Groundhops

Groundhop: Southampton

| Luke Woodley Marshall

After somewhat of an unplanned hiatus from groundhopping, this week we decided to visit Southampton for their clash with high-flying Leicester.

Sometimes there comes a game where your just left wondering did that really just happen?

This was one of them.

When me and Harry made the very short trip to St Mary’s Stadium, neither of us could even fathom the concept of a 9-0 home defeat.

Goals from Ayoze Perez (x3), Ben Chilwell, James Maddison, Jamie Vardy (x3) and Youri Tielemans saw Brendan Rodgers’ side leave the South Coast with a record-breaking win that will go down in Premier League folklore.

Atmosphere

Well this was one of the most bizarre yet incredible atmospheres I have ever been a part of.

The Leicester fans travelled in numbers and were in fine voice through out the game.

The St Mary’s faithful began to understandably grow more and more toxic as the first half grew older. However, as the second half kicked off Southampton fans began to make a lot of noise, out-singing the travelling Leicester fans with their own self-deprecating chants as well as some nostalgic chants that would warm the hearts of the more senior members of the Saints’ fanbase.

English football fan culture often comes under scrutiny in comparison to foreign fan culture, however, this was one of those games where everything was so wonderfully typical of the English game.

A goal-fest, torrential rain and a self-deprecating yet partizan atmosphere. You just love to see it.

For me, I am going to give atmosphere a five.

Cost

With both myself and Harry currently studying in Southampton, travel was always to be at a very low cost.

As a result of us living on the doorstep of St Mary’s Stadium, we were fortunate enough to pay absolutely nothing for travel having walked from our new home.

Tickets were priced at £30 for me as I had forgotten to apply the discount code which would lower the prices to £25 like Harry did.

£25 to watch a Premier League game regardless of the entertainment on the pitch is fantastic.

Five out of five.

Entertainment

Well, how could this be anything other than a five?

Nine goals, clear-cut chances at a premium, a penalty, a red card and some horrendous breakdowns within the home end, what more could you ask for?

In spite of the relentless and freezing cold rain, we were distracted by the continuous free-flowing attacking football, as well as the calamitous defending.

Quite simply, the easiest decision we have made since the birth of this blog.

Entertainment, five.

Food

Due to the fact that my frozen hands couldn’t unzip my jacket to grab my wallet, I was unable to consume any food from the stadium so unfortunately I am going to have to leave this section to your imagination.

However, based on Harry’s visit to St Mary’s in August he awarded food a five.

So food will get a five.

Facilities

The stadium itself is your typical Premier League ground. It’s capacity of around 32,000 make for a great atmosphere throughout the match. What also helps the atmosphere and is a reason I especially like the ground is the fact that it is a bowl.

The facilities are also very nice. The ground on the inside and out is just stunning and I will definitely look forward to attending more games there as soon as I can.

For stadium, four out of five.

Man of the match

Well with Leicester City scoring nine, and two players both grabbing hat-tricks it would be silly not to choose an attacker as man of the match.

Or would it be? For me in spite of the overload of attacking excellence, there was one man that I was in constant awe of all night. Wilfried Ndidi, it seemed like every time Southampton had even a glimmer of hope going forward, the Nigerian was relentless in winning the ball back and setting up attacking moves for the visitors.

So what does this mean?

Taking into account all these variables, the visit to Southampton ranks as a 24/25

Meaning that Southampton ranks top of the groundhopping table, and realistically probably will do for the rest of the season.

Groundhop: Wrexham

| Harry Clark

After twice crossing the border last week, I thought I will make it a hat trick and visit Wrexham as they faced Ayr United in the Scottish Challenge Cup. I wasn’t originally planning on visiting the North Wales based side, but it came up for Opta and I took the job on shortly after visiting Cardiff.

I was looking forward to my trip to the Racecourse Ground as I had never been before and it looks like a lovely ground from pictures and videos etc. The match itself was an interesting one.

Wrexham made 10 changes and scored first through Jake Bickerstaff in the second half. Sam Roscoe of Ayr equalised late on so the match went to penalties. A different Jake, this time Lawlor, scored the winning penalty for Wrexham who go through to the fourth round. So how was the experience?

