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Ground Name: The
Hawthorns |
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| Contents | |
| What's The Ground Like? Future Developments East Stand & Smethwick End (photo) What Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? Looking Towards The Birmingham Road End (photo) Where To Eat & Drink? Smethwick End & Halfords Lane Stand (photo) How To Get There By Car & Where To Park By Train Ground Layout Programme & Fanzine Local Rivals Admission Prices Fixtures 2009-2010 Disabled Facilities Record & Average Attendance Fans Ground Reviews Hotel Accommodation Google Map Of The Area Feedback Return To The Main Menu |
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| What's The Ground Like? | |
| With the completion of the East Stand in 2001, the Club had achieved its objective in completely
re-building the Hawthorns and making it a modern stadium. Not only
has the ground received a much needed face lift, but it is now totally enclosed and all seated.
The East Stand is an impressive, large single tiered stand, which
has been well integrated with the rest of the ground. It has a row
of executive boxes running along the back, and to
each side of the stand the previous open corners have been filled
with corrugated sheeting. There is a thin supporting pillar on each
side of the stand to support the corner structures. This
stand, which is well setback from the pitch, has been designated as
a no smoking area. On the other side is the relatively new but
smaller, Halfords Lane Stand, stretching around two corners of the
ground. The home end, the Birmingham Road Stand
is large, covered, and quite steep. At the other end away fans
are housed in the Smethwick end, which is also a relatively new
stand. Two new video screens have been installed in opposite corners
of the ground, one at the Smethwick End side of the East Stand and
the other in the opposite corner of the Halfords Lane
Stand. An interesting feature of the ground is that in one corner of the ground (between the East Stand & Birmingham Road End) you will notice perched up on a wall, a large Throstle standing on a football. This has been kept over from the previous stand (it used to sit above the clock on the half time scoreboard) and maintains the links with tradition. Outside the ground on the same corner are the 'Jeff Astle Memorial Gates' erected in tribute to the legendary striker. One strange fact about the Hawthorns is that it is the highest ground in England (in terms of feet above sea level). | |
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Jordan Muckley informs me; 'Following the purchase and demolition of the Woodman Pub, which sat outside one corner of the ground, between the Birmingham and East Stands, the Club have applied for planning permission to re-develop this part of the stadium, so that ground capacity can be raised to around 32,500. This will see the corner being 'filled' to the same height as the East Stand. The Club also have plans at some point to re-develop the Halfords Lane Stand'. | |
| East Stand & Smethwick End | |
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| What Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? | |
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Away fans are housed on one side of the
Smethwick End, where the normal allocation is 3,000 seats. This
means that this stand is shared with home supporters. For cup games,
the whole of this stand can be allocated to away fans, raising this
figure to 5,200. The facilities and the view of the pitch in the
Smethwick end are okay, although the leg room is a little
cramped. I have been to the Hawthorns on a number of occasions
and have always found it to be a fairly friendly place. The only thing against a visit in terms of a day out is a
nearby pub for away fans, meaning that most elect to drink inside
the ground instead. Considering that the concourse at the
back of the Smethwick End is pretty small in
comparison to its overall capacity, then it has an uncomfortable feel, especially when
there is a large away support. One tip on
finding your seat in this stand, is to remember that although your
ticket is marked with the letter of the row, say Row B Or Row LL,
the plates indicating the row in the stand read B1 or LL1. As you
would expect a number of fans get confused by the addition of the
number 1 and start to wander around the stand looking for their
seat. So you have been warned. Also in first gaining entry to the
stand, the Club operate automatic turnstiles, where you have to put
your ticket (which has a bar code on it) into a slot reader, which
then allows the turnstiles to admit you. There are stewards on hand
if you get a problem and on my last visit fans were also being
searched before entering the ground. Strangely I noticed that fans
were not allowed to bring in take away food from the nearby
McDonalds. Greg Whitaker adds; 'I've been to the Hawthorns twice as an away fan and had a similar problem on both occasions. There is a huge metal gate, outside the stadium, next to the away fan section. On my first visit, this was closed before the game, meaning we had to walk in a big loop through a load of residential streets to get round to the other side of the gate. On my most recent visit, the gate was closed after the game. There are no signs to give you directions and, with it being an evening game, I ended up wandering deserted streets in the dark trying to find my way back to Rolfe Street station'. | |
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| Where To Eat & Drink? | |
| There are no pubs
for away fans that are particularly close to the ground. The Vine
which was popular with away supporters now only admits home fans.
