Match: Mansfield Town
Date: Saturday 28th August 2008, Kick-off: 3.00pm
Venue: Field Mill, Quarry Lane, Mansfield, NG18 5DA. Tel: 0870 7563160
Directions by Car: Leave the M1 at Junction 28, and take the A38 to Mansfield. After around six and a half miles, as the road eventually becomes Stockwell Street, turn right at the crossroads into Belvedere Street (A6009). After around quarter of a mile, turn right into Quarry Lane, where Field Mill may be found.
Parking: There is a small car park at the ground, at a cost of £5 per car. It does not admit vehicles after 2.30pm. Beware clamping in the retail park adjacent to the ground. So you may have to look a little farther afield - off the dual carriageway - for a space.
Train: Mansfield can be reached, from Cambridge, via Nottingham - a journey of a little over three hours. The station is a five-10 minute stroll from the ground. Leave the station and turn left onto and along the dual carriageway, away from the town centre. With a retail park on your right, go straight ahead at the first set of lights, along Portland Street and right at the next lights into Quarry Lane (imagine you are a car, but don't go in the road). You should be able to see the ground from the station, if you look intently enough and in the right direction.
Coach: The Away Travel Club will be running a coach to the game, priced at £18.50 for non-members, £16 for members and £9 for under 16s. It is due to leave Ely at 10.45am, and the R Costings Abbey Stadium at 11.30am. Contact the club on 01223 566500 to book your place.
Admission: In the seated, covered North Stand, £16 for adults, £12 for concessions, £7 for under 16s. Concessions: students, 13-16-year-olds, senior citizens.
Location of U's fans: The North Stand is behind a goal and offers good views of the action, particularly from higher vantage points.
Programme: £3
Pre-Match Refreshment: Your best bet is probably the town centre, which is a five-10-minute walk away. The Talbot pub on Nottingham Road is not a million miles away and in the centre of town there are plenty of 'drinkers' (that's what some people call pubs) in and around the market square.
Local Attractions: There is a museum in Mansfield. In Lady Chatterley's Lover, DH Lawrence describes Mansfield as "that once romantic now utterly disheartening colliery town". The town's residents are still dining out on that name check today, mostly in Greggs, near the Market Square.
Chat up lines in…Mansfield: Gold medal-winning swimmer Rebecca Adlington hails from Mansfield and in 2009 a swimming baths in the town was named in her honour.
So, to the chat up line, you might want to get a pen and paper ready. Picture the scene; you're dancing to the latest chart smash (we're in 2010 again now, by the way) and a local lovely approaches. You introduce yourself; tell them you've just been watching the football. They don't really like football, so now you strike. You say: "Hey, I heard that famous swimmer Rebecca Adlington comes from around here, which is funny, because I'm not bad in the water myself. Can I show you my breaststroke?"
Depending on your orientation, you could amend that slightly to suit. I can only give you so much help. Here's another tip, probably best not to give away how many lengths you can do.
Try it, and thank me later.
