What makes a good/bad/great away day, no matter what division you watch your football in?
Is it about the entire day, from the distance that you have to travel and the difficulty of getting there, to the town or city itself, or the ground itself or its immediate environs, and even the cost of a pint.
From grounds that were built with the Premier League in mind to those built for non league clubs who’ve grown since, all life is here.
Darren Stobbs reveals all about his awayday at Gillingham
Time left Bristol and time arrived at Gillingham?
We left The Mem at 8:25am, stopping at Cobham services and arriving at Gillingham for 1:05pm. After maintenance work between junction 10 and 11 we had to take a diversion which added time to our busy journey.
Distance from Gillingham Centre / Train Station?
The railway station is only 1/2 a mile from the ground and the high street/town centre is within 1 mile of Priestfield Stadium.
When was the ground opened and what are the plans for the future of the ground?
The Priestfield Stadium opened in 1893 (when Gillingham Football Club was formed). The capacity is 11,582. When Brighton were in financial difficulty in the 1990’s, they left the Goldstone Ground to ground-share with Gillingham for 2 seasons. The Gills have no immediate plans to alter their stadium, although £3 million pounds have been allocated by the local council for “improvements and modernisation”
What options were there for pubs around the ground?
The Fleur De Lis pub is under a 10 minute walk from the stadium. It was much busier than last seasons visit, but the staff were friendly and very quick to serve. It’s a bit if a ‘rough and ready’ pub! However, it serves a cheap pint, being £3.60p for cider, no real ales were on offer. The term ‘wiping your feet after leaving’ is often heard, and could well be used in this instance! The carpet has certainly seen better days!
What did I think of the food and drink available inside the ground?
Pukka seem to have a large presence at football grounds nowadays and here was no different. Although, the Gillingham catering staff knew how to cook them properly, unlike some other grounds. A reasonable price of £4.80p. Alcohol was also available in the away end.
What did I think of the away end and my view of the game?
In recent seasons the Gordon Road stand on the side if the stadium is made available to away fans. A good noise can be made here with decent view lines of the action. With a low roof echoing down the noise, ringing your ears! My first ever visit to Priestfield Stadium was an FA Cup match many years ago, when the ‘temporary’ large seated stand behind the goal was an open terrace.
What was the atmosphere like during the match?
The atmosphere was one of an optimistic mood before the match, to put behind us the disappointment of Grimsby away last week. This was replaced with a lot of frustrated fans in the away end, with some choice words being used.
How friendly were the home fans?
Myself and Martin got talking to a couple of friendly Gillingham fans at Cobham services. They didn’t hold out much hope with their main striker apparently unavailable for selection. We mentioned that we were also without Tommy Leigh. They also mentioned that after watching us on TV against Grimsby last week, they hoped we would play much the same (they weren’t to be wrong). After the match, many Gillingham fans felt the need to let the Rovers fans what they thought. I guess we have to expect this with being the biggest team in the league, and one of the favourites to go up.
What allocation is given and can this be increased, and how many Rovers fans were there?
The Gordan Road stand holds 2,600 and typically half of this is allocated to away supporters. If demand requires it, the uncovered Brian Moore Stand can be made available. This holds 3,400 seats. However in the past couple of seasons, the top half of the stand has been covered with advertising nettings. A decent number of 634 Gasheads attended, and Gillingham fans showed their appreciation of this.
The Match:
This was a poor performance, especially in the second half. It seemed like a continuation of where we left off at Grimsby last week. The first half was quite even but lacked quality from both sides. Gillingham took the lead when a poor attempted header away by Shaq Forde was then picked up and a low shot on the edge of the box found the bottom corner. The second goal was a low cross from the right and a neat volley into the same corner. Just as time added on was upon us, it was 3-0, when a certain foul on Tom James was ignored and then a low cross was tapped in. There were very few chances for Rovers.
ATT: 5,947.
Having had a total of 52 shots against Crawley and Colchester, followed by 12 v Rotherham, we have only managed 11 shots in the last two league matches.
Man of the match:
Aitchison was my man of the match for Rovers. With a number of poor performances around him, Jack had a decent game keeping possession and passing around well.
The Referee:
Awful. I know it’s easy for football fans to say that after a defeat, especially in the manner of our own. However, he simply got so much wrong, including a foul on Tom James in the build up to Gillingham’s third goal. Even the Gillingham players stopped expecting a foul to be given. Booking our own players for fouls that Grimsby were similarly getting away with. Also the blatent fouling on our strikers, notably the constant shirt pulling.
Stewards/ground staff:
They were friendly enough, although is was quite a comical scene outside the turnstiles.
No food or drink was allowed to be taken into the stadium, and allegedly not letting people have this for medical reasons. Children having their sweets taken off them (and adults!).
A table with an interesting pile of rolls/sandwiches, biscuits, sweets etc was accumulating. I had to eat my half time orange before entering, although they weren’t to discover the chocolate bar! The stewards were in fairness a little embarrassed by the situation and only ‘following rules’. After the match, the items were left for collection on the table!
How easy did we find it to get away from the stadium after the game/what time did we get back home?
We left Gillingham at 5:05pm and stopped for 30 mins at Membury, deciding to go home via the M3, A303, A34 to rejoin the M4 ahead of Reading. Then getting back to the first drop off at Kingswood for 9:10pm.
How much did I spend in total on this away day?/ Was it good value for money?
The total for this away game set me back by £73. Probably about average, although drinks at the local pub were certainly a lot cheaper than other games. I was struggling to think of anywhere cheaper, in recent seasons.
Would I recommend this away day to other fans?
Yes, Gillingham is a good away day (despite the result on this occasion). Also, away fans are now under cover and in general we were very welcomed.
