Football Ground Guide: Fans Reviews, Anfield, Liverpool

Anfield - Liverpool FC
Saturday March 30th 2008
Vs Everton, Premier League, 3pm
By Bobby Rooney

Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be):

Why well it’s a local derby, the biggest in England in my opinion. I love these games the game is usually amazing and thoroughly entertaining, not to mention the electric atmosphere. This was my first Anfield Derby in the away section and I was pretty excited for that, me and my friend had been to many away games for this. We couldn’t wait.

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

Obviously being so close to our ground, we used the same method as the home games. The train is very useful and departing at Kirkdale station means a 1.5 mile walk which is pleasant enough. There are plenty of pubs down here too.

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

I went to the Winslow arms for a bit of a singsong and derby banter with my fellow Evertonians, this is situated outside Goodison Park, however the Royal Oak may please you more as it is comfier in many ways.

For a fan who shares no rivalry and wants a bit of a chat with the reds, I’d recommend The Albert, it is the local for the Reds and the atmosphere is usually quite warming.

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

My first opinion was it’s a tidy stadium. Outside there were a number of people gathered around the Hillsbrough memorial. Entering the ground you see spacious concourse with plenty of refreshments. As I came up the stairs I saw the Kop beaming over us, which looked alright. But the Main stand is shabby with a lot of it wooden seats with two posts either side of the half way line. The centenary is the most recently developed stand and looks decent.

When approaching my seat I noticed my difficulty in vision. Seeing as though I was on the 3rd to back row, the upper Anfield Road drops to block the vision of most of the Kop Goal, whilst a post blocks the Anfield road goal. Obviously if your further forward this may not be an issue at all. (In comparison to the away end at Goodison, I’m sure its like a paradise.)

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

The game was awful, I’m sure both sets of fans will agree. Torres scored the winner after 10 minutes after Yakubu lost possession. That was the only highlight really.

The atmosphere you’d think would be amazing with Liverpool scoring early on(they only sing when their winning!!), yet it wasn’t really. As the away team we pumped tunes around our end for the 90 minutes, yet the Kop produced little atmosphere thoughout which wasn’t really surprising.

The stewards were good, they didn’t harass any fan for excessive standing(which we did throughout) or throw anyone out for silly things.

The Liverpool fans near us gave some fun banter, and was probably the most exciting thing about a lacklustre game where Liverpool secured 4th place and left us with a nervous struggle for that last place for Uefa cup ahead of Villa and Pompey.

The food was expensive as you’d expect, Ł3.50 a pint and Ł3.00 on a traditional scouse pie. My mate had a sausage roll and said it was bearable, yet better than most football grounds.

There were a toilet apiece in each section of the away end. If you take the minimum allocation, you would have 1 toilet apiece for 2,000 people which would be a struggle.

The facilities were decent the game and view were far from it.

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

It was relatively easy and hassle free really, bar the few Home fans who tried to gloat. The trip across Stanley park was alright. Stopping of at Tan’s Indian for a Madras which at 4.50 isn’t bad value and quite tasty anyway. The train was relatively quiet(to comparison of everton home games) and we were home by 6.15 (4pm KO)

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

Decent day, awful game, good away atmosphere

I will surely do this again soon but I just pray for excitement and maybe a blue goal next time.

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