Savaged by the Sheep

Well, here we are at last, the second of the fixtures every Forest fan looks for when the fixture list comes out in June. And, at the ripe old age of 71, my first time in Derby. So, of course, my first visit to Pride Park or the iPro as it's now called. There is no doubt it is the iPro Stadium as virtually every flat surface has the name stuck on it.

Also my first drive along Brian Clough Way as the road (the A52) linking the two cities is now called. The club moved from their old ground , the Baseball Ground which had been their home since 1895, to Pride Park in 1997. The Baseball Ground had in fact been used for baseball for a short period before football took over. The club nickname is the Rams, which stems from an association with the local Militia many years ago, who had a ram as their regimental mascot. The club was a founder member of the Football League in 1888, only four years after it's formation in 1884.

First impressions of Pride Park; very similar to the Riverside and the Stadium of Light, a plain 'bowl'. One large main stand and the rest just wrapping around the pitch. The only slight variation with those two is the executive boxes squeezed in the corner between the Main Stand (Toyota West Stand) and the North Stand. As with so many other grounds the stands bear impossibly long sponsorship titles which just exhaust my typing skills. The ground does give the impression of being very business-like and well run, with everything sponsored from the West Stand car park (VW) to the time added on at the end of each half. The Main Stand has two tiers with further executive boxes along the mid-line, a media centre at the top of the stand behind the top row of seats, the players tunnel and dugouts.
Alongside the home dugout is a bust of Steve Bloomer, at least that's what I'm told. I wasn't allowed to walk round to photograph it and my efforts to do so at long range were mostly thwarted by a steward in a bright high vis jacket who stood in front of it the whole game. Seems odd to have a bust of a hero where practically nobody can see it.

For me the main interest on my walk around the ground was the statue of BC and Peter Taylor, who were together the whole time that BC was manager at Derby.

 Peter Taylor nominally being his assistant but in reality his equal, one organising the playing side and the other the transfers in and out. In fact one of the reasons Brian cites for their bust up with the Derby board is one of the directors questioning Peter Taylor's role at the club. Anyway they left eventually and after a time moved to the City Ground, to complete a remarkable career together. For the pair were both volatile characters and had always had violent disagreements, which would finally cripple their partnership in 1982 when Taylor, after breaking their partnership because he was tired and unwell, returned to football as manager of Derby County!! The crowning insult was the signing of John Robertson by Taylor without telling Brian Clough, which led to BC resolving never to talk to him again.

At the back of the East Stand is the police control box, which has on odd sort of garden shed appearance when viewed from the outside.

The ground is situated in a retail park/industrial estate which does mean there are plenty of places to eat and park around the ground. Plus hotels,  mine was within easy walking distance making parking easy and giving me a good jumping off spot for my ground visits the next day.

A modern functional ground with little to distinguish it from others of it's ilk. And, with the club colours being black and white, nothing colourful about it. However, my reservations about the ground have not stopped Derby and their manager, a chap who left a few clubs and the National team under a cloud, from being right at the pointy end of this season's Championship. At the time of the game they were in third position, remote from the top two but securely in the playoffs, despite not scoring for, apparently, 365 minutes going back to 22 February. Forest are also on a pretty poor run, winless in seven games and playing poorly into the bargain.

The game itself started fairly evenly, but after just six minutes went downhill for the Reds. 3-0 at half time and 5-0 at the end. Just about everything went right for them and nothing for us, though, in truth, we didn't deserve anything. Billy Davies disappeared sharpish down the tunnel at the end and, though we didn't know it then, out of our lives. For he was sacked by Fawaz on the Sunday, though nothing appeared until the Monday morning when it was first noted that Billy's staff had not arrived at the training ground.

This was all in the future. I went back to the hotel trying to pretend that I was just an ordinary tourist totally bemused by the antics of the grinning and happy home fans. I slept well and went out into the bright Sunday morning sunshine with renewed vigour. It didn't last, the sunshine I mean. By the time I had made the short journey down to Burton Albion's ground, the Pirelli Stadium, it was raining. And the weather was to stay like that all day, classic sunshine and showers, which meant timing my visits to coincide with the brighter periods if possible.

