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Watford Awaydaze
Watford Awaydaze
Monday, 7th Apr 2014 22:23 by Tim Whelan

Our visit to Watford kicks off at 7.45 on Tuesday evening.

If you’re coming by car you need to leave the M1 at junction 5 and take third exit off the roundabout, A4008 (Stephenson Way), signposted Watford Town Centre. At the next roundabout follow signs to Town Centre, and immediately in front of you is the Harlequin Centre. Stay in the middle lane of the three lane carriageway on ring road, and after the second set of traffic lights (Watford Springs on your left), move into the left lane and take the turning signposted Hospital and West Watford.

Then follow signs to Rickmansworth / West Watford A4145, take left hand lane and bear left at traffic lights and you’ll get to the ground. The floodlights are visible from some way off, but if you get lost you can look for signs to Watford General hospital.

There is virtually no street parking around Vicarage Road, as local streets are blocked by the police, and side streets fill up very quickly with home traffic. 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 a whopping £7 per car. As the ground is close to the centre of town, then there are a number of car parks in walking distance, The Church multi storey car park on the inner ring road costs £2.70 for 4 hours

The main railway station is Watford Junction, on the main line from Euston, which is about a 20 minute walk. From here you take the main road straight opposite (Clarendon Road) all the 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 the next T junction. Turn left here, then take the next right into Vicarage Road. If you can’t raise the energy to walk this far you can get a local train one stop to Watford High Street, a ten minute walk away from the ground.

There used to be a separate ‘Watford Stadium Halt’ on the Croxley Green branch, but I think this line is now disused. Watford underground station (on the Metropolitan line) is about a mile away, but take note that it is outside the one-day travelcard zones and you'll get a £10 fine if you don't buy an extension before you get to the station.

There are a couple of decent pubs in the town centre, including the ‘Moon Under Water’ (see above) and the ‘Hogs Head’ in the High Street, while if you arrive at Watford Junction by train you can call into the ‘Flag and Firkin’ before you venture any further. Also recommended are three real ale pubs near the station, the ‘Estcourt Arms’, which you can find by turning left outside the station and taking the first left into St. John’s Road, the ‘Southern Cross’ in Langley Road and the ‘Nascot Arms’ in Stamford Road.

The best option near the ground is 'Oddfellows' in Fearnley Street, which is small but welcoming. One to avoid is the Red Lion, which is strictly for home fans only. If you need to get some scoff, there is a food court in the Harlequin centre, but I’m told the best option in the town centre is Dominic's Snack Bar in Merton Road, which offers decent food at moderate prices. Next to the ground you can find the excellent Fry-days Fish and Chips on Vicarage Road.

To comply with the Taylor Report, Watford had to re-build both ends of the ground during the 1990's. Away supporters used to have a long walk to the away end as you had to walk around some allotments, but this is no longer the case, as we now have the Vicarage Road Stand at the opposite end of the ground. This stand is shared with home supporters, and the usual allocation is 2,100 seats, out of a total capacity of 17,700, though occasionally the larger clubs get the whole of this end.

Being a new stand, the view from here is pretty good, but unlike home fans, we don’t have the privilege of being able to buy alcohol in our section, and the food inside the ground has been dire for many years. Current ticket prices for away fans are £26 for adults and £15 or £10 for concessions. I presume the Leeds allocation has now sold out, as the tickets are no longer being sold on the official site.

Watford have now began the process of re-developing the stadium, and have demolished the old East Stand, which had already been closed for safety reasons, and it will be replaced by a new stand with a less than massive 2,600 seats. They also hope to be able to fill all four corners at some stage, one of which would become the visitors’ section. So maybe we will get a decent ticket allocation in future visits to Watford.

Some of this rubbish came from www.footballgroundguide.com.

Photo: Action Images



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