this other hooligan with his camera. He then came to the conclusion his camera was fine. Why? What's the difference you may be asking? Well...

I HAD A TELESCOPIC CAMERA WHICH ARE STRICTLY PROHIBITED WITHIN THE HAWTHORNS.

He may as well of just slapped the cuffs on me, what a naughty boy I had been! Oh, did I mention that his breath smelt of stale smoke?

Anyway, not one to moan... I carried on with my sausage rolls.

It was soon time for the teams to come out, and Bolton were sporting a teamsheet full of Championship quality superstars - as is so often the case these days. Players such as Chris Eagles and Nigel Reo-Coker were leading the line for Bolton in their battle against relegation!

With both West Brom and Bolton in desperate need for points after a poor run going into the fixture, it wasn't surprising to see a lively start from both teams.

It was Bolton who had the early chances with Chris Eagles volleying over the bar and Gary Cahill heading towards goal before it was cleared off the line by Youssouf Mulumbu. At the other end Jonas Olsson and Shane Long both went close.

Jerome Thomas started the match very positively and the Bolton defence couldn't deal with him. However, in all fairness... they can't deal with anything these days. It was only a matter of time before the Baggies scored and the goal came when Zoltan Gera's pass found Thomas who finished past Jaaskelainen in the Bolton net.

Thomas turned from hero to villain when he rather clumsily fouled Muamba in the West Brom penalty area. Klasnic stroked it past Ben Foster for his third goal in two games.

Bolton somehow managed to prevent West Brom from scoring again in the first half, meaning the teams went in level at the break.

Now, this is where I usually go for a walk. Maybe eat. Maybe even take photos... However, I was not in the mood for sausage rolls as they just reminded me of the supervisor.

The second half began and unsurprisingly it was the home side that started to apply the pressure, ultimately resulting in another goal.

The ever present Jerome Thomas played the ball out wide to the unmarked Nicky Shorey, who sent in a fantastic cross for Shane Long who finished expertly with his head.

In a half that was dominated by West Brom the Bolton players gave up, and so did my recollection of the remainder of the game. It was yet another downbeat and uninspiring display from a Bolton team who look like relegation material.

Although it's quite a nice ground and was a decent day out, I won't be in a hurry to visit West Brom again.

Coach Number 37

The Reebok car park

Walking to The Hawthorns

Callum, Danny and Me

Me outside The Hawthorns

Outside the Smethwick End

View from the Smethwick End

West Stand

East Stand

Birmingham Road End

Looking up the Smethwick End

Me inside The Hawthorns

Callum... and Callum - I think all my friends have the same names.

West Brom celebrating their first goal

I don't even want to know...

David N'Gog being useless as usual

Our fluorescent friends attempting to keep us all in at the end

Swansea City AFC - The Liberty Stadium

- Ground Number 34 -

- 30/10/2011 -

- Swansea City FC 3-1 Bolton Wanderers FC -

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Two positives came from my trip to Swansea; I witnessed the first goal scored by an English Premierleague team in Wales, and I was the last person to order a McDonalds Breakfast before the famous 10:30am change over time.

When the fixture list came out I was naturally drawn to Swansea v Bolton. A newly promoted team, and a brand new stadium for me to visit! I knew full well that Bolton would lose this match, so with that in mind I just concentrated on enjoying the trip.

Built in 2005 to replace Swansea's former home Vetch Field, the Liberty Stadium holds 20,532 and is the second smallest stadium currently in The Premierleague. The stadium was originally called the 'White Rock Stadium' because it is built upon an old copper works.

As I've said, I had planned to go to the match and had already saved up. However, with Bolton announcing free coach travel to all supporters who went to the Wigan match it only cost me £17.50 for the whole day! Which saved me £25 in total! Thanks BWFC!

Some people were moaning at the quality of the transport, but as it was free... what do you expect? Personally, I didn't have a problem with the coaches. Fitted with fake leather seats, a television from the 90's, a crackling radio and booming speakers - It was an enjoyable experience.

Me and Danny set off from home at 07:15 and arrived at The Reebok with plenty of time to spare until the coach departed. I'm usually the first on the coach, which allows me to choose a suitable perch for my journey. Unfortunately, for this coach journey we ended up sitting behind two very undesirable males. One had a massive head and smelt of bodily fluids, the other? Well, he seemed to bullshit his way around The UK... more on him later.

The 13 coaches departed on time, well, apart from the odd one which had decided not to turn up. We made great progress and arrived at Strensham Services - Just North of Cheltenham - at 10:15.

Getting into the service station building was an adventure on its own. After driving around the block, and nearly ending up back on the motorway we took a shortcut through a petrol forecourt before the coach finally stopped. Queue a mass invasion of 800 Bolton fans upon an already stretched McDonald's crew. The queue for McDonalds snaked around the service station. Oh, and to make things even more interesting - a gaggle of Huddersfield Town fans had just arrived with 5 coaches en route to Yeovil Town.

