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| Contents |
What's Vicarage
Road Like?
Future
Ground Developments
Looking Towards The
Rookery Stand (photo)
What Is It
Like For Visiting Supporters?
Rous Stand (photo)
Where To Drink?
East Stand
(photo)
How To Get
There By Car & Where To Park
By
Train/Tube
Vicarage Road
Stand (photo)
Local Rivals
Admission
Prices
Programme Price
Fixtures 2012-2013
Disabled Facilities
Ground Layout
Record
& Average Attendance
Fans Ground Reviews
Hotel Accommodation
Vicarage
Road Location Map
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| What's Vicarage
Road Like? |
Overall a tidy looking ground, that is
somewhat let down by the old East Stand on one side.
I am normally a fan of old stands, but the East side
is a mish-mash of a couple of tired looking structures and an
open seated area in one corner.
Originally built in 1922 the Main Stand as it was
known was extended with an adjoining structure in
the late 1960's. The side has now been closed due to
health and safety concerns and the roof of the Main
Stand has been removed. Apart from the Directors
Box, the stand remains empty of spectators. The
players though will continue to use the dressing
rooms in this stand. On the other side
is the Rous Stand. This two tiered stand has an
interesting roof design, which allows light to
penetrate through. It also has a row of executive
boxes across the back.
The ground has had both ends re-developed during the
1990's along with the front of the Rous stand. Both
ends are large single tiered stands, with some strange
looking floodlights perched on the roof. Away fans are housed in one of these ends in
the Vicarage Road Stand. Opposite work had begun in 'filling in' the corner
between the Rookery Stand and the Rous Stand, plus
additional construction at the rear of this stand, but
due to financial difficulties, work has been
suspended, leaving a half finished shell.
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| Future Ground
Developments |
The Club's new
owners have indicated that work
will re-commence in
the close
season on the corner
between the Rookery and
Rous stands. This new area will
incorporate mostly
corporate facilities. The Club would also at some
point like to replace the old unused East
Stand.
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Looking Towards The
Rookery Stand
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| What Is It
Like For Visiting Supporters? |
Away
fans are housed in the Vicarage Road Stand at one end
of the ground. This stand is normally shared with home
supporters (with the obligatory 'no-mans land'
comprised of empty seats covered in netting
in-between). Around 2,200 visiting fans can be
accommodated in this area. The stand has electronic
turnstiles, meaning that you have to place your ticket
into a bar code reader to gain entrance. You
should also then expect to be searched by the
stewards on the way in.
I've always found this club friendly and the
stewarding relaxed on my four visits and
have never had any hassle, although at times there can
be a heavy police presence around the ground and in
the town centre. My only real gripe is that the size
of the concourse at the back of the stand is one of
the tightest that I have come across and is wholly
inadequate when there is a large away following. If
you manage to get to the serving hatch, then you will
find on offer the usual fayre
available including; Pies (including the Chicken
Balti Pie) £2.70, Pasties £2.30, Sausage Rolls
£1.70, Pizza Pods £2.30 and Rollover Hot Dogs £3.
Adam Hodson a visiting Stockport fan adds; 'I was
very impressed with the ground and the modern
facilities. There was plenty of leg room in the way
end and a good atmosphere. However, the concourses
are very small meaning that they easily get
crowded'. There is also a Ladbrokes betting outlet
available.
On the first occasion
that I visited Vicarage Road, I met a Watford
supporter in a pub who gave me a free ticket to that
night's game against Luton. I was also impressed
with this chap as at the time he had visited 91
League grounds with Watford. Perhaps he was in some
part my inspiration for doing the '92'.
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Rous
Stand
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| Where To Drink? |
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Christopher Harrison a
visiting Middlesbrough fan recommends the 'Odd
Fellows' in Fearnley Street 'It is only a couple of
hundred yards from the ground and they even had a
barbeque in the beer garden'. The bar is situated
off Cassio Road and is clearly visible when taking
the route to Vicarage Road from the town centre via
Market Street. The pub is only a few minutes walk
away from the away turnstiles. It has a large beer
garden, with a covered area for smokers and
offers from its barbecue, Burgers (£3) and Hot Dogs
(£2.50). Even though it was very busy on my last
visit, I was impressed with the service from behind
the bar, getting served in reasonable time (even
though it looked like you had no chance of getting
near to the bar let alone being served!).
Otherwise the ground is
in walking distance of the town centre, where along
the High Street you will find a few pubs including a
large Wetherspoons outlet called the Moon Under
Water, an O'Neils and a Walkabout. If you are
feeling peckish then if you are walking to the
ground from the town centre then there are a number
of eating establishments enroute. Please note that
alcohol is not sold in the away section.