Atmosphere:

Going in to the game, I wasn’t sure how serious the Wrexham faithful were going to treat this game. I knew the Scots would be eager to get one on the English/Welsh and boy did they show it.

The 421 Ayr fans that made the journey were brilliant throughout. Their vast amount of noise was helped by a loud drum that they smuggled in. The Wrexham fans on the other hand, barely batted an eyelid all game.

It was disappointing but understandable to hear the lack of noise, but I bet the stadium gets a good atmosphere for games they care a bit more about.

I will rate the atmosphere 3/5

Cost:

As I was working on the day I didn’t have to pay for a ticket but if I wanted to it would’ve been £10 which is what I what I would’ve expected. The train to and from the stadium was £50 which sounds a lot but I am coming from Bristol so that is a 7 hour round trip. Luckily it was covered by Opta so I didn’t have to fork it out.

For the cost I will rate Wrexham 3/5

Entertainment:

By the introduction you may not have thought it was the best of game, given it was 1-1, but that’s only half the story. The game was end to end for the majority of it, and even though there may not been a chance at the end of it, it was still exciting.

A penalty shootout is always exciting, no matter who is playing and I saw 12 penalties taken, with just one missed. The fans would’ve certainly got there moneys worth and enjoyed an entertaining encounter.

For entertainment I will rate it 3.5/5

Facilities:

As I said, I was looking forward to seeing the Racecourse Ground and I wasn’t let down. The ground is known as the official oldest international ground in the world, which is quite a feat. Unfortunately, the huge terrace behind one end is permanently shut barring any renovations but I won’t let that cloud my judgement.

Facilites I will rate 3/5.

Food:

Breaking News: I didn’t actually consume any food or drink inside the ground. I actually grabbed a meal deal from a nearby Sainsburys. There were some complimentary hot beverages in the media room and I did take a look at the food that Wrexham provide and it did look nice and reasonably priced. I can’t offer a stronger opinion than that so will have to rate the the food based solely on looks

For food I will rate Wrexham 3/5

Man of the Match:

There were a few decent looking players out there for both sides that could definitely do a job at a higher level but I am going to pick Dawid Szczepaniak as my man of the match. The young keeper was making his senior debut and made some good saves during the 90. He ultimately won the game for them with the penalty save and impressed on his first outing.

So what does this mean?

Wrexham score 15.5 which ties them with a couple of other clubs and sits them in mid table. It also puts them in between the two Welsh clubs, being ahead of Newport but well below Cardiff. Overall I enjoyed my time in Wales for the three matches but we will almost certainly be going closer to home for our next games.

Groundhop: Cardiff City

| Harry Clark

After making the trip over the border with Luke on Tuesday, I thought that would be me done for the week as I planned for a relaxing weekend. However, on the Wednesday morning my brother said there was some Friday night football we could attend at Cardiff v Fulham. We checked the train and football tickets and before you know it, we were at the train station.

This match was a Premier League game last season so I was expecting an exciting encounter between the two sides. The game didn’t have the most goals I’ve seen this season but it didn’t lack drama. Cardiff’s Josh Murphy opened the scoring late in the first half before Aleksandar Mitrovic equalised even later in the half, which was the end of the scoring.

Harry Arter was sent off in the second half for the visitors and plenty of other Fulham players were carded for time wasting which built up for a fiery game. So on the pitch it was entertaining but how did I rate the experience, let’s find out…

Atmosphere:

With the match being on a Friday night I was expecting a decent atmosphere. I didn’t really have any preconceptions about the Cardiff faithful so I went into it with a clear mind, unlike the times like Leeds and Liverpool where they have a internationally known atmosphere.

Despite this, I think the Cardiff fans should certainly be put in the same bracket. They were unbelievable throughout the night and deserved a late winner for all their support. Where I was sitting I couldn’t hear the Fulham fans as much but I they were still vocal throughout.

The atmosphere I will rate 4.5/5

Cost:

For a Championship I was expecting the tickets to be near £20 but I managed to get a ticket in the Ninian Stand for just £11, without having to pretend to be a year or two younger. With the train ticket being touch under £9, I managed to get there and in the stadium for under £20 which is quite brilliant. It could have been 5/5 if I didn’t have to take out a mortgage if I wanted a burger.

