Away Days - Bamber Bridge
First Impressions -- Around the ground -- Facilities -- The Stand -- Overall -- Pictures
Fixture: Bamber
Bridge V Preston North End
Competition: Pre-season Friendly
Ground: Irongate
Date: Sunday 18 July 2004
Kick off: 3.00pm
Final Result: 1-4 (Lynch 2, Lewis, Jackson)
I had never been to Irongate before - in fact i've hardly ever been in Bamber Bridge, just merely passed through it. I embarrassingly got lost - walked for 10 minutes in the wrong direction!!
Anyway I still managed to get to the ground in time - 10 minutes before kick off. I thought the £6 entry fee was perhaps a bit steep considering Bamber Bridge were only a Unibond League side. Still, I was looking forward to the game.
Obviously with it being a non-league ground there are only certain things you can expect. Needless to say I thought it was quite a nice little ground. There was only about 3 or 4 turnstiles - all at one end. I opted to stand at the opposite end so it was quite a little trek!
It was impossible to walk round the outside of the ground since there were houses on one side and a train line behind the 'new' stand (shown on the right).
I was stood at the opposite end to the turnstiles. At the end I came in there was the club house and to the right of me was a grass bank - with the houses behind. With it being a nice day made it even better.
Overall I was very impressed and I thought it was good standard considering it was a non-league ground. I thought it had 'charm' especially with the expected people watching the game for free on the garage roofs!
With it being a non-league ground I didn't expect the facilities to be top-notch. As I found out they weren't too bad, but they could've done with an extra burger bar and more toilets.
Since I was stood at the opposite end I had to walk back down the side to get to the toilets!
The stand wasn't exactly much - it was basically just 3 steps with a roof over. It actually wasn't that bad, in fact it was a good place to stand to watch a game plus it was handy shelter from the blazing heat of the sun.
I noticed that some people had even brought their fishing chairs! It was quite a decent view too.
Overall I thought Irongate was a nice, tidy little ground and the seated stand on the side was new and smart. I'll actually list Irongate as one of my favourite grounds and it also made for a good 'day out' too.
Ratings
Appearance: 8/10
Facilities: 7/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Fans: 7/10
Away Stand: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
