September 08, 2003
Derby County FC - away supporters' guide
RTG’s totally and utterly (we hope) indispensable guide to this season’s away grounds.
THE OPPO –Derby County aka The Rams
DATE – Saturday 20th September
KO TIME – 3.00pm
THE GROUND – Pride Park Stadium, Derby – click here and here for maps of the area - the arrow in the middle points to where the ground is.
Pride Park Stadium is west of Derby city centre, close to the main A52 Nottingham-Derby road.
Visiting supporters are accommodated in the McArthur Glen south stand (upper and lower).
Tickets are now on general sale from either the SAFC Ticket Office (tel 0191 551-5151) or online via Ticketmaster.
GOING BY CAR?
Pretty easy really! By far the most straightforward – and probably fastest - way from Sunderland is to get on the A1; just after you pass junction 45 (for the A64 Leeds/York road) you’ll see signs for the M1 – so take the M1 south. You join the M1 at jcn 48 and you need to stay on it until you reach jcn 25. On the exit slip road turn right onto the A52 towards Derby. After that, just keep going until you see the signs for Pride Park – easy peasy.
Parking in the area around the stadium is extremely limited, you’ll probably be as well off parking in one of the multi-storeys in Derby town centre.
GOING BY TRAIN?
There are 2 trains an hour out of Newcastle, direct to Derby. Catch either the 10.21 or 10.51 and you’ll get to Derby in time to have a drink before the match.
To get from the station to the ground, come out of the station and turn right onto Railway Terrace, go through the walkway under the railway line and turn right onto Pride Park Way – the stadium is a little way further along on the right.
Coming back, if you can get yourself on either the 5.45 or 6.15pm train, you’ll still have time for a pint in Sunderland before last orders.
For train times for that day, check the National Rail website.
STOPPING OVER?
Express by Holiday Inn, Pride Park, tel 01332 388000
Travelodge Derby, Kingsway Retail Park, Derby, tel 0870 1911572
Premier Lodge, Sinfin Lane, Derby, tel 0870 9906306
Travel Inn, Wyvern Business Park, Derby, tel 0870 2383313
The Grange Hotel, Normanton, Derby, tel 01332 766338
SCRAN AND BOOZE
A bit like at Stoke City, there isn’t too much around immediately outside the stadium to take the edge off your hunger or quench your thirst – there are bars inside the stadium but be warned: they stop serving drinks 15 minutes before kickoff.
Many away fans drink at "The Navigation" pub just next to the away parking facilities at Wilmorton College. Just follow the directions to away parking signs. There are also some pubs close to the rail station – The Merry Widows, The Brunswick and The Alexandra.
Failing that if it's just food or a soft drink you're after, you could put your hopes in the hands of a motorway service station before you turn off the M1 – either Trowell services just north of jcn 25 on the M1, or the Tibshelf service area between jcns 28 and 29. Tibshelf is relatively new, very clean and well-organised, and has several options for nosh – Wimpy, Costa Coffee, the usual standard motorway services café and a ‘sells-everything’ shop with sarnies, pasties, crisps, sweets, pop etc, and cash machines.
LEND US A FIVER I’M OUT OF CASH
Handily, there’s a cash machine actually at Pride Park, belonging to the Derbyshire Building Society.
IN THE NEWS
- They recently denied that the club is on the verge of being sold after a midlands radio station sparked speculation that a takeover was imminent – their chairman wants out.
- They wanted to take striker Alun Armstrong from Ipswich on loan but the Horses have turned them down – they want a permanent deal. Armstrong played under Rams boss George Burley at Ipswich.
- Former Skunk Warren Barton is a Ram these days but had surgery on a shoulder injury in the close season then had a sciatic nerve problem – but is hoping to return to full fitness soon.
- The Mag connection continues: squad no 32 is a defender by the name of Gary Caldwell - Steve’s brother - he's on loan to the Rams.
- They’re already out of the Carling Cup, having lost to 3rd division Huddersfield.
LAST SEASON
Finished 18th out of 24.
THIS SEASON
Their recent 3-0 defeat of Stoke - their first win of this season - moved them up from 24th of 24, to 22nd:
P6 W1 D1 L4 F4 A11 Pts 4 GD -7
HEAD TO HEAD
A close-run thing. Derby and Sunderland have met 120 times in the league, we’ve won 51 and they’ve won 46, with 23 draws. The most notable recent game between us was when we beat them 5-0 on their own patch, only six weeks after starting our Premiership campaign in 1999 – Kevin Phillips bagged a hat-trick, with Quinn and McCann getting the other two.
LAST 6 MEETINGS
11/05/02 Lads 1, Derby 1 (Phillips 17)
09/02/02 Derby 0, Lads 1 (Quinn 80)
03/02/01 Derby 1, Lads 0
16/09/00 Lads 2, Derby 1 (Kilbane 40, Phillips 74)
26/02/00 Lads 1, Derby 1 (Rae 62)
18/09/99 Derby 0, Lads 5 (McCann 24, Phillips 42, 52, 85, Quinn 55)
TRIVIA
- Best league win: 9-0 vs Wolves back in January 1891.