For the cost I will rate Cardiff 4.5/5

Entertainment:

I touched on it at the start of the piece but the game was a lot more entertaining than your average 1-1 draw. The atmosphere helped with that as there was a lot more hype around every corner and tackle. There was an abundance of chances at either end, and I was literally on the edge of my seat for a lot of the game.

For entertainment I will rate it 3.5/5

Facilities:

The facilities are similar to my local club Bristol City. They have a similar capacity and the concourses are also almost identical, although I think Ashton Gate edges it in that aspect. There are plenty of food stands around the concourse and the stadium itself looks fantastic from inside and outside. The leg room is surprisingly good at the Cardiff City Stadium which is rare for a football stadium.

Facilites I will rate 3.5/5.

Food:

As I’ve said there were plenty of choice when it came to what I was going to eat and in the end I went for a portion of chips which put me back £3.50. I went for that for the reason that it was the cheapest hot food on the menu as the burgers or pies would have cost a couple of quid more on top.

The chips were more like fries but nonetheless they were still decent and there were a good amount of them. If it wasn’t for the price of other things it would have been a solid 4/5 but I can’t ignore the other prices.

For food I will rate Cardiff 3/5

Man of the Match:

I can’t look any further than Fulham talisman Aleksandar Mitrovic. He was a handful for Aden Flint and Sean Morrison all game and deservedly got his goal just before the break. You can tell he is Premier League quality and I don’t doubt that if Fulham don’t get promoted, Mitrovic will make his way up to the Premier League another way.

So what does this mean?

These ratings put Cardiff in a very respectable 3rd place. It was one of my brother’s best ideas to head across to Cardiff on a Friday night and I am so glad I took him up on his offer. It was a great game and a great night out.

Groundhop: Newport County

| Harry Clark

With Newport being a short train journey over the border away, Luke and I were surprised to find out that neither of us had ever visited Rodney Parade. The perfect time to do so came up as the second round of the Crabao Cup was made and Newport had drawn West Ham at home.

This was particularly good for Luke as there were genuine feelings against West Ham and for Newport before and during the game so if Newport could do the unthinkable, then it would be a well worth journey for more than one reason.

It wasn’t meant to be as goals from Jack Wilshere and Pablo Fornals condemned Newport to a round two exit to Premier League opposition. So how was our experience?

Atmosphere:

The atmosphere was actually better before the game than during the game. Before kick-off it was looking likely to be a loud encounter with a brilliant atmosphere but that wasn’t really the case. There were some funny chants throughout the night which made me laugh, which included calling West Ham defender Angelo Ogbonna a “BALD C*NT” which lead to team mate Declan Rice, shining his head.

The occasional chants of “sheep-shagging b*stards we know what we are” also brought a confused smile to my face but the chant of “AMBER ARMY’ brought some atmosphere. The West Ham fans also tried weighing in throughout the game but couldn’t quite create the kind of atmosphere I was expecting.

The atmosphere I will rate 2.5/5

Cost:

The travel to the ground cost us just £8 on the train as the station was just two stops away so for the transport part of the cost we were pretty content. The match ticket itself however was £14 pound which I believe to be a tad steep. It is a good price to watch Premier League opposition but this is their going rate for League Two.

For the cost I will rate Newport 2.5/5

Entertainment:

It wasn’t a bad game to watch from a Newport perspective despite the scoreline. They should have been ahead at half time, and I think even West Ham fans would agree with me there. Padraig Amond missed a sitter and Issa Diop could easily have put through is own net.

What did ruin my entertainment of the game was one fan that was behind us in the Hazel Terrace. To be fair to this guy he tried creating an atmosphere, he just went completely the wrong way about it. A fellow Newport fan, finally snapped late in the second half which sparked an entertaining argument which fizzled out at the final whistle.

For entertainment I will rate it 3/5

Facilities:

We managed to take in most of the facilities at Rodney Parade just looking for the ticket office. The ticket office ended up being a couple hundred yards away from the ground which was slightly annoying but it was easy to locate everything after.

