Broadwood
Stadium - Crawley Town
League Two
Saturday, October 1st, 2011,
V Plymouth Argyle, 3pm
By Myles
Munsey
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1.
Reason for visit
Having a
few weeks previously covered League Two newcomers
AFC Wimbledon, it made perfect sense to visit
their counterparts Crawley Town. It also meant
'completing the set' for the South of England.
2.
Getting there
A
straightforward train journey from Newbury to
Crawley via Reading and Redhill. On arrival at
Crawley the ground was dead easy to find; I simply
studied the map on the website and sauntered down
Brighton Road. After 15 minutes I was outside
the ground my 'GPS postition' being verified
by the giant concrete red and white football in
the middle of the adjacent roundabout - no SatNav
required!
 3.
Before the game
On one of the
hottest October days on record, the last
thing I wanted was beer, so I availed myself
of a sandwich and a large bottle of soft drink at
the local Marks and Spencers before embarking on
the walk down to the stadium.
Beer drinking
seemed a popular pastime when I arrived at the
ground, but I did my usual thing of chatting
to some of the locals and Plymouth fans.
Unsurprisingly they had opposing views on League
Two prospects. A brief look at the club shop (very
small) and the programme stand for which the
enterprising owner had made a big effort to
stock with Argyle memorabilia.
4.
First impressions.
I got a
very real sense of deja vue at Crawley. The ground
aspect (wooded area on the edge of town), the
club colours; two new towns in Southern England
and similar sounding stadium names reminded
me of a recent trip to Stevenage. The ground
layout was very similar too. And each
club has an outside bar. The pre-match
build up had a nice relaxed feel to
it.
5.
The game
I viewed
the game from the East Terrace and by chance
stood next to a 92 club member complete with
clipboard and do-it-yourself 'stats' sheet. He
jotted down hot and sunny. It definitely was! It
turned out he lived at a village about 8 miles
from where I reside. Amazing!
The game itself
was a bit of a 'curate's egg' -good
in parts. The heat undoubtedly was a factor. After
32 minutes the referee stopped play for an
officially sanctioned drinks break. I've never
seen that before!
There was good
football played by both sides when the ball was on
the deck. It was in the air too much for my
liking. Crawley won 2-0 both goals
scored by Matt Tubbs on four minutes and
again on the hour. Plymouth tried very
hard for a side at the wrong end of the
table. They were backed all the way by 800
travelling supporters who made the long trip from
Devon. I was impressed by their lively West
Country banter and their all-round good
humour - exactly what the game needs. They
made all the noise. A credit to the club.
I don't like negative reporting but
I feel I must mention that in contrast
I overhead some distasteful comments about
Plymouth players only being good enough for a
pay cut. In light of the fact that player
payments have been a touchy subject of
late at PAFC this crass attempt at a
joke was thankfully ignored.
6. Getting away
This was
a gentle stroll back to the station to
make the 17.29 train with ease.
7.
Overall
A modern
stadium certainly, and I found it bright and
cheerful and in a pleasant location. It was a joy
to be on the terrace with plenty of room, good
sight lines and no obstructions to marr the view.
The stewards were friendly.
A relaxed
and enjoyable day. A visit to Crawley is
encouraged to see a side that is now firmly on the
football map. I was at a loss to understand
why the atmosphere on the terraces was so subdued.
Must have been the heat.
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who has visited Broadwood Stadium recently?
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