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Forest Awaydaze
Forest Awaydaze
Wednesday, 22nd Aug 2007 17:19

Please note that the kick-off has been brought forward to 1pm, at the request of the police.

 The boys in blue have gone way over the top for this game, and it's hard to see why, even though this is one of the biggest games in League One this season, as there is no history of trouble between the two clubs.

 You'll find the City Ground beside the river Trent about a mile and a half to the south of the city centre, and it's actually in West Bridgeford rather than Nottingham. If you're driving down from Leeds you need to come off the M1 at junction 26 and pick up the A610 Nuthall Road into Nottingham. Continue onto the A6514 Ring Road at Western Boulevard and turn right signposted Ring Road South, passing Queens Medical Centre. This road becomes the A52, and you can stay on it till you cross the Trent, and then take the A60 (Loughborough Road) towards the city centre. After just over a mile you need to turn right into Radcliffe Road (the A6520) and then left into Colwick Road for the ground.

 There is a large car park at the ground, though it isn't cheap. The council operate a car park on match days on the Victoria Embankment. They charge £3 but it is only a two minute walk to the ground. The car park is right on the banks of the River Trent, on the ground side of the river, but on the other side of the dual carriageway from the ground'. Otherwise there is plenty of street parking available near to the ground, and the best bet is in one of the side streets off Loughborough Road. 

The ground is 20mins walk from Nottingham railway station. As you come out of the main station entrance, turn left and then left again. Follow the road down to the dual carriageway and then turn right. At this point you will be able to see two sets of floodlights, but The City Ground is the more distant of the two, as you will pass Meadow Lane, home of Notts County, on the way. The ground is about 3/4 of a mile down the dual carriageway on the left, just over Trent Bridge.

 The police have already announced that “all pubs and bars within in the vicinity of the ground and towards Nottingham city centre will be closed”, so there is no point in including pubs in that area in this guide. The police’s statement doesn’t make it clear if pubs will be open in the city centre itself, but there are plenty of pubs around the market square, the best of them being 'The Pit and the Pendulum' and the 'Hogshead'. There is also the ‘Olde Trip To Jerusalem’ beneath the castle, which dates back to the 12th. century and claims to be England’s oldest pub. But one place you should avoid is the 'King John'. Food-wise, there are plenty of takeaways along Radcliffe Road, which is the main road between the football and cricket grounds, though if you arrive by train you can also find a couple of fast food places if you turn right outside the main exit from the station. That is of course, if you don’t get rounded up for an escort straight to the ground. 

The current capacity of the City Ground is 30,602, and the appearance of the ground was much improved when new stands were built at both ends in the early 1990s to comply with the Taylor Report. To the right of the away end is the Brian Clough Stand, which was built with the proceeds of Forest's European successes in the late 70s and early 80s, while the Main Stand to our left was built in 1968, after the previous stand burnt down during a game when the mighty Leeds were the visitors! The away fans are located in the Bridgford Stand, which replaced the former open terracing at this end (in which away fans used to get a couple of pens in the corner) and was opened at the start of the 1992/93 season. Some clubs get the whole of the lower tier (an allocation of 4,750), but we've been limited to a pathetic 2,500 tickets by the local authority. This is because we are one of a number of clubs whose fans always stand at away games, and they think this is a safety risk. If you're wondering why the roof of this stand slopes down in a funny way at the end, it's because the road behind runs at an angle to the stand, so there wasn't room to continue the upper tier all the way into the corner.

  Unfortunately it has occasionally been known for objects to be thrown down on away fans from Forest fans seated above, and there is also an element of Forest supporters in the 'A' Block of the Main Stand nearest to the away supporters, who spend their time gesticulating at the away fans rather than watching the game. Another irritation is that the stewards usually keep asking fans to sit down if they stand up in the seated areas, as Leeds fans have been known to do at away games. The facilities and refreshments are pretty good in this end because the stand is relatively new and beer and lager are available on the concourse, but the queue gets very big very quickly at half time. The burgers are pretty stodgy, and the tea is the same colour as the river Trent, but the pies are quite good. All this does of course come at the normal extortionate football ground prices. For some years Forest have been unpopular with fans of other clubs for charging some of the highest prices in the Football League, and adult tickets are £24, with senior citizens at £18, students and under 18s £10 and under 12s £5. 

The Leeds end has already sold out and the police statement reads “Leeds United fans are being asked not to travel to the match at Nottingham Forest unless they already have tickets. Any Leeds United fans who are considering buying tickets for the Nottingham Forest home stands will be refused. Added to that if police spot any Leeds United fans in Nottingham Forest areas they will be ejected from the ground. There will be a heavy police presence to allow those ticketed fans to travel to and from the ground in a safe and pleasant environment and to enjoy the match. Police officers will take an inference that if a fan travels without a ticket they will be here to cause trouble." I find that last sentence ridiculous, as fans who take the chance of trying to get a ticket on the day aren’t necessarily hooligans. Forest’s official website says they will still be selling tickets on the day for the home stands, and it doesn’t say how they plan to distinguish between the locals and Leeds fans.

  The Club have announced ambitious plans to move to a new stadium on the outskirts of Nottingham. The stadium which would be built in the Clifton area would cost around £40m-£50m to construct and would have a capacity of about 50,000. Personally, I can’t see why this is necessary, as the City Ground should be adequate to cope with their crowds for a few years, and three of it’s stands are relatively modern. But you never know, they might get back to the Premiership one day.

Photo: Action Images



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