| DAY OUT AT THE BRIT  | Stoke City's stylish new stadium opened in 1997 |
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GETTING TO THE BRITANNIA STADIUM
From the M6: Leave the M6 at junction 15 and travel straight across the roundabout onto the A500. The stadium will be visible in the distance on your right hand side. On the A500, follow signs for A50 Uttoxeter and when you emerge onto the A50 (ground clearly visible on the right hand side), get into the left lane to leave at the first exit (Heron Cross). Go right around the roundabout and re-emerge onto the A50 heading back towards the stadium. Leave the A50 where the ground is signposted Britannia Stadium. Train: Stoke station is about a 30 minute walk from the ground. There are taxis outside and on normal matchdays if you turn right out of the station and then right at the lights you will pass a few pubs and see a church across the road – there are usually buses to the ground from here but I don’t know if they’ll be running tonight!
PARKING
Parking at the Britannia Stadium can be a real nightmare at times, as those on or near the ground can often be sitting in jams of over an hour, and those who street park are at the mercy of the local traffic wardens who seem to wait until the game has started and then put a ticket on any car that even looks like it’s illegally parked. This is no idle threat as fans from previous Play Off finals plus hundreds of Stokies will testify!
Official parking
There’s thousands of spaces – but that’s where the good news stops. Usually a fiver and you will have to be early or pre-book tickets. Can take an age to get off afterwards.
Power League and Harvester
Parking is available on the Power League complex next to the stadium (In between the stadium and our academy tent). The spaces are limited to a few hundred cars so be early to ensure a space. Parking Costs £4 and you pay on the way in and display your ticket on the dashboard of your car. Same applies at The Harvester too.
Heron Cross School and Bowling Club
If you’ve time for a few beers or too late to park close to the ground then this is as good a spot as anywhere, albeit a good 15 minute walk away. Parking is available for a few hundred cars so it is recommended that you arrive early. This car park will cost you £1.50 on the matchday. It is positioned on the opposite side of the A50 to the stadium but is next to the footbridge which leads to the stadium footpath, a 10 minute walk at a maximum. From the A50 with the Stadium on your right, come off at the slip road signposted Heron Cross and turn left and you will come to some traffic lights. At those lights turn left (following signs for Stoke) and half a mile down the road you can turn right into this car park. There is also some limited street parking nearby, but DO NOT PARK ON GRASS VERGES AS YOU WILL DEFIANATELY GET A PARKING TICKET!
Street Parking
If you are the other side of the A500 from Heron Cross you will also be able to park in some non-residential parking areas near to the Michelin Factory. Alternatively you can park in Stoke. Come off the A500 and parking in the town or near to the Michelin or anywhere near the Victoria Ground would mean you have about a 15-20 minute walk (uphill). PLEASE NOTE THAT WARDENS ARE RIFE HERE AND ONCE AGAIN DO NOT PARK ON GRASS VERGES OR ON YELLOW LINES!!!!!!! THE STADIUM
The Britannia Stadium was first opened in 1997, sadly replacing the Victoria Ground as Stoke City's new home. It is a purpose built all seater stadium with a capacity of 28.218. The four stands in the ground are the Boothen End, Sentinel Stand, John Smiths Stand and the South Stand. The South Stand can hold up to 5,000 visiting supporters whilst the other three stands are for home support. The John Smiths Stand is two-tiered, whilst the Boothen End and Sentinel Stand are joined together. The Sentinel Stand also houses the Family Area
Our ground, unfortunately, doesn't really lend itself to an 'old fashioned' away day - built on the site of a former massive colliery that slowly but surely is being turned into a modern industrial estate, so the site lacks the traditional facilities that surrounded the old Victoria Ground.
Saying that it’s a pretty good stadium with decent acoustics, and its pretty much slap bang in the centre of the country and easily accessible from both the M1 and M6. It has good rail links to most major cities in England, although rather confusingly Stoke is not the city centre. Why? STOKE-ON_TRENT
Well, the city is made up of a number of towns – Burslem (where Port Fail play), Tunstall, Stoke, Hanley, Fenton and Longton. It is Hanley that is seen as the city centre as that is where the commercial heart of the city is situated. Unfortunately, Hanley is not within walking distance (unless you’re Ranulph Fiennes!) from the ground, although it’s a 15 minute drive away. It might not have the aesthetic beauty of a Bath or a Chester, but what you will find are some of the most friendly and down-to-earth people anywhere. Take a drive 20 minutes in any direction and you will see some of the finest countryside in the UK, and you can always take the family to Alton Towers on the Sunday to make a weekend of it.
And Stoke’s a pretty cheap place to go on the beer too! NIGHTLIFE
Hanley has the usual shops and bars associated with any city in this country and will be very lively on Friday and Saturday nights. Head to Trinity Street where there is the usual Yates’, Chicago Rock, Fluid etc, and also down here are Creation nightclub and for those who enjoy a slightly more, ahem, cuiltural evening, a lapdancing bar (ST1 Club). There are a number of restaurants in Hanley – whatever cuisine takes your fancy you will find within the centre. A good bet is to head towards Picadilly which is the main part of the city’s new ‘Cultural Quarter (sic).
Just outside The Potteries (equidistant from the ground to Hanley) is the town of Newcastle Under Lyme. It’s quite an attractive town with bloody hundreds of bars, clubs and eateries. It’s another good bet for anyone wanting to stay over and have a night out. Yet again, you’ll find Yates’, Fluid, Revolution, Edwards, etc, but there are several other independent bars to such as Pablo Frankis’ and Brassingtons.
The town situated nearest to the football ground is Stoke. At night is hasn’t got a great deal to recommend it, save for a couple of bars and several traditional pubs. It’s where the railway station is situated but if it’s a bit of fun and excitement you want at night then look at the above alternatives.
PUBS ON THE DAY
Opportunities for a pint close to the ground for visiting supporters (and indeed home supporters ) are unfortunately limited - The Harvester 'pub' which also serves meals and the nearby Power League are often recommended as the best choices. They’re not 'real' pubs but they are literally 100 yards from the ground and both will be chocca on matchday. It’s £4 to park at both as well, although it can take ages to get away from here after the game.
If you’re pushed for time you'd be just as well getting a beer from inside the ground to be honest with bars in every stand. Behind the Boothen End is a bar called ‘Delilahs’ which is normally for Stoke fans only, but should be open to all (£1 to get in?) today.
If you’re parking by the Michelin factory then you have The Gardeners Retreat and The Plough nearby. It’s free to park at the Gardeners but spaces are very limited and it’s a few quid to pay over Campbell Road at the Plough. Both are good spots for getting away afterwards though and are a 15 minute walk from the ground.
If you can park near to Heron Cross there are also a few pubs nearby too and the Fenton Bowling Club is a good bet here with parking at £1.50 and cheap beer on offer.
Enjoy the day!
Bunny
Editor of ‘A VIEW TO A KILN’
Stoke City fanzine
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