Go West, old man, go West

To shamelessly misquote Horace Greeley.

This weekend, I was going to Yeovil to see Forest play and then visit the western end of the M4 corridor.

Yeovil Town have just been promoted back to the Championship, having won the playoff final out of League 1 last season. They play at a modest ground, Huish Park, in a modest town in Somerset. However, any team which plays in the Championship has won a place on merit and simply because they are not giants of football doesn't mean they don't possess the ability to embarrass the so-called bigger teams. A fact which was well illustrated on this day.

I had planned to park in a cul de sac only a short walk from the ground. I got held up in traffic on the way to the game, was a bit later than planned and found my parking spot already filled. I ventured in to a small estate in order to reverse and retrace my steps, saw that there was plenty of room in there and so decided to stop and check it out. A resident appeared as if by magic, I asked if there was any objection to parking in their somewhat exclusive estate. He had no objection and directed me to a lovely spot amongst some trees. I ate my lunch and made my way to the ground.


Their ground is made up of three covered stands and one uncovered terrace which is reserved for the away spectators. On one level it is quite a novelty to visit a ground which still has terracing, on another level it can be an uncomfortable experience if the weather is at all inclement. On this day it was just this side of comfortable, with a strong wind blowing into our faces and one or two light rain showers. I said the ground is modest. To a Yeovil fan it is home and a castle, to an away fan of a "bigger" club, any ground that is packed to the rafters and does not exceed 8,000 spectators, I reckon, is modest.

To their credit, Yeovil were not over-awed by our presence. To be 3-1 up at half time is creditable by any measure. An early deflected goal set them on their way. Then Cox contrived to miss yet another penalty awarded to the mighty Reds. With our equaliser thrown away, Yeovil managed to score another, a speculative shot from outside the area on the right. Immediately Forest went onto the attack and just before half time forced a corner from which Chalobah, on loan from Chelsea, scored with a close in header. He has not had a particularly happy time since his arrival, which is surprising considering his very successful season with Watford last year. From the kick off, Yeovil went down to our terrace end, forced a corner of their own and scored with a straightforward header, about a minute before half time.

Cue deflated Forest fans. That was it, taking full advantage of the gale blowing down the pitch (a precursor for the storm promised for the next day), Forest pressed the entire second half, but no more goals were scored.

I was glad to leave the small town in Somerset and head to the major metropolis of Bristol, my base for the night. After another comfortable night in my Premier Inn I set out bright and early for Bristol Rovers ground. And it was very bright, contrary to what the weather forecasters had predicted. The worst storm for many years was due to hit us in a few hours. I lost no time in dashing off to the Memorial Ground. I'm pretty pathetic at navigating whilst driving, I can read a map for others, but for myself, I tend to be a bit non-directional. So it proved yet again. The address I had was Filton Avenue. So when I saw the road so named, I gleefully pulled into it. After driving for a mile or so with no sight of the ground, I stopped and asked an elderly dog walker for directions. It could not be too difficult, after all, I was actually on the right road.

Sadly I had stopped a deranged lunatic who had no idea of right and left and had, on closer questioning, never heard of Bristol Rovers. I pushed on and stopped an old guy with a newspaper who pointed me in the right direction. In fact, I was on a hill and, at his prompting, could actually see the floodlights of the Memorial Ground. It turns out, there was another section of Filton Avenue across the main road, which I had not noticed. I made my way there. Rovers have had a chequered recent history as regards their home ground. They used to play at Eastville Stadium, had a row with their landlords over the lease, and, in 1980, moved in with their hated rivals Bristol City! This was never going to work and legal settlements saw them move back to Eastville. However financial difficulties now saw them move again, this time to Bath, to Twerton Park, home of Bath City.

This was again a move beset with problems and they moved back to Bristol  to share the Memorial Ground with the owners, Bristol Rugby Union Club.

They in turn had financial problems and Rovers took over full ownership of the ground in 1998. The ground is still shared with the rugby club, a situation becoming increasingly common. Much has been done in the last dozen or so years to bring it up to a decent standard and it now looks quite smart, though of a somewhat odd construction. None of the stands is in any way similar to any other and only the South Stand extends across the full width of the pitch. I couldn't get into the ground, but there is sufficient chain link fencing and gaps in the stands for me to get a good look around.

I now made my way to the south of Bristol to  Ashton Gate. I had to go through the town, a maze of streets. By some fluke, I found Bristol City's ground with no problems!

In contrast to Bristol Rovers, City have been at their home for pretty much their entire history, well over a hundred years. Despite being at their home for so long, the ground looks not at all ramshackle and old. It is neat and well maintained. It also looked impregnable! I thought I was going to get nowhere near the inside.  As usual, I parked up in a near-empty car park (most of my visits are done on a Sunday morning) and commenced my walk around the ground. Past the main entrance I went, noticing cars passing me. Why, I thought?  Wandering behind the Atyeo Stand things soon became clear. There was an antiques fair on in the suite under the Dolman Stand, which also opened up the gate to the ground. These car boot sales etc are a very popular way for the clubs in the lower leagues to bolster their incomes.

So I got my wander round inside the ground after all, in the bright sunshine of a lovely Sunday morning. I was pleased, partly because a school friend of mine(we played together in the school first XI) had played a considerable number of games for City in the 60s and early seventies until his career was cut short by injury. Take a bow, Terry Bush.

I now set sail for Newport County ground. The weather had so far been blustery, but bright and sunny. It was to take a turn for the worst. As I approached the Severn Bridge, the clouds started to roll in and the wind increased in velocity,  making it pretty gusty on the bridge, in fact notices were up stating that the other Severn Crossing bridge had been closed to high-sided vehicles.