Feeding of the 3,000

Luckily, having a brain and all, we saw this fiasco happening and we ran into the queue; ordering at McDonalds just before the 10:29 breakfast deadline.

Uproar! At 10:31 on the dot, the workforce refused to take any more breakfast orders. To make matters worse, they had run out sausage. Talking of sausages, we had a good old laugh at a Huddersfield fan who tried shoving a whole one in his mouth at once - resulting in him choking.

After laughing at the Yorkshiremen eating their English Breakfasts it was time to press on. Although, the coachdriver was a bit reluctant to let me back on the coach as I was wearing a Mario Balotelli tribute shirt - "WHY ALWAYS ME?".

The Coachdriver decided to liven up the second part of the coach journey. What did he decide to do? Did he supply us all with alcohol? Did he do a bit of stand up? Had he purchased us all a pie? No. He put on an old cowboy movie... Full blast! So even if you were listening to your iPod you could still hear the occasional gunshot.

Arriving into Wales a small section of the coach decided to play 'Pronounce that town name'. Penyclawdd and Michaelstone-Y-Fedw seemed to stretch us all a bit too far, and we soon gave up.

Mr. Bullshitter (The man in front of me) had by now grown in confidence. I had been following our progress on GoogleMaps, despite this he still thought he knew his way around Britain better than any form of technology. After trying to convince the whole coach that we were in Port Talbot I showed him quite clearly that we were just north of Cardiff. He only took this as a minor setback and carried out pontificating.

After recieving a police convoy we arrived at The Liberty Stadium with 2 hours to spare until kick off. We were greeted by a tall policeman who told us where Frankie & Bennies was, I then moaned to him about the weather. IT WAS FREEZING!

Situated on a retail park the stadium offers pre-match necessities such as KFC and B&Q. However to get to the shops, you have to cross a bridge... which sways in the wind! We decided to stay at Frankie & Bennies for a while, and after singing the English national anthem it was time to make a move.

We arrived at the turnstiles. Never before had I been frisked by a Welsh man... but there's a first time for everything. I held my arms out, and I was stroked rather vigorously before the man then let out a loud 'Whooooooo!'. Probably one of the strangest moments of my life to date.

Owen Coyle had been under a certain amount of pressure from sections of our support. Thankfully a group of our fans brought a banner showing 'IN COYLE WE TRUST'... However, the support was short lived when we were told that we weren't allowed to have any banners up. My initial thought was; "Why did the strange man on the turnstiles not confiscate it?". Then I realised that he would have been too busy stroking them to realise.

The stadium was beginning to fill up, and somehow we were getting wet! We were sat in the second tier of a Premierleague Stadium, and we were getting wet! Unacceptable in my opinion. Our dampened spirits were only shortlived though as we then found out the team news. Well, we found it a bit hard to understand the announcer to be honest... but we managed between us.

After hanging up all of our English flags, it was ready for the teams to come out.

The Bolton fans were given the upper tier of the North Stand, and we filled it. Which made me feel quite proud for some reason. The view was one of the best I have witnessed in a football stadium, I was speechless. The only thing I could fault was the fact that we were all made to sit down throughout the match.

Bolton started off the match impressively, and were knocking it around in true Owen Coyle fashion. David Ngog had the first opportunity of the match after he cracked a shot from outside the area. However, Swanseas' in form keeper Michel Vorm was equal to it.

Swansea reminded me of the famous Blackpool side which brought so much excitement to the Premier League with fast flowing football, a wide range of passing and an 'in your face' approach. The one difference between Swansea and Blackpool though is that Swansea also have the ability to defend, which makes them a far more dangerous opposition.

After a fairly un-eventful first half I went down to the concourse.

They had many overpriced savouries, and we were kindly reminded that all prices were in sterling. Maybe this was because many Bolton fans had of course visited their local bureau de change in anticipation for their Welsh trip?

"I'll have £20 worth of Euros please, I'm off to Swansea at the weekend."

Unfortunately they had run out of pies, so I had to keep my euros for my next trip to Spain. Whilst I was in the food queue I had a quick catch up with Fat Frank, who had had one too many as usual.

In the first half Mark Clattenburg had had an awful game, giving some shocking decisions against both teams. Eventually the Bolton fans broke out in a chorus of ♫ Clattenburg's a w####r ♫ - Which at the time seemed funny... until the second half began and he got his revenge.

Bolton were holding on, albeit playing very defensively. However, the defensive strategy was dealt a huge blow when Ricardo Gardner was harshly sent off for his second bookable offence.

