Away Days - Millwall
First Impressions -- Around the ground -- Facilities -- The Stand -- Overall -- Pictures
Fixture: Millwall
V Preston North End
Competition: Coca Cola Championship
Ground: New Den
Date: Saturday 11th September 2005
Kick off: 3.00pm
Final Result: 1-2 (Jones, Agyemang)
The ground was quite a trek to get to obviously with it being in London. Because of this I didn't actually know where the ground was when I was on the coach (I had been trying to get a glimpse).
Anyway the first 'look' at the ground came when the coaches were being escorted round to the away end. We went past the main stand which looked smart and then we drove past the club shop. It just so happened that they were doing some filming for Dream Team (fan shots).
The coach parked outside the away stand and as we left the coach we opted to go round the ground (colours covered up). My first impressions of the exterior of the away stand was it was quite smart but dark, and that was all that was good about the exterior of the stand as overall it was rather bland.
We walked down the dark
away end and round to the club shop. My Dad was disappointed
that they didn't have any fridge magnets! Anyway we continued
our walk round and I bought a programme. From the way I
looked at it the ground seemed a very good set up.
Just opposite to where I bought my programme was a cafe.
I thought this was very ideal as the usual case is to have
burger vans dotted around and soon after I bought my programme
it began pelting it down.
The Main Stand was our next port of call to take a couple of pictures. Although the stand looked smart and tidy, it really wasn't that impressive and didn't have that 'wow' factor some main stands usually have. I thought it just lacked a really impressive frontage. But still, i've seen worse.
We then made our way back round to the away end just as the heavens began to open. We took our seats in the upper tier of the North Stand. A great view was had from here and I could also further judge my opinion on the ground.
To our left was a video screen. This proved fantastic during the match as it showed replays which helps you judge your team's performance in the match. The other stands were more or less the same apart from the stand to out left had executive boxes and the opposite end had the lettering 'The Den' spelt out on the seats. Overall the ground was smart but still lacked that 'wow' in terms of appearance.
The ground being relatively
new meant I had certain expectations of the facilities.
I was not disappointed.
Firstly, the concourse I found to be a decent size for smallish
followings but if ever the stand was full then there might
be problems as it is also shared with the lower tier. Anyway
I had wanted a pint but when I got to the front of the queue
I was told I was too late and that i'd have to wait till
half time. I was not happy! But the plus point is that when
half-time came about the catering staff did their job very
well and were very polite and courteous - North End take
note!
The toilets were of a high standard too although I noticed previous away supporters had scribbled graffiti on a small part of the wall - they could've wrote something humourous! Only one slight criticism was the doors - this made going in and out difficult at times.
The stand was smart and tidy both inside and outside. When I took my seat I noticed that the steps the seats were bolted onto were much higher up then they usually are at most grounds. I took this as a good advantage of the stand and would've pleased tall people. The legroom was also plentiful too.
This was also the first time i've sat in any proper upper tier at a football ground (bar Deepdale). As said previously the view was fantastic and this could possibly be put down to the steepness of the tier.
Our fans also took the opportunity to take the piss out of the pillocks to our left. Needless to say this resulted in some hilarious chants!
Yet another enjoyable away
trip and to be honest I was happy to come home unharmed!
I experienced no problems whatsoever with the Millwall fans
and the day out was made even better with the hilarious
chants from the North End contingent.
The ground overall was smart and tidy in appearance, but
as i've said above it just lacked that impressive factor.
Ratings
Appearance: 7/10
Facilities: 8/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Fans: 7/10
Stand: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