I found the Pirelli Stadium quite easily because I was alerted as I passed a gigantic building impressed with the name "Pirelli National Distribution Centre".
 I have had trouble finding the way in to the car park at a lot of grounds and here was no different. I drove down the main road, not seeing an entrance to the ground, to a roundabout and, as the stadium is nestled neatly in the junction of the roads, I went right round the roundabout and drove slowly up the road until I saw a sign welcoming me to the Pirelli Stadium.  In I went and round to the front of the stadium, which reminded me of Morecambe's ground, the Globe Arena. Which is not really surprising because I have since read that the Pirelli was a model for that stadium.

It is my habit to check doors as I walk around the grounds I visit and, blow me, I found the front door (to the main reception) open. In I go. No one about. I wander upstairs and find a gentleman diligently vacuuming a carpet in a function room on the first floor. I ask him if it is possible to see around the ground. He told me he had no authority, but directed me to the players tunnel when there was a member of the ground staff working, so I walked down to make my request to a very startled kit man. He explained that not that long ago there had been an unauthorised entry by some ruffians which had necessitated a call to the police and it had rather shaken him up. So he is now keen on security. However, he soon recovered his composure and very kindly allowed me to take my photos and wander round, a very nice man.

The Pirelli Stadium is relatively new, being first used in 2005. It is built on the former site of the tyre company's sports club which was donated to the club in exchange for naming rights. At the time the Brewers, an obvious nickname for a club situated in a town world renowned for brewing, were in the Football Combination, but achieved league status in 2009. Strangely, they were not the first club from Burton to play in the Football League. In the late nineteenth century two teams from Burton played in Football League division 2; indeed for three seasons (1894-1897) Burton Swifts and Burton Wanderers played in that league at the same time. Shortly thereafter they amalgamated as Burton United and stayed in the league only until 1907. They folded soon after leaving yet another club, Burton All Saints, as the town team. But they went out of business as well in 1940 and it wasn't until Burton Albion were formed in 1950 that the town had another team.

The stadium is simple in design. There is a large all-seated main stand housing the club offices, changing rooms etc which dominates the ground. The other three stands are almost identically designed shallow  terraces (although, of course, the one opposite the main stand is longer than the others) which each have a small cafe/snack bar or function room situated at the back of the stand. The East Terrace (Coors Stand) just advertises a snack bar menu, but the other stands invite you to "The Vera Goode Suite" and "The Tom Eccleshall Suite". It is worth mentioning that the groundsman regularly receives awards and praise for the quality of the pitch. There is one score board/video screen, fixed to the fascia of the Coors Stand, which effectively prevents the away fans from seeing whatever is on there.

It was a cold, damp day and the wind was getting up, so I decided to make tracks to my next ground, the Britannia Stadium, home of Stoke City.

The journey to the Britannia was an easy one even for this "route challenged" person. As it was I was merrily bowling along when I suddenly realised the stadium was there on my left. A hasty, but smooth turn off and past a myriad of car sales showrooms to the large main car park. Stoke City FC were formed as Stoke Ramblers in 1863 making them the second oldest league club and just two years older than Forest. They became Stoke City in 1925 after the town of Stoke-on-Trent was elevated to city status. The club moved to their present ground in 1997 after playing at the Victoria Ground since 1878. They were founder members of the Football League in 1888, though they dropped out in 1890 after failing to gain re-election, their place going to Sunderland, but in the following year, 1891-2, the league was expanded to two leagues and Stoke were re-admitted. The nickname of the club is the Potters, a nod to the dominant industry of the area.

On the day I visited Stoke were playing away so the ground was locked up and deserted. I wandered around. The ground was built on the site of Stafford No2 Colliery, which closed in 1969, and is on a plateau high above the city so is very windy if the weather is the least bit inclement, but it also, because of the elevated position, appears in splendid isolation.

The Main Stand is on it's own as is the stand next to it, the South or Marston Pedigree Stand. The other corner of the ground is two stands (The Boothen End and the Novus Stand) joined at the corner forming a continuous whole. In between the South Stand and the Novus Stand is a large video screen which effectively prevents anyone standing on the earth bank behind it from seeing into the stadium. I took up position on this bank trying to take photos into the ground and found the screen perfectly positioned to prevent a decent view of the playing surface.

