The disgusting hot drinks that get me, they all taste of sterilising fluid. Additionally the local police this year decided they were bored and started picking on young fans leaving the ground who were minding their own business
Not sure what we're using to measure our experiences. A good away match for me means finding a pre match watering hole where it's possible to chat to home fans; being treated well by the stewards both outside and inside the ground and getting a decent view. The home fans making some noise would be a bonus, but I can't think of many that do until they score. The view at Everton is dreadful, but the pre match chats are the best (if you've not tried it, go to the church in the corner of the ground - no alcohol but really sound fans); the pub at the Kop end of Anfield is a favourite stop-off and there are a few in Salford Quays. Stewards are good in all 3 grounds. Other grounds I really enjoy - Villa and WBA; Fulham is the only London ground I like. Stoke, by comparison, is a soulless car park; no pub; bloody horrible stewards and as an unfriendly bunch of fans as you can get. They have replaced Bolton as my "oh god, why do I do this?" place to go.
The best away experience for me is when we win, which probably explains why Hull was rated so highly. This also means that we were, in reality, top of the list as fans still enjoyed themselves whilst being (mostly) spanked.
Liverpool is my fav PL away fixture. Love the city, the people, the pubs near the ground and Anfield itself. Never had a bad away day there over many years, win or lose. Least fav PL is , like many others on here, Stoke City. Non PL fav of recent times has to be Carlisle - what great fans and even though we lost, remember Dan Hardings og ! , we couldnt buy a drink that evening in their supporters club and several pubs. Stayed over on the Sat night and had to wait til late on Sun to be sufficiently sober to drive back to Southampton ! A lot of other fans i speak to do like their away days at Southampton though - just hope its not cause they beat us often !
Carlisle! Oh yes, great place. As for our hosting, I have friends who support a range of PL clubs who say they like coming to us. This is clearly a surprise to many as we are a Southern club and many confuse us with the sort of arrogant twats who they might meet at Spurs, Arsenal et al. Chatting to a Burnley fan recently who had enjoyed the trip to SMS as much as any away trip he'd ever done - commented on how knowledgeable and friendly our fans are. Made me quite proud!
I used to go to a church social club before Liverpool games just round the corner. Excellent that was. I just didn't like the away end once in the ground. You are bang on about Bolton and their stewards.... shame as I went to all the games there, because I lived 10 minutes over the hill
and fair play to them, last away game of season and when you're 5-0 down within half an hour or whatever it was what are you meant to do? My point stands for other 2 though!
