There’ll be a big attendance when we visit Rotherham United tomorrow night, and that includes the local police force. Kick-Off is at 7.45, and it’s live on Sky.
The club moved back to Rotherham in 2012 after playing their home games at the Don Valley stadium in Sheffield for four years. The ‘New York Stadium’ is close to their old ground at Millmoor, which they were forced to leave in 2008 after running into financial problems and being unable to agree terms with their landlord for a renewal of their lease.
Their new home was built on the site of the old Guest & Chrimes factory, beside the River Don, and it’s good to see a new stadium being sited close to the town centre, convenient for public transport and for traditional pubs and takeaways. The name does of course remind us of a rather more glamorous location across the Atlantic, but this area of Rotherham was historically known as ‘New York’.
To get there by car you need to leave the M1 at Junction 34 and take the A6178 towards Rotherham. At the third roundabout (called Ickles roundabout ) take the first exit onto the A630 Centenary Way (signposted Doncaster) and you will see the stadium on your right. Once you’ve passed the floodlights of Millmoor on your left turn right onto Main Street at the next roundabout. The entrance to the stadium is down on the right.
There are roadworks taking place close to the stadium which will cause delays, so if possible you should set off nice and early.
Car parking at the stadium is for permit holders only. However there are a number of pay & display car parks located around the town centre, including a multi storey car park next to the Interchange Bus Station. Otherwise there is some street parking available around the area of the old Millmoor ground (see above), which is around a 15 minute walk away.
Rotherham Central railway station is only a five minute walk from the stadium. As you come out of the main station entrance turn right along Bridge Street. Opposite the Bridge Inn is a footpath that goes along one side of the River Don down towards a Tesco Superstore. Walk along this footpath and then head towards the Tesco car park entrance. Turn left going up over the bridge across the river and then take the next right into Market Street. At the bottom of Market Street turn right into Main Street and the stadium entrance is down this road on the left.
But if you’re struggling to find the stadium there will be plenty of police to show you the way, as we’re told there will be "high visibility policing” in both Rotherham town centre and Sheffield city centre, and hundreds of extra officers on duty. Chief Inspector Richard Butterworth told the Sheffield Star "I want to reassure the public in Rotherham and Sheffield that we will not tolerate any level of disorder or violence. "
"We will be able to provide a prompt and effective police response to any issues or concerns. We will not accept or stand for anyone intent on causing trouble or inciting violence.” That’s us told! But he also said "I will ensure that we provide a safe and welcoming environment for fans who just want to attend and enjoy the game”, which is nice.
I’m not sure how many pubs will be open on the night, but the best bet for away fans is normally the CAMRA ‘Bridge Inn’, which you can get to by turning right out of the station and then crossing the road. Another option is the ‘Cutlers Arms’ on Westgate (turn right off the Main Street), which usually has a mixture of home and away fans. They normally sell alcohol inside the stadium, but again, it remains to be seen whether they will do so during our visit.
The stadium has a capacity of 12,000, out of which we get 2,500 seats in the Morrison Stand at one end. As you would expect from a new stadium the facilities and the view are pretty good, but the angle of the Stand is quite steep, so it’s is a bit of a hike to get to the top. On the concourse there are two refreshment kiosks selling the usual football ground scoff, and you’ll find a shorter queue if you head for the one furthest from the turnstiles.
Tickets for our section cost £23 for adults, with various categories of concessions at £13 £9 and £7. The game is now a complete sell-out, for both sets of fans, even though Rotherham restricted sales for the home stands to fans who were already on their database or who had a local address.
And if you did manage to get a ticket for anywhere other than the Leeds end you will need to keep quiet, because it says on Rotherham’s official website "Away fans found in home areas will be ejected from the stadium for breaching Ground Regulations. Any home fans purchasing tickets in the home areas of the stadium for away supporters may face further action from Rotherham United Football Club.”
The stadium has the necessary foundations for a possible increase in capacity to either 16,000 or 20,000, by adding an extra tier to the North, South and East Stands. They might need to wait until they’ve established themselves in the Championship before they can fund this expansion, but perhaps we can hope that we might enjoy a bigger allocation if we have to come back to Rotherham in the future.
Some of this stuff came from www.footballgroundguide.com