Stanley Matthews was a great hero of my youth (I once sent him a birthday card whilst he was at Blackpool and received a nice handwritten reply) and his presence at Stoke is noted in several ways. He was born in one of the six towns of Stoke (Hanley) and supported Port Vale as a lad, but eventually signed for Stoke City where he spent, in total, nineteen years, playing over 300 games for them. On the front of the Main Stand are two large posters of players, one of whom is Stan. I thought this to be a bit poorly printed, but when I got close-up I noted his picture is superimposed over many hundreds of pictures of Stoke fans, a sort of mosaic. This gives the printing on the poster, "Proud to be a Potter", a double meaning.
Also, in a small garden area behind the Boothen End is a statue to Stanley Matthews consisting of three statues (a sort of sculptural triptych) demonstrating his amazing body swerve. The address of the club is Stanley Matthews Way and, finally, his ashes were buried under the centre spot.

Behind the Boothen End is Delilah's Bar, a reference to one of the songs that the Potters fans sing. The players tunnel comes out at the Marston Pedigree Stand end of the Main Stand though the dug outs are in the middle of the stand. A fine ground in which the Stoke fans create a great atmosphere, which would be even louder if the proposed closing of the gap between the Novus and South Stand ever takes place. There is a "Wall of Fame" in one corner of the Main Stand for remembering Potters fans who have passed on.

It was cold and windy and more rain was approaching. I was unlikely to see more (I had already nearly fallen off a wall trying to photograph the Main Stand) so I set off to find Port Vale FC at their ground, Vale Park, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, noting that they are one of the few clubs whose name gives no idea of their geographical location. Just a short hop and a skip up the road.

This again proved quite easy to find and I dived into the first gateway I found, which proved not to be the correct one, but which, nevertheless, gave me a parking spot right next to Tommy Cheadle's Pub,
a reference to an ex Vale player who came into football late (another whose career was broken or delayed by WWII). A hard defender he suffered so many head injuries it is reported his team mates nicknamed him "wooden head".

The real entrance to the ground was up some stairs by the pub and a winding road round to the back of the main stand where there are offices, changing rooms and, as I was to find out, the physio's room. The ground appeared to be shut up tight, so I took a few photos of the stand and the statue representing the Sproson family, particularly Roy Sproson who played well over 800 games for the Valiants. Other members of the family also played many times for Port Vale.

The club origins, both formation and naming, are lost in the mists of time, but are recorded as being in the 1870s. They have played at Vale Park since 1950.

I hung about outside the ground working out my tactics, as the ground is pressed in by housing on one side, a small industrial area on the other and Hamil Road running along the front, none of the areas giving very atmospheric photographic opportunities. However, just at that moment, a very nice car drew up in front of the Lorne Street Stand. Thinking an executive of the club had arrived to audit the books or whatever, I approached the surprisingly young man who emerged. It turned out he was an injured player come for a bit of physiotherapy prior to their next match on Tuesday (actually, I didn't bring them much luck because they lost that match to Bristol City 5-0 and the manager was so irritated he had a bit of a heated exchange with a section of the travelling support) and I was invited in whilst permission was sought for me to see inside the ground.

The groundsman duly arrived and allowed me a brief tour of the ground. There are four stands of varying ages. The newest, the Lorne Street Stand, is still not completed having only had half the seats installed,

with a large lower tier, a row of executive boxes and a much smaller upper tier. The Betbright Stand opposite is much smaller with two tiers of seats.
This stand is joined to the GMB Union Stand by a sort of cricket pavilion type stand which apparently is the oldest part of the ground. The GMB Union Stand is similar in appearance to the Betbright Stand and is also connected to the Main Stand so achieving a coherent whole.

At the other end of the pitch is the single tiered Signal1 Stand which houses the away supporters and the scoreboard which dangles from the roof, at such a height that it looks as if it might impact on the sight-line of the spectators in the top row of seats.

Thus, as at the Pirelli, the away supporters are denied a sight of the scoreboard. Between this stand and the Betbright Stand is the police control box. The floodlight poles have, on some of them, the mobile phone antennae so familiar around the country these days.

