Bristol Rovers 1-1 Scunthorpe United, Saturday 24th February 2018

Bristol Rovers 1-1 Scunthorpe United (att. 8,346)

Welcome to ....

I love this stadium! Whilst the Memorial Ground, Bristol, is #90 of the 92, the wait was well worthwhile. What a crazy ground! A former rugby ground (the gates are still emblazoned ‘Bristol Rugby’) it has more stands than any I’ve seen since the demise of the Manor Ground, Oxford. How ironic that Oxford United these days play in a 3-sided stadium.

The Optimum Drywall Systems Stand.  Probably.

The Memorial is a belter. I got a bus up the Gloucester Road from the city centre (#70 something) and you enter through the gates into the stadium compound, behind the North Stand. Ticket offices right in front, a handy price list for each part of the stadium, bang on. But no, I can’t have a seat in the East or West Stands, sold out. That’s ok. Rovers have several terraces. Do I go behind the goal with the hardcore, beside the East Stand…or maybe go in the away end. No, not the latter. I’m sure I read you can’t get a beer in the away end, and, for once, I may fancy one, since pre-match was spent wandering around shops (shops!) looking for a birthday present or 3. There can’t be many of us here today with a flower-pressing kit in one’s bag.

Take yer pick.  But why are away fans charged more to stand?

Luckily, I didn’t choose a ticket on the West terrace either. This was a family stand, and without any kids in tow, a single gentleman of a certain age may leave himself open to interpretation. East Terrace it was. Plenty of space (hardly a sellout on the terraces, though busy enough). Also, my 1st ever experience of a flat white in a football stadium. I’d been craving one for a couple of hours, though I wasn’t prepared to lower my stance by infiltrating a passing Starbucks. £3 or the price of an 88 page programme. Twas nice tho. Just the thing to wash down a Cornish pasty.

The East Stand towers.

Half time came, save for watching 45 minutes of men trying to control a ball on a bobbly pitch. The rugger buggers may have left, but the pitch still played otherwise. The grass looked barely cut, there were marks all over and the ball bounced at funny angles. Did the groundsman not get the note about it being football this week? (Before I have his family on my case, it could well be two things; Rovers may have requested a dreadful pitch in an effort to give themselves a chance against a far better footballing side in Scunny, or little can be done, a la Newport’s mudbath.)

The teams line up in front of the West Stand.

I went for a wander. I wondered why no-one had a beer and I presumed it was cos our terrace was in view of the pitch. But no, sneak behind the East Stand and a small doorway leads into their social club. Ahhh, bliss, on a chilly day. Half a cider and scores on the telly (the Super Reds are winning two-nil at Brum). I know, I should have had a pint, but I was pushed for time as I’d just had a cheeky climb up the East Stand to check out the view (amazing – inc. most of Bristol!) and had a chat with the steward about why the rugby team now plays at Ashton Gate. I bet their fans aren’t impressed, swapping the homely and characterful Memorial for whatever Ashton Gate purports to be these days. Certainly neither characterful nor homely.

The South Stand (with County Cricket club floodlights behind).

The East Stand is a tall affair which dominates the stadium, despite being only spanning around half of each side of the pitch. Opposite, is a smart modern stand with a terraced paddock, a ‘shelf’ of seats and executive facilities upstairs. I understand why folk think it looks more in place at rugby or cricket, the small arch and underhanging TV gantry giving it an unusual look. Again, this stand doesn’t reach much more than half the pitch and what surely is a temporary stand has been tacked on at the southern end, with the covered family terrace flanking the other side. The South Stand is a small stand with a propped roof which manages to look like a circus tent, coloured in the blue and white stripes of Rovers. Seated away fans share this stand and on rainier days this might be a good idea, as those stood in the open on the southern side of the East Stand leave themselves at the mercy of the elements. Finally, there’s the Thatcher’s (Cider) North Terrace, which, although sizeable in modern parlance, was a good way from the goalline, to allow for Rovers’ conversions following their tries.

The Family Enclosure...a ballboy waits.

Anyway, due to only having a half, I was out in time to see kick off. And what’s this? I’d forgotten all about Scunny having a Barnsley loanee, Cameron McGeehan, in their squad. Bought for a sizeable wad from Luton and now usually warming the bench for Scunthorpe, today he was getting a starting run. Only it took me 45 mins to realise. So, with my beady eye I discerned one perfect throughball (wasted), one intercepted throughball and a wildly sliced shot. Then he was taken off. Presumably this was to protect Scunny’s lead, a scuffed shot from an incisive ball down the left putting them ahead after an hour.

The North Terrace

It didn’t work. The away side, despite being the better team, backed off, and in injury time, a low cross was put in from the right and a defender gets his leg to it thereby inadvertently killing the ball perfectly for Rovers to lash in from close range. A suitably poor goal befitting of this match. If you can, check out the highlights on youtube – even the highlights show how bad this game was. Worth coming to see the stadium, not worth coming to see the football.

