As you probably know by now, our visit to Swansea City is Saturday with a 12.45 kick-off, as it’s being televised live on Sky Sports. When we last came to this parts the policing was rather ‘high profile’ to say the least, due to a bit of bad feeling between the two sets of fans (despite our mutual dislike of Cardiff) so you might not be able to wander freely round the city.
Swansea’s Liberty stadium is about two miles to the north of the city centre, near to the former site of the Morfa Athletics Stadium on the West side of the River Tawe. By car you need to leave the M4 at Junction 45 and take the A4067 towards the City Centre (sign posted A4067 South). Stay on the A4067 for around two and half miles and you will reach the stadium on your left. Car parking at the stadium is for permit holders only and most of the immediate residential areas around the stadium now have 'residents only' parking schemes in place.
So away supporters are being encouraged to use the Park & Ride Facility located at Swansea Vale, which is signposted off the A4067, shortly after leaving the M4. The cost of parking there (including the bus to and from the stadium) is £5 per car. Away supporters have their own separate buses to the ground, with the buses waiting outside the away stand at the end of the game to take you back to the car park. Don't be tempted to park on the nearby Retail Park as you may well end up with a ticket!
You can just about do the journey from Leeds and back in one day by train, but the very latest you will be able to leave is the 06.00, changing at Bristol Parkway!. Swansea is one of those places where you face the frustration of going right past the venue and then having to continue for a couple of miles before you can get off the train, so hopefully one day they will get round to building a special halt where the line passes the stadium. It’s a long walk back but the directions are straightforward. As you come out of the station turn right and go up the High Street, then turn right again at the traffic lights into Neath Road, and if you keep straight along Neath Road you will eventually come to the stadium. If you can’t raise the energy for a stroll, you can get a local bus, as routes 4, 4a, 120, 122, 125, 132 run towards the stadium and there will be at least one of these buses every ten minutes.
There are a few pubs within walking distance of the stadium, although you may well find that none of them will be open on Saturday. Around a five minute walk away from the away turnstiles is the ‘Station Inn’ pub in Hamilton Street, in the area across Neath Road, opposite to the stadium. Go up Station Link Road (crossing over the railway line) and then turn left into Hamilton Street, and you’ll find the pub on the right. A little further on is the larger ‘Globe’ pub, which you can find if you continue along Station Link Road past Hamilton Street, and where Station Link Road runs into Mysydd Road and curves round to the left, the pub is on the left hand side. Otherwise you can find some decent establishments in the city centre, such as the real ale ‘No Sign Bar’ in Castle Gardens Castle Gardens and a large Wetherspoons pub on the Kingsway. Food-wise, there is a very decent chippy called ‘Rossi’s’opposite the stadium.
At the start of the century the Swans wanted to move from their former Vetch Field ground, as it had fallen into a rather dilapidated state and it’s capacity had been reduced to 11,000, while the town’s rugby ground was similarly decrepit. So the council got a consortium together to build a new stadium and develop the nearby land, and the Liberty opened in July 2005 at a cost of £27m. City share the stadium with Neath-Swansea Ospreys Rugby Union Club, and a month after opening it also staged Wales’ home game against Slovenia.
The Liberty has a capacity of 20,500 and like most of the other new stadia round the country it is a bit indentikit and soulless. But at least the facilities are excellent, with a large concourse, plenty of leg-room and great views from all the stands. The club’s official site has all sorts of fascinating facts about the Liberty. Apparently it has 250 WCs but only 200 wash basins, which suggests that 20% of Swansea folk don’t wash their hands when they go to the toilet.
The away section is in the North Stand at one end of the stadium, where larger clubs get an allocation of up to 3,200. The food is ok by football standards, with the usual sort of pies, pasties, cheeseburgers and hot dogs, while beer is usually available at a most reasonable £2.80 a pint. Swansea don’t sell tickets to away fans on the day, whoever the opposition, which sounds like a good way of encouraging them to end up in the home stands.
We’ve already sold our allocation for this game, and the official Swansea site is saying that it might break the attendance record for a football game at the Liberty. (When they play Cardiff it always sells out, but a lot of the capacity is taken up with segregation). We’re not famous any more! It’s a category A game, so away fans tickets are almost double the price we paid when we last came to the Liberty for a League One fixture. They cost £30 for adults, with student tickets £ 15, Over 65's at £13, and Under 16's £10.
Enjoy!
Some of this waffle comes from www.footballgroundguide.co.uk.