1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be):

I was mainly looking forward to the trip to Barnsley as we have tended to have an excellent record against them. Also Barnsley have an over-hang roof in the away end so there a good amount of noise can be made from there. It is a traditional ground that is surrounded by terrace housing I have always found that these grounds have a good amount of character sort of brings back memories of the character that was present at Highfield Road.

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

That journey was very easy, however I was on the supporters coach so obviously I did not have trouble finding the ground. We went straight up the M1 and found no major problems even though road works were present. As we arrived rather early (2 hours early) there was absolutely no trouble with traffic in Barnsley it self. The away parking is on a steep hill with grass on both sides of the road. I can imagine this could be seen as a problem if it gets muddy. Exiting the car park was rather slow but we were away within 40 minutes.

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

Before the game we decided to walk towards the centre and have a look around. We saw quite a few home fans but there was no problems at all they were very nice even though we had our colours on show. I grabbed a burger at a van near the ground it was unsurprisingly expensive but this has become commonplace around grounds nowadays.

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground?

My first impression of the ground was very good. You could see inside the stadium and it looked nice with the large overhang roof covering the away stand. The executive stand was rather run down. It needed some more paint but overall it was not too bad. The turnstiles were very old fashion and the system of getting into the ground was efficient but I am not sure how well they would cope with large amounts of away fans as they do not seem to have very many turnstiles.

5. Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, toilets etc..

The game for Cov fans was great. We sang the whole game winning 2-0 which then sent us too top of the league for the 2 season running. The atmosphere was similar to the Ricoh the home fans were not particularly loud the same as Cov are at home. The acoustics of the away end let us make a lot of noise and make it a good day out. The stewards were excellent they let us stand up for the game and we had no problems with them. The one I spoke too was extremely friendly and helpful. The toilets were spacious and I did not have to queue which is a rarity. 

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

It took us 40 minutes to get out of the car park on the coaches I am not sure why but I think the police were stopping cars from leaving quickly. After we had got out of the car park is was a quick drive to get back onto the motorway so we could get home relatively quickly.

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

Overall it was a great day out our fans and players were great. After a bad start weather wise the sun came out and made for an enjoyable afternoon. I will be definitely coming again next year as it was one of my better away trips. The food was nice and the staff were friendly couldn’t of got much better really. I recommend the trip to anyone.