The Scunny terrace (227 travellers).

And then a pootle down Gloucester Road. No rush this time, and I walked most of the way back, via a couple of pubs. And although I did enjoy seeing England struggle in the old egg-chasing against 3rd world rugger nation Scotland, there’s only so much I can take of a pub full of interested specimens (even if they did have Leffe on tap). Most pubs were busy, it being 6 Nations and all, but then I found a quiet bar. ‘You not showing rugby?’ ‘No.’ ‘Good.’

Full time.

The Damage:
£18 Ent
£3.50 Cornish pasty
£1.90 Thatcher’s Gold cider (half)
£3 prog
£16.56 travel (Megabus: bargain!)
= £42.96

The Tunes:
Stay Gold (First Aid Kit)
Pure, Impure (Seefeel)
Quique (Seefeel)
Behind the Counter with Max Richter (Various)
Man Alive (Everything Everything)
Prince of Tears (Prince of Tears)
Utopia (Bjork)
Singles 1993-2003 (Chemical Brothers)
Slowdive (Slowdive)
Silver or Lead (Ursula Rucker)

Memorial Ground panorama

1500 tickets gone for the big 'derby'.

The higgledy piggledy nature of the stadium is announced early.

The ticket office.  Fast and efficient.

Welcome to Britain, 2018.

I thought part of the appeal of watching games live was the atmosphere...

The East Stand.

Memorial Ground floodlights.

Looking toward the North Terrace.

Upstairs in the East Stand.

The coolest strip in the land?

Lyon (LOU) 36-10 ASM Clermont Auvergne, Saturday 17th February 2018

Lyon (LOU) 36-10 Clermont-Ferrand (att. 17,375)

Welcome to .....LOU (Lyon Olympique Universitaire)

I hate rugby, but I couldn’t pass this opportunity: go and see a game at Olympique Lyonnais’ old Stade de Gerland. Olympique’s new out of town build is somewhat characterless and not a patch on this beauty, looking classy, surrounded by its faded whitewashed walls. It reminded me of Bordeaux’s old stadium. It’s also been the scene of some historic occasions, such as Euro ’84, the World Cup in ’98, various concerts by the likes of the Rolling Stones…and the on-pitch death of Marc-Vivien Foe 2003. Not all memories can be happy.

The exterior, by twilight.

Whilst the football team appears to have outgrown their former home, the rugby side LOU (Lyon Olympique Universitaire) have made full use of it. With a capacity of about 40,000, it’s much too big for the rugby side and the capacity has been cut accordingly to 25,000. Thankfully, not by knocking down stands and losing its appeal, but rather by judicious use of banners and tarpaulins to cover existing seats. With both upper tiers behind the goals out of bounds, this made for a cosy atmosphere within. And I presume they still have the ability to re-open said areas for bigger occasions?

Upper tier and most of lower tapered off.

As it was, a very decent 17,000 odd turned out to see LOU face local-ish Clermont, who I’d actually heard of, despite trying not to listen to anything about rugby on Radio 5. Turns out they’re lower down than the hosts in this midtable clash. They’d brought a fair few too, most of whom appeared to be in our end. This included a magnificent sixteen-drum ‘orchestra’ who were thankfully stood on the tryline, or whatever it’s called. Anyway, I’d say there was a good 1-2000 away fans, many resplendent with yellow flags.

Some of the drum crew at half-time.

The match wasn’t as bad as I’d feared, though I’d been told by my partner I wasn’t allowed to slag off the game whilst there. (I’d been to rugby once before, at Harlequins. 18 of us went and 12 stayed under the stand at half time. I even went for beers in an effort to miss some of the ‘action’, but was back in my seat within two minutes, such was their efficiency.) I digress. This match didn’t just have piles of big blokes lying on top of a ball at the other end of the ground. There was passing, kicking, attacking. What with an atmosphere too, I was almost enjoying myself (but I had a beautiful stadium to sit and stare at).

Rugby.  Big blokes pushing each other.  No ball to be seen.

Still, though, the match was decided by a couple of moments of extraordinary ineptitude in the first half. The Clermont left back (I know they’re not left backs in rugby, but god knows what they are called) trotted back to his line as a ball was launched his way, and while he dawdled and then messed up the ball control (these egg-shaped balls don't half bounce funny), the opposition pounced for a try. Then, not to be outdone, the Clermont right back (yeah, yeah) did exactly the same. 12-3 down at half time and that was with them playing well.

The view from behind the goal.

The game became a bit of a rout, but we stayed till the end. Did I say what a beautiful stadium it is? You’d better get yourself there. T1 tram to Debourg, then a 15 minute walk. Or even a metro direct to its own Stade de Gerland stop. Easy there, easy back. A far cry from the crawl back from the football stadium, which is closer to the airport than the city centre. And in true rugby fashion, they have a massive beer (and food) tent for all, while tickets are easily picked up at the door, €20 for a seat behind the goal, or €15 if you’re prepared to stand right at the front – next to the drummers!

