Welcome to the “Tour Of The 72” series, where I attempt to visit every EFL ground to find the greatest football experience there is to offer and rate each ground on five different factors: Pricing, Atmosphere & Quality of the game, Food, Facilities and overall experience of the matchday.
This edition took me to the Broadfield Stadium, home of Crawley Town, to watch their Boxing Day fixture against Colchester United in League Two.
Here is how I rated each factor!
Pricing & Ticketing: 8/10
My ticket for entry to the terrace behind the away end for an afternoon of festive football set me back merely ten pounds, thanks to generous concession pricing, impacting a wider band of ages, with youth tickets being extended to twenty-years-old and older concessions reduced to sixty-years-old.
Otherwise, a matchday ticket for a bog-standard adult is still only twenty pounds, marginally below the League Two price average.
Analysing the pricing throughout the stadium, it fluctuates depending on which stand you choose.
As seen on the club’s website, prices are couple of pounds steeper within the slightly more restricted view areas, despite the partially blocked views due to pillars, alongside the East Stand, which I believe is the family stand.
Unlike quite a few recent groundhops, there were no issues utilising their ticketing website, and buying tickets on the day seemed relatively easy.
Additionally, Crawley contrast their League Two rivals by continuing to produce a matchday programme, albeit in a slightly different manner.
The supporter’s association of Crawley are the writers and manufacturers of these programmes, which span a couple of games at a time, rather than per matchday which I personally find an incredibly classy thing, and for just two pounds, I’m certainly not complaining.
Atmosphere 3.5/10
Things don’t seem particularly positive for Crawley at the minute, with their uninspiring form (without a win since the 8th of November) dragging them towards the foot of the table.
Furthermore, it was evident before kick-off that spirits weren’t too high as a few overheard conversations in the supporter’s bar seemed to not have high hopes for them to pick up a result.
Perhaps a slightly slanted view from me, as I was a part of the away end, however the home atmosphere maintained a relatively flat nature.
This is potentially influenced by their abysmal run of form or alternatively as a result of a minimal dip in attendance figures since their relegation back to League Two following their year-long spell in League One.
A group of around fifty supporters tried to get the atmosphere in full flow; however, their efforts fell short, certainly compared to previous visits to the Broadfield Stadium from my anecdotal experiences.
From the seating area, it was apparent that someone had an item capable of generating a modest amount of sound, presumably a drum, helping to rally some noise, but not enough to match previous atmospheres.
As always, I enjoy commenting on the pre-match playlist utilised, and Crawley had some decent tunes on offer, coming from some decent speakers, albeit perhaps a tad on the quiet side.
Food 8/10
Fortunately for Crawley, this category is where things begin to go uphill once again, as thankfully, the food certainly was most certainly up to scratch in my opinion.
Outside the ground, the selections weren’t exceptional (nevertheless expected for one of the EFL’s smallest grounds), with only a classic burger van outside the bar, but I’m always basing a large percentage of my score on what’s inside.
Options weren’t particularly plentiful inside the stadium, with only two varieties of pies on offer (steak and ale plus chicken Balti), sausage rolls and portions of chips available to choose from, although in contrast the drink selection from the fridge was plentiful.
Since I was travelling with some mates, I can get feedback on every single item for once, so here goes!
The Steak and ale pie was commendable; in the top tiers of pies, that I’ve consumed at the football (trust me I am a connoisseur in this field), alongside the chicken Balti, solid filling, solid pastry and solid pricing at £4.25.
Meanwhile, the sausage roll was supposedly “pretty average” according to my reliable informant and the chips were “fairly standard for a football stadium”, so good news for Crawley, no bad reviews!
Furthermore, I must give credit to the staff behind the counter, they were absolutely rapid considering there was only two of them dealing with 800 away supporters (or at least there were only two during my two visits to the counter).
Facilities 7.5/10
Obviously, a ground with a capacity of around 6,000 won’t have exceptional facilities, although nevertheless cater sufficiently for the aver attendance.
Since my previous visit a couple of years ago, the club has developed a designated “away fanzone”, with the site featuring a few benches and a small hut, providing a bar and a restricted range of non-heated food.
Alongside this, a large indoor bar, within which supporters of either side can congregate, with an extensive selection of beers obtainable, whilst many Tv screens were displaying live sports.
Surrounding the ground, there is undoubtably a plethora of areas to park your car, including a few retail complexes, leisure centres and office blocks, who likely make a pretty penny on a matchday.
Although chain restaurants that usually surround stadiums aren’t particularly present, as a majority of the local area is housing estates.
Whilst on the hunt for a matchday programme, I stumbled into the club shop, which was reasonably small and didn’t display that it was open.
However, overall, my main summary is that it does the job for one of the EFL’s smaller grounds.
Overall Experience: 6.5/10
Putting bias aside towards the result, the game itself was arguably quite a painful watch for a neutral, with consistent stoppages breaking up whatever momentum either side could gather, as neither side went home with particularly positive feelings towards the referee.
Both sides looked particularly sloppy on the attack, with Colchester’s usually reliable pacey frontline seeming out of ideas by mid-way through the second half, whilst similarly amongst Crawley’s ranks.
The attacking play wasn’t free flowing, although they will be kicking themselves after missing three consecutive close-range chances, with Ryan Loft somehow firing wide on the volley despite an open net in front of him!
Certainly not the Boxing Day thriller everyone anticipated, Crawley Town were forced to continue their long awaited next three-points in League Two, but will probably take a point against one of League Two’s most in-form sides, additionally considering they only named six substitutes, and were without an out-and-out defender or goalkeeper amongst the bench.
Overall, it wasn’t a Christmas cracker, but a decent day out of League Two football, no complaints whatsoever (other than towards the referee, I still dislike you Alan Young).
Final Score: Crawley Town 1-1 Colchester United
Goals – R. Brown (13’): K. Lisbie (20’)
Lineups:
Crawley Town:
H. Davies, J. Flint, C. Barker, D. Conroy, H. Forster (A. Adeyemo 70’), G. Bajrami (G. Holohan 60’), J. Roles (H. McKirdy 60’), R. Brown (K. Tshimanga 70’), J. Williams, D. Pereira (L. Watson 85’), R. Loft
Colchester United:
M. Macey, E. Iandolo, J. Tucker, H. Araujo, K. Vincent-Young, A. Read, T. Bishop (R. Hunt 76’), H. Anderson, K. Lisbie (O. Edwards 76’), S. Tovide (J. Payne 56’), M. Mbick (W. Goodwin 76’)
Attendance: 3,993 (796 away)