- Worst league defeat: 2-11 vs Everton in 1890.
- Record transfer fee paid: £3m to Crewe for Seth Johnson (October 2001)
- Record transfer fee received: £7m from Leeds, for……Seth Johnson! (Oct 01)
- They were formed in 1884 as the footy-playing branch of Derbyshire County Cricket Club and only four years later became one of the founding teams of the Football League.
- Our own Raich Carter – skipper of the Sunderland FA Cup winning side in 1937 – signed for Derby County in December 1945. He helped them to win the FA Cup too, becoming the only player to have won a Cup winner's medal either side of the War. Carter also played first-class cricket for Derbyshire before being sold to Hull.
- Like Sunderland, Derby County is another club linked to the footballing legend that is Brian Clough – he managed them from June 1967 until October 1973. During his tenure, the Rams won the Watney and Texaco cups, were crowned Division One champions and reached the semi-final of the European Cup.
- The current manager is George Burley – a former Sunderland player from 1985 to 1988; the Craig Burley who played for Derby until earlier this year is manager George’s nephew.
- In 1984 newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell stepped in to save the club from bankruptcy but rarely attended matches, prompting the supporters’ chant “He’s fat, he’s round, he’s never at the ground…”. After his death in 1991 a consortium of local businessmen took over the club, and current chairman Lionel Pickering provided the major financial backing to keep the club in business; but now he wants out.
Credits: Derby County FC official website, therams.co.uk, Rough Guide to English Football, Soccerbase, www.streetmap.co.uk, National Rail.
Stoke City - away supporters' guide
RTG’s totally and utterly (we hope) indispensable guide to this season’s away grounds.
THE OPPO –Stoke City aka The Potters
DATE – Tuesday 16th September
KO TIME – 7.45pm
THE GROUND – The Britannia Stadium,Stanley Matthews Way, Stoke on Trent – click here and here for maps of the area - the arrow in the middle points to where the ground is.
The Britannia Stadium is south of Stoke city centre, close to the main A50.
There is a maximum away supporters’ allocation of 4,800, accommodated in the Big AM stand.
Tickets are now on general sale from either the SAFC Ticket Office (tel 0191 551-5151) or online via Ticketmaster.
GOING BY CAR?
Travelling from the north-east, head off down the A1 and stay on it until you see signs directing you to the M1 signposted for Leeds and Manchester; you join the motorway at jcn 44 but need to leave it quite soon afterwards at jcn 42. At the roundabout go straight on. Just under a mile later, take the third exit off the roundabout onto the M62. Seven miles later join the M60 at jcn 18. Stay on that road until you reach jcn 12 then take the M62 signposted Liverpool and Birmingham. You stay on the M62 for 28 miles until you reach the Croft Interchange, then you’re looking for the M6.
Leave the M6 at Junction 16 and head south along the A500 – go straight over at the first two roundabouts and once you’ve passed the second one you’ll see signs for the Britannia Stadium.
Parking close to the stadium is apparently very restricted with a lot of ‘residents only’ restrictions in nearby streets and estates. If you get there at least a couple of hours prior to kickoff you might get a space at the “Power League”, car park, two minutes walk from the stadium but it fills up very early on. One of the unofficial Stoke City fansites recommends that while you’re on the A500/A50 to follow signs for Campbell Road and look out for parking spaces there – the Booker Cash & Carry there will take £1 off you to let you park there, then it’s a 500 metre walk to the stadium.
GOING BY TRAIN?
A bit of a pain if you’re travelling from Sunderland – a five hour journey involving three changes on the way there - and no trains back that late on a weeknight.
And it’s not that much better if you’re travelling up from London. You can get a train up the West Coast mainline from London Euston to Stafford, but then it’s a bus transfer to Stoke because of engineering works.
If you do decide to brave the nightmare that is British train travel in the 21st century, your quickest option when you arrive at Stoke is a taxi from outside the station – they’ll drop you off right beside the away supporters’ end at the Britannia, and it’ll only set you back about £3.
Check the National Rail website for details.
SCRAN AND BOOZE
There’s not an awful lot in the area immediately surrounding the stadium – it hasn’t really been developed since the stadium was opened. Visiting supporters are welcome at the ‘Power League’ five-a-side complex, about 150 metres behind the away end, or The Plough – close the the Booker Cash & Carry (above), and drinks are available inside the stadium. Food’s also on sale inside the Britannia (typical football nosh – chips, burgers, pies etc). But there are no burger vans or similar in the immediate vicinity of the stadium on the outside. There are a couple of good sandwich shops (providing they open that late, to cater for match-goers) on Campbell Road (see ‘Parking’) and a Harvester restaurant across Stanley Matthews Way, over from the stadium. The ‘Potters Bar’ also welcomes well-behaved visiting supporters – it’s five minutes’ drive away from the stadium on the A50. Word of warning: since the anti-boardroom protests of the early 80’s the atmosphere at Stoke games has been intimidating, and the move to the Britannia stadium did little to rid the club of its troublemakers – keep your ‘colours’ discreet and avoid heading into the centre of Stoke.
