Weston Homes Community Stadium - Colchester United
Saturday October 3rd, 2009
Vs Huddersfield Town, League One, 3pm
Adam Drake
Weston Homes Community
Stadium - Colchester United
Saturday October 3rd,
2009
Vs Huddersfield Town, League One,
3pm
Adam
Drake
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1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be): Having visited Colchester's old ground
at Layer Road, I was looking forward to visiting the new stadium,
especially seeing as I missed our first game there last
year. We drove down from Huddersfield at
8am, and we arrived in Colchester at about 1 o'clock. Before we set off,
we asked some Town fans who went last year where we should park, so we
parked at Colchester North railway station for £2, where we had a very
short walk to the shuttle buses at Bruff close, which cost £1 return to
the ground. Before catching a bus, we figured we'd be better having a drink around the station. A very short distance up Bergholt Road, off the roundabout, was the Bricklayers pub, which despite being advertised as a home fans pub on the Guide, had no one on the door, and didn't seem to mind us being in (we all had our jackets zipped up, with our blue and white striped shirts barely showing, so that might have been why). Still, It seemed like a friendly traditional pub with a decent selection of drinks, including Adnams beers. Some Colchester fans inside spotted our Northern accents and proceeded to have a friendly chat with us, and it was also visited by the Police, just keeping a watchful eye on things. 4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground? The shuttle bus seemed to take us out
into the middle of nowhere, but seeing the stadium was a welcoming
surprise in comparison to Layer Road, looking a bit like the new Leigh
Sports Village and The New Meadow. The away end was very nice, and
although it was set far back from the dead ball line, the steepness of the
stand meant that you get a good view of the pitch, especially near the
back. As a 6'2” man, I found the leg room was fine, as expected with new
ground. The other stands looked very similar to ours, with the other end
having a police box, and the main stand being slightly taller and having
corporate boxes at the back. It was a very windy day, which kind of
spoilt the game for us, the referee made a couple of bad decisions and the
result swung Colchester's way. Despite this, the home crowd seemed very
quiet, but it did appear that the majority of their singing faithful were
at the opposite end to us. There seemed to be a surplus of stewards at the
ground, and most of them at our end spent their time trying to keep us
from standing up, so nothing unusual. I bought a cheeseburger outside the
ground for £3.50, fearing the prices inside the stadium; I didn't catch
the food prices, as the boards I saw in the concourse only said what they
were selling, and not what the prices were. The toilets were fine, but
they seemed a little small if there was to be a full away
following. Getting away was not a problem, they
let us straight out and we were more or less straight on a bus back to the
train station, although there was quite a large queue behind us. It took
us about quarter of an hour to get back on the A12 from the station.
Despite
the result, I enjoyed the day out. It was different not parking up near
the ground, but the club seemed to have organised the buses to and from
the station rather well. The only problem would be with fans who turn up
on the day without knowing where to park; they could have signposted for
parking near to the shuttle buses
better. |
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