| Contents |
|
What's The
Hawthorns 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 And Where To Park
By Train
Ground Layout
Programme
& Fanzine
Local Rivals
Admission
Prices
Fixtures 2011-2012
Disabled
Facilities
Record
& Average Attendance
Fans Ground Reviews
Hotel
Accommodation
Hawthorns
Location Map
|
|
|
|
|
| What's The Hawthorns
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).
Top Of Page
|
|
Future
Developments
|
|
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'.
Top Of Page
|
| East
Stand & Smethwick End |
|
Top Of Page
|
| What
Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? |
|
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.
Look out for the West Brom Mascot called 'Baggie
Bird', who does a good job of entertaining the away
fans before the game. This even involves going in
goal and challenging players to take a shot!
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'.
Top Of Page
|
|
Birmingham Road
End And East Stand
|
|
Top Of Page
|
| Where To Eat And
Drink? |
There
are no pubs for away fans that are particularly close
to the ground. Huw Morris, a West Brom fan, recommends
'The Vine'
which is about a 15-20
minute walk from the ground. From Junction 1 of the M5
turn left towards West Bromwich town centre (opposite
direction to the ground). Take the first left
into Roebuck Street. The Vine is down on the left. You
can also street park in this area and walk to the
ground. This pub also does Indian
food and has an indoor tandoori barbeque (from 1pm
on Saturdays), plus has a beer garden with
children's play area. Barbara Osborne a visiting
Newcastle United fan adds; 'The Vine from the
outside looked like any small corner boozer, but
inside it was quite large and it was fairly easy to
get served. It had a good mix of home and away
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'.
If travelling by Metro or train from Birmingham Snow
Hill and you like your real ale, then it may be a good
idea to stop off on the way to the Hawthorns at the
Jewellery Quarter station. Within a 10 minute walk of
the station are at least four pubs serving decent real
ale. These are the Rose
Villa Tavern, Brown
Lion, Red Lion
and Lord
Clifden. The Red Lion and Lord Clifden are both
listed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide, whilst the Brown Lion has recently opened and is
effectively the brewery tap for the local Two Towers
Brewery. See the Google map below for their locations
(this will require you to use the arrows to move the
map down and then to the to show the Jewellery Quarter
and pubs).
Alcohol is also available within the ground, albeit in
plastic/cans, in the form of Carlsberg, Tetleys and
Strongbow (all at £3.60), plus red and white
wine, Smirnoff Ice, and various spirit minatures (all
at £3.80).
Top Of Page
|
|
Smethwick End &
Halfords Lane Stand
|
|
Top Of Page
|
| How
To Get There By Car And 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.
Map
showing the location of the Hawthorns
football ground (at the bottom of this page).
Top Of Page
|
| 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'.
Top Of Page
|
| Ground Layout |
|
For a
stadium plan showing the individual block numbers
Then visit the official West Bromwich Albion website.
Top Of Page
|
| Programme &
Fanzine |
Official Programme £3
Baggies Newspaper Fanzine £1.50
Top Of Page
|
| Local Rivals |
| Wolverhampton
Wanderers, Birmingham City, Aston Villa.
Top Of Page
|
| Admission
Prices |
Common with
most Clubs, West Bromwich
Albion operate a category system (A+, A, B
& C) for matches whereby tickets cost more for
the most popular matches (category A+).
All areas of the stadium*:
Adults (A+) £42, (A)
£40, (B) £29 (C) £25
Concessions (A+) £32, (A)
£30, (B) £19 (C) £15
Juniors (A+) £22, (A)
£20, (B) £15 (C) £10
Concessions
apply to Senior Citizens, Under 18's and
Students.
*
Apart from the West Stand, where no concessions
are available.
Category A+ matches for the 2010/11 season are:
Liverpool, Manchester United & Aston Villa.
Category B matches are Blackburn, Bolton,
Blackpool, Fulham, Stoke, Sunderland and Wigan.
Top Of Page
|
| Fixtures 2011-2012 |
| West
Bromwich Albion FC fixture list (takes
you to the BBC Sports
Website).
Top Of Page
|
| Disabled
Facilities |
| For
details of disabled facilities and club contact at the
ground please visit the relevant page on the Level
Playing Field website. You may also wish to
check out the West Brom Disabled Supporters Club website.
Top Of Page
|
| 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:
2010-2011: 24,683 (Premier League)
2009-2010: 22,199 (Championship League)
2008-2009: 25,821
(Premier League)
Top Of Page
|
| Fans Reviews Of The Hawthorns |
Sean O'Brien
(Blackpool) 15/1/11
Adam Neil (Newcastle
United) 5/12/10
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
Top Of Page
|
| Hotel
Accommodation |
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 West
Bromwich & Birmingham Hotels and Guest
Houses pages.
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.
Top Of Page
|
| Map showing the
location of the Hawthorns, railway stations and
listed pubs |
|
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.
|
| Feedback |
| If
anything is incorrect or you have something to add,
please e-mail duncan@footballgrounds.net
and I'll update the guide. |
|
|
|
Return To The Main Menu
|