Newport is a different stadium and is certainly one I will remember as the terraces and seating arrangements are unique. The main stand seems to be a very cozy area for the passionate fans to voice their chants and I quite like it.

Facilites I will rate 3/5.

Food:

After all the kerfuffle of getting into the stadium all I wanted was some food so I grabbed a hot dog and a bottle of water. I wasn’t in the greatest of moods before ordering the food as I had just spent half an hour trying to get into the ground, but the food didn’t improve my mood at all.

The hot dog for me was quite frankly vile. I did break off a bit for Luke who didn’t think it was too bad but I couldn’t finish even half of it, which if you know me well, is very much unlike me. Peculiarly the bottle of water which was given to me had no lid which I felt was weird but I guessed had something to do with the environment in some way or another.

I did have a packet of Pombears to clear my hunger which was bought from outside the ground in order to use the facilities of the shop, if you know what I mean.

For food I will rate Newport 1/5

Man of the Match:

Given the scoreline you’d think I would opt for a West Ham player but as I said, Newport put up more than a good fight. A player I was impressed with was their left back Ryan Haynes. He had the likes of Felipe Anderson and Robert Snodgrass to keep quiet and he succeeded for the vast majority of the game.

So what does this mean?

These ratings put Newport firmly to the bottom of the leaderboard. After I got back from the match I firmly believed that this could be the case and it has been proven. It wasn’t a bad game to watch but my time there certainly could have been a lot better.

Groundhop: Cheltenham Town

| Luke Woodley Marshall

As Matchday three rolled around, we took our first bite of League Two action this season as me and Harry travelled down to the Jonny-Rocks Stadium to watch Cheltenham Town entertain Carlisle United.

This was a first visit to Cheltenham for me and Harry, and our first experience of the Jonny-Rocks stadium was a positive one as goals from Gavin Reilly and Luke Varney secured a comfortable home win for the Robins.

So… let’s rate our time.

Atmosphere:

The atmosphere was poor for the majority of the game, with a capacity crowd of over 2,600 it was only a handful of maybe 60-70 Cheltenham supporters who let their voices be heard, singing for the entirety of the game. Whilst I admire the passion and effort to generate an atmosphere, the select few who were making noise were let down by the majority of the crowd in attendance.

I am going to give Cheltenham a 1.5/5 for atmosphere.

Cost:

This week non-league teams such as Boreham Wood and Dagenham & Redbridge have come under scrutiny for mouthwatering ticket prices, but Cheltenham have done a great job with ticket prices.

£9 for Under 18 entry is sensibly priced and is a good example to lower league clubs of how to price tickets.

For cost I’m going to give Cheltenham a 4/5.

Entertainment:

When we planned our ground-hopping journey, it’s fair to say Cheltenham vs Carlisle on a Tuesday night was not one of the most glamorous ties we’d anticipated, however this was good entertainment.

Carlisle came out the blocks early and came close to opening the scoring before Cheltenham ultimately did, with the first half becoming an end to end game for the opening half hour.

Entertainment scored well for me but did die down as the game went on, so I’m going to give entertainment a 3/5.

Facilities:

For a League Two stadium, the Jonny Rocks stadium was very impressive (relative to the division). A seated stadium with a clean design as well offering a standing terrace behind the goal which is very close to the pitch.

Cheltenham’s stadium is an impressive ground and is perhaps higher standard than League Two.

It offers that special lower league feeling whilst also teasing fans into a glimpse of the future.

For facilities, I am going to give Cheltenham a 3/5.

Food:

It isn’t often that you have the luxury of a warm bacon and sausage roll in a toasted baguette, and sensibly priced at £3.50. For me Cheltenham get a 4.5/5

This brings the overall score up to 16/25.

Next up for us is a trip to Rodney Parade for Newport County vs West Ham in the league cup.

Groundhop: Southampton

| Harry Clark

With my new job as an Opta Analyst, I will spend every other Saturday morning and Monday evening watching the Southampton u18s and u23s. However one of the perks of the job is that I am first reserve for the first team matches. The first home match of the Saints’ Premier League campaign was against Liverpool and when I got the email saying I will be covering it, I was over the moon.

