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

First Impressions

Maybe this was a questionable ground to do since it is one of those 'boring bowls', but nevertheless, I had to tick this ground off sometime.

Luckily this time I wasn't on the Leyland coach (like I was for the Scunthorpe game) so there was no queuing in traffic and we arrived at the ground in good time (about an hour till kick off, which is usually good going.)

My first sight of the ground was as the coach was heading down the road ready to turn left and head toward the ground. There was a sense of deja vu - as if I had been here before. Understandable really since i've been to the likes of St Marys (Southampton).

The ground looked smart and tidy enough so i've got to give them credit for that.

Around the ground

Since I arrived at the ground in good time, there was plenty of time to have a wander round. There was a guy filming our fans as they were getting off our coach - luckily I left it until last before getting off so the guy had already finished filming by then!

I got off the coach and had a walk round and took some pics. I know its a 'boring bowl' but from the outside it didn't really look at all bad. It looked quite smart and tidy and seemed well kept. The area around the ground seemed ok to, but the downside was the lack of pubs!

I walked around to the main stand where I took a pic. I thought the glass frontage was actually quite impressive and certainly stood out.

After that I decided to walk back round to near the away entrance and bought a burger for the van opposite. I wasn't very impressed - the burger was quite tasteless. I then decided to buy a programme and then enter the ground.

Upon taking my seat I could get a good impression of the ground. This is where the bowl is very evident! (obviously). It just seemed the main stand was the only thing that had something different, but even then, that was still part of the continuous bowl. I thought generally it looked quite boring - perhaps it would've looked better with the main stand more 'raised' or broken from the bowl (i.e. a stand 'on its own' if that makes sense.)

Facilities

With it being a 'new' ground, I obviously expected the facilities to at least be of a decent standard - needless to say I wasn't disappointed.

The concourse was very spacious and they also had the sense to open both catering bars - this certainly helped prevent any long queues and I was able to get served quickly even though I only went down as the half time whistle was being blown.

Again, I had bought a burger (no, I wasn't trying to give myself a heart attack!) and luckily it was far better than the one I had from the van outside. It was served hot as it should be and the overall service was excellent.

The toilets weren't bad either and were of a good clean standard.

The Stand

As I said above, it was just one continuous bowl around the ground so there wasn't anything particularly different, except that we were sat in the corner of course.

The view from the stand was actually quite good, despite being sat (or should I say, 'stood') near the top of the stand and a good deal of noise could be made.

The legroom (I had sat down before kick off) seemed ok, not particularly very spacious, but ok nonetheless.

To our left were the most voicerous home support including their drummer at the top. I say 'voicerous' as I assume that's were their singers are usually located but they were quiet for this match. Our fans certainly had a lot of good banter with the drummer.

Overall

It was generally a very good day out - a much needed away win after the disaster against Scunthorpe and a very good North End performance.

As for the ground, despite it being a bowl, I thought it was quite good. Yes, its a little boring and its a shame they couldn't make it more unique, but I felt that was more or less the only downside to the ground.

Ratings

Appearance: 7/10
Facilities: 9/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Fans: 8/10
Stand: 7/10

Overall: 8/10

Pictures

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