After a long and very wet season, the pitch looked in excellent condition and I note that the groundsman has been commended on numerous occasions on the quality of his pitch. I thanked him, said goodbye to the players in the treatment room (wishing them success in their upcoming match against Notts County) and left to go to Crewe. I got into the car just in time as another cloudburst descended on the area.

It's strange, but true that many football league clubs (and, for the purposes of my trips, all clubs whether belonging to the FL or Premier League are football league clubs) are grouped in small pockets around the country. The Staffordshire group are no exception, so I only had a short drive to my next club, Crewe Alexandra FC, one of those clubs with a unique suffix to their name, though the origins of the name are uncertain, opinion being divided between the Princess Alexandra or the Princess pub! They were formed in 1877 and first played at the Alexandra Recreation Ground before leaving there on a peripatetic journey around Crewe to finally settle at the current Gresty Road site (still officially the Alexandra Stadium) in 1906, which is pretty much in the same location as the original Alexandra ground. The ground is hard by one of the most important railway sites and junctions in the country so it's no surprise that one of the nicknames of the club is the Railwaymen, though I spoke to a couple of supporters and a steward and they all referred to their club as The Alex.

I arrived in the vicinity of the ground, passed over the railway bridge which was my main ID point and had noted Gresty Road was first turn left. I was surprised to find that the road was like a byroad, very narrow and rather insignificant, but discovered that it is only like this at the top end, it broadens out on it's junction with South Street. I turned into the car park entrance to be met by a steward who refused me entry because this was the start/finish point of a cycle race. So I drove down Gresty Road and parked in a side street, no hardship. Actually I was glad that there was an event taking place because that usually means that there are club officials about somewhere. And so it turned out. After a couple of false starts, I met a charming young man who escorted me into the ground after checking that I really did only want a few minutes of his time. We got into the ground and undercover only just in time. The rain started sheeting down again, so much so that I thought it might actually affect some of my photographs, but as happened throughout the day, the rain was soon over and I could venture out.

The Main Stand (the Air Products Stand) built in 1999 dominates the ground and after looking at the various satellite images available it is easy to see why the club had to develop in this way, because the ground is hemmed in on all the other sides, growing out into the large car park was the only way to go. The other stands in the ground were also built in the 1990s to make the ground all-seater.

Opposite the main stand is the quaintly named Ice Cream Van Stand ( originally the Popular Side) with CAFC picked out in black on the red seats. At first glance the two ends of the ground look identical, but the Railway End (I couldn't see a sponsor name on it anywhere) has executive boxes running along the back whilst the Absolute Recruitment Stand (the Gresty Road End) has slightly more seats and no executive boxes.

The Pop side has a media box on the mid line of the roof and, at the Gresty Road end, a police control box partly built into the stand. The floodlight pylons here are just, as at Vale Park,  floodlight poles with those adjacent to the Main Stand having additional lights halfway up the pole.

I left Gresty Road to their cycle race, the retail stalls and booming music to make my way home. Well, not quite. Earlier in the season I had not quite completed my visits to West Bromwich Albion or Walsall so, as I was on the M6 and they are just a stone's throw off that road, I thought I would try them again. A total waste of time!! The Banks's Stadium, better known to most as the  Bescot Stadium, home of Walsall, was still submerged in the usual Sunday market which I had hoped would be packing up at this time of the day. No chance, the stalls were still hard up to the stadium walls, the stall holders doing a roaring trade and, as far as I could ascertain, the stadium itself shut up tight.

So I moved on to the Hawthorns, home of West Brom, after extricating myself from the retail traffic around Walsall. I had, on my last visit, been promised access to the stadium if there was no match the previous day. I had checked, there was no match the previous day to cause me a problem, so I felt in buoyant mood. This was soon dashed.  A dapper individual, rather a smart aleck (anyone who opens the conversation calling me 'young man' when he's at least twenty years younger than me deserves no respect) was just checking in a stadium tour and flatly denied me access for even five minutes. Actually he wanted me to pay £10 and join his tour, which lasted two hours. Not wishing to spend that time in his company, I told him it was his ground and he could do what he liked with it. I left, a bit miffed. Actually, a lot miffed

So I drove home. I had met so many people really enthusiastic about their ground and club and ready to spare five minutes of their time to help me, that it was disappointing at the last stop to meet such a person. Still it takes all sorts.