It would be just my second match working for Opta, but I had already made it to the Premier League and I could not wait. I have been to St Mary’s previously with my team Yeovil, but that experience is best left in the past. I genuinely can’t remember whether I have been there once or twice before but I do know we would have lost 100% of the games.

The game didn’t go as I thought but still entertained me none the less. Sadio Mane scored in second half stoppage time to give Jurgen Klopp’s side the lead before Roberto Firmino doubled it with 20 minutes to go. Danny Ings pulled one back after an Adrian howler and should have doubled his tally late on but missed a glaring opportunity to equalise.

Atmosphere:

I will mention this a lot during the season with my Opta games, but I wear noise cancelling headphones during the match so the crowd and other surrounding noises should be cut out. This wasn’t the case for the second match in a row as both Southampton and Liverpool were making noise throughout, especially the latter.

Liverpool fans are renowned for their atmosphere at Anfield, belting out You’ll Never Walk Alone before the match and they were on form on the South Coast as well. They kindly reminded everybody in the stadium that they are Champions of Europe on several occasions, but if you could, you would as well.

I am going to rate the atmosphere 4.5/5

Cost:

Once again, I din’t have to pay for this Premier League clash but if I wanted to go next time it would put me back £40. With the additional £15 train journey it equates to around £55, which sounds a lot, but for a day out watching Premier League football, that isn’t too bad.

There will be cheaper Premier League grounds to go to for sure and just a league below I have been to Bristol City that only cost £20 to get in, so value for money isn’t the greatest at St. Mary’s.

So for cost, I am going to rate it 3/5

Entertainment:

With the Saints coming up against the European Champions, I was expecting a one sided match which would see Liverpool come out comfortable winners, especially given the fact that Southampton shipped three against Burnley a week beforehand.

Well the first half was quite the opposite with Southampton having the better of the play and they could and probably should’ve gone ahead after a Maya Yoshida header from a corner was well saved by Adrian. He almost undid that good work almost immediately, playing the ball against James Ward-Prowse in his own box, only to see it squirt wide.

Ex- Southampton man, Sadio Mane scored in first half stoppage time against the run of play but I don’t think he or any of the Liverpool fans cared one bit. They doubled their lead after 70 minutes after a cool Roberto Firmino finish seemingly put the game away for Liverpool.

However Adrian tried one trick too many and rebounded the ball of former Liverpool striker Danny Ings who halved the deficit. He should have grabbed a point for Ralph Hassenhuttl’s side late on, but he couldn’t convert Yan Valery’s cross from only a few yards out.

For entertainment I wil rate it a 3.5/5

Facilities:

The stadium itself is your typical Premier League ground. It’s capacity of around 32,000 make for a great atmosphere throughout the match. What also helps the atmosphere and is a reason I especially like the ground is the fact that it is a bowl. There aren’t too many that come to mind that aren’t one of the top six sides, but I’m sure once Luke reads this he will come up with a list of 20 in a matter of minutes.

The facilities are also very nice. The ground on the inside and out is just stunning and I will definitely look forward to attending more games there as soon as I can.

For facilities I am going to rate St Mary’s 4/5

Food:

Immediately after I left the stadium I knew exactly what I was going to rate the food. In the press lounge there was a menu on offer but as I hadn’t heard of half the stuff on it I opted for a couple of slices of Naan bread pre-match. It was very nice but nothing spectacular so at that point I was expecting a 3/4 star rating.

However. Once the half time whistle went, the media flocked back into he lounge where we were greeted with a pile of sausage rolls accompanied with a pile of chocolate shortbreads. I was in heaven, and before I could check the half time scores, there were two of each on my plate. I demolished them in no time at all and they were the best sausage rolls and chocolate shortbreads I have ever had.

So I thought it would be rude not to grab a couple more during the break as there were still plenty on offer. I thought that would be the end of my devouring banquet but after the match I went back in to check the scores and there they still were. Another two more consumed before you could say “slow down fatty” and off I went to the train station.

For food I have to rate Southampton, 5/5.

Man of the Match:

Man of the match was a tough one for me as Liverpool weren’t exactly on their top form. Virgil Van Dijk for one wasn’t at his high standard and neither were the two full backs. I am going to give my man of the match to the final player in the back four, Joel Matip.

