Griffin Park
Brentford v Bristol Rovers
League One
Saturday, February 26th
2011, 3pm
By Luke Phillips
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I
have attended Griffin Park many a time with my
father, however this season was the first time
that I had attended Brentford away with a group of
"lads". I always look forward to Griffin Park as
the away terrace is a fantastic little covered
terrace where you can really make some noise, oh
and there is a pub on each corner of the ground!
If
you are coming from the South West, please be
advised that there is no direct route to Brenford
station. We set off from Bristol Parkway at about
11:00 to Reading station, we then had to dash
through the station to get to Platform 4A to catch
the train leaving in 5 minutes time to Virginia
Water. Once we had arrived at Virginia Water we
then had to get onto the middle platform (can't
quite remember which platform number it was) to
Brentford station which is only about a 15-20
minute trip. Once we had arrived at Brentford,
finding the ground was easy, you simply turn right
out of the station and walk along Orchard Road and
turn right onto Windmill road and take the next
left onto Hamilton Road. The walk should take you
no less than 10 minutes!
Once
we arrived at the ground we all noticed a very
strong Rovers presence in The Griffin Pub. So we
went in there and had a a pre-match drink with the
Gasheads. After we had left the pub we walked
around the local area and discovered a small take
away on Albany Road-I do believe it was called the
"Best Kebab and Fish Bar" that serves halal food
(which was perfect for us considering we were
travelling with a Muslim). The prices were very
reasonable, a burger was roughly £2.50 and
Chips wrapped in Pitta bread was about
£1.50. The home fans were very friendly and
welcoming and couldn't of done enough to help out
other away fans who may of been lost or whatever.
For
those who haven't been before, Griffin Park is a
fantastic ground that just oozes character. The
away end is unusual as above the terrace there is
an area where fans who prefer to sit can do so.
The away terrace has wind shields at the side and
back so it's obvious a good away following will
generate some really good noise. However there are
some rather annoying supporting pillars in the way
but you can still get a good view of the pitch.
The two stands at either sides of the are pretty
much identical all seater stands. Right opposite
the away end is a modern(ish) looking terrace
where the noisier Brentford fans will stand.
There
was just shy of 900 Rovers fans in Brentford
with the vast majority choosing to stand in the
enclosed terrace. This helped us created a very
good atmosphere. The open terrace opposite the
away end occasionally sang up. There was some
cracking banter to be had with the stands to the
left and right of the away end. One guy had
decided to start abusing the Rovers fans-so we
all piped up with "Does your boyfriend know
you're here?". He then retaliated by snogging
his mate! The stewards were usually quite
friendly and allowed us all to have fun on the
terrace, however they did get a little strict
shortly after Rovers had conceded a
controversial penalty, although they soon became
relaxed once the game had resettled. I can't
comment on the food as I never sampled it due to
eating before I entered the ground however they
had a good selection food ranging from Balti
pies and sausage rolls that were all reasonably
priced. The toilets were average, reasonably
clean although cramped. However I have seen
worse toilets!
This
was a very hotly contested and controversial
game, so emotions were running high. Due to this
we decided to get back to the train station
rather quickly to avoid any potential trouble.
However I don't think any trouble would of
occurred due to a strong police presence. Once
we boarded the train there were some rowdy
Brentford fans who were messing around with the
intercom and being a nuisance to most people on
the train, however they soon stopped when an
older Brentford fan with his son put them in his
place. Once we had arrived at Virginia Water we
didn't know which platform we had to get on to
get to Reading. Fortunately that same man was a
train driver and helped us along our away back
to Reading.
Another enjoyable day out at Brentford seen Rovers controversially beaten. Unfortunately I wont be going back to Brentford this year as we were relegated, but I would definitely go back as it is my favourite away ground to go to! |
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