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Cardiff City Stadium (Cardiff)
by roversjenny
Cardiff City Stadium is the home of Cardiff City FC, it is an all seater stadium with a capacity of 26,828. The stadium has only recently been built and came into use at the start of the 2009/2010 season after Cardiff left their previous home, Ninian Park, after 99 years. The new stadium is over the road from Ninian Park, which has now ... been almost completely knocked down, with only one stand remaining. The old Ninian Park site has been sold to Redrow who have already started building houses on the site.
Getting there
The easiest way to get to the ground is leave the M4 at junction 33 and take the A4232 towards Cardiff. The ground is clearly visible (along with the Millennium Stadium, whats left of Ninian park and the new Athletics Stadium) from this road.
Parking
There is an official car park for away fans, however, coaches are given preference for this area so if they take up all the available space, you will have to find somewhere else to park. The car park is £5. There is street parking around the ground, however, it is very slow to get away from, we parked down a long street just opposite the ground and spent 90 minutes getting back to the Motorway which was very frustrating.
There is a retail park next to the ground which prohibits football traffic.
Prices
Tickets bought in advance of the match are £26 for adults and £13 for concessions. Prices increase by £2 on a match day. These are the prices for the away fans - the cheapest advanced tickets for home fans are £18, rising to £30.
The ground itself
Like most new grounds, the stadium is a bowl shape, with 3 identical stands which are all single tiered. The 4th stand has 2 tiers and also houses the executive boxes and corporate hospitality section. It has large access tunnels in the corners, and it is above one of these tunnels that the away fans are housed in an area which can hold upto 1,800 fans. The away end is separated from the home ends by a 'no mans land' section which for high profile games will also house plenty of stewards/police.
The seating is quite different to any other seating I have seen in a ground, with all seats being 'individual' rather than joined together at the back. This means that it is quite spacious and despite being plastic, they were rather comfortable.
The 3 single tiered stands don't have seating which extends to the back of the stadium, there is a supporting wall which separates the seating from the perimeter of the stadium and like most new grounds, there is a perspex strip around the 3 stands to allow natural light in.
Food
The usual array of food is sold (pies/burgers) and costs around £3 for any one item. They also sell alcohol which was £3 a pint. At half time, they had drinks ready poured (including hot drinks) which made the service very quick.
Facilities
The womens toilets were huge and contained plenty of cubicles, meaning there were no queues. Also had running water (which wasn't very hot!) and very powerful hand-dryers. They were clean (which you would expect in a new stadium).
The concourse was large, meaning that it was comfortable under the stand. There were TV screens which showed the match so you didn't miss anything if you had to move away from your seat during play.
Getting away from the ground
As mentioned above, getting away from the ground was a nightmare, it took 90 minutes to get back to the motorway which is around 6 miles away. Not only do you have to contend with the football traffic, but also the retail park traffic, and traffic coming from the city center.
Overall impressions
Ninian Park was a fantastic football ground, full of tradition and character, and Cardiff City Stadium will find it hard ever to get to the same level due to it being bland like most new stadiums. The fans have managed to capture the Ninian Park hostile atmosphere at the new ground, so hopefully that will help shape it in years to come.
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Cardiff City Stadium (Cardiff)
by skybluearmyontou
Match: Cardiff City v Coventry City
Once again the fixture generator was up to it's old tricks and we were drawn to play Cardiff on a Tuesday night. Delightful. Being a new ground though, it was a trip that I was looking forward too. I was sad to see Ninian go. The mix of terracing and seats was a football fans ... dream.
The ground itself is actually located right across the car park from the old stadium, which at the time of writing, is still standing. They have done some work on the surrounding areas though and supermarkets and your usual edge of the city restaurants have started to appear.
Getting There: Having had many problems getting to Cardiff in the past, thankfully, this trip was as easy as pie. I would advise leaving in plenty of time though as the route gets very congested. We managed to park at the stadium thanks to a bit of blagging but otherwise parking is available in the usual £5 kind of sites. You could however, park around by the old stadium as there are no street restrictions in place.
Before The Game: Being a night game we went straight into the ground. Even when they played at Ninian we never really ventured far although I know there may be a pub that's away safe.
In The Concourse: The concourse follows the trend of any new ground and is nice and spacious. I would say that I had a meal deal there, pie and a pint for either 4.50 or 5 quid and my gosh, it was the best pie I have ever had. It was also good value in footballing terms and the deal price is one of the cheapest I've seen inside a stadium.
In The Stand: We were seated in the corner of the stadium but the view, again like new stadiums, was super. The seats are extremely comfortable and a very unique shape. They thin out near the bottom of your back giving more leg room for the person behind, without them kicking you all the time. One of the most comfortable stands I've sat in. Stewards are strict on making you sit....
Atmosphere: One thing I discussed with fellow supporters was always how they would lose the intimidation factor of Ninian Park, and I wasn't wrong. The crowd size may have increased (massively helped by good league form) but the intimidation factor just isn't there anymore. Home fans are seated close by and they still make a fair bit of noise, especially those to your left but as mentioned, it's just not the same. The away atmosphere was flat, but then we we're awful so that's hardly their fault!! It looks a good set-up where you can make some noise though...
Safety: As mentioned, the intimidation factor inside the ground has gone but they can be a bit rough outside. The away entrance and exit is a little safer now with security fences but with their history, keep a look out!
Getting Away: A little slow, especially as we were in a main car park. Long trip back, especially after that game!
In addition I would say the ground didn't look completly finished and I think there's a few finishing touches to be made.
Score: Cardiff 2 - 0 Coventry
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