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| Contents |
What's Ewood Park Like?
Future Ground Developments
Jack Walker Stand and Ronnie
Clayton Blackburn End (photo)
What Is It Like For Away
Supporters?
Riverside Stand (photo)
Where To Drink?
Looking
Towards The Ronnie Clayton Blackburn End (photo)
How To Get There And Where
To Park
Jack
Walker Statue (photo)
By Train
Local
Rivals
Admission Prices
Programme & Fanzines
Ground
Layout
Fixtures 2011-2012
Disabled Facilities
Record & Average
Attendance
Fans
Ground Reviews
Hotel
Accommodation
Location
Map Of Ewood Park
Old Ewood
Park
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| What's Ewood Park
Like? |
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The ground is quite impressive, having had
three new large stands built during the 1990's.
These stands are at both ends and at one side of
the ground. They are of the same height and of
roughly similar design, being two tiered, having
a row of executive boxes and similar roofs. The
ends are particularly impressive, both having
large lower tiers. The only downside is the open corners, although
there is a superb Sony Jumbotron screen at one
corner by the away end, which shows an excellent
pre-match programme and the teams emerging from
dressing rooms and onto the pitch. There is also
an electric scoreboard at the Darwen End of the
ground.
The Riverside is the only undeveloped stand, running down one side of
the pitch. This is a smaller
single tiered stand and is not as pleasing to
the eye as its modern counterparts. It also
contains a fair number of supporting pillars and
is partly covered (to the rear). Just to
highlight how much the ground has changed, this
was at one time the 'best' stand at Ewood Park.
One other interesting feature of the ground, is
the fact that the pitch is raised. This means
that players have to run up a small incline,
whilst taking throw-ins and corners. Outside the stadium behind the
Ronnie Clayton Blackburn End (named after the
former Blackburn Rovers legend) there is a
statue of former club owner Jack Walker.
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Future
Ground Developments
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There are plans to re-develop the
Riverside Stand, but there are no firm time
scales as to when this is likely to take place.
The proposed new stand will increase the
capacity at Ewood park to around 40,000.
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| Jack Walker
Stand And Ronnie Clayton Blackburn End |
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| What
Is It Like For Away Supporters? |
Away fans are housed at the WEC Group Darwen End,
where the facilities provided are good. However, the
spacing between the rows of seats leaves a lot to be
desired, being quite tight. The Darwen End is shared
with home supporters, but if demand requires it the
whole of the stand can be made available. Normally
the away allocation is for three quarters of the
stand, at just under 4,000 tickets, which are split
between the whole of the upper tier and part of the
lower tier (with the lower tier being allocated
first). If you have not bought a ticket in advance,
then you need to buy one from
the away supporters ticket office at the
ground as you can't pay on the turnstiles. The
ticket office is located on the corner of the Darwen
End & the Jack Walker Stand.
On the concourse the food available includes; Pies
(Chicken Balti, Steak, Meat and Potato, all
£2.30), Pasties
(£2.30), Sausage Rolls (£2), Burgers
(£3), Hot Dogs (£3) and Chips
(£2). The pies and other baked products are
made by the Clayton Park company, located nearby in
Accrington. The refreshment areas are opened 90
minutes before kick off and close 15 minutes into
the second half. If you are looking to eat something
prior to entering the ground, then there is a baker
in Bolton Road selling hot
pies from one of its windows. Across the
Bolton Road by the home end is a McDonalds, which I
noticed had a walk through service for fans! I found
the Blackburn fans both friendly and helpful, plus
coupled with the relaxed stewarding, has made it so
far for me, four pleasant
visits to Ewood Park.'
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Riverside
Stand
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| Where To Drink? |
The
traditional haunt of away fans, the Fernhurst, has
recently been refurbished and is now part of the
Hungry Horse chain, however it is
currently closed on matchdays. This leaves very
little choice for visiting supporters, as most
pubs near to the ground do not admit away fans.
There is the
Golden Cup pub which is
futher on past the Fernhurst
(going away from the
ground) on Bolton Road and is tucked in by
the motorway bridge. However this Thwaites
pub is quite small, gets rather crowded
and it is a good
20 minute (mostly uphill) trek from Ewood
Park.
