We used to go en spec to cross pennines trips so have visited Hillsborough, Elland Road, The City Ground more than most. (* edit, ****ing zero chance of getting away tickets now by the way. None) Been to many of the old grounds, Roker, The Dell, The Baseball Ground, Filbert Street being memorable. Also Highfield Road is another that's no longer in existence. And Burnden, which is where I went to my first ever game. Loads, can't be arsed to list them. Biggest ****e hole ever bar none, and also the scariest, was Ayresome Park. Grim as ****. Random unlikely grounds are The Shay, which is where I'm not sure Halifax even play anymore, Brentford, Boothferry Park, Hereford and Barnsley. Barnsley v Stoke for some reason, it was at the time Stoke fans used to carry blow up Flamingos ffs!! What was that about? Furthest trip (bar europe) was Carrow Road on a Tuesday night to see us lose one nil in the league cup, Robert Fleck scored their goal. Ugly bastard. The Dell was a long haul as well.
I only ever went to Highbury once. Cracking night though; Arsenal 2 United 6 in the Rumbelows cup. Another ****er of a midweek trip but more than worthwhile! Lee Sharpe hat trick.
We used to have 'all ticket' games at Highbury. Utd, Liverpool, Spurs, West Ham, Chelsea and Forest. I remember buying some tickets off a tout a few mins after kick off (I always used to wait until the touts got desperate to sell) but I didn't realise it was in the Utd end in the seats on the West Stand. We scored first from an Alan Smith header and I had to sit there silent as loads of Utd fans around me were cursing. I remember it kicking off at HT in the bar underneath the stand. Somebody bumped into another person and spilled their pint, within seconds there were bits of wood from the bar being thrown around and blokes jumping on each other. Crazy looking back at those days. I've seem some horrible scenes when it's kicked off in pubs and at stations etc.
Heard from a lot of people that Ayresome was as rough as anything. What big European grounds you been to mate?
As you mentioned Wisla Krakow fans thought the Be'er Sheva fans from Israel earlier this season were superb. Much louder than Inter & Sparta Prague.
Just Camp Nou for a CL final and a CL semi and the De Kuyp in Rotterdam for a ECWC final. Also been to Montpellier same season we won the above and a Spartan Prague game. Which was freezing cold and cost about a quid. Saw a very young Tomas Rosicky score the only goal and told my very bored girlfriend that he would turn into a player. I was right! Been to Parkhead for an old firm game too, does that count as Europe?!?
The Sparta ground I went to wasn't the big one that Dukla Prague used to play at, it was a small one down the road. I'm sure they use both.
What was Camp Nou like? Heard a few say it's not all that, De Kuip supposed to be good. Wonder if it's the same ground we played it this season (I didn't go)...
Went to see Kilmarnock play once. If you're counting Parkhead as Europe, then I'm claiming that one too.
Don't think it was, that's what made me say it. Fairly sure you played at the bigger one. The game I went to see was a Czech league game against a team I've never heard of and can't remember the name of. Place was only half full. I've been to Camp Nou for a Barca v Ossasuna game too. I think it's a great place. Not the best view ever but it's enormous and has a definite atmosphere of its own.
No, I used to go regularly home and away domestically late 80's and early 90's. At that time English teams were banned from Europe after the Heysel disaster. After that I moved away from London to go to uni, and since then I've had long periods not going to any games. These days I try and get up to the Emirates when I can, but it's an expensive day out from Cornwall !
We played at the Generali arena, holds just about 18k I think: please log in to view this image Ah that would explain it then, problem you have with supporting a big club is if you don't go reguarly you have almost zero chance of even domestic aways. I only managed the San Siro as a non STH cos we got 7k+ tickets....
In that case that's the one I went to. Could have sworn I've seen Sparta use the Dukla one recently, which is the bigger stadium in Prague. Maybe I didn't though?? **** knows!!
For those you ever visited Roker Park. You must have found it a bastard to find. Stuck among all those houses. Hope you enjoyed the nice sunny weather and warm sea breeze blowing in.
Not to watch football. I had a look round it during the Olympics as I was temporarily employed as a driver by the Canadian Olympic Team. It didn't look like a great place to watch football - too shallow, seats too far from the pitch - and I've had that confirmed by a couple of West Ham fans I've spoken to. About the only positive you can say for it is that the transport links are good. It was a nightmare getting in to Upton Park tube station after a game. I really liked Upton Park, or the Boleyn Ground as they insisted on calling it. And when you consider what an intimidating place it was to visit, that move is looking more and more like a double edged sword for the Spammers.