Football Ground Guide: Fans Ground Review, Walkers Stadium, Leicester FC

Walkers Stadium
Leicester City v Aston Villa
Carling Cup 3rd Round
Tuesday, October 24th 2006, 7.45pm
By Joe Flynn

Leicester 2 Aston Villa 3 AET

1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be)/;

Local(ish) derby have not been to there new ground, looked good from pictures and was told it was a nice ground, so looking forward to it and we had the added element Martin O' Neil was going back to his old club but in charge of Aston Villa.

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking:

We got the official coach to this game as it was only Ł10 big mistake! I only presume they did this as it was a derby game but a 40 minute journey took three hours. They kept us waiting on the hard shoulder of the motorway for over a hour and it almost seemed planned as the in film being shown inside the coach was King Kong coincidently a three hour long film. Fans where getting annoyed etc.. we ended up at the ground 20 minutes before kick off, I wouldn't have minded so much if they had just left Aston later, it was obviously so we couldn't get drinks in time before the game. I suggest you get the train if your are a Midlands team going there.

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

We managed to run to a pub which was round the corner from the ground and have a quick drink but it was home supporters only, luckily we were not wearing away colours. but I can't really comment on where to go before the game starts.

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground?

Nice ground, a bit bland looking but overall its nice and modern. We was situated in the corner with 3,000 of us. Didn't get much chance to look outside the ground but all looked modern.

5. Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, toilets etc..

Game was excellent, with Villa winning the game in the 119th minute so obviously we were all going crazy which didn't go down well with the stewards as a lot of people where getting kicked out, but we saw no trouble off them during the period before that, with us singing and having a good banter with the home support either side of us.

They have a really weird song that comes over the speakers when they score which completely ruining it for them I would have thought. I love to hear the sound of a crowd cheering not a cheesy song, luckily it does not come on when the away team score. There crowd was surprisingly muted considering they was playing a premiership club, only got loud after the goals which only lasted about 5 minutes. The toilets where as expected from a modern football ground and good burgers to. Ok price as well. Note there is no alcohol served to away fans which was disappointing.

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game

We had a police escort to our coaches which caused more problems than good I thought as not everyone was getting coaches and got pushed in that direction, there was a bit of confusion but as I was getting the coach I was on within 2 minutes of leaving the ground with no trouble. the journey took 40 minutes back what a surprise!!!

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out

Great game!!! shame about the three hour journey to begin with, was a good job it was a good game otherwise would have been a bad day out! I would have thought it would be allot better if it was not a derby.

Are you an away or general football fan who has visited the Walkers Stadium recently?
If so why not submit your own review of the ground and general day out?
Click here to find out more.