HIghbury: A great old Stadium (Arsenal Stadium (Highbury))

Member Name: Deckie

Product:	Arsenal Stadium (Highbury)
Date:	11/12/03 (483 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy to get to, great atmosphere, excellent facilities

Disadvantages: too small for it's fans.

I recently had the opportunity to visit Highbury the home of Arsenal FC. As a neutral supporter I must say I was impressed. I have visited quite a few football stadiums not only in England but in Europe from the old style such as Highbury and the modern type of stadium such as the Amsterdam Arena and despite it?s age, Highbury is right up there with the best.

Getting there: Well getting there couldn?t be easier. The underground station ?Arsenal? is just steps away from the ground. From central London just take the Piccadilly Line North and get of at Arsenal. Coming home we found it was easier to walk 5 minutes to the nearby Finsbury Park Station rather than the very busy Arsenal Station. Finsbury Park is served by the Piccadilly Line and Victoria lines to Central London. Yes it was fairly busy but we managed to get on the train no problem and even got seats.
I found Highbury to be the easiest football ground to find from all those I have visited in England.


I am reliably informed by good friends in London that Highbury easy to reach by bus too. With many bus routes stopping within walking distance of Highbury.

The ground itself is surrounded by streets of terraced housing adding to its charm. Although now it is part of its downfall. The capacity of Highbury is just under 39,000 but Arsenal could easily fill this twice over but due to it?s location Arsenal are unable to expand the stadium further to accommodate all these fans. Let?s hope they get a new ground soon.

Before the game we spent an enjoyable hour or so in the local pub The Gunners. As you can tell by the name of the pub it is a real fan?s pub. We really enjoyed it here between the real supporters.

Our seats were situated in the North Bank which was easy to find. We passed through the turnstiles quick and efficiently despite the big queues.

The seats themselves looked fairly old and the numbers on the seats were a bit hard to find if you wer
en?t used to these type of seats. Saying this though they were quite comfortable, better than the hard plastic you normally find in a stadium.

I was expecting the ground to look bigger from inside so I was quite surprised to find it on the small side but it was quite intimate and the atmosphere that day was good. Maybe it was because they were playing another team from London.

Inside the stadium you can?t fail to miss anything because at either end of the stadium there are large screens which show replays of all important moments.

Facilities in the ground: There were numerous places inside the ground to purchase snacks or a hot drink. The prices for a football stadium were also reasonably priced. For those who have never been to a football ground don?t expect to pay the cheap prices you?d find in a local café.

Like I said earlier I have been to many grounds around Britain and Europe and being a woman we inevitably end up going to the toilet. The toilet facilities at Highbury are the best I have ever seen. They are spotlessly clean, a good number of toilets not like the odd 1 or 2 you seem to find in other grounds so this meant no queues. They are tiled in lovely red and white tiles with an Arsenal badge on the top row. ?My boyfriend also informed me the men?s were also better than most he?d seen. Not exactly what the men reading this review are interested in but an important part for me after visiting the toilets in the San Siro stadium Milan I should have been put off for life. They were overflowing cesspits that stunk of urine that was just the women?s I dread to think what the mens were like there.

As for the games itself, well it ended 0-0 but hey that?s football and Arsenal did have a few first team members out through suspension or injury.

All in all I found this stadium to be one of the best I?ve visited despite it being so old. If Arsenal do get a new stadium which they do need so more fans can see the
m, I hope they take over the good points from this stadium!

Summary: