Returned from ' The Blackpool Experience '..........

[......and Smith must score. 1,594]

Got back from a breezy day at the coast a while back. Hadn''t been to Bloomfield Road before so that''s another one off the '' to do '' list.

It''s a weird ground. The two completed sides - along one side and behind one goal - look pretty smart as they are cantilevered and form a continuous '' L'' shape with no obstructions and boxes set at the rear of the side stand. These are the stands that feature in pictures of the ground and for good reason !! The other two sides are enclosed by rough corrugated iron fencing and are, as yet, unbuilt upon. The area behind the goal is completely flat with a view of two strange triangular objects about 60ft tall close by - I was told that these will be climbing walls when the proposed adjoining leisure park is completed - and a distant view over the rooftops of the Pleasure Beach '' Big-Max '' roller coaster beyond. Not very inspiring...

The away stand - along the side - will be familiar to anyone who''s seen City play at Brighton, Gillingham or MK Dons in recent seasons. It''s a sort of temporary 18th green golf course affair some thirteen rows deep with no roof. Delightful '' Portakabin '' loos - the warmest place in the ground - and a solitary refreshment hut meant that this wouldn''t be the place to introduce a new girl friend to the delights of watching Norwich City !! Unlike Tamworth it didn''t rain this time but the wind from the Irish Sea was bracing to say the least .....Fortunately before the match we followed some City supporters who were on the trail of '' The Stanley Arms '', a smashing little real ale which did a mean mixed grill and probably saved us from freezing over the 90 minutes.

The match itself was competitive. City won the first half, Blackpool the second. I thought for once Robinson had a good game, as did Safri but, for me, McVeigh was again a disappointment. In goal Marshall looked fairly secure and kept us in it at the death. Dublin''s injury was being treated close to where we were, and, although he hobbled off more or less unaided, it looked like he might be out for some time.

All in all not a bad day out if not as quirky as that experienced in Tamworth. The Blackpool fans we met seemed pleasant enough although a member of the strong police presence, re-inforced by a number of stewards from Preston North End, told me that the home fans included '''' one or two nutters "........To be fair to the Blackpool fans they did keep up a more or less constant wall of sound throughout the match whereas our efforts were more subdued and not helped by the lack of acoustics in having no roof over our heads.  

Sadly there was no time to build a sandcastle or go for a paddle......

 

 

[Paul Argent 0]

Nice Report

......and Smith must score.

Good to read your experience along with what the ground and area is like, wish there were more report like yours on away games, nicely written

Fair play to you, good to see a loyal supporter’s reveiw

 

[Cluck 0]

We don''t have much interplay on here ASMS.....but this was a really good read. 10/10 [*]

[GJD 0]

I enjoyed the day and the game. Like you say two sides are excellant and when they get it finished then it will be a smart quality ground. Their fans made some noise and I was sitting in block ''Y'' which must have been near you right at the back.

Hard for us to get an atmosphere going since the sound went upwards and away. Although was so tempted to run onto the pitch whilst on the way for a toilet break when the game was on... Thats not meaning I would have done it on the pitch either!

Good day out and we went to the No 1 club where everyone was friendly. However Blackpool seems closed down right now and finding a place to eat afterwards was not easy. Glad I did not make a weekend of it.

[Chris Meadows 0]

[quote user="......and Smith must score."]

Got back from a breezy day at the coast a while back. Hadn''t been to Bloomfield Road before so that''s another one off the '' to do '' list.

It''s a weird ground. The two completed sides - along one side and behind one goal - look pretty smart as they are cantilevered and form a continuous '' L'' shape with no obstructions and boxes set at the rear of the side stand. These are the stands that feature in pictures of the ground and for good reason !! The other two sides are enclosed by rough corrugated iron fencing and are, as yet, unbuilt upon. The area behind the goal is completely flat with a view of two strange triangular objects about 60ft tall close by - I was told that these will be climbing walls when the proposed adjoining leisure park is completed - and a distant view over the rooftops of the Pleasure Beach '' Big-Max '' roller coaster beyond. Not very inspiring...

The away stand - along the side - will be familiar to anyone who''s seen City play at Brighton, Gillingham or MK Dons in recent seasons. It''s a sort of temporary 18th green golf course affair some thirteen rows deep with no roof. Delightful '' Portakabin '' loos - the warmest place in the ground - and a solitary refreshment hut meant that this wouldn''t be the place to introduce a new girl friend to the delights of watching Norwich City !! Unlike Tamworth it didn''t rain this time but the wind from the Irish Sea was bracing to say the least .....Fortunately before the match we followed some City supporters who were on the trail of '' The Stanley Arms '', a smashing little real ale which did a mean mixed grill and probably saved us from freezing over the 90 minutes.

