Two Visits: Saturday January 18th 2003 & Saturday January 10th 2004

I've had two visits to the Britannia stadium, both with Derby,  A match that I always look forward to, although obviously its not quite the same as playing Forest or Leicester match. However, it is seen as somewhat of a 'Midlands Derby', and with me having family in the area, who are all Stoke fans makes it a little extra special for me. When I'm up in the Potteries for some family party, it's vital for me that Derby have won the last meeting against Stoke, or else I don't hear the end of it all night!

I've made my way to the ground in two different ways, the first time I took the train. We arrived at Stoke not knowing exactly how we were going to get too the ground, as I had read on this site it was too far too walk, but the Police had laid on special buses for the Derby fans which picked us up right outside the door of the station. Apparently these are not normally laid on, but because of the nature of the match and to possibly stop any trouble, it was a good idea by the Police on this occasion to do so. The second time I took one of the Derby County supporters coaches, which was just a simple journey up the road to the stadium, so no trouble getting there on that occasion either.

There are fences up around the entrance to the away end and both times the Stoke fans were not being allowed to walk through as a short cut, so it was fine before the game. On my second visit Stoke had come up with the wonderful idea of selling lager in a plastic bottle, as it wasn't a warm day I had my big Parker coat on and managed to hide a few bottles in my coat before the game (not all for me I must add) and smuggled them into the stands  I also must add there's an art to drinking them without being seen by a steward, although one guy was not so lucky and had his beer confiscated in the stand by a steward. Its surprising really that he didn't get thrown out, but generally the stewards were good, being friendly and generally going unnoticed.

For a club the size of Stoke the Britannia stadium is a nice ground, though it would look a lot better with the corners filled in. Strangely your seats are unreserved and you sit where ever you can get, so for a good seat it is better to get there early.

Both times I have been there waiting for the turnstiles to open, and was rewarded with prime seats right at the back of the stand, where all the atmosphere comes from. One disappointing thing about the ground only ever seems to be half full, but a good atmosphere can  be made in the away end. Apart from when singing that Delilah song (which they do well), the Stoke fans otherwise, were rather quiet. I know it seems a strange comment, but the worst feature of the stadium is the toilets, which on both times have seen me walk through quite amount of water to reach the urinals.

I've had mixed fortunes as far as results go at Stoke, the first visit saw a great 3-1 win and was one of my most enjoyable away days so far. The second a disappointing 2-1 defeat. Getting away from the ground wasn't too bad, the first time on the bus back to the train station was a bit of a squeeze, I found myself standing on the stairs with about 5 other people, getting slightly crushed, but after seeing a great win no-one seemed to mind, and we just chanted, and taunted Stoke fans all the way back to the train station, which resulted in a few stones being aimed in our direction, which everyone found to be quite funny. Back at the train station the train was a few minute slate as they always are, but everything went smoothly and we was soon back in Derby. The second time it was just out the ground, to the coach and on the way home as simple as that.

Overall the Britannia Stadium is a good 'Championship' stadium to visit, well apart from the toilets, that is. But overall it has everything you can ask for from a stadium at this level of the game. I have had two enjoyable visits there and I'm sure I'll be making a third sometime soon.