Donny at home

This was viewed as a good chance to win a game, something which has evaded us for 7 games stretching back to a fine win at Huddersfield in early February, and a first home win since February 2!! Doncaster Rovers have had mixed fortunes recently and are still hovering dangerously just above the drop zone. But they have won their last two games and are something of a Forest bogey team.

For this game Billy made two changes to the team that drew with Middlesbrough. Abdoun and Mackie miss out with Halford coming in to right full back (Jara moves to midfield) and Andy Reid comes in to make his first start since his hernia operation. At the moment, we have so many injuries that it is just a question of shuffling the pack every week. I think the best idea would be to play a settled team and try to build up a bit of understanding amongst the players that remain. But what do I know. I would rather have the trickery of Abdoun and Paterson on the wings with the target of Henderson in the middle plus the scampering Cox to feed off any knock downs, the attacking midfield of Reid, defensive midfield of Jara plus the back four of Halford, Collins, Lascelles and Fox with Darlow in goal. Round pegs in round holes. Jonathan Greening is useful, but so slow and not one pass goes forward. The inclusion of Derbyshire just defeats me, apart one one 'worldy' against Leeds his input this season has been zero.

The team at the moment is ponderous, no pace at all, the main weapon of attack is a punt down the middle for whoever is there to knock down to....who? No one is ever supporting the tall striker selected. Why do the full backs pull off to the wings? They stand there unmarked whilst the midfielders ignore them and run around in circles and push the ball to a marked striker.  Why do we not have any midfielders running in to the attack like, say, Henri Lansbury? Why do the strikers not attack the front post or go to the back post, can they not see each other, because how many times do we see the ball sail harmlessly over the attackers bunched on the edge of the 18 yard box?

This was a "Kids for a Quid" match and a very healthy crowd, considering the form the team are in, gathered to view proceedings.The game started with the Tricky Trees on the attack. The first half was spent mostly like that. In one attack Majewski fired in a shot which was only partially saved by the keeper. It came out to Cox whose shot was blocked and cleared by a defender. Halford then cleverly got past the last defender but his shot was a poor one, bobbling back to the keeper. Then Paterson was fouled on the very top left edge of the area. Forest players demonstrated to the ref the position of the offence by pointing to the marks on the turf. Unmoved the ref awarded a free kick on the edge of the area. He had made a mistake and he wasn't going to admit it. Another penalty could have been awarded just before half time. Collins, up for a corner and with the ref only yards away and with a perfectly clear view, was unceremoniously hauled down by his marker. Ref unmoved again.

0-0 at half time and a disappointed home crowd. Sadly it didn't improve in the second half. Donny started to believe it was their night and they might snatch all three points. The half looked much more even. Reid was substituted after 60 minutes in what looked like an attempt to keep him fresh for the Derby game, but it transpired later that he has a hamstring problem now which will keep him out for three weeks! Can it get worse? Well, yes, but we'll leave that for the report on the Derby game.

This game ended with a couple of efforts by Forest which on another day might have produced a goal, the best of these chances falling to Majewski who sent in a piledriver which the goalie could only just fend off with one hand.

Thus ended another disappointing match. I feel for the players, there are no leaders on the pitch and they are playing with a patched-up team to tactics which really don't seem very adventurous. It's getting dangerously near hoofball. I got in the car and made my way home listening to Sports Report which showed that our hold on sixth place in the Championship and last place in the playoff positions is becoming very tenuous to say the least. We need a win at Derby County next week, my first visit to Pride Park or, as we must call it now, the iPro, which is a sports drink apparently.

Gonna Try on my Golden Boots, Down by the Riverside.

With apologies to Sister Rosetta Tharpe and other gospel singers for the slightly altered lyric.

