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Match Review
Match Number: 524
Date: Saturday 12th April 2008
Kick-Off: 12:15pm
Match: Leeds United 3 Carlisle United
2
Competition: Coca-Cola Football League One
Stadium: Elland Road
Attendance: 28,230 (1,708)
Stadium Stats
No. of visits to stadium: 1
Total no. of stadiums visited: 95
Programme and Ticket
Photos
Review
Travel to match
Method of Travel: Car
Travelling time: 2hrs 45mins
A friend and I left Carlisle on the Friday to stay overnight to take in the Leeds Rhinos v Warrington Wolves super league match. Leaving at 1:35pm we travelled down the M6, A66, A1(M) arriving at our hotel in the city centre at 4:20pm. The traffic was heavy all the way and we were delayed by around 45 minutes on the A1(M) due to roadwork's.
From the city centre to Elland Road on the Saturday, finding the ground was easy and parking was available next to the away end at a cost of £5.00.
Pre-Match
On the Friday night we went to the rugby league at Headlingley which was
an excellent game, with the Rhinos running out easy winners in the end.
Due to the early kick-off there wasn't much time to do anything on the
Saturday, although we did go for breakfast and a look round the shops
before making the short trip to Elland Road. Arriving not long after 10:45am
I was surprised at how busy it was, with plenty of fans from both sides
wandering around.
Other than a walk around the ground and a visit to the chip shop behind the south stand (avoid if you can!) we didn't do anything as there was noting around the ground.
Stadium
Elland Road is obviously a fairly big stadium, but one which is extremely
run down (other than the East Stand). The atmosphere was good at times,
and although it is fairly traditional I wouldn't rate it any better than
Bramall Lane.
Admission
A ridiculous £25 was charged by Leeds United for this fixture- what
kind of future does football have when clubs charge this for a tier three
match? All 1,710 tickets were sold by Carlisle United in four hours so
I was very fortunate to get one. We were stuck in the corner and everyone
had a view blocks by the supporting pillars, although mine wasn't too
bad as I was near the back.
The leg room was poor and the facilities under the stand were dreadful, probably as bad as I've know anywhere.
Programme
£3.00 for 76 pages and it was a fairly decent read. However you
see how petty LUFC are when you see the following:
- Team line up has a player with number -15 called Football League
- Page 15 is number “-15”
- The league table has LUFC without there 15 point deduction
Food and Drink
With only one catering kiosk I was glad I had some chips outside the ground
(despite how poor they were) as the queue was large and didn't seem to
move very fast. There didn't appear to be any drink sold inside the stadium,
although this may not always be the case.
The Game
We lost the match 3-2 thanks to some poor defending. Leading 1-0 at half-time
we should have got at least a point, although we didn't deserve to take
all three. Leeds showed there quality and in the end they could have run
out winning by more goals. Our players are looking more tired and tired
every week and the end of the season can't come quicker. Should we not
get automatic promotion I worry that we will have the legs to get through
another two and possible three games.
Home Fans
Any league one side that gets 28,000 at home should be congratulated,
especially with such expensive ticket prices. The atmosphere wasn't as
good as I expected and the locals surrounding the away corner were more
interested in us than watching the match.
The one thing I really didn't like was seeing men and women of all ages with kids making gestures towards us. Perhaps they are proud they are teaching their kids should an awful attitude, but I was embarrassed for them. Obviously all clubs have supported like this (we have a fair few idiots of our own), but I've never known a club have so many than Leeds United. They were the same when I seen them at Sunderland a few years back, and at Brunton Park earlier in the season.
Away Fans
The club really messed up by only taking 1,700 or so tickets as we could
have sold 4,000 if we had been given them. The atmosphere was ok but was
quieter than usual and thankfully most seemed to be well behaved.
Stewards / Police
The police were excellent- in the city centre they were there in large
numbers (together with horses) but only walking round in one's and two's
so not to look overwhelming. They were helpful around the ground and even
wished us well on the way out of the ground which very rarely happens.
The stewards seemed ok, but some fans have reported after the game that
they wouldn't do anything about the bottles which were thrown in the away
section.
The Ref
The referee was ok at best.
The Journey Home
Travelling time: 1hr 55mins
Getting away from the ground was easy and took next to no time. We were just about last out of the ground so the car park had cleared bar a few other cars, and we were straight onto the M621 at 2:30pm. Heading up the A1 we stopped at Leeming Bar at 3:10pm for 35 minutes and were home at 5:00pm.
Statistics
Travel: £17.00
Ticket: £25.00
Programme: £3.00
Total: £45.00
Mileage: 256 miles
Travelling time: 4hrs 40mins
Stadium character: 6/10
Facilities: 3/10
View of pitch: 6/10
Atmosphere home fans: 5/10
Atmosphere away fans: 6/10
Match Rating: 8/10
Wish to go back to stadium: 2/10
Photos
