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Yeovil has been my favourite away trip for over a decade now. Also enjoyed West Ham away.
Quote from: Jenny on September 29, 2013, 09:48:58 pmYeovil has been my favourite away trip for over a decade now. Also enjoyed West Ham away.REALLY??? The ground is a shithole, miles from the town centre, which is itself miles from civilisation. The train station is miles from the ground, we always lose there and the terrace is uncovered.
Difficult one this, as far as experiences go beyond the result alone.I recall a FA Cup tie away at Chester's old ground in the early 80s - my dad sat in the stand and let me go on the terrace alone (I would have been 12/13 maybe?). It was a crap game, we lost 3-1 ish, and even then I think we were held back in the terrace a while after the game. My main memory of that game, is after the final whistle, the locked in DRFC supporters chanting the "beer, beer, we want more beer" chant. This was being belted out amongst others by a blind supporter, which I remember vividly. I was delighted to recognise the same blind supporter at the KM this season, some 30 years on.But, back to the point, does Wembley 25 May 2008 count as "away"?
For me, it's all about the visceral nature of the experience. For that reason, sanitised mono-bowls in faceless, Anericanesque retail parks on bright, breezy afternoons (and yes, sadly, that means the KMS) is the very antithesis of the true football experience. It needs to be a night match. Urban/industrial location. In the daytime, a football ground is nothing special. People go there, rather than to the shopping centre because they rationally choose to. But at night, the football ground is the ONLY place. Glowing and glowering above the adumbral world below. Drawing people to it. To where the experience is. The stadium has to be chaotic. Jarring, clashing architectural styles, each reflecting its own historical context. None of the soulless uniformity that is de-rigeur today. (Modern football architects deserve their own special circle of hell for the featureless obscenities they have foisted upon us.) Ideally, the away end should be cramped, uncomfortable, intimidating. You are not there to be entertained. You are there to see your team fight against the odds whilst nominally stronger opponents, with thousands of home fans roaring them on, try to destroy you. You need to share the claustrophobic, nowhere-to-run-so-we-make-our-stand-here experience that the players are going through. The crespuscular, febrile feel of a night match in a traditional, city centre stadium, against bigger opponents is what makes football for me. I've surprised myself by realising that my consistently favourite experience in recent years has been going to Bramall Lane.