Leaving Newcastle and heading south to Sunderland on my way eventually to the Riverside Stadium, home of Middlesbrough FC, for Forest's next attempt to win a match. The first stop after Newcastle is just a short hop, but for North East football fans it could be a hundred miles. I am going to the Stadium of Light, home to Sunderland AFC since moving from Roker Park in 1997. Like so many clubs, Sunderland needed to make a decision when the Taylor report declared that stadiums had to be all-seater. Roker Park, their home for 100 years simply could not be brought up to the required standard and capacity and so was demolished for housing and the club moved the half mile to the site of the disused Monkwearmouth Colliery. Sunderland were formed in 1879 and joined the football league in 1890, being the first club to join after the formation of the League in 1888; they replaced Stoke who had failed to gain re-election. The Black Cats have won the First Division title on 6 occasions and the FA Cup twice, but only one of those trophies has been won since WWII, the Cup in 1973.

 Several features round the stadium provide reminders of the mining heritage of this place. Between the stadium and the river is a sculpture depicting men rolling boulders up the river bank and is said to pay homage to generations of miners who worked at the colliery. Then a few yards closer to the ground is a Colliery Flywheel.  Between the Sunderland Aquatic Centre and the Stadium of Light there are two mesh sculptures entitled Looking Out Facing In, which in reality, as well as being works of art, enclose two essential ventilators attached to the old mine workings.

I arrived at the ground down a broad dual carriageway and this time had no problem finding the entrance. Sited just off the roundabout by the ground was a giant Davy Lamp (another mining reminder) and a modern detached building, Black Cat House, which houses the ticket office and other executive offices.

 Between this building and the main stadium is a large car park. As is my wont, I parked the car in the most convenient location and started wandering round. I noted an impressive ground, but one which showed little individual character in the general architecture. There are, of course, individual touches, but the ground itself is a modern bowl with much architectural use of the structural steel tubing as found on many similar grounds.

First stop was behind the South Stand to see the statue of Bob Stokoe, manager of the club when they won the FA Cup in 1973.
A notable achievement as the club were in the Second Division at the time, making the club one of the few to achieve such a feat. Then a walk down behind this stand to the West Stand and the front of the stadium facing over the broad reach of the River Wear. Several features here are of interest. Another fine pair of gates guard each side of the façade, each set bearing the club crest with the words "Into The Light" and "Ha'Way the Lads"  and the name of the club framing the crest. Directly in front of the stand is another statue, a group of adults and children, celebrating fans of all ages who have supported the club over the years.

I think the ground is beautifully situated, being in a slightly elevated position right by the river with plenty of open space around it. Mind you, I might have been influenced, too, by the finest spell of weather we have had since last summer. I walked into reception in the West Stand, a most impressive open atrium, and asked at the desk if it was possible to pop into the ground for a look. I was advised that such things were handled by Black Cat House, so I continued my walk around the ground and finally arrived back at HQ. In reception there a most helpful lady spent several minutes on the telephone trying to persuade the relevant person to admit me into the stadium ( I must admit I was prompting her continuously from the sideline) eventually with success. However, this gentleman was back over in reception in the West Stand! So I hot footed it back over to the stadium to meet my helper. So kind. He took me straight from the reception area to the pitch area. I was somewhat nonplussed to find that we were half way up the lower tier, despite not having climbed any stairs. I was informed that the pitch is actually several metres below the ground level outside.

The inside of the stadium is very functional, but hardly very interesting. The West and North Stand have a large lower tier and a smaller upper tier separated by executive boxes.
The other two stands just have the large lower tier. However, there appears to be a very good view of the action on the pitch from every seat, which is the main purpose. The phrase "Ha'way the Lads" is spelt out on the seats in the North Stand where there is a screen situated on the roof. This screen is replicated on the roof of the South Stand. On the seats of the East Stand the club crest is picked out with the name

"Sunderland AFC" boldly fashioned below that crest. I thanked the gentleman for his help and we chatted amiably about the present situations of our relative clubs. Sunderland at that time were very much in a relegation fight and Forest were sliding dangerously towards seventh position and out of the playoffs.

It was time to make a move to Hartlepool to see the ground where Brian Clough and Peter Taylor started their rise to European Cup success as managers. At that time the club were known as Hartlepools United, but the 's' was dropped a few years later so today the club is Hartlepool United FC. Founded in 1908 the club have played at the Victoria Ground during their whole existence. However, the ground was in place long before that. In 1886 West Hartlepool RFC bought an old limestone quarry owned by the North Eastern Railway Company and played rugby there until they went bust in 1908. Along came The Hartlepools Football Athletic Company Limited and they moved in. The name of the ground was changed to Victoria Park in 1996 and is affectionately known as the Vic to fans.