I think the Cameroonian centre back goes under the radar with all the other stars around him, but he just gets on and does his job well. He arguably played better than his partner Van Dijk which is a massive compliment considering the year the Dutchman has had.

Matip was a rock at the back all game and would’ve earned his clean sheet if it wasn’t for Adrian’s silly mistake.

So what does this mean?

This means Southampton fly to the top of the leaderboard with an overall score of 20, surpassing Spurs for top spot. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Southampton and I literally can’t wait until I am back there again. Also I met Tony Pulis after the match, no relevance here whatsoever but thought I’d share it anyway.

Groundhop: Tottenham Hotspur

| Luke Woodley Marshall

Yesterday was one of the most important days of my life, following Spurs for the best part of 14 years I’ve grown up on White Hart Lane, the Paxton, the Shelf Side, the Park Lane these were the surroundings that I grew up on and were some of the many things that made me fall in love with football.

After a two years away from Tottenham, playing at Wembley, I made the trip back to N17 for the first time in two seasons to feast my love struck eyes upon the The new White Hart Lane.

My first experience of my new surroundings was a pleasant yet dramatic one. John McGinn’s early opener for newly promoted Aston Villa had me fearing the worse yet a brilliant second-half equaliser from debutant Tanguy Ndombele and a late brace from Harry Kane saw Spurs claim all three points on opening day.

My man of the match could’ve easily gone for Jack Grealish had it not been for his error which led to the winning goal from Kane late on, however my man of the match is an Aston Villa player, Tyrone Mings. At 1-0 down it felt like every time we had the ball it had to be Mings either getting on the end of it or in front of it, a brilliant addition who will be integral to Aston Villa this season who will beat the drop.

Atmosphere:

Opening day of the season is always good for atmosphere, months waiting for a meaningful and competitive game and it was no different pre-game with Spurs fans getting behind the team whilst the few thousand Villa fans were giving a good account of themselves on their return to the Premier League.

However, the home atmosphere tailed off as John McGinn’s early strike left the White Hart Lane faithful stunned.

The home atmosphere picked up in the second half as Pochettino’s side asserted more pressure on Aston Villa, and raised significantly when Spurs were on level terms. For the last 20 minutes of the game, the atmosphere was good but due to the patchy and inconsistent noise during a nervy opening half I will give the atmosphere a 3.5/5.

Cost:

For the Matchday ticket, I had to fork out £45. Whilst this may sound like a lot of money it’s just the standard rate of football tickets in 2019, with some second tier sides charging £30 per game I felt this was just standard rate, so I am going to give cost a 3/5

Entertainment:

Opening day is always a cagey affair, with both sides wanting to get off to a good start and not show too much weakness ahead of a long campaign.

Aston Villa’s early lead made the game a much more entertaining prospect as it forced Tottenham’s hand to become more expressive and attacking which allowed Villa the opportunity for the occasional counter.

Despite being defensively solid for the majority of the game Villa were not afraid to attack Spurs when the opportunity arose, whilst Pochettino’s side also tested Tom Heaton on various occasions.

I saw many chances at each end, some great saves, some great last ditch challenges and four good goals so I am going to give entertainment a 4/5.

Food:

With a new stadium the architecture is often the main factor of the venue (for obvious reasons) yet Spurs offer the longest running single sporting bar in Europe as well as various food stands situated around the ground which are all sensibly priced and opened until 11pm on a Matchday.

The food was sensibly priced at £2.50 and was excellent value for money so I am going to give food a very impressive 4/5.

Facilities:

Wow, what can I say which hasn’t already been said by people before? It really is a truly elite sporting venue and as a Spurs fan I could not be more impressed or more in awe of the stadium. It represents the next step of Tottenham and truly highlights the clubs ever growing status in the footballing world whilst retaining the core values and sheer nostalgia that made White Hart Lane such a special and sentimental place.

With multiple food stands and bars that are open until 11pm on a Matchday allows fans to have the most enhanced Matchday experience whilst not tapping into the archetypal world of Modern Football.

Taking my spurs hat off for a second, I can honestly say that is a truly elite stadium and represents the strides made by Tottenham.