If you are arriving at Mill Hill station,
then you might want to give the Navigation
pub a try. It is a Thwaites pub which sits
on one side of a canal and on my visit had
a good mix of home and away supporters. It
is about a five minute walk way from the
station. As you exit the station turn left
and just keep straight on up the road in
front of you. As you approach a bridge
going over the canal, the pub can be seen
just over on the right.
Whilst just around the corner from the
entrance to Blackburn Railway Station is a
Wetherspoons outlet called the Postal
Order. Alcohol
is also served within the ground in the form
of; Fosters (£3.40 pint), Thwaites
(£3.40 pint), Kingstone Cider
(£3.20 bottle), Carlsberg (£3.40
bottle), Guinness (£3.80 can) and Wine
(£3.80 small bottle). The Club offer two
pints of lager or bitter for £6.50 and
Pie & Pint for £5.50.
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Looking
Towards The Ronnie Clayton Blackburn End
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| How To Get There And
Where To Park |
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From
The North
Use Motorway M6 to junction 30, to the M61 - leave
junction 9 then onto the M65 towards Blackburn -
leave the M65 at Junction 4 (A666) and follow
signs towards Blackburn. Ewood Park is about 1
mile down the road on the right hand side.
From
The South
Use Motorway M6 to junction 29, then onto the
M65 towards Blackburn - leave the M65 at
Junction 4 (A666) and follow signs towards
Blackburn. Turn right at the first set of
traffic lights and Ewood Park is about 1 mile
down the road on the right hand side.
From The East
Use Motorway M62 onto M66/A56, then onto the
M65, head towards Blackburn - leave the M65 at
Junction 4 (A666) and follow signs towards
Blackburn. Turn right at the first set of
traffic lights and Ewood Park is about 1 mile
down the road on the right hand side.
Various private
Car Parks are available around the
ground, costing in the region of £5. If you
want to get away reasonably quickly after the game
(the roads immediately around Ewood are closed off
for crowd safety for around 30mins after the game)
then as you come down the hill on the A666, you
will pass a Total garage on your left. Turn right
at the next traffic lights and down on your left
there are some industrial units where you can park
for £3. After the game turn left out of the
car park, so that you are going away from Ewood,
turn right at the second mini roundabout and this
will take you back up to the M65.
Map showing the
location of Ewood Park (at the bottom of this
page).
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Jack
Walker Statue
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| By Train |
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Blackburn station is
at least a couple of miles from the ground and
hence a good 20-25 minute walk away. Perhaps
grab a taxi instead, or as Dave Grest
suggests; 'get a Darwen bound bus from stand
M, outside of the railway station. It costs
£1.50 one way and you really can't miss
the ground'. Blackburn station is served by
trains from Manchester & Leeds.
Tony Durkin adds; 'The main doors to the
railway station face the bus station, from
where you can take a either a Number 1, 3 or
225 bus (the latter goes from Stand N) bus to
Ewood. To walk it to the ground instead, turn
left at those main doors and go straight on
towards Darwen Street. Turn left and you will
reach a major junction over which runs a
railway bridge (Darwen Street Bridge), which
is impossible to miss. Crossing over the road
as soon as you turn left onto Darwen Street
will be a help, as when you get to the
junction you need to follow the road towards
Bolton. It is called Great Bolton Street after
the bridge and then becomes Bolton Road.
Follow this straight along for just over a
mile (passing the Infirmary on your left and
the canal on the right). After you go under
another railway bridge, the ground is down on
your left just after you pass the Aqueduct pub
(for home fans only)'.
Tony Hughes informs me; 'Closer
to the ground is the small station of Mill
Hill, which is a 10-15 minute walk away. Blackburn station is only a
three minute ride away from Mill Hill. Walk
up the steps from the platform and turn Left
onto New Chapel Street continue along the
street past the shopping area and park. (If
you need any money, there is a Lloyds TSB
bank with 2 cash machines on this street.)
