Smart Little Ground with a superb bar system! (Keepmoat Stadium (Doncaster))

Member Name: skybluearmyontou

Product:	Keepmoat Stadium (Doncaster)
Date:	26/10/09 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great views, refreshment area is well organised and spaced out, parking available

Disadvantages: Lacks any originality, size could hinder them should they gain promotion.

Trying to remember my visit here to continue my 'away day guide'.

Match: Doncaster Rovers v Coventry City

Firstly I'd like to point out the dedication of attending this match. I worked in the States all summer and I booked my flight to arrive back on a Tuesday morning because I knew there was a fair chance we'd have a game that day. So I left Asheville (North Carolina) and flew to Charlotte (North Carolina), then I flew to Philadelphia (Pennslyvania) and from there I took a night flight to London Heathrow arriving back at like 11am. I sat next to the editor of top of the pops magazine germany on the way back... Had a drink at the airport and changed my clothes as I'd been travelling a while...like 16 hours by this point. Stopped for lunch on the way back to Coventry with my mumskies and eventually got home at 3.30pm, phoned round all my mates looking for a lift and at 4.30 I was on the way to Doncaster.

Before The Game - Didn't seem to be much around so we just headed inside knowing that Rovers run a sweet system in the concourse.

Finding The Ground - Very easy. Not much traffic around but then the crowd/stadium capacity is never going to produce mass crowds. There's plenty of official parking available so that wasn't a problem. Thankfully barring a few roadworks it was a pleasant journey.

Ticketing - Don't usually comment on buying tickets but away fans paying on the day have to go into the community sports centre reception to buy their tickets which is a bit wierd. Managed to blag a freebie off one of our directors so pretty happy with that.

In The Concourse - Like most newly built stadiums, the concourse facilities are spacious, clean and well set up. One thing that distinguishes Doncaster from many stadiums is that the concourse bar has bouncers! They check some ID's for the younger crowd, which can only be a good thing. They also have a sensible queuing system set up. One of the smoothest systems I've come across in football. As I'd literally just come back from the States, a lot of my friends brought me a beer. So I was pretty well lubricated my kick off... Ladbrokes was available in the corner away from refreshments meaning it wasn't cramped.

In The Stand - Like most new stadiums, Keepmoat lacks any originality. Most stadiums are built with the same company and it clearly shows. If you changed the colour of the seats you'd be forgiven for thinking you were elsewhere. Sadly this seems to be the route to go down now (although Hull's KC does have some twists). The bonus of new stadiums is the lack of view obstructing pillars. Away fans get the whole end behind one of the goals and a reasonable number of fans can be seated there. The atmosphere can really build if you want it too. The acoustics are, err...sound. The Donny fans did try to get some atmosphere going but it was always going to be tough, because, well, the game was pants.

Safety - Excessive beer drinking leads to impaired vision. Sadly my vision wasn't impaired enough and I still had to sit through the game. Oh yeah, safety... 100% safe.

A smart little ground that suits Donny down to a tee. In fact the whole complex is very nice, just lacking in any originality.

Predictably I fell asleep on the way back, which always makes the journey go quicker. Quite frankly, I don't know how anyone stayed awake during the game!

Score: Doncaster 0 - 0 Coventry (all that travel and no goals)

Summary: A smart little ground that suits Donny down to a tee. Just lacks originality.