Away Days

From the miniscule to the Mighty. From Morecambe to one of the most storied franchises in world sport, Real Madrid. The Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, is a truly magnificant venue. It has played host to numerous European cup finals, and the 1982 World Cup Final. Enough about statistics, more on what it is like to visit. Well it more than lives upto the hype. On matchday the surrounding area is full of stalls selling everything Real, and as its in a residential area, ther are actually places to have a beer and get into the spirit of things. No stuck out near a motorway layby, or Tesco carpark. The ground towers above as you get off the metro, and there is plenty of noise prior to the game. Inside the stadium the atmosphere sarted out raucus, but a poor game saw it quiten down, until they scored. The concessions could do with a bit of work, peanuts and non alcoholic beer are the order off the day, but after a weekend on the lash in one of the continents finest party towns, the opportunity to sober up a bit didn't go amiss. The place itself is huge. Unlike a lot of the biggest stadiume I have been in, it has a bit of character, it's not just a massive bowl. The seats we had were spot on, thaks to Ohn the Don's Spanish contact, we were about ten rows back from the action, and we blew kisses to Michael Owen as he warmed up. The Funky Messiah was tempted by the close proximity of the pitch to streak across the immaculate turf, but didn't fancy a night stick stuck up his jacksie, courtesy of the local police. A must see for stadium anoraks.

Statistics

• Capacity-80,400
  
• Concessions-Nuts are the order of the day, plus the odd hot dog. Only serve near beer.
  
• Built-1947
• Did You Know?-Reached maximum capacity in 1953 at 120,000.
  
• Visited By-Euro Bri, Tony Helmet, King Dave, El Grande Queso, John the Don, Jamon and Funky Messiah
  
• Rating-Mount Olympus. Outstanding in every way, I have yet to visit a more magnificant stadium.