Rangers fans face their final trip of the season on Saturday with a journey up to Carrow Road, Norwich.
Ground Name: Carrow Road
Capacity: 26 034
Address:Carrow Road, Norwich, NR1 1JE
Main Telephone No: 01763 760 760
Ticket Office No: 0870 444 1902
Fax Office: 01763 683 886
By Car:
From the A47 southern bypass take the A146 into the city. 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 map to visit Multi Map site and zoom in/out or tour round.
Parking:
There's space for 2000 cars at Norfolk County hall where it costs £3 to leave your vehicle. This is signposted from the southern bypass along with the ground. 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 - if anybody asks, nip in and buy a bag of crisps!
By Train
£24 return tickets are still available for this trip based on travelling north on the 0930 or 1030 (arriving 1127 or 1227) and coming back on the 1730 or 1830 (arriving 1924 or 2024). These are National Express services running out of Liverpool Street in case you were unsure. The walk up and buy fare is £41. Last season the police reserved the front two carriages of the 1730 exclusively for QPR fans and stuck them all in there regardless of their reservations so be prepared for something similar again.
From the station come out, turn left, walk past Morrisons 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.
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 – two seasons ago we went in there and found them serving burgers and pies but showing the lunch time match on Sky Sports. Last season the Sky Sports had gone but there was a full menu available. The insist on serving everything in the dreaded plastic glasses, alongside a dinner plate and metal cutlery would you believe. I’ve no idea if Sky is back there or not but it may be more of a consideration than usual this weekend with the big Chelsea v Man Utd game on the box at lunchtime.
From there Rangers fans used to enjoy a leisurely walk to the ground along the tow path but this area has since been developed into a complex of bars, fast food joints and flats. There's a Weatherspoons 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 ten minutes from the ground and does its own home brew which sounds dangerous to me.
Tickets
QPR were allocated a scandalously low 1300 tickets for this match and these have long since sold out. One wonders if Mick Dennis has taken note of the allocation his club gave us for this one after all his bleating about the way QPR treat away fans at Loftus Road. Still, we’ll all get a nice warm cup of tea I’m sure and that’s what matters most to Mick.
Links:
Detailed fans' guide to Carrow Road
Talk about your memories of past trips to Norwich on the Message Board
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