It rained heavily this morning from now on, but fortunately in showery bursts, so, by carefully timing my visits, I managed to accomplish all in the relatively dry moments.

Newport County have had a few problems in the recent past, but fought their way back up the football pyramid and gained promotion to League 2 last season. They presently play at Rodney Parade in Newport, a ground wholly owned by a subsidiary of Newport Rugby Club. In fact, besides the parent club and Newport County FC, the venue is also used for matches by Newport Gwent Dragons RFC.  The ground cannot be directly approached by Rodney Road, because the top part of this road is one way, leading out onto Clarence Place, so I went round and in via Grafton Road. At the junction of Rodney Road, I found the clubhouse and old ceremonial gates of Newport Rugby Club. I thought this would be a way in, but the gates wouldn't open. I went on down the road, past a great deal of building work, regenerating the riverside by the River Usk. Rodney Road is a narrow, unprepossessing approach to a major sporting venue and when I arrived at the main ground (there is an athletic/practice ground directly behind the Newport RFC main building) I thought I had arrived at Fort Rodney Parade. There was a high, black aluminium fence (which seemed about 10 foot high) running right down to the Hazell Stand which in turn had high blank walls facing the road. I parked up in the only free spot I could find amongst the clutter of new housing, blank aluminium and Wimpey chain link fencing promising all sorts of excruciating punishments if you so much a looked at their building work without a hard hat. My parking spot was surrounded by a puddle at least 6 inches deep, nevertheless, I was happy to have arrived in between rain storms. I walked around the ground. A pleasant walkway took me between Rodney Road and Corporation Road, a walkway which was signed at the Corporation Road end by two high blue poles, denoting the entrance to the ground for visiting supporters.

It was at this point that I gained my only real view into the stadium.
Otherwise, when not protected by high fencing the ground is shielded by houses and gardens.

I can't blame the club for protecting their property and for not being there on a damp Sunday morning to greet me!! I just have to take the rough with the smooth on these trips around the nation's football league grounds.

I left to travel on to Cardiff City, accompanied by torrential rain. City used to play at Ninian Park, their home for almost 100 years. Now they still play at Ninian Park, but in a brand new stadium called the Cardiff City Stadium! Driving in, I must say it looked impressive, with acres of car parks surrounding one of the new bowl-style stadiums. And, with building work going on behind the Ninian Stand they could be building a new tier to the stand or just tarting up the car park. As I arrived, the rain started again, but fortunately soon stopped.

Adjacent to this area are the gates of the old ground. They have been "modernised" to include the name Ninian Park on one gate and the dates 1910-2009 on the other. They have been matched with a new gateway which also serves as a memorial to some well-known figures around the club and leading through the gates is another of those memorial walkways that I like so much, "The City Walk" made up of bricks dedicated to lost loved ones. Also adjacent to the gates is a small memorial garden. The gates actually open out on to Sloper Road which was the address of Ninian Park for all those years. The address is now Leckwith Road, which is the dual carriageway which runs across the front of the stadium and intersects with Sloper road at one corner of the ground. I must also mention the memorial plaque attached to the gateway remembering Jock Stein who died at the ground immediately after a Scotland game on 10th September 1985.

In front of the stadium is a statue of Fred Keenor holding the FA Cup, he was captain of the club when they won the cup in 1927. This was a poor final by all accounts and is only remembered for Dan Lewis, the Arsenal goalie, fumbling then knocking the ball into his own net in the last few minutes. Still, a win's a win. I was unable to get into the ground, but was able to poke my camera lens through an open gateway.

The stadium is new, but still predates the arrival of the new owner. In a rare and controversial move, he changed the colour of the kit worn by the club, from blue to red. So now the club with the nickname "Bluebirds" play in red! The stadium was built with blue and white facings all round the outside of the bowl and blue seats inside and these blue touches still remain. The club badge has also been redesigned, the only concession to the past is a small blue bird at the bottom of the predominantly red crest.

It was time to move on to Swansea. The weather was closing in again and I had about 50 miles to go.

The Liberty Stadium in Swansea is another new bowl.

All these new grounds show some efforts at individuality, but all are depressingly similar and functional. Of course, the whole point of the new grounds is that everything should work, that there are plenty of function and hospitality rooms to increase the club revenue and the safety of fans is improved, but it is seems so sad, and I suppose inevitable, that grounds that grew organically and individually with the clubs and ooze history are being bulldozed almost without a second thought.

The Liberty Stadium is sited right in amongst a retail park, so I was able to park in Frankie & Benny's car park right in front of the stadium with no problem, even though West Ham United were due to visit later that afternoon. However, I was warned that on match days parking was limited to 90 minutes only. My journey was again punctuated by gusty winds and heavy rain which miraculously stopped as I arrived and parked the car.

I walked around the ground. At the far end I spied an open gate guarded by a uniformed steward. In the best "hopeless, but I might as well try anyway" manner,  I explained the purpose of my visit and asked if I might photograph the interior of the stadium, promising to stay within his eyesight. He was a nice man and acceded to my request.

That done I quickly carried on around the ground as the weather was closing in again. I had almost completed my circuit when I came upon the statue of Ivor Allchurch, a Swans legend, an inside forward of great poise who played over 400 times for Swansea, his home town.

I then made tracks for home, hoping to stop off in the Brecon Beacons for a quick ascent of Pen y Fan, a notable landmark in my military career. However the wind and rain increased in fury and I sadly carried on home via the Heads of the Valleys road. 710 miles completed.  Six grounds visited, three of those shared with Rugby clubs, a growing feature, and great variety amongst those stadiums, vividly illustrating the diversity of our sporting real estate.