Football Ground Guide: Fan's Ground Review, Alexandra Stadium, Crewe Alexandra FC

Alexandra Stadium - Crewe Alexandra
Saturday August 19th 2006
Vs Bradford City, League One, 3pm
By Jordan Pattison

Crewe is a great away day for Bradford fans, in terms of distance it is
pretty good compared to some of our long hauls down to Yeovil and Swansea. You know we will take a fair amount of fans to make a good noise, especially in the away section at Crewe which is awesome for away fans as you are all packed in tightly and the acoustics from the stand mean the away fans can make a decent noise. Bradford had been playing some great stuff coming into this game and most City fans were hoping for more of the same, although none of us expected as what was to unfold.

We set off early as we wanted some fodder before the game, the journey did not take too long and we were at Crewe in no time, we found parking no problem at all and parked inside their massive car park for a few quid. We even got best spot too right near exit for a quick getaway. We walked around Crewe for a bit, and we had real difficulty in choosing somewhere to eat as there are more take aways in Crewe than there is sand on a beach, we chose a fish shop in the end and it was very nice but a tad pricey. Although I did enjoy it when about 5 Crewe YTS players came in, sat down then got up and
pegged it because their coach saw them in a fish shop. We did not make it into a pub as we could not find a decent one, although we did not dare go in the one that had loads of bouncers on the door at just after 12noon! They must have been expecting some serious fisticuffs.

Crewe operated pay on the day system which always suits us best, but queuing up at the tiny ticket office rather than paying at the turnstile was a bit annoying. It was raining heavily as well. Once inside the ground, the away stand is excellent just because it packs in all the fans so close. The two stands behind the goals are shockingly tiny but the one opposite the away end is fairly large and is pretty nice. The main noise from the Crewe fans came from the tiny stand behind the goal to our right although when I saw noise I mean about 15 people chanting. City on the other hand took what seemed like a large following and created one of best atmospheres in ages. We were very loud but to be fair we did have a lot to chanting about.

After recent weeks of conceding early goals, City got it right and from the very first whistle and we looked the business. Although the grass was very long, maybe to prevent our blistering counter-attacks, we played some high tempo football with our wingers Johnson and Holmes tearing them apart. We could have been 1 nil up after a few mins. They could not handle us at all and we were out competing them all over the park, our passing was excellent and our wingers were getting untold joy and their full backs looked like they wanted to cry every time our wingers began to run at them. Crewe are a very young team and did try to play as all Crewe side play, a nice passing game but they were getting out played by the Bantams. We had everything but an end product and as half time was approaching, most City fans expected us to go in 0-0 having dominated then come out and probably lose 1-0. Luckily, our first half dominance paid off as our sub, new signing Eddie Johnson, who was on loan at Crewe last season, came off the bench for the injured Graham to bang in a well crafted goal. It was JJ and Holmes our wingers that put it on a plate for Eddie Johnson and sent the travelling army into euphoria.

We came out in the second half even better, and Crewe could not hold our probing attacks and soon enough they could not stem the tide. City scored one of the best goals we will see in a long time, an Argentina 20+ pass move occurred and city fans had been chanting 'ole' about 8 passes before Bridge-Wilkinson lashed home a superb goal. Eddie Johnson capped a great game with a brace and had a chance spurned for his hat-trick. The City fans were lapping it up having not seen a performance like this for years.

Full respect to Crewe fans though, who know their football and even clapped our subs as they came off. They had seen some very good football and appreciated it, and good luck to them this season apart from when they come to fortress Valley Parade.

Getting away from the ground was easy enough and we were soon on the motorway storming up the M62 back to Bradford. It seemed like a quick journey back with all the giddiness from a 3-0 away win. And we were all looking forward to a night out celebrating.

It was a top day out, although I am not sure I would have enjoyed it as much if we had been beaten 3-0 but I can't fault Crewe's ground and thought their away stand is one of best in the league, much better than open terracing at the likes of Doncaster and Chesterfield, where it is impossible to create an atmosphere.