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Match Review
Match Number: 529
Date: Saturday 26th April 2008
Kick-Off: 3:00pm
Match: Millwall 3 Carlisle United 0
Competition: Coca-Cola Football League One
Stadium: The Den
Attendance: 10,075 (1,174)
Stadium Stats
No. of visits to stadium: 1
Total no. of stadiums visited: 96
Programme and Ticket
Photos
Review
Travel to match
Method of Travel: Bus
Travelling time: 5hrs 40mins
It was an early start after a 4:45am alarm call, as we were leaving at 6am. We stopped at Grantham for 20 minutes at 9:30am where there were plenty of Newcastle United and Ipswich Town fans heading to their games. The trip down to London though seemed to go fairly quickly and there were no hold up's due to traffic or accidents and we arrived in the Blackheath area at 12 pm. We travelled using the M6, A66, A1(M), A14, M11, A12, A102 and A2.
Pre-Match
We had to stop at The Prince of Wales pub in Blackheath where we would then get a police escort to the ground however the police had to give the Newcastle United fans an escort to West Ham instead. We enjoyed the sun on one of the warmest days of the year so far as did the locals who were sitting out on the park opposite. We left at 1:45pm hitting very busy traffic, finally arriving at the ground at 2:20pm.
Stadium
For a new stadium I actually like The Den- the leg room was great and it feels like a proper football ground though this is probably more to do with the area in belongs to and the history of their fans. The two tiers add a bit more character
Admission
The game (for some unknown reason) was all ticket for Carlisle fans therefore we had to buy them from Brunton Park a few weeks earlier. Costing £20.00 the view was superb, probably the best in the league and leg room was excellent. The concourse was small and crowded despite the small crowd (for the size of the stand) although the facilities were ok.
Programme
£3.00 for 76 pages and although it has a good design there was nothing really in there to interest visiting fans.
Food and Drink
I didn't buy anything inside the stadium as I had lots of supplies left over from my packed-lunch.
The Game
We carried on the way we have been playing recently- in other words garbage! We were terrible and it could have been much more than the three goals. The players are still showing a lack of fitness, fight and passion and there is no chance we'll go up now. The club should have strengthened while we had a chance as we were desperate due to the small squad and the injuries and suspensions we have now faced.
Home Fans
Until Millwall opened the scoring their fans were quiet but after that at times they were very loud. When they scored it was much louder than the near 30,000 at Elland Road a few weeks earlier and you can see why it will be an intimidating place to visit. There were plenty of fans either side of us who spent more time looking over and abusing us than watching the game or getting behind their team and you think that they are only trying to keep up the reputation that has gone before them. How sad that you can't go to a game of football without putting up with constant abuse- it is something which you don't put up with at rugby league or even going to the darts, and it is really starting to put me off football.
Away Fans
The atmosphere from the 1,174 CUFC fans were probably better before the match than during, but after seeing the rubbish served up by the players I don't think you could blame us.
Stewards / Police
The police were there in big numbers but didn't have much to do really, as other than hand gesturing I don't think there was any trouble all day. The stewards inside the ground were quiet and didn't bother any of our fans.
The Ref
Fine.
The Journey Home
Traveling time: 6hrs 40mins
We weren't allowed to leave the locked area behind the away end until 5:25pm and we hit traffic straight away. The police escort was a waste of time and it took well over an hour to travel only a few miles. We were entertained by the friendly locals constantly putting their fingers up and making other hand gestures, most of which were probably no-where near the match in the first place. Sadly those on our bus were no more mature however. We also stopped the George Galloway bus tour!
Again stopping at Grantham for 25 minutes at 8:40pm where this time there were also Crystal Palace fans on the way back from Hull City together with more Newcastle United and Ipswich Town fans. The long day was finally over at 12:30am, some 19 hours after stepping out of the house to set off.
Statistics
Travel: £20.00
Ticket: £20.00
Programme: £3.00
Total: £43.00
Mileage: 624 miles
Travelling time: 12hrs 20mins
Stadium character: 5/10
Facilities: 7/10
View of pitch: 9/10
Atmosphere home fans: 6/10
Atmosphere away fans: 4/10
Match Rating: 4/10
Wish to go back to stadium: 2/10
Photos