The sending off changed the match, and within seconds Bolton found themselves behind. Mark Gower hit the free-kick into the area, Allen controlled the ball and ran through the usual gaping hole in Boltons defence before slotting it past Jussi Jaaskelainen's near post. 1-0.

Scott Sinclair then extended their lead with a penalty just eight minutes later, which triggered an angry response from the Bolton faithful.

More Swansea pressure ensued resulting in Danny Graham hitting the crossbar before then scoring a cracking own goal, slicing an inswinging left-wing cross from Chris Eagles.

That goal meant that Bolton Wanderers now hold the proud record of being 'The first English team to score a Premier League goal in Wales'.

Graham scored again in the final minute to kill off Bolton, and send us home feeling pretty downbeat. Swansea's record-signing kept his composure when put through one-on-one by Leon Britton's pass to beat Jaaskelainen.

Only 3 of the Bolton squad bothered to come and clap the away support. Yes large sections of us were throwing abuse, but that does not excuse ignoring your own fans. At the end of the day, we pay your wages.

Exiting the ground, everybody was miserable. UNTIL that is, we stepped back on to our coach. The driver had 5 Live on, and there was news coming through of "DRAMATIC SCENES AT CARROW ROAD!" - We then all clicked that this was Blackburns' match. It was Norwich 2-3 Blackburn, and Norwich had a penalty in the last minute.

Grant Holt stepped up, and slotted it past Paul Robinson to give us Bolton fans something to cheer about.

The most enjoyable experience of the day came when listening to BBC5Live and Stuart Hall was interviewing Wigan chairman Dave Whelan. All of a sudden they launched into a rendition of "If You Were The Only Girl In The World And I Was The Only Boy." It was hilarious, and everybody on the coach was speechless.

It was a long way back home after that performance, so I decided to shove my iPod in and close my eyes. We arrived back at The Reebok Stadium at around 21:30 - JUST IN TIME TO WATCH THE WHOLE THING AGAIN ON MATCH OF THE DAY!



Welcome to The Liberty Stadium




Me outside The Liberty Stadium




Danny outside The Liberty Stadium




How ironic that the name Gareth has sold out...




Danny, Me, Chris and Mikey




West Stand - Liberty Stadium




East Stand - Liberty Stadium




Me inside The Liberty Stadium




Danny inside The Liberty Stadium




IN COYLE WE TRUST




View from the top of the away end




West Stand - Liberty Stadium



East Stand - Liberty Stadium




North Stand (Away) - Liberty Stadium



The teams coming out




Gary Cahill




Bolton fans on the concourse





Arsenal FC - Emirates Stadium

- Ground Number 20 -

- 25/10/2011 -

- Arsenal FC 2-1 Bolton Wanderers FC -

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My second visit to The Emirates in a matter of months. Having been to Arsenal v Wigan in January, I was looking forward to another trip.

It was Carling Cup time and after agreeing that I could go to the match, whoever we drew I was really hoping it would be at a stadium that I hadn't yet done. Cardiff, Aldershot, Southampton and Stoke were the teams I wanted to draw.

Saturday 24th September - Carling Cup 4th Round Draw -

Arsenal v Bolton Wanderers.

Not what I was hoping for, but it was another chance visit The Emirates, and at £30 for ticket and travel you couldn't complain!

Setting off from The Reebok Stadium at 12:30 I shared the back seats with my mate Callum. Joining us were Albert and Fat Frank. For those of you who aren't familiar with Fat Frank he is our most recognisable fan....

Frank

When I saw Frank walking down the centre of the coach towards us I won't lie...I died inside. Our equivalent of Mr. Pompey was going to be sat next to me on a coach for 8 hours! How wrong could I have been. Frank and Albert looked after us and made our journey rather enjoyable.

After Frank set us some quiz questions such as; "Name all the teams who have been in The Premier league and then dropped down to League One" he then went on to give us half an hours worth of stand up which even Peter Kay would have been proud of.

We arrived at Norton Canes Services (North of Walsall) just after 14:30 and spent around 30 minutes there before pressing on to London. I was following our progress on my HTC Desire! Technology these days...

Frank carried on with the on board entertainment and after managing to block the chemical toilet between us we arrived at The Emirates with around 2 hours until kick off. I was planning on visiting the newly opened Piebury Corner - Specialising in nothing but pies. However, Frank asked us if we fancied going to the pub with him.

After explaining to him that we were 15 and 16 he concluded; "F### it! You can be my two sons. You'll get in!"

We approached the pub and the doormen explained that we ALL needed ID to get in. "We're Northern! We don't do ID, now let us in we only want a drink." somebody argued...we got in! Wow! I was in a pub on a matchday... this was a new experience for me!

