1.
Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case
may be):
I was looking forward to visiting Blundell Park, firstly
as it's got bags full of character unlike some of the ex-League sides in
the BSBP, and the fact I live in Lincoln meant a relatively short trip up
to Cleethorpes. And secondly Blundell Park is also a ground I had
been yet to visit.
2. How easy was your
journey/finding the ground/car parking:
Travelling by
train the journey was easy enough. And I caught the 10:23 from Lincoln
with a change at Barnetby for the connection to Cleethorpes. The ground is
very easy to find taking either of the routes supplied by Duncan in the
guide. On both its a straight walk to the ground and the tall floodlights
are clearly visible from quite a distance away.
3.
What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans
friendly?
Before the game I opted to have a few drinks in
Lincoln with the game being a 1pm kick off due to England facing Wales.
But arriving in Cleethorpes at 12pm I managed enough time to take in a
pint at O'Neills, which is visible after you come out of the main
entrance of Cleethorpes Station. Which is a spacious, well priced pub and
perfect for a quick pint before the game. And the Blundell Park Hotel,
directly opposite the ground, although it was very busy and quite small so
was crammed to the rafters with Grimsby Fans. Didn't really speak to
any Mariners fans but had no problems collecting my tickets from the
ticket office in my Tamworth shirt.
4. What you
thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other
sides of the ground?
Blundell Park, is
vastly showing it's age now which is a real shame, but is fantastic for
fans of old styled football grounds, made up of lots of old cladding. I
did think the ground is quite intimidating, being very dark and dull from
the outside with lots of barbed wire. As is the same with the
Osmond Stand which houses the away supporters, looks very unappealing from
the back with loads of rusty metal supports protruding from the back of
it. The Osmond Stand is set quite far back and has a low
roof so fans could miss out on the action if seated in the back rows. And
the supporting pillars for this stand are a pain, but not too obtrusive.
The rest of the stadium consists of the two tiered Findus Stand
which stands high above the other stands which are equal in height and
straddles the half way line, with a row of VIP boxes running through it.
Adjacent to this is the main stand which is a very ramshackled stand and
has a lots of pillars running along the front of it. Then opposite the
away stand is the Pontoon Stand which in comparison to the rest of the
ground looks quite new and a tidy little stand.
5.
Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, toilets
etc..
The game was a classic game of two halves. Tamworth
struggled in the first half and Grimsby did all the running and deseverdly
went in at half time up. The second half started much as the first had
gone and The Mariners went up. Tamworth then finally started to come into
the game and pulled a goal back through Kale Perry then the Tamworth
pressure told and Tom Marshall smashed in the equalizer. A draw was
probably a fair result in the end.
The atmosphere from both sets
of fans was good, but as Tamworth started to come into the game, the
Grimsby fans clearly were becoming frustrated with their side. The
stewards were hardly noticeable throughout and just pretty much left us to
it, which lead to a very relaxed atmosphere. Also Grimsby have changed the
turnstiles away supporters enter through so instead of being at the back
of the ground they now use the turnstiles the the left of the Findus
Stand, but a friendly steward was kind enough to walk me through after I
approached the wrong turnstile.
6. Comment on getting
away from the ground after the game:
Getting away from the
ground was fine on foot although I can imagine that it's difficult due to
the volume of cars and fans as it's quite hectic around the stadium at
full time.
7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day
out:
I had heard some negative stories about going to
Blundell Park, but I found them completely unfounded, and I found it
to be a great day out and had no problems at all. Good result for
Tamworth after a bad run of form. I'd happily visit again although would
hope for nicer weather in fear of braving the biting wind from the
sea. |
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