Match: v Oxford United - Blue Square Premier
Date: Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
Result: Oxford 0 Cambridge United 0
The Journey
Departure Time: 3pm
Arrival at Ground: The departure time was early enough to avoid all but the early onset of rush hour on the M25 and, although there were a couple of roadwork-induced hold ups, the heaviest traffic seemed to be in the air over the M40 where red kites wheeled as they queued to descend on the copious supply of road kill.
After a slight hiatus at a service station just outside Oxford while a member of the Travellers' Tales party procrastinated over the prospect of a late afternoon snack, we arrived in one of the capacious car parks at the ground at about 5.50pm
At The Ground
The Ground: The car park I chose was between a cinema and various eateries on one side, and a garden fence on the other. That fence, of course, is the stadium boundary and is the only construction on this side of the ground. The rest of the Kassam Stadium is considerably more developed. In contrast, the front of the ground is more like the outside of a swanky hotel, with a blue glass, curving frontage behind which is a marble floored reception area. Signs on this glass wall pointed towards the 'Conference Entrance'. There was, however, no evidence of any signs pointing to the 'Football League Entrance'. Either their lack of form had dented their confidence of winning promotion, or the signs relate to business meetings that are also held at the ground.
From a press point of view, Oxford is a great place to visit. The wonderfully helpful Ambrose exudes urbane charm as he escorts the press to their lofty eyrie, high above the tree line at the back of one of three massive stands. This is the main stand and is the only two-tiered construction.
The garden-fenced end of the ground is to the left of this stand, although the pitch side of the fence is now shrouded in advertising banners over which I could keep an eye on my car in the car park beyond.
The stands along the remaining end and side of the ground are both single-tiered and filled with mid-blue seats. About a third of the stand that runs along the side of the pitch is given over to away fans, with the segregation lines marked out in black material that has been draped over the seats like a Mediterranean widow's wash day. It would get a good airing too given the amount of space between each stand, space that allowed more than enough of the chilly breeze to bluster through.
United Fans: An excellent turnout for a midweek end of season match.
View from Away End: High up at one end of a modern stand, the view was very good.
Home Fans: Loud at times, but that volume turned increasingly to impatience and frustration - just what you'd imagine from supporters with high expectations who have seen their side blow a good league position too often.
Programme: £3 for 68 pages. For many years, Oxford's programme has been one of - if not the - best in the division … whatever that division may be. This season's is no exception. Packed with enough articles and pictures to make the adverts less overwhelming than in some publications, is was not their fault that both of United's featured 'star men' were non-playing substitutes on the night.
Food/Drink: The catering facilities outside the ground proved most popular with the travelling fans. Here £3 for a hot dog or burger was quite acceptable.
State of Toilets: Large and spacious, the facilities are in keeping with the stadium.
Afterwards
The Journey Home: Oh the joys of night time travelling on the M25. Veering between one, two or even three lanes closed at any one time, you'd never know that this was the country's major motorway. And when you add in the lane closures on the M40 and A1, there can't have been a cone left for road works anywhere else in the country.
Mileage: 192.2 miles
Total Distance for Season: 5,761.9 miles
Mark Johnson, with additional reporting by Gordon McMillan, Paul Johnson, Ryan Johnson and Jahnavi Howard
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