More than 100 years of tradition being kept alive

The now long gone Highfield road, The Recreation Ground, Qwest Field, Kingfield and White Hart Lane all have on thing in common, I know for a fact the are all football grounds with in an easy walk of the town centre (the grounds are in Coventry, Aldershot FC, Sounders, Woking FC and Tottenham respectively if you are keeping score), I’ve been to them all more than once.

Then there is The Home Depot Centre in LA, The Ricoh, Madejski and The Reebok. They are in the middle of nowhere, miles from anywhere and the fan is kept captive.

Lets take the HDC, home of LA Galaxy and Chivas USA. It’s a 27,000 seat stadium surrounded by acres of car park and that’s about it. It’s located in Carson, 17 miles from Downtown LA. OK, it’s a little unfair to choose LA when talking about walking anywhere; it’s a target rich environment. But the HDC is surrounded by a few houses, a 7-11 convenience store and a lot of industrial units. There is nothing there.

The clubs seem to like this, take the Ricoh (replacing the much loved, if in a dodgy part of town, Highfield Road in Coventry) as an example. It’s a different world compared to HIghfield Road, a huge supermarket sits next door amid seemingly endless car parks.

Pre-match at Highfield was easy, get up, shower (we were students, so the timing is for a late afternoon game), wander to the Star pub, have a pint or two, maybe a pie and then about 2:40 wander up the road and into the ground for two hours of typically mediocre football.

The Ricoh on the other hand requires a little more planning. The stadium website contains driving directions form all directions of the compass, but one line about getting there from Coventry Railway Station, take a taxi and it will cost about 10 pounds.

There are no pubs near the ground and there are few houses within in walking distance. The website says there are 40 acres of car parks around the stadium, but no pubs. Seen by many to be an essential part of the match day experience.

But Coventry likes it that way. The club enjoys a monopoly on refreshments. The food may be unhealthy and unpalatable; the beer may be over‑chilled and overpriced (and all over your legs when the plastic glass splits); but when you’re miles from civilization it’s the official stadium bar or nothing.

It’s easy to suggest all modern stadiums are built this way, but it’s not the case. Exhibit A is where I’ve thought of as my home stadium for the last couple of years; Qwest Field in Seattle. Just south of Downtown surrounded by bars and a few minutes from Pioneer Square and even more bars and restaurants. Yes parking is a little more of a lottery, especially when there are almost 70,000 there for a Seahawks game.

Walking to the game is possible, a couple of friends live with in walking distance. From Everett I can take the train to King Street Station on game day, from there it’s five minutes to the stadium and Elysian Fields with the great food and even better beer.

In six weeks I’ll be taking part in a game day tradition that untold millions have done over the last 100 years and more. I walk to the stadium with the optimism of a new season, the potential of winning it all, of mowing down all those put in front of us.

It’s going to be awesome.