LFW Travel Guides - Carrow Road, Norwich City
The first QPR away match of the new season takes the R’s to Carrow Road to face Norwich. Train ticket, match ticket, coach travel and directions follow…
Ground Name: Carrow Road
Capacity: 27 033
Address: Carrow Road, Norwich, NR1 1JE
Main Telephone No: 01603 760 760
Ticket Office No: 0844 826 1902
By Car
Only 125 miles from Loftus Road, but a bit of a ball ache up the M11 and A11 to Norwich with a journey time of almost three hours. The easiest thing to do is use the A11 right to the outskirts of Norwich and then join the A47 southern bypass signposted for Great Yarmouth, follow it two junctions and at the second turn off onto the A146 into town. There are options to park and ride as soon as you come off the roundabout but if you follow the A146 then at the traffic lights turn right and follow the outer ring road. Turn left at the roundabout and then right at the next set of lights before following the inner ring road round to the right, over the river and the ground is on your right. If in doubt follow signs for the railway station. The ground is well signposted from all directions.
Map
Click the map to zoom in
Parking
There's space for 2000 cars at Norfolk County Hall where it costs £3 to leave your vehicle. This is off the Southern bypass at the junction you come off at for the ground and is well signposted. Last season a few of our crew found spaces in amongst the retail park they've bunged up by the river although there are signs up forbidding this, particularly at Morrisons.
Train
A direct train from Liverpool Street to Norwich for this one, with a journey time of about one hour and 50 minutes. An off peak return (turn up and buy on the day) is £46 but there are still some bargains to be had a fortnight away from the game. Try two single tickets leaving at 10.00 (arrive 11.50) and coming back at 18.00 (arrive 19.55) for £27.50. Save a further £3 by booking a £13 first class ticket at 17.00 – although you’ll have to leave right on full time and run. Stay for a few beers after the match and come back on the 20.00 (arrive 21.55) and pay £22.50 or £19 if you come back at 21.00 (arrive 22.55).
From the station come out, turn left, walk past Morrison’s and the ground is there staring you in the face. You should be able to see it out of the left hand side of the train (facing front) as you pull into the station.
Coach
The official club coach leaves Loftus Road at 9am and will not be picking up at the Target Roundabout. Tickets are £26 for adults, £16 for young adults and seniors and £14 for juniors with the usual discount for season ticket holders. LFW regular Mel Huckridge is running a coach from the Target, e-mail him melh64@hotmail.co.uk for more details. The LSA does not intend to run a coach to this match as so many members are travelling by train.
Tickets
Annoyingly as we’re unfortunate enough to be Norwich’s first home match of the season we find ourselves lumped into their category A ticket pricing band along with Man Utd, Chelsea and all the rest of them. This means that the seat that cost you £35 in their away end last season will cost you £45 this. Seniors are £35, under 16s are £25 and under 12s are £15. Family club.
The R’s have an allocation of 2,400 which will go on sale based on loyalty points starting tomorrow with 170 (renewed season tickets with Super Hoop membership), then 140 on Friday (renewed season tickets), 100 from next Tuesday (new season ticket holders), and then 30 points from next Wednesday (all members). General sale will be announced thereafter if any remain.
Pubs
Norwich is always a great away day for the discerning drinker with plenty of options easily walkable from the station and ground. The Compleat Angler on the river bank directly opposite the station as you come out is the usual haunt for visiting supporters. We’ve had mixed experiences in here in the past – three seasons ago we went in there and found them serving burgers and pies and showing the lunch time match on Sky Sports. The season before last the Sky Sports had gone but there was a full menu available. And then more recently the Sky and burger have been replaced by heavy policing and hassle. Awayday readers may recall this is the pub that served drinks in plastic glasses, and then gave us extra sharp steak knives for our food.
From there Rangers fans used to enjoy a leisurely walk to the ground along the towpath but this area has since been developed into a complex of awful bars, fast food joints and flats. There's a Weatherspoons, Lloyds Bar and a few other bars in and amongst this little lot if you're a fan of drinking in warehouse structures rather than a traditional pub. Some of these establishments don't like away fans wearing colours so watch out for that.
The Coach and Horses on Thorpe Road is five minutes from the ground and does its own home brew which sounds dangerous to me. We went in there last season and it was an excellent pub, but not really suitable for big groups of fans wearing colours.
Links >>> LFW Awaydays >>> Official website >>> Detailed fans guide to Carrow Road
Tweet @loftforwords
What to read next:
End of Term Report 23/24 – DefendersPart two of our annual individual player reports for the season focuses on a defence which really came into its own under Marti Cifuentes and contains the two outstanding candidates for the club’s player of the year award.
End of Term Report 23/24 – GoalkeepersThe first of our annual four-part individual assessment of the QPR players’ performances during the previous season always starts with the goalkeepers – and, regrettably, that means we’re puncturing the recent feel-good factor round here by beginning with a negative.
The Coventry Conference – ReportCoventry away, for so long a fixture that loomed almost as large as the spectre of Eoin Jess over Queens Park Rangers, turned into an eighth away win of the campaign and survival party for a manager and support base who both really stepped up when it mattered in 23/24.
The season that was - PreviewAs QPR, unbelievably, head to Coventry on the final day safe and secure, LFW looks back at a tumultuous two years at the football club, and the lessons it must learn to make the most of the potential it now has to move forwards.
The Copa de Ibiza - HistoryAs QPR prepare to visit Coventry City on Saturday, we look back at connections between the two sides, past results, and Rangers’ last successfully foray into European competition with the 2005 Copa De Ibiza triumph.
Smith in charge at Coventry - RefereeJosh Smith, last in charge of QPR for the memorable Good Friday win at home to Birmingham, is the man in the middle for the final day trip to Coventry.