This year’s visit to Bloomfield Road is on Tuesday evening, with an 8pm kick-off. It was always inevitable that they would arrange the fixtures to make sure that Leeds fans didn’t get to Blackpool on a Saturday, but it’s a surprise that they sent us there in August rather than in the depths of winter.
You’ll find Bloomfield Road about a mile or so to the south of the town centre and the famous Blackpool tower. From the sea front you’ll find it about a quarter of a mile inland, between the central and south piers. If you’re driving in it should be very easy to find, as you just have to follow the M55 into town and then continue straight along the same road until you see the ground on the right.
There is a huge pay and display car park is located just across the road from the ground, which costs £3.50 for three hours or £7.50 for up to 12 hours. Though predictably you might have to wait for quite a while to get out again after the game. There are quite a few other pay and display car parks near to the ground, but note that most still charge after 6pm, so make sure you check the notice boards before you leave the car park.
Unfortunately it will be too late to catch the last train back to Leeds, but I’ll give some directions from the stations for the benefit of our fans who live a bit closer to Blackpool. The closest railway station to the ground is Blackpool South, which is around a ten minute walk away, but that is only served by local stopping trains from elsewhere in Lancashire.
The main station for long distance trains is Blackpool North, which is around two miles away, but you can get the number 11 bus from the bus station across the road. The tramway reopened in April with super new trams after being closed all winter for refurbishment, so if you’re taking in any of the attractions along the sea front before the game you can get a tram to either the ‘Avenue’ or ‘St Chads’ tram stops.
A that is normally popular with away fans is the Old Bridge House pub on Lytham Road. It is only short walk away (walk down Bloomfield Road towards the sea front and then turn right into Lytham Road and the pub is down on the right), while another option is the No 1 Bar, a Working Mens Club next to the away fans’ turnstiles. Slightly further afield is the ‘Auctioneer’, a Wetherspoons pub on Lytham Road, about 10 minutes walk to the ground near Blackpool South Station.
Otherwise there are plenty of pubs in Blackpool town centre and along the sea front to choose from, and last season it was ironic to hear ‘Marching on Together’ being sung at top volume inside the ‘Manchester Bar’. You are also spoilt for choice for fish and chip shops and other fast food outlets on the sea front, but alcohol is not available to away supporters inside the stadium. And bear in mind that last season several Leeds fans were arrested for trying to get in while completely pissed, so it might be best not to get absolutely hammered before the game!
The ground has been almost completely re-developed over the last decade, with three permanent stands built, though they still have a temporary stand the East side. And guess where they put the away supporters? That’s right, it’s got to be the East Side, the one part of Bloomfield Road where the facilities aren’t on the par with the rest of the ground, though at least there will be some Blackpool fans in that stand as well.
We get the northern part of this stand, though our allocation has been reduced from the 2,500 seats we got in April (out of a total capacity of 16,750) to a mere 1,700. This could well be because of the amount of drunkenness there was last season, but the only bother was inside the home stand to our right when a small group of Leeds got picked on. According to a Blackpool messageboard they tolerated the Leeds fans in their midst until they got a bit lippy, but then it all kicked off.
By reducing the Leeds allocation Blackpool are increasing the risk of trouble by forcing more Leeds fans to try to get tickets in the home stands, but they will only be selling to fans already on their database, to try to keep us out. We can but hope that the game won’t sell out, so Blackpool will suffer financially from their decision to restrict the number of Leeds fans. The small allocation was the reason that Leeds decided to make this a loyalty game, and the tickets for our section have all been sold.
This stand is now covered, which is an improvement on the open temporary stand they used to have down this side, though to support the roof they have to have quite a few pillars which block the view from some seats. And despite the cover it can still be freezing cold when the wind gets up, even in the summer! Our tickets cost £24 for adults, with Over 60s at £19, Under 19's £16 and Under 16's £14.
I don’t know when they will get round to replacing the temporary stand with another permanent structure to match the rest of the ground, but I doubt it’s worth holding our breath, judging by the length of time it took them to build the South Stand. That finally opened in March 2010, a full 8 years after the other two modern stands, and for several seasons they had nothing but an embarrassing open space behind that goal, though they have since added 500 extra seats by filling in the gap between the East & South stands.
Some of this rubbish came from www.footballgroundguide.com