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Match Review
Match Number: 583
Date: Saturday 1st August 2009
Kick-Off: 3:00pm
Match: Bradford City 3 Carlisle United 3
Competition: Pre-season Friendly
Stadium: Valley Parade
Attendance: 1,163 (172)
Stadium Stats
No. of visits to stadium: 1
Total no. of stadiums visited: 106
Programme and Ticket
No ticket stub given on entrance.
Photos
Review
Travel to match
Method of Travel: Car
Travelling time: 2hrs 55mins
Travelling on the supporters bus we left Brunton Park at 10.05am picking up at Penrith as normal then headed to Scotch Corner and down to Bradford via the A66, A1(M), M1, M62, M606, A1677 and A650. It seemed an odd route to take rather than down to M6 and cutting accross via Skipton but we still arrived at 1:00pm.
Coming in this way took you past the floodlights of Odsal and you could see Valley Parade for miles in the distance which was impressive to say the least.
Pre-Match
With plenty of time until kick-off I had a good wander around the ground
and took plenty of photos (see below), headed into the club shop and chatted
with some lads who travelled seperately.
Stadium
This is a stadium I've been looking forward to visiting for years and
it didn't let me down one bit. I love the two huge stands that sit high
above the others, and the rest of the city. I love the road that run behind
the main stand which drops down behind the former away end. This is a
superb stadium, and one that is fitting for Championship football at least.
Admission
It was £10 to sit in the away end which is now the Midland Road.
I sat in block F, row U and seat 163 for those who want to match that
up with my photos. It is a great place to watch the game from, and in
a league fixture with a bigger following that we had it will easily create
a good atmosphere.
Programme
£1.00 for 8 pages which had quite a bit of reading in.
Food and Drink
I took my own food so didn't sample any from the stadium. The pies that
are bought before we leave Carlisle are a good addition!
The Game
It was a half decent game finishing in a fair draw but we were poor through
out and it does look like we are going to struggle this season. We cannot
keep clean sheets and we are very limited going forward.
Home Fans
The Bradford fans were quiet as you'd expecting for such a fixture although
the fans in the away end had to laugh when 9 young lads (11-15 years old
perhaps) came into our end during the second half and tried to have a
go at some of our fans. They were promtly thrown out although most wanted
them to stay as they were more entertaining than what was going on in
the pitch during the second half.
Away Fans
We had 172 fans there which I suppose is good for a friendly. To compare
Bradford brough up 252 fans for a league cup tie at Brunton Park three
years ago.
Stewards / Police
The stewards were very friendly although I was told I couldn't take photos
and that the FA are really clamping down this season on supporters taking
picutres.
The Ref
There were a few bad tackles early on that he let go (for both sides)
but other than that he was ok.
The Journey Home
Travelling time: 2hrs 35mins
Leaving at 5:00pm we travelled back via Skipton (A650, A629, A65, M6) arriving home at 7:35pm. It certainly seemed a quicker route than going via Scotch Corner despite being held up in slow traffic coming out of the city.
Statistics
Travel: £13.00
Ticket: £10.00
Programme: £1.00
Total: £24.00
Mileage: 225
Travelling time: 5hrs 30mins
Stadium character: 9/10
Facilities: 8/10
View of pitch: 9/10
Atmosphere home fans: 2/10
Atmosphere away fans: 2/10
Match Rating: 8/10
Wish to go back to stadium: 10/10
Photos
