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What's
Victoria Park Like?
Cyril Knowles
Stand (photo)
What
Is It Like For Visiting Supporters?
Millhouse Stand (photo)
Where To Drink?
Looking
Towards The Town End (photo)
How
To Get There By Car & Where To Park
By Train
Rink End
(photo)
Admission Prices
Progamme & Fanzine
Ground Layout
Local Rivals
Disabled Facilities
Fixtures 2011-2012
Record
& Average Attendance
Fans Ground
Reviews
Hotel
Accommodation
Victoria Park Location Map
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| What's Victoria Park
Like? |
The ground was greatly
improved in the mid 1990's, with the construction of
two new stands at one end and one side of the ground.
The Cyril Knowles Stand is the newer of the two side
stands. It is a small single tier covered all seated
stand, raised above the ground level. The other side,
the Niramax Stand, has covered seating to the
rear and open terrace to the front. This stand does
not run the full length of the pitch and has an odd
mix of orange and green seating, that clashes with the
club colours. Both ends are small covered affairs. The
newer end is the small Hartlepool College Town End, a
covered terrace, for home fans. The other end, the
Rink End stand, is a small covered all seated stand
which houses away supporters.
Derek Hall adds; 'All real
Hartlepool fans nickname the club Pools
(not The Pool). This goes
back to the pre-1967 days when the boroughs of (old)
Hartlepool and West
Hartlepool became amalgamated as just Hartlepool. It
was because of the
existence of the two very separate
towns that the club was actually called Hartlepools
United in the first place. That said though, I'd
prefer to see us called The
Monkey Hangers!'
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| Cyril Knowles Stand |
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| What
Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? |
Ben Fuggles advised me to
'bring a jumper even in August!'. He was right. The
wind whipping the North Sea goes right through you, so
wrap up well unless there is a heat wave. Away fans
are in the Rink End Stand at one end of the ground,
where up to 967 can be
seated. Unfortunately there are a few supporting
pillars in this stand, which may hinder your view,
especially if there is a large away following. However
acoustics are good even for small numbers. Look out for the biggest meat
& potato pies you have ever seen being served
within the ground, they are huge! Generally I found
the Hartlepool supporters okay, but unfortunately my
day was spoiled by some crowd trouble at the game. I
prefer thinking about the opposition's culpability
rather than the Pools fans, but
as the saying goes 'It takes two to tango'.
If you wonder
why Hartlepool are referred to as the 'Monkey
Hangers' then it is because the residents of
Hartlepool are famously said to have
hanged a monkey that was washed up
from a ship that had sunk during the
Napoleonic wars, because
they thought the monkey was
a French spy. The Club take this to
good heart and of course who else would they have as
their club mascot? H'Angus the monkey of course!
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Millhouse Stand
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| Where To Drink? |
The
Victoria Suite near the entrance to the away end is
for members only. At the same end but at the opposite
corner, is the 'Corner Flag Supporters Bar' that
welcomes away fans. The entrance fee is 50p, but this
basic bar has a good friendly pre match atmosphere and
SKY TV, however it does not serve any food. Popular
with away fans is the Jackson's Wharf Pub near the
ground. It has good food and
real ale on tap. This pub
is over the road from the ASDA store, to the left of
the old sailing ship. Otherwise the ground is not far
from the town centre where there are plenty of pubs to
be found.
Ronnie Chambers adds; 'The Engineers Social Club five
minutes from the ground opposite the police station,
just off the town centre is okay, as is the
Raglan Club just behind the visitors end. Usual club
rules apply regarding entry for these'.
Richard Wakelin informs
me; 'There is a micro pub on the railway station
platform called the Rat Race Ale House. It only serves real ale
(no lager or keg) and only holds about 12 people.
There is no bar as such (the patron disappears
into a room and re-emerges with your pint), nor
music or television. There are also no toilets
inside (you are given a key to the station toilets).
It's rapidly gaining cult status on Teeside'.
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Looking
Towards The Town
End
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| How
To Get There By Car & Where To Park |
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From the A19 take the
A689 signposted Hartlepool. Follow the A689 towards
the Town Centre. Follow Town Centre signs for 2.8
miles, over two roundabouts. Go straight over the
next two sets of lights, passing Hartlepool College
on your right. The next
left takes you to the stadium. If you miss the
turning (as I did), go past ASDA on your left, left
at the next roundabout and then left at the next
traffic lights for the ground. There is a fair sized
car park at the ground. Otherwise there is some
street parking albeit a bit of a distance away, as a
residents only parking scheme is in operation on
matchdays around the ground.
Map showing the location of Victoria
Park (at the bottom of this page).
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| By Train |
Hartlepool railway
station is a ten minute walk from the ground. Leave
the station and go straight up a short approach
road. At the end of the approach, turn right and
head up Church Street towards the large church. At
the end of this road is a bridge and junction with
the A689. Go straight across the junction and
the ground is in front of you on the left hand side of
the road.
Thanks to Richard Brackstone for providing the
directions.
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Rink End
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| Admission Prices |
Home Fans:
Cyril Knowles Stand (Seats) Adults £25, Over
60's/Under 16's £13
Niramax Stand (Seats) Adults £25, Over
60's/Under 16's £13
Niramax Stand (Terrace) Adults £20, Over
60's/Under 16's £10
Hartlepool College (Town End Terrace) Adults £20, Over
60's/Under 16's £10
Away
Fans:
Rink End (Seats) Adults £25, Over
60's/Under 16's £13
Students and Under 19's can also qualify for a
concessionary price in the home areas, providing
that the ticket is purchased from the ticket
office and a valid student identity card/proof of
age is produced on purchase.
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| Programme & Fanzine |
Official Programme £2.50.
Monkey Business Fanzine £1.
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Ground
Layout
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| Local Rivals |
| Darlington.
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| Disabled
Facilities |
| For
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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| Fixtures 2011-2012 |
| Hartlepool United FC fixture
list (takes you to the BBC
Sports Website).
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| Record
& Average Attendance |
17,426 v Manchester United,
FA Cup 3rd Round, January 5th, 1957.
Average Attendance:
2009-2010: 3,444 (League One)
2008-2009: 3,835 (League One)
2007-2008: 4,507 (League One)
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| Fans Reviews
Of Victoria Park |
Paul
Willott (Preston North End) 29/11/11
Teresa Jewell
(Sheffield Wednesday) 1/10/11
Andy 'Addick'
(Charlton Athletic) 15/2/11
Stephen Wooldridge
(Neutral) 19/12/09
Nathan Heywood
(Norwich City) 29/08/09
Daniel Sharpe
(Leicester City) 17/02/09
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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 Hartlepool
Hotels and Guest Houses page.
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| Map showing the location of Victoria Park,
railway station and listed pubs |
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Instructions for using
the map:
Use the bar on the left of the map to zoom in / out
using the + / - keys.
Click and drag an area of the map to move around or
use the up/down, left/right arrows on the map.
Click the Satellite button to see aerial view
photograph.
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| Feedback |
If
anything is incorrect or you have something to add,
please e-mail me at duncan@footballgrounds.net
and I'll update the guide.
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