Facilities undoubtedly gets a 5/5.

Overall I will give the Tottenham Hotspur stadium a 19.5/25 taking it top of the leaderboards.

Groundhop: Portsmouth

| Harry Clark

After a hectic first few days of groundhopping which saw us go to 3 matches in 4 days together, this weekend we went our separate ways. Whilst Luke was travelling down to watch his beloved Tottenham, I was taking in a League One fixture between Portsmouth and Tranmere.

With my new job as an Opta Analyst, I would usually spend my time watching the Southampton youth teams but every now and then they need cover for a match. When they called me up to do the gig I immediately said yes as I had been to Fratton Park and was very impressed with what they had to offer.

My memories of the ground continued as a loud Fratton Park helped Kenny Jackett’s side run out 2-0 winners. A quite stupendous goal from Ben Close and a less emphatic finish from Tom Naylor sealed the win as Pompey recover from their opening day defeat to Shrewsbury.

Atmosphere:

Despite the supposed noise cancelling headphones I was wearing, I still managed to here the synonymous Play up Pompey chant ring around the stadium. They were singing throughout and ultimately helped their team get over the line and give that extra 10%.

The Tranmere fans less so. The fans were noisy at times throughout the games but not anything to write home about. They were literally silenced by the above mentioned delightful finish from Close which you have to catch on EFL on Quest at some point.

I am going to rate the atmosphere 3.5/5

Cost:

As I was working at the game I didn’t have to part way with any many, but for anyone else who’d want to visit the ground for a match the price for an adult ticket is £24. With that plus the train tickets, the price of the day out to the South Coast would be a tad under £50.

This is before thinking about getting a programme or some food, so £50 just to get into the stadium is a steep price to pay for League One football.

So for cost, I am going to rate Portsmouth 1.5/5

Entertainment:

Portsmouth are a team who I always see in and around the play offs recently, so I was expecting some goals on their part. Tranmere on the other hand, I wasn’t expecting much from. The newly promoted side did give it a go, as did their fans but they brought little entertainment to the match.

Portsmouth were quite the opposite. The style of football was clear. Get it to the dangerous full backs who’ll put in sumptuous crosses to the strikers. It didn’t quite materialise like that for much of the match so Close decided to unleash his strike which one Sky Sports Goal of the Day.

Hollywood actor Will Ferrell was also in attendance, and although I didn’t meet him to talk to, I thought I’d add it in anyway.

For entertainment I wil rate it a 3/5

Facilities:

The ground is a lovely old-fashioned stadium which was built all the way back in 1899. Obviously over the years they have replenished the seats/facilities but the sentiment of the old stadium lives on. The ground was sold out for this encounter and the place was literally bouncing at one point.

I was situated at the back of the main stand, which meant I had a slightly restricted view of the other stands surrounding me, and parts of the pitch which were blocked by poles holding up the stand. The ground from the outside is quite unique and if you want something different and some high-quality football then Fratton Park is your place to go.

The facilities I will rate 3/5

Food:

On the way from the train station to the ground I must have seen half a dozen burger or pie vans which all looked and smelled nice but as I was rushing for the train on the way back I had to politely decline, however I am sure if I went again I would try some of that food.

I did have some food during the day at the football. Once I entered the media centre I was given a programme and offered a sausage roll and/or a slice of cake. I took them up on their off for the sausage roll and I’m glad I did. There was also tea and coffee available but as I don’t drink either I didn’t take advantage of it.

For food I am going to rate Portsmouth a 4/5

Man of the Match:

You would think Ben Close has the Man of the Match award wrapped up for me, but no, there was another player that caught my eye. Lee Brown. The former Bristol Rovers full back was marauding down the left hand side and almost had a goal for himself, if the linesman didn’t flag him offside.

He put in cross after cross, many of which reaching their man. A criticism of any otherwise fantastic performance would be that he did overcook a fair few of this deliveries into the box, but with both Pitman and Marquis on, he seemed a lot more comfortable picking somebody out.

So what does this mean?

Well after adding the ratings together, Portsmouth score 15 which actually puts them bottom of the leaderboard. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and didn’t have any real complaints but the rating for the cost really let them down.