As usual, I had a problem finding the entrance to the ground. Finding the ground was easy as the floodlight

pylons stood out some distance away. However as I drove onto Clarence Road, a large van was parked in just the wrong position as I drove past the ground and I missed the open gate to the main car park. After making an unsuccessful detour through Morrison's car park next door I circled the ground looking for the way in. Actually, I found a very good parking spot at the rear of the ground quite by accident. From here I could walk through the main car park, past the Rink End to the reception area. At my request, a very helpful young lady made efforts to see if I could pop my head into the ground. It was possible and I was directed to an open gate. Here I met the most unhelpful individual I have come upon during my travels round ( at this time) 71 league grounds. Brusque and boorish he left me in no doubt I was a pain in his neck. I switched on my video camera to discover that the SD card was full. I had a spare in my camera bag, but this charming man did not have the two minutes free to allow me to change the cards over. As I left I expected him to rush off to his next job, but he just stood with hands in pockets watching me go. I have no doubt that the helpful young lady in reception is more indicative of the attitude of the staff at Hartlepool United than this chap, but I must say he soured my visit. Cloughie couldn't wait to leave there and nor could I.

The ground has four stands, the main stand is the Niramax Stand with (as at Carlisle) seating in the upper tier and terracing lower down. Behind the southern goal is the Town End terracing where the keen, vocal fans congregate. Opposite this is a newish stand, the Rink End which is all-seater and for the away fans. Along the Clarence Road side of the ground is the other new stand, the Cyril Knowles Stand. Between the Town End terrace and the Niramax Stand is a small scoreboard and the control post.

I found the liberal use of grey breeze blocks and white and light blue paint and the low stands gave the ground a rather unprepossessing air.
Time was moving on and I had to leave Hartlepool to get to the venue of the next match in Nottingham Forest's season, The Riverside Stadium, home of Middlesbrough FC.

This was much easier to find. I got on the main road and just followed it in until the ground appeared on my left-hand side. It is a fine looking ground situated in an isolated position on the banks of the River Tees.

Actually, as I made my usual plans for parking and walking, I had thought the distance from my chosen spot to the ground was much greater than I normally allow. I had left Hartlepool in good time so that I could photograph the ground in daylight (the match was an evening kick off) so I explored the local area. I found several even better parking spots which I was assured by a local taxi driver (who made the mistake of stopping near me so I accosted him, firing questions before he could beat a retreat) would be perfectly satisfactory. This was superb, just a couple of hundred yards to the ground. Of course, to take my photos before the match, I parked in the stadium car park, retreating later to my chosen spot, which had the added advantage of giving me a quick getaway after the game.

Middlesbrough FC, known by all as The Boro, were formed in 1876 and moved to the Riverside Stadium in 1995 from their previous home Ayresome Park where they had played since 1902. Though with a long and proud history, it was not until 2004 that the club won a major honour, the Football League Cup. They traditionally play in red so Forest were again going to have to turn out in their new away strip of white shirts with blue trim and blue shorts. I regard this kit as unlucky, because since it was introduced against Blackpool we have only won one game and that was wearing our red strip.

The ground is quite striking. The front façade is impressive especially if seen from the road leading to the stadium. There are two statues flanking what looks like a road, but is in fact a stretch of memorial bricks named the Borobrick Road leading to the old gates taken from Ayresome Park and now in pride of place directly in front of the main reception area of the West Stand. The statues are of George Hardwick,
regarded by many as the best defender Boro ever had, and Wilf Mannion nicknamed the Golden Boy(because of his blond hair)who played over 350 games for Boro. The football careers of both players were interrupted by WWII,  Mannion fighting with distinction in France and Italy.