LEND US A FIVER I’M OUT OF CASH
I’d get some dosh before you leave home – the nearest cash machine is over a mile away from the stadium, at Christchurch Street (Nat West).
IN THE NEWS
- they have just signed Ade Akinbiyi on a three year deal.
- they recently lost 1-0 to Preston North End…who we beat to avoid equalling THAT record alongside Darwen.
- Stoke beat Manchester United in pre-season
- Their goalie is one Ed de Goey…signed from Chelski
LAST SEASON
Final league position – 21st of 24.
THIS SEASON
Currently 14th of 24: P7 W2 D2 L3 F9 A9 Pts 8 GD 0
HEAD TO HEAD
Stoke and Sunderland have met 114 times in the league and we’ve won just under half of those – 54 to be precise. They’ve won 34 and there have been 26 draws.
LAST 6 MEETINGS
25/04/98 Lads 3, Stoke 0 (Williams, Phillips x 2)
25/10/97 Stoke 1, Lads 2 (Clark x 2)
21/04/96 Lads 0, Stoke 0
22/11/95 Stoke 1, Lads 0
11/03/95 Lads 1, Stoke 0 (Melville)
27/08/94 Stoke 0, Lads 1 (P Gray)
TRIVIA
- Best league win: 10-3 vs West Brom back in February 1937.
- Worst league defeat: 0-10 vs Preston.
- Record transfer fee paid: £600,000 to Swedish club Orgryte for Brynjar Gunnarsson (December 1999)
- Record transfer fee received: £2.35m from QPR, for Mike Sheron (July 97)
- Adrian Heath started his career at Stoke as an 18 year old apprentice in 1979; he stayed for three years before moving on to Everton. They got him back for five months in 1992 before sending him on a free to Burnley.
- Former Sunderland player Steve Bould also did his time at Stoke.
- Stoke supporters hate Port Vale with a passion - and aren’t awfully keen on Crewe either.
- The Britannia Stadium was used for the filming of the TV series Michael Owen’s Soccer Skills.
- What does Stoke City FC have in common with ageing rockers Genesis? They were both formed by former pupils of Charterhouse School. Two ex pupils formed the club as Stoke Ramblers 135 years ago. They became Stoke FC ten years later
- In 1890 after winning only 7 of 44 games in two seasons, they were voted out of the football league, to be replaced by……………Sunderland
Credits: Stoke City official website, Stoke City fansite “The Oatcake”, Rough Guide to English Football, Soccerbase, RAC, www.streetmap.co.uk, National Rail.
Sunderland Film Festival
The 1st ever Sunderland Film Festival
At the Manor Quay, Bonded Warehouse and the Stadium of Light
November 27th to November 30th 2003
PROGRAME OF EVENTS
Thursday November 27th
Evening
Selected showing of ‘The Monocled Mutineer’ with guest speaker Julian Putkowski, researcher for the series and author of ‘Shot at Dawn’ on British soldiers executed in the First World War
Venue – The Bonded Warehouse
Friday November 28th
3.00pm to 6.00pm Cinema Paradiso
Venue – Bonded Warehouse
Evening – Gala [i.e a film yet to be released]
Saturday November 29th
10 – 12.30pm – a cult film to be selected
10 – 1.00pm Films by local children
Venue – Manor Quay
Plus documentary of the work of UNITY
1.30pm – 4.00pm
KES [Barry Hines invited but yet to confirm]
4.00pm – 6.00
Betty Blue [Manor Quay – main hall]
5.30 – 7.00pm
Sweet FA – documentary on football corruption, followed by question and answer session with the Producer Gary Horne
Venue – Manor Quay [upstairs room]
7.00 – 10.00pm
Gala Film [to be arranged]
Sunday November 30th
10 – 12.30pm Shawshank Redemption
Venue – Manor Quay [main hall]
1.00pm – 4.00pm City of God
Venue – Manor Quay [main hall]
12 – 4.00pm Short films by local people
Venue – Upstairs in Manor Quay
4.00 – 6.00pm
Manor Quay TBA
4.00pm – 10.30pm
3 – 4 of the latest films from Bollywood plus a Live Show
Venue – Stadium of Light
Still to incorporate into the programme are workshops on the work by the KOOCH Project, and making your own short film, plus potentially a couple of others.
The GALA films will probably be Battle Royale 2: Requiem, One for the Road [Hywel Bennett, Film Council] and the Singing Detective. [Mel Gibson]
