Away Days -Wigan Athletic
First Impressions -- Around the ground -- Facilities -- The Stand -- Overall -- Pictures
Fixture: Wigan
Athletic V Preston North End
Competition: Coca Cola Championship
Ground: JJB Stadium
Date: Sunday 5th December 2004
Kick off: 12.30pm
Final Result: 5-0
Thought this would be an ideal opportunity to get another ground under my belt.
After making the short journey to the JJB & getting off the coach I decided to take a glance at the stand I would be sat in from a distance. I thought the stand was pretty impressive particularly with the roof.
Upon walking towards the ground from the coach park I was able to have a quick look at the exterior of the south stand. My first impressions was 'this makes a change' as its nowhere near like some of the legoland stadiums that are springing up around the country. This is what was satisfying the most.
I didn't bother to walk around the exterior of the ground but I took a few glances at both the South Stand and East Stand outside the ground. There was something about these stands that 'struck' me. They didn't have the usual 'blandness' that some new stands tend to have. The glass frontage of these stands tend to give them a bit 'extra' and perhaps a bit more 'feature'.
Once inside the stand I opted to go and take a seat immediately. With it being unreserved seating I opted to sit at the top of the stand. I had a great view of the rest of the ground and needless to say I was very impressed with the ground overall.
At half-time I opted to go and get something to eat. I queued for 5 minutes, which I was expecting but when I got closer to the counter there wasn't a great choice. In fact there was rather a lack, and stuff that was available seemed to be very expensive.
I chose to have a meat & potato pie which cost me £1.50 and judging by the size of it I was robbed blind. The pie itself was nothing special either with rather a bland taste.
Still, the facilities as such were excellent and there was plenty of room on the concourse - something I found lacking at a few other grounds.
As said above the facilities were excellent. Needless to say I definitely wasn't disappointed with the stand.
I managed to quickly take my seat without getting squashed by the usual rabble and upon taking my seat the view was fantastic. Not only this, but the leg room was great to, so I didn't have any problems with numerous rif raf insisting on getting up during the match.
Also as said above, the concourse was very spacious and this helped with a quick, easy getaway after the match - very handy if you get thumped like we did!
The only things that ruined the day was the result and the dreadful performance by North End. Otherwise I was happy to get another ground under my belt. I was also expecting some trouble but surprisingly and thankfully nothing happened.
Ratings
Appearance: 9/10
Facilities: 8/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
Fans: 6/10
Away Stand: 9/10
Overall: 8/10