With the Spar supermarket on the opposite
side of the road from you, turn left into
New Wellington Street. Continue down New
Wellington Street until you come to a small
bridge that crosses over the Leeds Liverpool
canal. You are now on Albion Street there is
a large mill building on the left and a
small school on the right. Walk along Albion
Street to the end, and you will find
yourself on Livesey Branch Road. Turn Left
onto this road, and you will be able to see
the football stadium in front of you at the
foot of the hill'.
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| Local Rivals |
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Burnley, Bolton, Preston,
Manchester United, Manchester City.
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| Admission Prices |
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Like a number of Clubs,
Blackburn operate a match category policy (1 & 2) whereby the ticket
prices cost more for the most popular games. Category 2 prices are shown below in
brackets:
Home Fans:
Jack Walker
Stand (Centre):
Adults £38 (£28),
OAP's/Under 21's £28 (£17), Juniors
£20 (£15)
Jack Walker Stand (Wings):
Adults £33 (£22),
OAP's/Under 21's £22 (£12), Juniors
£15 (£7)
Riverside Stand:
Adults £28
(£17),
OAP's/Under 21's* £17 (£12), Juniors
£15 (£7)
Ronnie
Clayton Blackburn End:
Adults £35 (£29),
OAP's/Under 21's* £25 (£15), Juniors
£15 (£7)
Ronnie Clayton Blackburn End (Family Area):
Adults £35 (£29),
OAP's/Under 21's £22 (£12), Juniors
£15 (£7)
WEC
Group Darwen End: Adults £35 (£29), OAP's £25 (£15),
Juniors £15 (£7)
Away
Fans:
WEC Group Darwen End: Adults £35 (£29), OAP's £25 (£15),
Juniors £15 (£7)
* Under 21's can qualify for these
reduced prices, providing that they become a Club
Member for a cost of £10.
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| Programme & Fanzine |
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Official Programme £3
4000 Holes Fanzine
£1
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Ground
Layout
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For a
stadium plan showing the individual block numbers
Then visit the official Blackburn Rovers website.
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| Fixtures 2011-2012 |
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Blackburn
Rovers fixture list (takes you to the BBC Sports Website).
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| Disabled
Facilities |
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details of disabled facilities and club contact at the
ground please visit the relevant page on the Level
Playing Field website.
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| Record
& Average Attendance |
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Record
Attendance:
62,522 v Bolton Wanderers,
FA Cup 6th Round, March 2nd 1929.
Modern All Seated Attendance
Record:
30,895 v Liverpool
Premier League, February 24th, 1996.
Average
Attendance:
2010-2011: 25,000 (Premier League)
2009-2010: 25,428 (Premier League)
2008-2009: 23,105 (Premier League)
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| Fans Reviews Of Ewood Park |
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Joseph
Thomas (Swansea City) 3/12/11
Kevin Wrenn
(Neutral) 24/8/11
Patrick
Burke (Everton) 17/4/10
Pete
Lowe (Wolverhampton Wanderers) 12/9/09
George
Dunn (Hull
City) 23/8/08
Neil
Harding (Hull City) 23/8/08
James
Prentice (Doing The 92) 23/8/08
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| Hotel
Accommodation |
If you require hotel
accommodation in the area then first try a hotel
booking service provided by Late Rooms. They offer all
types of accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets
from; Budget Hotels, Traditional Bed & Breakfast
establishments to Five Star Hotels and Serviced
Apartments. Plus their booking system is
straightforward and easy to use. Yes this site will
earn a small commission if you book through them, but
it will go to help with the running costs of keeping
the Guide going. The Hotels listing also includes
details of how far away the accommodation is located
from the football ground.
Access
their Blackburn
Hotels and Guest Houses page.
Remember that you can use the above link or panel
below to book any other hotels that you may need
for business or leisure, either in the UK or
abroad.
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| Map showing the
location of the Ewood Park football ground,
railway stations and listed pubs. |
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| Old Ewood Park |
| To see photos of Ewood
Park shortly prior to its redevelopment then
viist the Old
Grounds and Stands Section of the Guide.
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| Feedback |
If
anything is incorrect or you have something to add,
please e-mail me duncan@footballgrounds.net
and I'll update the guide.
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