2 August 2009 My adventures following Carlisle United Last Season!!!
In the future we are due to have a look into access to leisure and sport facilities well over the past year or so I have been compiling information on Football and Rugby Stadiums up and down the country. But this blog is about me and some of my travels to away matches supporting my local team Carlisle United.
We were near the foot of the table with several games to go so they were all must win games against Huddersfield, Leicester and Cheltenham.
First Huddersfield Towns Galpharm stadium is a fairly impressive looking stadium however there was one problem to get to the away end I had to climb a mountain of stairs to get there after I had went to the pub. Getting to and from my seat was also an issue due to a lack of banisters so I had trouble going to the loo during the game otherwise I felt the stadium looked to have good facilities and car parking was good to plenty of spaces near the entrance to the visiting end. However the result was terrible the team didn’t even show up and we got beat off a team who were mid table and not even trying, Huddersfields legendary striker Andy Booth scored with a header mid way through the second half. So it was a quite a quiet bus journey home for the near 1000 fans who made the journey down there.
Next up Leicester City who of course used to be a premier league team who have a brand spanking new stadium called the Walkers Stadium. However there was quite a farcical situation when they forced us to pull our buses into a service station out side Leicester 2 hours or so before kick off, me and my cousin and a few of our pals got a taxi to the stadium which was an issue as it was extremely difficult to get into and get out of but anyways we got to the stadium but because of all the upheaval and transport I was walking a bit dodgy which of course predictably caused me to fall over and badly graze my knee (its permanently scared now) my knee was bleeding quite badly but we got into a hotel next door for a drink. Anyways after that I got in the stadium then I had to negotiate a lot of stairs to get to my seat which wouldn’t be bad but no banisters were about I was knackered when I got to my seat as for league 1 standards it’s a huge stadium. As they were running away with the title we weren’t expected to get a result but a superb first half performance from our Goalkeeper Ben Williams and or Striker Michael Bridges scoring a stunning lob we were 1 nil up at half time however true to form we pressed the self district and ended up 2 -1 down but in the very last minute a cross from the left met Scottish International Scott Dobie’s head for him to head and home 1000 Cumbrians went absolutely crazy. We went home happy that day apart from the bad knee which ruined my jeans but we got a superb result when we were expected to get hammered.
Finally second last game of the season was against Cheltenham Town who were all most relegated. They play at Waddon Road and have a small modest stadium which I find really friendly. However due to the importance of the game both teams ideally needed a win we had to again be dropped off far from the ground at Cheltenham race course. So again a taxi came and dropped us off at a local pub near the stadium. It was a pleasant walk not to hard on me and when we got to the stadium I felt I had no trouble negotiating the couple steps to the stand and as we got there bit late we sat on the front row. There were also banisters for use to all seats in the stand which impressed me the other times I have been here. Anyways things looked good in the match we took the lead early on from former Ireland International Ian Harte struck an absolute stunning free kick in the top corner the crowd went crazy just a shame I got knocked flying by someone during the mêlée I was ok though as we had just scored in a must win game. Shame I didn’t last as towards the end of the game we had our Left Back Evan Horwood sent off then star striker Michael Bridges hand balled in the area and got sent off DIallo scored the subsequent penalty. We had one last chance when down to 9 men when Danny Graham had missed a one on one with the goal keeper. Anyways the draw was enough to give us a chance to stay up on the last day so it was still a decent result.
Anyways the rest is history we beat Millwall 2-0 to stay up on the last day. But as you can see even the big supposed impressive stadiums aren’t what they are cracked up to be and that modest little Cheltenham Town from an ambulant point of view was a lot better. It’s a big commitment for me to do this as much as I do mainly due to the distances involved from Carlisle being so remote and sitting on a bus for several hours isn’t the best thing for me to do.
But I hope this campaign we will do in the future can improve things for spectators of sport with disabilities and also get the authorities to sort out some of the dire things I have had to put up with on my journeys to and from the match.
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