CHESTERFIELD 22.10.11

HOW TO GET THERE

CAR
Leave the M1 at Junction 29 and take the A617 towards Chesterfield. At the end of the dual carriageway at the edge of the town centre, turn right onto the A61 towards Sheffield. At the first roundabout turn left and the stadium is down on the right.

PARKING
As is often the case, the club car park is for permit holders only, which I would expect most Poolies not to hold. The advice is to park in one of the nearby streets coming off the Sheffield road. As with our very own Marina, don't park in the nearby supermarket (Tesco), as you are likely to have your car towed away. Often with new out of town grounds you get local industrial units/schools opening their premises for supporters to park at a cost.

TRAIN
The ground is a 20-30 minute walk from the ground, which for some is valuable drinking time. There is a shuttle bus that runs from Rose Hill by the Town Hall, every 10 minutes before and after the game. This starts at 1330 and the last one after the game is 1745. This costs £1 each way.

If you do fancy walking it then use the following directions;

Come out of the station and turn left. The Chesterfield Hotel will be directly ahead of you,take the road to the right hand side and carry on over the mini roundabout, into Brewery Street,up the hill and over the A61 Inner Relief Road with Chesterfield College on your right hand side. After 5 minutes walk you will reach the end of the road at the Old Post Office Resturant.Turn right and after a minutes walk you will come to a mini roundabout.Take the right turn into Sheffield Road. This road dips down,up and then down again for around 15 minutes.At the big roundabout with the car showrooms you will see the Donkey Derby pub in front of you and the ground thurther along Sheffield Road.Visiting fans must carry on past the HTM Products Stand to reach the Printabilty Stand at the north end of the ground.

PUBS/FOOD
Despite being a new ground, you will find that you are well catered for in terms of pubs. There are quite a few located within 0.5m of the ground and some have a great reputation. Real ale drinkers will enjoy this visit!

The Derby Tup- With 10 real ales on tap and prices starting at £1.95, it’s little wonder this pub is featured the CAMRA Good Pub Guide. Reviews of this pub are excellent and I would expect it to get very busy as kick-off approaches. Food is not served but the landlord is happy for supporters to bring their own food in.

The Red Lion- Another CAMRA listed pub, located further up the Sheffield Road. Real ales dominate and the pub can get busy on a match-day.

The Donkey Derby- This pub is predominantly for home supporters but away fans are admitted. Its reputation is not great and its ales are said to be of a poor quality.

The Rose & Crown and the Crown & Anchor are for home supporters only.

Chesterfield town centre has a good reputation for its pubs and fine real-ale venues are plentiful. With the shuttle bus on offer it may be a good idea to have a wonder round and try these out, leaving the crowds to queue it the pubs at the ground.

B2NET STADIUM- Capacity 10,400 (all seated)
The stadium is newly built, but apparently one of the better such venues to pop up in recent years. The design is along the lines of similar sized clubs such as Colchester, Shrewsbury and Bournemouth offering separate single-tier stands and modern facilities.

Away supporters are house behind the goal in the Printability Stand. Up to 2,112 can be housed and the view should be excellent, while the roof will allow for a good atmosphere. Facilities at the back of stand include TV’s and a bar.

To the right is the HTM Products Stand, which acts as the typical ‘Main Stand’. 2,902 supporters can be housed in here and will probably be the clubs more selective supporters as well as Directors and ‘Posh Bloke’. Executive boxes run along the back of the stand.

To the left running along the opposite side of the pitch is the Midlands Co-operative Community Stand, which is just a basic version of the Main Stand. It has a slightly larger capacity at 3,144 but no glass cages or ‘Posh Bloke’.

Behind the opposite goal is the Karen Child Kop. This is similar in size and design to the away stand and houses the clubs more vocal element.

SAFETY
There is no recent history of trouble between the 2 clubs and Chesterfield do not have a reputation for trouble. Beware of ‘home only’ pubs near to the ground though.

PRICE