The Damage (for 2):
€20 Ent (x2)
Free programme
= €40

Didn’t eat: had already victualled at the legendary Brasserie Georges!

Stade de Gerland panorama

A Lyon lion.

Behind, behind the goal.

A grand entrance in the twilight.

Fans enter the arena.

The teams line up.

Fans behind the goal.

Fencing...a remnant of the football?

Clermont fans and drummers.

What purports for half time entertainment.

Every drum needs tassles.

Capacity-reduction method, Lyon-style.

The view from behind the posts.

Welcome to the Thunderdome.

A crowd transfixed.

Olympique Lyonnais 3-1 Villarreal, Thursday 15th February 2018

Olympique Lyonnais 3-1 Villarreal (att. 46,846)

Welcome to ....

February half term and time for another city break centred around the Europa League draw. And with many of the cities already visited, or in the far east (Russia), it came down to Lyon or (AEK) Athens. Ancient Greek or Roman ruins? Well, Lyon was closer, so off we went. I still wonder whether the Parthenon is still covered in scaffolding, as it was 20+ years ago on my previous visit, but I’ll give them a bit longer to get it sorted…

The exterior of the Groupama Stadium.

Lyon’s new stadium was built for Euro 2016, though Olympique had long held ambitions to expand from their homely Stade de Gerland. I think I read the new stadium cost €500m, of which €180m was for transport infrastructure. So the least I would expect is an architecturally noted stadium and a certain ease of access. What I got was one of the ugliest stadia I’ve ever seen, and a return journey which took over two hours to get to our hotel, centrally located near the railway station at Perrache.

Like you, beautiful on the inside.

It’s difficult to describe what the Groupama Stadium looks like, other than an aberration. It’s a horror. It looks like a cross between an office block and a factory, with a roof that’s been dumped on it at crazy angles. It’s awful. (Thankfully, the inside is superb; two tiers of seats, all enclosed, great views.) Then there is the transport. Tonight was a midweek game with 46,000 spectators, and queues for the metro were reminiscent of the worst of the Boleyn Ground, or the Amex. Only here, trains threatened to stop running within 40 mins of full time. How we’d have got back otherwise, I’m not sure.

What it looks like in daylight.  On a postcard.

Naturally, they’ve built the new stadium miles out of town. Handy for the airport, for when Manchester United et al visit, and handy for those whose cars fill the myriad carparks between the nearby motorway and stadium. What about folk who support OL, live in Lyon and don’t own a car? Tough. It’s a far cry from their old Stade de Gerland, easily accessible from the city centre.  Still, at least match tickets were easily procured, upstairs in the club shop in town, next to Place Bellecour.

The concourse.  Cheerless.

Having made the trip out to the stadium, OL make the effort once you get there. Pre-match, the music goes up a notch, the lights go down and lazers criss-cross the stadium. Spectacular, and with a black sky, you almost feel like you’re indoors. It’s a tasty looking fixture too: Lyon, 3rd in the French league, against Villarreal, 5th in Spain. I am hoping for an entertaining match and it doesn’t disappoint. Both sides played an open game and looked to score. Half time could have seen it twos-apiece, the highlight being Villarreal having a thunderous volley direct from a corner parried away.

We arrived at half time goalless, but it didn’t remain that for long, as OL took the lead in the opening minute of the second half, a corner being headed back over the keeper for a simple nod in at the back post. Three minutes later, Villarreal had undone all of their good work of the opening half by going two down, the rebound being picked off after a great run and shot was saved.  A lightning re-start and reward for those not dawdling under the stands at half time.

The teams line up before kick-off.

I rather fancied Villarreal weren’t out of it yet though, and they pulled one back when Pablo Fornals was played in and he appeared to shoot THROUGH the keeper, the momentum of the shot just about carrying it over the line before a defender cleared just too late. However, the best was saved to last, as former £25m Man U misfit Memphis Depay came on, showboated, looked a class above anything else on the pitch, and duly ran onto a loose ball and despatched a 25 yard shot into the bottom corner without breaking stride. Pure class. And I would have over two hours to muse on it as I made my way home.

Villarreal get set for a corner.

The Damage (for 2): 
€20 Ent (x2) 
€3.50 coca-cola 
€2.50 water 
free programme/newspaper 
= €46

Groupama Stadium panorama.

The lights go down, ready for the gladiators' entrance.

A place for everything, and everything in its place.

The 'smaller' ultras.

Them widening gangways, like wot the Stade du France has.

A corner of emptiness.

Novel safety barriers.

The ultras hoist their scarves.

Home time.

The A4 match ticket.