Blue Square Football Ground Guide - Fans Ground Reviews, Broadwood Stadium, Crawley Town

Broadwood Stadium - Crawley Town
Saturday, March 25th, 2006,
V Cambridge United, Conference 3pm
By Millsy

1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be)

I always look forward to away matches, especially this season, visiting many grounds for the first time, given our recent relegation to the Conference. Crawley’s Broadfield Stadium offered such an opportunity. Furthermore, I was travelling in the hope of seeing a rare away victory, something I thought might be inherently likely against a club in financial disarray at the time.

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking

I try, as much as possible to travel to away matches on the train, preferring the relative freedom of such a mode of transport over the club’s away travel coach or a car journey. Crawley proved a relatively trouble-free journey from Cambridge, with no London underground travel needed (45 minutes from Cambridge to London Kings Cross, a short walk to Kings Cross Thameslink Station, then 50 minutes to Three Bridges and a four minute train transfer to Crawley station.)

I had made the mistake of not planning or ascertaining fully the exact direction of the Broadfield Stadium from the station, though I had allowed plenty of time to find said stadium. Hence, not wishing to risk bus travel in an alien area, I chanced my arm and began walking; attempting to rely on educated guesswork, knowing the ground was only 1300m away. Luckily a fellow U’s fan on a bus gestured towards the road we ought to take, and walk we did, rather more in hope of finding the ground than in expectation. A walk along a main road ensued, though eventually a friend and myself did find Crawley’s ground, very much detached from the main area of the characterless town.
So, I would encourage other away fans travelling walking from the town centre, to take a map or list of directions with them, given the lack of signposting as is all too common in the lower leagues.

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

As the ground is situated somewhat ‘out of the way’, and given that I wanted to keep the ground in view rather than go in search of a watering hole, we proceeded directly to the away entrance, where friendly staff served a fair variety of drinks (non-alcoholic) and food, though bottled drinks were slightly overpriced.
We had no contact with the Crawley hordes before the game, partly after hearing a warning from one U’s fan about home fans seeking ‘trouble’.

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground.

The Broadfield Stadium seemed from the outside to be a pleasant ground, much the same as many of the other Nationwide Conference grounds. One stand was a smart-looking all-seater, running along about three-quarters of the pitch. Opposite the away end was a small, covered terrace, but perfectly suitable for the needs. To the left of the away terrace was an open terrace containing few home fans on a dull, rainy, March afternoon. The away end itself was a covered terrace, with plenty of space for the healthy U’s following, offering a small length of terrace along the side of the pitch and the rest behind the goal. Hence the view was adequate, as one would expect from behind a goal.

5. Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, toilets etc..

From a Cambridge United perspective, the game was not the most enjoyable, as although we started well, we weren’t able to finish our chances, and Crawley made us pay with a goal from a corner early in the second half. Rob Wolleaston’s late sending off for us didn’t help.

The stand being covered aided the atmosphere, which was fairly decent, though it didn’t benefit from the poor showing on the pitch. Regarding the stewards, I can’t remember seeing many, though there was really no need for any intervention on their part during the game. And toilet-wise, these were some of the best I’ve seen in any division, probably only surpassed by those at the Camp Nou. They were spacious, with plenty of sinks, which I suppose is all one could ask.

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game

The away fans exited the ground directly next to the home fans from the seating area, which on another day perhaps could have caused problems. Once out of the stadium area though, the walk back to the station was simple, if depressing given the result and the weather. There appeared not to be any other U’s fans at Crawley station following the match, which might have been helpful as plenty of Crawley youths were loitering with intent at the station platform some of whom were in search of a target for some of their legendary banter (sic). And though we experienced a fairly unpleasant 4-minute train journey to Three Bridges, we emerged unscathed for a journey back to Cambridge that passed without comment. I must say though, the ‘trouble’ we encountered was merely in the form of 1 or 2 Crawley fans, so this is by no means a damning condemnation of the West Sussex club’s fan base.

I would advise a certain amount of caution to away fans travelling on trains, as many times I have experienced unsavoury situations whilst on football-train-journeys and have found rail staff to be thoroughly unhelpful and unwilling to intervene.

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out

In many ways, the day out in Crawley was disappointing and unpleasant, though I am most glad I travelled to support the U’s and would do so again. The away facilities are more than acceptable for this level, and I wish Crawley all the best for their financial future, as it appears there are many parallels that can be drawn between the situation of Cambridge United and Crawley Town. There is no doubt many clubs struggle to make ends meet monetarily at this level particularly.

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