City of Manchester Stadium (Man City v Man Utd)

Last Saturday it was off to Manchester for the much anticipated derby between City and United. This time it was not just local bragging rights that were at stake: it was a big game for both teams as United are still in contention for the Premier League title and the Citizens are looking to finish fourth in the league which would mean Champions' League football next season.

As it was a 'lunch-time kick-off' Martijn and I had to leave from Scotland early. I took an early train in Paisley (around 7:15) to make sure I would not miss the 8:00 Virgin train leaving from Glasgow Central. After changing at Preston we arrived at Manchester Piccadilly at around 11:20, well in time for the match however it did not leave us much time for the obligatory pre-match refreshments so we just had a quick pint at a pub at Piccadilly Station before we made our way to the City of Manchester Stadium.

It was a few degrees warmer in Manchester than in Glasgow and from our seats in the North Stand we were staring into the sun for the duration of the game. Although this made for a nice change compared to the appalling conditions I had endured in the last four or five months or so it made it difficult to take good quality pictures. I even managed to get a bit of sun burn!

As far as the action on the pitch was concerned I was slightly disappointed. Both teams had their chances but they were also wasteful and the game seemed destined to end goalless until Paul Scholes's dramatic winner, in the third minute of injury time, ensured the outcome was all too familiar.

After the game again we did not have much time to go to the pub as we had reserved a seat on the 3:46pm train to Preston. We rolled into Glasgow Central just after 7pm.

City fans in the North Stand.

Craig Bellamy getting ready to take a corner.


The Colin Bell Stand.

Plenty of dangerous moments in front of Van der Sar's goal.

The East Stand.

Paul Scholes managed to score the only goal almost three minutes into stoppage time.

United fans in the South Stand celebrating wildly after Scholes's late goal.

Saturday 17th April 2010
Barclays Premier League
Manchester City 0 Manchester United 1
Goal: Scholes 90+3.
Att: 47,019

St James' Park (Newcastle United v Preston North End)

Yesterday Martijn and I took the train to Newcastle to pay our first ever visit to St James' Park, home of Newcastle United. We took the 9 o'clock CrossCountry from Glasgow Central and arrived in Newcastle just after 11:30. This gave us time to have our lunch and some pre-match refreshments in the Toon. The ground is very close to the station, I would say a ten-minute walk, which made this an easy journey. We first went to The Union Rooms, a JD Wetherspoon pub on Westgate Road, where we had our lunch as well. We then strolled along Westgate Road and bumped into The Mile Castle. According to the JD Wetherspoon website this pub opened only two months ago. After a quick pint we embarked on the short walk to the stadium.

The first Newcastle goal by Peter Lovenkrands was scored before we had even taken our seats in the West Corner Balcony. The stadium is certainly very impressive and the over 45,000 in attendance created a magnificent atmosphere. I was not as impressed by the match with Newcastle the dominating team that never looked like dropping any points today. Top scorer Kevin Nolan scored the second one for the Geordies just before the hour-mark. Substitute Ryan Taylor than made it three in injury time. The Magpies are still top of the table, five points ahead of Forest and six ahead of West Brom who have played one game less than Newcastle.

After taking some pictures of the empty ground we stopped at an off-licence to ensure we would not be thirsty on the way back to Scotland. We took the 17:36 train and arrived safely at Glasgow Central at around 20:20. Next weekend will be a busy one with a daunting trip to the Highlands on Saturday to see Elgin City take on Queen's Park. Hopefully the game will go ahead, nine SFL games were postponed in Scotland yesterday due to frozen pitches. Then on Sunday I will visit Ibrox for what will be my first ever Old Firm derby.

First a couple of pre-match pints in The Union Rooms.


Then one more in another Wetherspoon's pub, The Mile Castle.


Approaching St. James' Park.


The view from our seats: the East Stand and the Newcastle Brown (Gallowgate) End.


Again a picture taken from my seat: the Leazes (Sir John Hall) Stand. Many supporters were standing and stewards and police did not seem to mind. This suited me fine.


The East Stand.


The impressive Milburn Stand.


The Leazes (Sir John Hall) Stand after the final whistle.


An empty Newcastle Brown (Gallowgate) End.


The East Stand after the game.


Panorama shot taken after today's game.

Saturday 20th February 2010
Football League Championship
Newcastle United 3 Preston North End 0
Goals: Lovenkrands 3, Nolan 55, Taylor 90+1.
Att: 45,525

Recreation Ground (Aldershot Town)

Last Saturday I took these pictures around Aldershot Town's ground, which is now officially called 'The EBB Stadium at the Recreation Ground'. My wife and I stayed in nearby Frimley for four days to see the darts at the Lakeside Complex in Frimley Green during the last four days of the BDO World Darts Championship. I had already planned to visit Aldershot Town's stadium before I headed off to England and I had initially meant to take a train. However with the excessive snow in this part of the country there was no train service between Frimley and Aldershot so I took the bus instead.

After about 30 minutes I got off at Aldershot bus station and started the short walk to the ground. Unfortunately I was not able to get inside the stadium so I was left with taking some pictures from the outside.

The Shots have played in League Two since last season. Founded in 1992 Aldershot Town were founded after the old Aldershot FC went out of business. It took several promotions and sixteen years for league football to return to Aldershot. The compact Recreation Ground has a capacity of 7,100 which includes 2,000 seats. Last season the average attendance was 3,276.

I cannot wait to visit a proper football match again...hopefully Morton v Celtic will go ahead this Tuesday!

