Portman Road
Ipswich Town v Bristol Rovers
Carling Cup 1st Round
Saturday, August 18th 2012, 3pm
Matt Duckworth
Portman Road
Ipswich Town v Bristol Rovers
Carling Cup 1st Round
Saturday, August 18th 2012, 3pm
Matt
Duckworth
|
1. Why you were looking
forward to going to the ground (or not as the case
may be):
Having recently moved to the Essex/Suffolk border I was looking forward to ticking off Portman Road from the ‘to visit’ list. Also, my team York City had recently regained their league status so it was a good opportunity to check out one of our league opposition, Bristol Rovers. 2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking? The journey down the A12, through Ipswich and towards the ground was relatively easy, with about 5 minutes delay on what it would be on non-match days. I arrived 15 minutes before kick-off and parked in one of the car parks opposite the ground. However, the eventual crowd was 8,600 so I’m guessing for a usual Saturday league game the drive and parking wouldn’t be as easy! 3. hat you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly? With having 15minutes before kick-off I opted to eat in the ground. There seemed to be a number of burger vans around the ground. 4.What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground? Having mostly visited non-league grounds for the last 8 years most larger grounds seem impressive! The stadium is situated not far from the town centre/station and is surrounded by houses and office blocks. Two new stands at either end are flanked by more ‘traditional’ stands where there may be a restricted view in certain seats. Having spoken to a Norwich supporting mate beforehand he’d (obviously) described the place as “a dump” so my expectations were fairly low. Whilst I doubt it will win ground of the year there was a certain nostalgic feeling when entering the ground, mainly due to the clubs association with such legends as Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson. As with most neutral games I elected to sit with the travelling contingent. For 263 of them, the Rovers fans made a decent noise and I look forward to the York trip to Memorial Stadium in March 2013. 5.Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc.. Due to the Olympics the League Cup was the opening game of the season for both teams, so it was good timing to take advantage of the lower ticket prices! The ground was a third full so had a pre-season feel to it, with not much noise generated other than for the goals. I can imagine, however, on a derby day against Norwich that it is a great atmosphere with the ground retaining a lot of the noise created. At half time I opted for the ‘Combo Deal’ which comprised of a pie, wedges and a beer for £7.40. The pie was one of the better I’ve had and the Adnams ale was on a par with the local pubs in the area. 6.Comment on getting away from the ground after the game: For most neutral games I leave a few minutes early (however not for York games!), as a result there was no delay getting back on to the A12. 7.Summary of overall thoughts of the day out: The ground is easy to get to from the station/via car and has decent food and beer available so a good ground to visit for both Away and Neutral fans. |
|
Are you an away or general football fan
who has visited Portman Road recently?
If so why not submit your own review of the ground and
general day out?
Click here to find out more.