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East
Stand
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| How To Get
There By Car & Where To Park |
| Leave
the M1 at Junction 5 and take the A4008 into
Watford. If on nearing the town centre you can't see
the ground over on your left, just go left
around the inner ring road (follow signs for Watford
General Hospital as this is behind the ground) and
you will soon spot it. There are also some private
match day car parks available at some industrial
units near the ground, as well as the Vicarage Road
Girls School, which is close to the stadium and
charges £7 per car. As the ground is almost
right in the centre of town, then there are a number of car parks in
walking distance. On most of my visits I have parked
in the Church multi storey car park (which cost
£2.50 for 4 hours and is located on the inner ring
road). John Peake a visiting Bristol City fan adds;
'We parked in the Church Car Park which is pay on
exit. Although it is an easy 15 minute walk from the
ground, there were lengthy queues to use the pay
machines after the game and we had then queue again
in our car to leave the car park. All in all it took
us about 45 minutes to get out and back onto the
road'. Richard Sheppard informs me; 'I parked in the
Harlequin multi-storey, which cost £2.70 for four
hours. It is approximately 15mins walk to the ground
and was easy to get out after the game and back onto
the M1'.
Map showing the location
of Vicarage Road (at the
bottom of this page).
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| By
Train/Tube |
The nearest station is
Watford High Street, a ten minute walk away from the ground. However
you are likely to come into Watford
Junction train station, which is about a 20 minute walk. Either get a train to Watford High
Street from Watford Junction or if you have time
to walk to the ground then:
Leave the station & take
main road straight opposite (Clarendon Road) all the
way (over Ring Road at lights) up to the High
Street. Turn left and go past Wetherspoons (Moon
under Water) on your right and then take the first
right after 100 yards into Market Street. Continue
along again crossing Ring Road to T junction &
then left at an excellent chip shop. Vicarage Road
is the next right turn. It should take around 15-20
minutes to walk.
Watford also has its own London
Underground tube station, which is on the
Metropolitan Line and is situated just under one
mile from Vicarage Road. However overland trains
from London normally have a shorter journey time.
Thanks to Albert Fuller
for providing the above directions.
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Vicarage
Road Stand
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Thanks
to Owen Pavey for providing the photo above.
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| Local Rivals |
| Luton
Town.
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| Admission
Prices |
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Home fans:
Rous Stand (Upper tier): Adults £31,
Concessions £18, Under 16's £13
Rous Stand (Lower tier): Adults £26, Concessions
£15, Under 16's £10
Rookery Stand: Adults £26, Concessions £15,
Under 16's £10
Vicarage Road Stand: Adults £26, Concessions
£15, Under 16's £10
Away fans:
Vicarage Road Stand: Adults £26,
Concessions £15, Under 16's £10
Concessions apply to Over 65's, Under 20's
and Students aged under 25.
* Please note these prices are for tickets
purchased prior to matchday. Tickets bought on
the day of the match can cost up to
£2 more for Adults & Concessions.
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| Programme |
| Official
Programme £3.
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| Fixtures 2012-2013 |
| Watford
FC fixture list (takes you to the BBC Sports Website).
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| Disabled
Facilities |
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details of disabled facilities and club contact at the
ground please visit the relevant page on the Level
Playing Field website.
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Ground
Layout
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| Record
& Average Attendance |
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Record Attendance:
34,099 v Manchester United,
FA Cup 4th Round Replay, February 3rd, 1969.
Modern All Seated Attendance
Record:
21,590 v Sunderland
Division One, November 27th, 1999.
Average Attendance:
2011-2012: 12,704 (Championship League)
2010-2011: 13,152 (Championship
League)
2009-2010: 14,345 (Championship League)
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| Fans Reviews Of Vicarage Road |
Mark Cooper
(Neutral) 15/1/11
Will O'Shea
(Reading) 20/11/10
Jamie Scott (Charlton
Athletic) 16/8/08
Richard Hatch
(Nottingham Forest) 10/3/08
Mark Barber (Charlton
Athletic) 19/1/08
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| Hotel
Accommodation |
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If you require hotel
accommodation in the area then first try a hotel
booking service provided by Late Rooms. They
offer all types of accommodation to suit all
tastes and pockets from; Budget Hotels,
Traditional Bed & Breakfast establishments
to Five Star Hotels and Serviced Apartments.
Plus their booking system is straightforward and
easy to use. Yes this site will earn a small
commission if you book through them, but it will
go to help with the running costs of keeping the
Guide going. The Hotels listing also includes
details of how far away the accommodation is
located from the football ground.
Access their Watford
Hotels and Guest Houses page.
Remember that you can use the above link or panel
below to book any other hotels that you may need for
business or leisure, either in the UK or abroad.
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| Map Showing The Location of
Vicarage Road, Railway Stations and listed Pubs |
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Instructions for using the
map:
- Use the bar on the left of the map to zoom in /
out using the + / - keys.
- Click and drag an area of the map to move around
or use the up/down, left/right arrows
- Click the Satellite button to see aerial view
photograph.
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| Feedback |
If
anything is incorrect or you have something to add,
please e-mail me duncan@footballgrounds.net
and I'll update the guide.
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