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Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Away Days.....Sixfields Stadium

What a perfect day to visit a lower league football ground. The sun was shining, it was warm and my hangover was manageable. Myself and Crespo had been told it would take us a minimum of three hours to get there from Bradford, by Helmet and Queso, but from setting off from my gaff to a pleasant pub in the outlying town of Daventry took just under two hours. Our travelling contingent was supposed to be much higher, we even had the chance of free tickets from one of the Bantams players dad, but it ended up just me Kilt Boy. Helmet was at home, paying the price for excesses of the previous night. He texted me to say he had woken on his sofa, covered in vomit and praying to the sweet baby Jesus to end his suffering. And he wonders why I think he will be the first Squad member to expire. Dr Shotgun was also a late withdrawal. His excuse was much simpler. He is a faggot. Don't be ringing me up and complaining either, Alfie boy, as when I called you this name, via text, you were in full agreement. Enough background information, and onto the ground. Sadly, and it is yet another venue that has fallen into the trap of being built in an out of town retail park. Yes you get find ample parking, and get away relatively quickly, but that is because, unless you fancy a KFC or a MaccyD's, there is bugger all worth staying for, although on the day we went, EA Sports had a big stand where you could try out the new FIFA 10 video game. Even more strangely, it is built at the base of a hill, which affords anyone who is passing a free view of the game, something which a handful of tight fisted locals were all to keen to exploit. The away stand, as ever at this level, was full. And even better me and Kev know now new song, which we immediately forget on the way home. The home fans were a pretty docile bunch, not even getting that animated when they equalised in the last minute, and their song catalogue was thin.

Statistics
  • Capacity-7,653
  • Concessions- No Beer!!! The stand is a tiny offering in the corner of the stand, so because there is no place that you can't see the pitch, there is no booze. However, the pies were good, and they had a good selection, including something called a pizza pod. Sauce was dispensed via sachets, grrrrrr, but at least they proper brands, such as HP Sauce, Colemans and Heinz.
  • Built-1994
  • Did You Know?-That you can see a MacDonald's and a KFC from the away end.
  • Visited By- Euro Bri and Crespo
  • Rating- Garden Shed- Out of town, small and a quiet home crowd do not make this a great place for watching a game of football, although the stands do provide a good view. But it is the out of town aspect that I still struggle to comprehend. Why would you divert thousands of people away from your downtown local businesses, out to a faceless retail park full of evil multi-nationals? It makes absolutely no sense whats so ever. I don't buy the hooligan excuse, as all train stations are in town centres, and all the firms always seem to rendezvous in/or around bars in built up areas. If local councils were serious about regenerating their centres, this modern trend for building near motorways and the like needs to end.

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