The East Bank seen from outside the ground. This is the away end.


Again the East Bank.

The North Stand stand seen through the snow-covered trees.


Turnstules leading to the away end.

A closer look at the turnstiles.

The club office and home turnstiles.

Reebok Stadium (Bolton Wanderers v Man City)

Yesterday Martijn and I went to Bolton to see Bolton Wanderers take on Manchester City in the Reebok Stadium. We took the 10:00 Virgin train at Glasgow Central and arrived in Preston at 12:15. From Preston it was only a 20-minute train journey to Horwich Parkway station which is adjacent to Reebok Stadium. The ground is nowhere near the town centre so we decided to head for the ground first and then look for a watering hole upon arrival at the stadium. We were at the ground over two hours before kick-off so we had plenty of time.

Reebok Stadium, as with many new stadiums, is built near a retail park. There are however a few pubs nearby. We opted for the Greenwood Arms on Chorley New Road. This was a friendly place with City and Bolton supporters watching Stoke v Wigan together. The match commentary was in Italian but no-one seemed to mind.

After a couple of pints we headed for the ground. As Martijn is a City fan our seats were in the South Stand, along with 5,000 other City supporters. Despite this being a local derby and the Citizens bringing as many fans as they did the ground was by no means sold out with around 6,000 empty seats. Although the ground, which opened in 1997, is small by Premiership standards it is a top-class stadium. We saw an attractive game as well with Bolton taking the lead three times and City equalising three times as well. Craig Bellamy was sent off for picking up his second yellow card for diving. This was a bad call by referee Mark Clattenburg as Bellamy was clearly fouled. City were 3-2 down at this point so Carlos Tevez's equaliser in the 77th minute was celebrated wildly.

After the game I took a few more snaps of the empty stadium before jumping on the train back to Preston. From there our train only went as far as Carlisle as there was construction work being carried out between Carlisle and Glasgow. We already knew this beforehand and the replacement bus arrived in Glasgow as scheduled. I finally arrived back home in Paisley at around 11pm.

Approaching Reebok Stadium.


First a few pre-match pints in the Greenwood Arms.


Approaching the ground again ten minutes before kick-off.


The club store outside the ground.


The East Stand.


The North Stand.


The West Stand.


City were reduced to ten men after Craig Bellamy received a second booking for diving.


An empty North Stand after the game.


The East Stand after the game.

The West Stand after the game.

Saturday 12th December 2009
English Premier League
Bolton Wanderers 3 Manchester City 3
Bolton: Klasnic 11, Cahill 43, Klasnic 53
Man City: Tevez 28, Richards 45+2, Tevez 77
Att: 22,735

City of Manchester Stadium (Man City v Arsenal)

Today Martijn and I took the train to Manchester and I paid my second visit to the City of Manchester Stadium. City were playing Arsenal, the same fixture I attended last season. And just like last season the Gunners were well beaten. Unlike last year however, today's game was a sell-out and City were looking to extend their perfect start to this Premier League season.

The first City goal was a lucky one, Emanuel Malinia headed into his own net, but the Blues managed to go into half-time with a 1-0 lead. The second half was more spectacular. Robin van Persie equalised in the second half but twelve minutes later Craig Bellamy ensured the Citizens were in the lead again.

After scoring the third City goal former Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor sprinted all the way to the other end of the pitch to celebrate in front of the Arsenal fans which of course did not go down well with the supporters from North London. All the focus afterwards was on Adebayor's misguided antics but I have not read much about the loutish behaviour of some of the supposedly grown-up Arsenal fans. Objects were thrown onto the pitch and it looked like one of the stewards was hit by an object that was thrown from the away end.

The game continued however and Shaun Wright-Phillips made it 4-1 seven minutes before time. Tomas Rosicky's pulled one back for the Gunners in the dying minutes but it was too little, too late and City bagged their fourth win of the season, giving them plenty of confidence ahead of next weekend's Manchester derby.

The South Stand housed the Arsenal fans.

The Colin Bell Stand.


The North Stand.


Arsenal fans did not respond well to Adebayor's provocative goal celebrations.

After the game we paid another visit to the massive fan store.

A panorama shot, taken from our seats on the East Stand. The game was a sell-out.

Another panorama, this time taken after the game, again from the East Stand.

Saturday 12th September 2009
Manchester City 4 Arsenal 2
Premier League
Man City: Almunia (og) 20, Bellamy 74, Adebayor 80, Wright-Phillips 84.
Arsenal: Van Persie 62, Rosicky 88.
Att: 47,339

Bloomfield Road (2006 Northern Rail Cup Final)

No football match for a change but a rugby game match, a rugby league match even, which was played in what is usually the home of Blackpool FC. My first encounter with rugby league was not planned but I found out there was a rugby cup final during our annual family weekend in Blackpool. I have to say I enjoyed it thoroughly. A fast-paced and close match with a well-behaved partisan crowd. Leigh Centurions won the Northern Rail Cup by beating Hull Kingston Rovers 22-18 after an impressive comeback.

The North Stand.

When I visited the stadium there was no South Stand. The South Stand is being built at the moment and you can check the progress here.

The temporary East Stand.

Our seats where on what was then called the Pricesbusters West Stand.

Both teams coming onto the pitch.

Leigh Centurions, 2006 Northern Rail Cup Winners.

16th July 2006
Northern Rail Cup Final
Leigh Centurions 22 Hull Kingston Rovers 18
Att: 7,547