We gave 'somebody some money' and they bought us a couple of 'beverages' at a pub which the name I am unsure of. (Don't want anybody being prosecuted now do we!).

After a couple of drinks, a sing song with the Arsenal fans... and being spied upon by some bouncers we all exited the pub and made our way to the stadium.

After having a group photo outside, we approached the turnstiles where we were sniffed for drugs... by a dog, not a steward. With nothing to do before kick off my bladder decided to play games with me. I visited the same urinal 3 times in half an hour! I don't know what they had put in these 'beverages' at the 'unknown pub', but it was certainly causing the toilets to be busy!

I met up with one of my mates Matty and we had a good catch up before the big moment arrived and interrupted procedures. The Gunnersauras Rex - Arsenals mascot - was posing for pictures, and not being one to miss an opportunity I had a photo with the green monstrosity.

People go on about how The Emirates is one of the best stadiums in the world. Well, I beg to differ. Yes, it's impressive. Yes, it's modern... but the negatives outweigh the positives.

I am not a fan of the view offered from the bottom tier at The Emirates. The Madejski Stadium, Reading - recognises the fact that away fans WILL stand up. The Madejski offers a steep gradient allowing you to see over the person in front of you. The Emirates on the other hand has a gradual climb which means if you are small like me you find it difficult to see over the person in front of you.

I have nothing against Arsenal fans, but they offer nothing in the way of an atmosphere. It's a bit like Manchester City fans really. They will take a few years, and a bit of help from the club to help create a true singing section.

To my left was The Clock End. The famous clock was taken from Arsenals former home of Highbury.

Directly in front was the West Stand. This houses media facilities and dugouts.

To my right was The North Bank.

The stands obviously have no history and are all symmetrical to each other so I can't really expand on them much further!

Arsene Wenger had obviously named an experienced line up. Wenger had selected household names such as Nicholas Yennaris, Ignasi Miquel, Ryo Miyaichi and Oguzhan Ozyakup. After hearing this news, Bolton fans were feeling pretty confident!

Bolton started the game quite well, and were passing it about with confidence which made a pleasant change. They even created a few chances! The first of which saw Lukasz Fabianski save well at his near post from a long range Darren Pratley shot.

It was then Arsenals turn to sting the hands of our very own 'Cheesey Wotsit' - Adam Bogdan. (He is ginger and wears a bright orange kit). Thomas Vermaelens' thunderous free kick was going in until Bogdan got a strong hand to it and pushed it out for a corner.

Bolton deservedly broke the deadlock 2 minutes into the second half. When former Arsenal player Fabrice Muamba scored! I shall never forget the moment Bolton lead at The Emirates... You can probably guess I haven't had many enjoyable away days.

We celebrated the goal as any fan would. Jumping up and down, hugging complete strangers! ♫ Wembley, Wembley! We're the famous Bolton Wanderers and we're going to Wembley! ♫ - I refused to sing this song as I am still in shock from the 5-0 thrashing we got last time we were there.

However, our joy was inevitably short lived.

Just 5 minutes later Andrey Arshavin cut inside the Bolton defence unchallenged and fired a shot into the bottom corner. Bogdan didn't stand a chance. 1-1.

With Bolton not looking bothered after they had conceded we all knew what was coming. Summer signing Park Chu-Young was fed down the flank by Arshavin before then curling a beautiful shot past the helpless Bogdan in the Bolton net.

Bolton could have forced extra time late on when Chris Eagles' shot was nearly fumbled in by Fabianski.

It wasn't to be our evening and we were knocked out of the cup.

The journey back to Bolton was an eventful one. We arrived at Hilton Park Services at around 01:00, and were greeted by around 50 Manchester United fans who were travelling back from Aldershot.

They began to sing abusive songs towards us, and I actually thought it was going to kick off. Some of them even followed me to the toilets to shout abuse! One positive from our stop at the services was that we discovered there are at least 50 United fans from up North!*

I walked back to our coach to discover that another scumbag had made his way on to our coach and had began to look for a fight. Ironically, he was wearing a Ji-Sung Park shirt which meant he wouldn't have been able to hit the target anyway.

We arrived back at The Reebok Stadium at around 02:30 - A whole 45 minutes behind the team coach!

It had been a very enjoyable evening out, despite losing.

*I know that there are more than 50 United fans that live in Manchester. Don't start.




Arriving at The Emirates

  


The Emirates Stadium

 


A few of us outside The Emirates




Me and Matty




Me inside The Emirates




Me and The Gunnersauras Rex




Chilling on the comfy seats




WE SCORED!




Flying Fabianski


Arsenal v Wigan



Highbury Stadium - Still there if you want to visit it




The Emirates Stadium




Walking Up To The Clock End




Me inside The Emirates




The Clock End




The East Stand




View from The Away End