Just got back and it was all very impressive. Amazing stadium and everything seemed to be in working order. Service was quick and polite, though the pies for the £5 pie and pint deal ran out quickly and the cashless thing seemed to work well. Great views, four big screens showing anything that you might miss and there's plenty of legroom, too. The only thing that I'm slightly worried about is the pitch, which doesn't seem 100% yet and those raised edges that run onto astroturf or whatever it is. Hard to judge the atmosphere and sound retention from a glorified friendly, but it seemed a vast improvement on Wembley. We'll get a better idea over the next couple of weeks though, I think. Good to be home.
Well in the Premium Seats area the Espuela Restaurant was excellent. Half time complimentary drinks worked well. Toilets were at the standard of a **** hotel. Not much to complain about at all....
Naturally this has led to a bunch of plastic Mancs (both type) mouthing off on Twitter about how we could only half-fill the ST/\DIUM
Apparently the raised edges are an unavoidable consequence of the pitch-swapping mechanism. Not sure how much truth is in that but it makes sense to my zero-knowledge-of-engineering brain. On a similar note, the pitch will certainly need bedding in but I wonder if playing above an essentially hollow space affects the players in any way? I doubt it but then again that non-engineering brain of mine is conjuring up images of the pitch vibrating like a trampoline every time someone bigger than KWP jumps, so in the weird and wonderful world of my ignorance we might as well be playing across the San Andreas Fault line.
Ah, but that doesn't make people think they're being a smartass when they're actually making themselves look thick I call this the Stewart Lee Miscalculation
