First Impressions -- Around the ground -- Facilities -- The Stand -- Overall -- Pictures

First Impressions

I had attended plenty enough local derbies at Deepdale over the years so I thought it was about time I went to an away game. Burnley seemed an ideal opportunity and at a good ticket price too.

Anyway, after making the short trip from Preston, the first glimpses I got of the ground were when we were quite close. The ground is quite 'tucked in' between various other amenities. We turned right into Harry Potts way so the first glimpses were of the Bob Lord stand. This looked quite untidy and had a 60's/70's feel to it. it certainly looked in need of a face lift!

I also had glimpses of the James Hargreaves and Jimmy McIlroy stands which on first glimpse, seemed to impose over the rest of the ground.

Around the ground

Due to the nature of the fixture being a local derby and the tendency for Burnley fans to act like neanderthals when PNE are in town, I thought it was best I didn't go round the ground and headed straight in through the turnstiles.

After going through the turnstiles we headed straight for the concourse. This looked very dark and dingy and not very 'inviting' to say the least.

Due to large queues at the catering bars, we decided to just head straight to our seats. Due to it being unreserved seating, it was ideal for us to get decent seats without the pillars obstructing our view.

From my seat I had a very good view of the action and of the rest of the ground. The two newer stands - The James Hargreaves Stand and the Jimmy McIroy Stand looked very imposing and very impressive. The Bob Lord Stand and the Cricket Field Stand paled in comparison to say the least.

Facilities

I barely used the facilities except using the toilets once. Overall, I thought they were poor - largely because of the entrance being in one place and the exit round the corner! It certainly didn't help with the entrance and exit only being one door.

I didn't bother using the catering bars due to the excessive queues. On a quick glance, they seemed to small and disorganised anyway so I gave it a miss.

The Stand

I wasn't too overly impressed with the stand at all, but it did have its plus points.

Being sat in front of the pillars, we got an excellent view of the action and close to the pitch too. We also had good legroom too.

The stand is brilliant when creating an atmosphere - our fans made plenty of noise and the roof certainly has good acoustics.

However, the negative points are that the stand looked untidy, old fashioned and very gloomy. We were sat on wooden seats - they weren't exactly comfortable and some looked like they were falling apart.
As said above, the facilities weren't much cop either and the pillars (although we were sat in front of them) must have been a nuisance for those sat behind them.

Overall

North End were absolutely terrible and were well beaten by an impressive Burnley side. The ineptness of North End's performance really angered me and ruined the experience of the day.

The ground certainly seems very good and has plenty of positive and negative points. Though I certainly think the sooner the planned future redevelopments happen, the better. Its a very good ground, but it can be made better.

Ratings

Appearance: 8/10
Facilities: 6/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
Fans: 6/10
Stand: 7/10

Overall: 7/10

Pictures

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