The match itself was competitive. City won the first half, Blackpool the second. I thought for once Robinson had a good game, as did Safri but, for me, McVeigh was again a disappointment. In goal Marshall looked fairly secure and kept us in it at the death. Dublin''s injury was being treated close to where we were, and, although he hobbled off more or less unaided, it looked like he might be out for some time.

All in all not a bad day out if not as quirky as that experienced in Tamworth. The Blackpool fans we met seemed pleasant enough although a member of the strong police presence, re-inforced by a number of stewards from Preston North End, told me that the home fans included '''' one or two nutters "........To be fair to the Blackpool fans they did keep up a more or less constant wall of sound throughout the match whereas our efforts were more subdued and not helped by the lack of acoustics in having no roof over our heads.  

Sadly there was no time to build a sandcastle or go for a paddle......

 

 

[/quote]

summed up by day perfectly there, we had no chance of creating any noice in that stand,

[LinkNR9 0]

[quote user="Paul Argent"]

Nice Report

......and Smith must score.

Good to read your experience along with what the ground and area is like, wish there were more report like yours on away games, nicely written

Fair play to you, good to see a loyal supporter’s reveiw

[/quote]

''a loyal supporters'' review'' - what''s that meant to mean? That looks like a dig at someone - please explain your comment. 

[Sacharelle 0]

Blackpool was a good day out - we arrived by coach at 12.45 and had plenty of time to see the "sights" ... Tower, beach, donkeys etc. Bit surprised by the policing though for a match of just 9000+. Mounted police and helicopter seemed a bit over the top but maybe they are not used to such big games! We sat at far end of the crappy temporary stand in block Z nearest to the home fans. There were at least 20 police including "evidence gatherers" in that corner most of the match and they seemed well interested in the Blackpool hardcore, so maybe they were expecting trouble? or perhaps it was just a big police training exercise!

We just couldn''t compete with the home fans for volume esp. with their drummer leading the chants, but it was always going to be hard work with no roof! We did our best though and scoring in the dying seconds of first half was the obvious high point of the day. I thought we played ok considering the team we put out - Hucks and Saf did well and so did Chris Brown til the red card. Marshall looked solid and pulled out a couple of top drawer saves to keep us in the tie.

[macdougalls perm 0]

Link,

I think he simply means someone who went up to Blackpool, sat in the January wind from the Irish sea in an unbuilt stand and tried their hardest to sing and get behind their team - and all for a game which I, for one, thought had embarrasment for us written all over it. I would call that being a loyal supporter as well, don''t see anything to suggest that it is a dig at anyone. 

[norfolkchance1 0]

I was sat in Z so near Blackpool lot.

Did anyone else notice any over zealous stewarding I saw two city fans get lectures for being too loud (in returning banter back to the blackpool fans) when in all honesty they were doing nothing much wrong.

[Marty 0]

did anyone sit near my brother? I didn''t but apparently he was getting annoyed with some negative young hodlums behind him who had nothing positive to say all day long, was that you? inflatable guitars - you know who you are?

Also, I was attacked in a lewd manner by an blow up doll whilst shuffling along to my seat, own up if that was you?  

[Pete Raven 276]

That blow-up doll was sadly deflated a couple of rows in front of me. Spoilsports.

[......and Smith must score. 1,594]

[quote user="Marty"]

Also, I was attacked in a lewd manner by an blow up doll whilst shuffling along to my seat, own up if that was you?  

[/quote]

Oh come on Marty, you know you enjoyed it really !! ( It wasn''t me - I was in the next block to your right )

You must have given her a right hot flush as she spectacularly imploded shortly after your little romantic tryst.......you must have seen the unfortunate poor thing meet her grisly demise......by her horribly crumbled appearance she seemed pretty breathless to me.

[Cluck 0]

[quote user="Web Team - Pete"]That blow-up doll was sadly deflated a couple of rows in front of me. Spoilsports.[/quote]

She was rather a let down I thought..........

[sheded 0]

[quote user="Marty"]

did anyone sit near my brother? I didn''t but apparently he was getting annoyed with some negative young hodlums behind him who had nothing positive to say all day long, was that you? inflatable guitars - you know who you are?

Also, I was attacked in a lewd manner by an blow up doll whilst shuffling along to my seat, own up if that was you?  

[/quote]

Dirty little sod ! [:^)]

[Sacharelle 0]

Yeah, I was just behind the guy who got pulled out by the Stewards for a talking to... he was doing nothing wrong, just banter. They kept telling us all through the game to not wind up the home fans every time we gestured or chanted to them - pathetic "men" in jackets!