Dave Wilson recommends; 'The Park Hotel which is just off
junction one of the M5 and a 10 minute walk to the
ground. You can park on their car park for £5 and away fans are
always welcome. There are plenty of families who meet in
here before games and it is a very safe environment. There is also
plenty of street parking in and around the area of the hotel if you
don't want to pay the £5.' Sean Mowat a visiting Sheffield United supporter adds; 'As you pass the ground on the right on the main Birmingham Road. Carry on about another half a mile and there is a pub on the right set back off the road called the Royal Oak. We've been in the last two times we've visited WBA. The beer is okay and they also serve Asian food (try the chicken kebabs!). It had a friendly atmosphere'. Alcohol is also available within the ground (on my last visit £2.30 for a can of Carling or Worthington), along with the Chicken Balti Pie (£2.20). | |
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| How To Get There By Car & Where To Park | |
| The ground is
located on the A41 (Birmingham-West Bromwich Road). If approaching
from outside the area the ground is about half a mile from Junction
1 of the M5. On leaving the M5 take the A41 towards Birmingham, the
ground is on your right. Beware though of speed
cameras on this stretch of the A41. Street parking or
alternatively there are a few private matchday car parks at some
local industrial units near the ground, or at Hawthorns station
which costs £4. For a map showing the location of the ground click here (to take you to the Street Map website). To go to a simplified page, containing the directions and pub info, which you can print out click here. | |
| By Train/Metro | |
| The closest railway stations are The Hawthorns which is about five minutes walk from the ground and Smethwick Rolfe Street, which is about a 15 minute walk from the ground. The Hawthorns is served by a Metro service from Birmingham Snow Hill station, whilst Smethwick Rolfe Street is served by local trains from Birmingham New Street. The Metro service takes eight minutes to the Hawthorns from Birmingham Snow Hill and trains run every 15 minutes. Please note though that train tickets are not valid on the Metro and that you have to buy a separate ticket for it (ask for a £2 matchday special adult return). Birmingham Snow Hill station is signposted from Birmingham New Street and is around a 10 minute walk away. C Price adds; 'On Halford Lane just below the train/metro stop is a chip shop called the Hawthrones (which yes is spelt incorrectly). Fish and chips cost under £2 and are of good quality and it also serves pies and kebabs'. | |
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For a stadium plan showing
the individual block numbers | |
| Programme & Fanzine | |
| Official Programme £3 Baggies Newspaper Fanzine £1.50 | |
| Local Rivals | |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers, Birmingham City, Aston Villa. | |
| Admission Prices | |
| Home Fans: Halfords Lane (West) Stand: Adults £28, No Concessions East Stand (Upper Tier): Adults £27, Concessions £17 Under 16's £14 East Stand (Lower Tier): Adults £26, Concessions £15 Under 16's £13 Birmingham Road & Smethwick Ends: Adults £23, Concessions £14 Under 16's £11 Away Fans: Smethwick End: Adults £23, Concessions £14 Under 16's £11 Concessions apply to Over 60's, Under 18's and Students. | |
| Fixtures 2009-2010 | |
| For the West Brom fixture list click here (to take you to the BBC Sports Website). | |
| Disabled Facilities | |
| For details of disabled facilities at the ground please visit the relevant page on the National Association Of Disabled Supporters (NADS) website. You may also wish to check out the West Brom Disabled Supporters Club website. | |
| Record & Average Attendance | |
| Record
Attendance: 64,815 v Arsenal FA Cup 6th Round, March 6th, 1937. Modern All Seated Attendance Record: 27,751 v Portsmouth Premier League, May 15th, 2005. Average Attendance: 2009-2010: 22,199 (Championship League) 2008-2009: 25,821 (Premier League) 2007-2008: 22,311 (Championship League) | |
| Fans Reviews Of The Hawthorns | |
| Josh Turner (Newcastle United)
8/08/09 Geoff Harman (Peterborough United) 3/01/09 James Rumsey (Sheffield United) 12/02/08 Jacob Januszewski (Barnsley) 16/05/07 Sean Martin (Wolverhampton Wanderers) 22/10/06 Dominic Manning (Leicester City) 9/9/06 Alan Hood (Hull City) 5/8/06 Simon Block (Tottenham Hotspur) 28/12/05 | |
| Hotel Accommodation | |
| If you require hotel accommodation in the area then first try a hotel booking service provided by Football Hotels who are powered by Activehotels, who specialise in locating accommodation near or within a short travelling distance of the football ground. They also have the added advantage over some other hotel booking services that you pay on departure. 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. To access their West Bromwich page click here. | |
| Google Map | |
| Map showing the
location of the stadium, railway stations and listed pubs.
Instructions for using the map:
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| Feedback | |
| If anything is
incorrect or you have something to add, please e-mail
me and I'll update the guide. | |
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* Although the
Club do not have a shirt sponsor for the whole season, the
league has given permission for West Brom to have shirt sponsorship,
by different sponsors on a match by match basis, if needed. This
will probably lead to some very collectable items of future
memorabilia being created. | |