It does rank the joint highest for the food which is a positive and I do think if people go there, they will enjoy themselves but it does come in just below Bath and Yeovil.

Next up will be Luke’s review of the Spurs’ match against Aston Villa before I spend next weekend watching Premier League football myself with another trip to the South Coast at Portsmouth’s neighbours Southampton, as they take on European Champions, Liverpool.

Groundhop: Yeovil Town

| Luke Woodley Marshall

After a double header of Bath and Bristol City on the opening weekend, we started the new game-week with a trip to Huish Park to visit Harry’s beloved Yeovil Town in their first home game since their relegation from the football league last season.

Me and Harry hail from two contrasting ends of the footballing spectrum, whilst I’m preparing myself for a trip to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium this Saturday, my eyes were opened to the sight of Huish Park for the first time beforehand.

My first experience of Yeovil Town was a fortunate one, as The Glovers sealed a first home win since March as Courtney Duffus’ early strike gave the Glovers all three points over fellow promotion hopefuls Eastleigh.

Atmosphere:

After being condemned to a third relegation in just six seasons, the latest demotion would have been the most cutting for the Huish Park faithful as they drop into non-league.

It would not be surprising to see a decrease in attendance, yet last night over 2,800 supporters turned out to see Yeovil secure their first three points of their National League season.

The atmosphere before kick off and during the first 15 minutes was very loud and impressive however the noise died down as the first half grew older and didn’t pick up to the same level until around the 70th minute mark.

As Eastleigh began to throw more men forward and assert more pressure on Yeovil’s backline, the Huish park faithful grew in voices and got behind their team during the nervy closing stages of the game.

The atmosphere was impressive for the numbers in the ground but was very patchy in stages, for me I will rank this as a 3.5/5.

Cost:

The tickets came to a total cost of £10 each, and with a lift down from Harry’s dad our travel and matchday experience came to just £10.

Whilst this price could be found at some football league clubs, it has become the standard rate for a game at this level due to the inflation of ticket prices.

For me I will give Cost a 3/5.

Entertainment:

This was your classic early season promotion six-pointer, both teams not giving not too much away and adopting a somewhat pragmatic style of play.

The early goal allowed Yeovil to sit back and not take many risks, and with Eastleigh failing to create many clear goal scoring opportunities, action at either end of the pitch was few and far between.

The final 20 minutes of the half consisted of many nearly moments from an Eastleigh perspective and squeaky bum time for The Glovers.

For me due to the way the match played out I am going to give entertainment a 2.5/5.

Facilities:

As we travel to more and more football grounds, it becomes evidently clear that each division has contrasting facilities (obviously).

Huish Park is your archetypal League Two ground, the majority of the capacity is standing and is a compressed small ground.

However, I was a fan of Huish Park whilst it may not be the most glamorous nor biggest stadium it serves a purpose for the level its at. It’s the type of ground where locals can come down to the terraces and create atmosphere by bashing the back walls of the stand to get the team going.

For this I will give facilities a 2.5/5

Food:

Now, Harry isn’t the most optimistic fan of Yeovil Town and this trip came with many precautions from him and most notably the food. Whilst I took his precautions with a pinch of salt I have to say I should’ve listened when he said about the food.

Whilst being priced at £2.20 the sausage roll would seem like a bargain, it left me with a sour taste in my mouth (quite literally) and in spite of a good trip down to Huish Park,

I must say that the food scores a measly 2/5 for me.

Overall Yeovil scored a total of 13.5 points, putting them tied with Bath City, to see the leaderboard in all its glory you can find it by clicking the link here

Man of the match: In a game void of any real clear outstanding quality, it was hard to look past new Yeovil striker Rhys Murphy as man of the match.

Murphy was poached from Chelmsford City where he had netted 28 times last season, and whilst it was his striking partner Courtney Duffus who will steal the headlines with his winner, Murphy was the best player on the pitch for me.

He held the ball up very well as well as defending from the front, his creativity and passing was very good and just needed a goal to cap off an excellent home debut.

Next up is a trip to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium for the first time on Saturday for me, whilst Harry ventures up to Fratton Park.