I walked around the ground and was amused by an old photo of Ayresome Park up on the wall of the stadium giving a sort of trompe l'oeil effect. Some seats have been placed in front of this picture and sitting on these seats with a carefully placed camera shot gives the impression of being back at the old ground.
Otherwise there is little of interest around the stadium, certainly not up to the standard of the front of the ground. Inside, the ground is much like the Stadium of Light with little to wax lyrical about. The West Stand has a higher roof line than the other three stands, with a small lower tier, a row of executive boxes and a larger upper tier. At the top of the upper tier seating is the media area, both print and broadcast. The players tunnel and dugouts are in this stand on the centre line. The other three stands are slightly lower with just plain banks of seats separated into upper and lower tiers by an exit/entrance concourse. Above the seating area in the South Stand is the police control box. Otherwise the interior is plain and functional.

Returning to the car, I then drove into town looking for Albert Park, where there is a statue of Brian Clough who used to walk through the park every day on his way to Ayresome Park. His home on Valley Road was just by the southern corner of Albert Park and Ayresome Park was just beyond the gates where Cloughie's statue now stands.Albert Park played a big part in his life as a youngster, from tennis with Wendy (oh, Wendy!) to collecting the unused council wallflowers to put in the family garden at Valley Road. But mostly because it was a big open space, ideal for kicking a football about, which was his real passion. The park itself is much bigger than I imagined and I wandered around in the sunshine for some time before heading towards the information centre, which was closed. But, luckily, there was an engineer sorting a problem and he readily supplied the information I needed. I headed towards the West gates and there was Brian, striding across a slight rise in the grass, boots jauntily slung over his shoulder.

I feel the sculptor has captured the essence of the young man, with that air of supreme self-confidence he had even as a young player not yet in the first team. "Give the ball to me" he'd say, "Why?" other players would say. The answer? "Because I'm better at it than you"!!

Forest came to the Riverside in poor form, having lost three games on the trot. Boro were hardly any better off having won only one of their last eight games and during that run going 12 hours without a goal. What chance a 0-0 tame draw? Forest still had injury problems, but no new ones. Two changes were made from the team which played at Barnsley, Collins and Greening came in for Gomis and Halford. And Andy Reid was on the bench, making a very quick return from his hernia operation. Forest have a very loyal away following (we took nearly 3,000 to Barnsley) but a Tuesday night in the North East is difficult for many fans and, despite Fawaz's offer of free transport to the game, only 892 managed the trip. In fact, there was a very small crowd in a stadium with a capacity of 35,000, but there was a fairly lively atmosphere.

The first half simply went by in a flash, they had a few chances, most notably a header cleared off the line by Lascelles, but Forest dominated the game. Once again a Jamie Mackie header went wide and a similar effort by Cox went straight to the keeper. Abdoun had a great chance towards the end of the half when a Boro defender (our ex-loanee Chalobah doing just as he did with us) sent a pass wildly across his own defence, but the Algerian sent his shot straight at the keeper.

Just about five minutes into the second half and our defence opened up invitingly for the Middlesbrough attack and sure enough, they scored. Catch-up again!! Forest continued to attack, but despite a few close shaves nothing of note happened. With 20 minutes to go Billy's stand-ins in the technical area (he was still banned and banished to the stands) began to make changes, among them Reidy and Henderson. And, with ten minutes remaining, these two combined to produce our goal. Reid got away down the left and squeezed the ball towards the near post. Henderson got across his marker and 'bundled' the ball over the line. Now, I'm not going to say it was hand balled over the line because I can't be sure, but it did look suspiciously like it. However, the referee gave it and that's what counts. Boro defenders, particularly the goalie, ran around the pitch slapping their hands, but to no avail. Middlesbrough came back at us and hit a post in a last ditch assault. All to no avail, 1-1. No doubt entertaining for the neutral, but another nerve-wracking night on the road with NFFC.

All that remained was to extricate myself from my parking position (a matter of minutes) and I was on the way home, only five hours driving through the night. Actually, a pleasant drive through deserted roads, foggy to start with, but clear later. And than goodness for 24 hour facilities these days. A stop for petrol was followed for a stop to buy the week's food (shopping at 3 o'clock in the morning is still a major novelty for me) and then home. Wonderful weather for a change and more interesting grounds visited, from the mighty to the humble, but all with one purpose in mind, to provide the beautiful game for their local fans.