Away Days - Cardiff
First Impressions -- Around the ground -- Facilities -- The Stand -- Overall -- Pictures
Fixture: Cardiff
City V Preston North End
Competition: Coca Cola Championship
Ground: St Andrews
Date: Friday 23 February 2007
Kick off: 7.45pm
Final Result: 4-1 Alexander (Pen)
Cardiff have a new stadium planned so attending a match at Ninian Park was an absolute must for me, plus the fact it also has terracing!
The first sighting I had of the ground was from the dual carriageway just quite near the ground. With it being a night match the floodlights were obviously on and this made it an impressive sight. My first thoughts were 'now that's what you call a football ground'. I'm a bit of a traditionalist and think that floodlights are an iconic feature of grounds. Just a shame the numbers are dwindling.
Upon arriving at the ground I opted not to risk walking round so I went straight inside. I did obviously see the main stand from the outside as the away stand turnstiles were situated next to it. I thought the stand looked smart and tidy to be honest. Despite it being an old ground it certainly looked well kept.
As I said above I opted not to risk walking round the ground. Instead I went straight in and took my place on the terrace.
Glancing round the ground from the away end, I was impressed again to say the least. Again, that thought I had earlier entered my mind, 'now this is what you call a football ground'. Of course it looked old, but it certainly had character and looked tremendously well kept.
To the right was the segregation and then the Cardiff fans. Fans were kept a good distance apart and this allowed the police and stewards to control the ground well. They both certainly did their jobs well - not one hint of trouble and fuss. Our fans seemed to get on well with the stewards which certainly made a welcome change! (not that our fans regularly cause trouble - stewards usually are a bunch of tosspots!).
The Popular Bank to the right certainly looked impressive - a terrace area in front and seats at the back. I'm sure the fans in the terrace though wished they were in the seats as they got soaked! Still, that's part of going to matches.
To the left was the Grandstand (the main stand as such). One 'odd' feature of it was that the roof clearly had been extended. I didn't think this spoilt the look at all, in fact I thought it looked great!
At the far end was the Spar Family Stand. I somehow got the feeling that it could've been a former terrace. Again this looked a well-maintained stand.
The facilities were a bit of a let down as they weren't under cover - this meant I got a bit wet when I qued up for a burger. But it really didn't bother me a great deal.
The toilets were also quite poor and were a tight squeeze to say the least.
There was a seperate area for drinking beer which was under cover, but I opted out of getting a pint as the only lager on offer was Fosters, which I don't like!
The burger tasted ok. I've had better but i've certainly had worse.
The facilities were the only negative point for me. Everything else certainly made up for it, well apart from the result and North End performance!
It was great standing on a terrace again and there were no tosspot stewards. The view, although hindered a bit with the pillars, was actually quite ok.
Another thing for certain is that you can create a decent atmosphere in the stand and our fans did their fair share of singing. Just a shame the players didn't put in the same effort!
It was an immensely disappointing result and the performance by North End was absolutely shambolic. On the other hand, I enjoyed getting another ground ticked off and was happy that I visited Ninian Park before Cardiff moved.
I thought the ground was absolutely fantastic. It was great to stand on a terrace and the ground certainly had an air of tradition. Its certainly what I would class as a 'proper football ground'.
Ratings
Appearance: 10/10
Facilities: 6/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
Fans: 8/10
Away Stand: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
