Because Morecambe had moved into a shiny new stadium during the summer of 2010, this was one of the away games I was eagerly looking forward to.

The journey up from the Midlands seemed to take took forever due to heavy traffic on the M6 on what was an unfeasibly hot day for early April.  Consequently we limped into the town at 2pm, having planned to be there much earlier.  Rather than street park we decided to use the car park at Westgate Primary School, located in Langridge Way, about 200 yards on the right on West Gate before you hit the stadium.  At £4 a car it wasn’t cheap, but it was off road and secure.

Because of the late arrival we went straight to the ground, past an unsmiling steward and through a narrow turnstile (not as bad as those at Hereford I might add) and into an empty ground. First stop was for food and the choice on offer wasn’t as we expected. Basically it was down to a choice of hotdogs (large or small) and meat and potato pies, all served up by more unsmiling staff. That was the sum of the menu, but we were so hungry we went for the pie and peas option and the kindest thing to be said is that it filled a hole.

Walking into the away end the first thing we noticed was the much talked about contrast on either side of the ground. The Main Stand is impressive from outside as you approach the ground, and from inside seems to be well designed, offering a good view in comfort. The few Brewers fans that chose to sit complimented the legroom. The other side just looks plain weird, almost as if the architect ran out of ideas and wanted to get home early on a Friday afternoon. On the day we visited it was probably the best place to be in the sun, but when the wind whips in from the sea on a cold January afternoon it isn’t anywhere I’d want to stand!

The game itself would be best summed up as a dour midfield struggle, with Burton gifting the hosts an early goal on 10 minutes. The second half was no better and Morecambe ran out deserved 2-1 winners, leaving Burton deeper in the relegation mire. The atmosphere was quite muted all round, other than amongst a group of Burton fans who whined throughout the game, looking to argue and fight with anyone who disagreed.  The moral of the story – don’t drink and then go to a football match kids.

Getting out of the ground was easy enough and we decided to drown our sorrows with after match fish & chips on the promenade, so went the opposite way to most of the traffic. As with the Burton Albion performance these, too, were predictably a letdown, but at least we got to see the Eric Morecambe statue.

Despite everything I really enjoyed my day out. I like the Globe Arena and the small side of the ground is there to be developed should the fortunes of the club take an upturn in the future.  The staff could do with smiling just occasionally though.