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Impressions on my first visit to the COSS

Since I was in town I decided it’d be rude not to head down and have a look at the [more or less] finished article, especially since I can’t make the open day on the 27th. Managed to get a little closer than I expected [technically trespassing as I was later to be told].

Arrived via the flyover and I have to say there can’t be another stadium in the UK which has such an impressive approach. It was good to see there is finally something resembling a sign up facing the motorway, but why it isn’t something larger and more obvious I don’t know. The rumour was that they couldn’t get planning permission for it but that just sounds like bollocks [if you can get permission for the stadium a sign isn’t going to be a problem is it?] and it’s not like it would be expensive by comparison to the whole development.

I jumped out at the front entrance just off Liverpool Way and was surprised to find that there’s a public walkway around the site. First impression up close is that looks very professional and certainly projects the right image from this angle. The red club crests look particularly good and I like the general colour scheme. It’s certainly more impressive than when you approach the main stand at the DW Stadium or Halliwell Jones. I couldn’t help but feel though that getting to the stadium this way makes it feel very isolated coming from the rest of Salford, it pretty much feels like an out of town stadium even though it isn’t really if you look at where the nearest communities are.

The public walkway led me straight on to the car park and after a quick chat with the onsite security I was able to snap a few photos on the proviso I didn’t go inside the stadium itself. I managed to stick my head through the turnstile [which seem to be very similar to the public toilet turnstiles you get in major train stations … slightly worrying given the stories that free entry was rife at The Willows] at the North West corner to get a glimpse inside. The in goal area seems to be quite big which is possibly linked to Sale moving in. Compared to my impressions of the West Stand (main) and certainly versus The Shed or North Stand at The Willows I think the terracing seems very shallow - I could only count about twelve rows of terracing as well - which suggests to me the viewing angles from here will be very poor, especially for those of us who resided towards the back of The Shed. Willows End Reds will probably be at home though. The tunnel under the stand didn’t look to have been fully fitted out yet judging by some of the debris but what I could see suggested it’d be pretty drab like underneath the HJ or DW. No sign of anything resembling the famous player displays that Saints have added at their new place, but there’s time yet I suppose [not that I think for a second anything like that will actually be added]. Also the terracing doesn’t go as far back as the stand structure itself does as can be some on some of the photos released last week officially. Essentially the tunnel underneath is in fact behind rather than under the terracing. I can only imagine this is something to do with facilitating the Phase II or III building work [as if].

I couldn’t see through the glass in to the Club Shop or Ticket area so nothing to report there. The South West corner is pretty much the same as the North West corner except you’ve got the pitches down there with by the look of it the changing facilities for these being behind the South Stand.

I walked away with the feeling that the place does inspire a certain amount of civic pride as a Salfordian but still feels underwhelming as a Salford RLFC fan. I think the design of the stadium itself could turn out to be a real negative. It hasn’t been mentioned so far but for me being able to walk all the way around The Willows was a huge part of the matchday experience - how many of us would go to see mates or relatives in other parts of the ground at half time or even just watch from a different spot now and again? I couldn’t see whether or not there is a tunnel running under the West Stand suggesting access around the stadium once inside, but if that doesn’t exist then I think it will really detract from matchdays. Add to this the fact that there will almost certainly not be any sort of supporters bar onsite and you have to wonder how this place will ever truly feel like home. I couldn’t and still can’t shake the feeling that going to COSS is ultimately not going to feel any different on an emotional level to going to the cinema. Perhaps this is the point when we stop being fans and start being customers. The fact there hasn’t been any consultation with the fans throughout the entire design and building of the current version of the stadium doesn’t really encourage me.

Crystal Palace vs Derby County

Friday 2nd December 2011. 1-1.

Match report and highlights.

Third trip to a neutral London game for 2011, this time down to Selhurst Park. Coming two days after Palace beat us in the Carling Cup the timing was a bit ironic on my part and Palace didn’t seem to want to allow me to forget the fact throughout the evening.

A cheeky beer and a quick scran in Shoreditch after work and it was on the train (or Overground as it seems to be called in London) for the half hour journey down to Norwood Junction.

Selhurst Park sits in the middle of a residential area, half way up a hill and if you approach it from the right angle it looks like it’s in a natural bowl. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been to a night match and the beckoning glow of the floodlights at night is something I’ve missed.

The place lacks the theme park feel of a major stadium (yes Old Trafford, I mean you) although that’s not to say it lacks the same level of muppetry amongst a small section of the local fans as you get at OT, as evidenced by the homemade “Palace 2 Utd 1 - Up Yours Fergie” t-shirt being sported by one middle age muppet.

Having taken advice from my Palace supporting Boss, I’d parted with £30 for a ticket in “The Gallery” which essentially is the front three rows of the second tier at one end. In to the ground and up the stairs to the supporters bar and I was really starting to like the place. It feels like a football stadium should. The supporters bar was decent - we were even trusted with glass pint pots - and I can imagine it’s the sort of set up they have in NFL stadiums in the US.

The game itself was quite open and it was good to finally see a couple of goals on our travels, as our first two neutral games had been nil-nil affairs. The Holmesdale Fanatics, the resident Ultras group, made a good fist of creating an atmosphere in a more or less half empty stadium and I was quite impressed at how tolerant the club and stewards obviously are of them. I could even tolerate their anti-United chants. Whilst feeling slightly stung at parting with £30 for Championship football, the view was decent and almost certainly a lot more comfortable than that in the wooden (!) seats in the decrepit stands that run along either side of the pitch.

The night was finished off with a few beers in a boozer near Waterloo and a good go on the quiz machine. Best question of the night:

Which one of these books did not have a happy ending?

[A] …

[B] …

[C] Anne Frank’s Diary.

I’ll write up QPR vs Derby and Barnet vs Accrington Stanley when I can be arsed.