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West
Bromwich Albion
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| Contents | |
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What's The
Hawthorns Like? |
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| What's The Hawthorns Like? | |
| With the completion of
the East Stand in 2001,
the Club achieved its objective in completely
re-building the Hawthorns and making it a modern
stadium. Not only has the ground received a much
needed face lift, but
it is now totally enclosed and all
seated. The East Stand is an impressive, large
single tiered stand, which has been well
integrated with the rest of the ground. It has a
row of executive boxes running along the back, and
to each side of the stand the
previous open corners have been filled with
corrugated sheeting. There is a thin supporting
pillar on each side of the stand to support the
corner structures. On the other side is
the smaller Halfords Lane Stand. This stand which
was opened in 1982 stretches around two corners of
the ground. The home
end, the Birmingham
Road Stand is large,
covered, and quite steep. At the other end
away fans are housed in the Smethwick End. Both
these ends were built in 1994/95. Two new video
screens have been installed in opposite corners of
the ground, one at the Smethwick End side of the
East Stand and the other in the opposite corner of
the Halfords Lane Stand. An interesting feature of the ground is that in one corner of the ground (between the East Stand & Birmingham Road End) you will notice perched up on a wall, a large Throstle standing on a football. This has been kept over from the previous stand (it used to sit above the clock on the half time scoreboard) and maintains the links with tradition. Outside the ground on the same corner are the 'Jeff Astle Memorial Gates' erected in tribute to the legendary striker. Whilst just beyond the East Stand Car Park is a Memorial Garden. One strange fact about the Hawthorns is that it is the highest ground in England (in terms of feet above sea level). |
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The Club are believed to be drawing up plans to expand the capacity of the Hawthorns to over 30,000 by either redeveloping or adding an additional tier to the Halfords Lane Stand. |
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| Rear Of Birmingham Road Stand | |
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| What Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? | |
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Away
fans are housed on one side of the Smethwick
End, where the normal allocation is 3,000
seats. This means that this stand is shared
with home supporters. For cup games, the whole
of this stand can be allocated to away
supporters, raising this figure to 5,200. The
facilities and the view of the pitch in the
Smethwick End are okay, although the leg room
is a little cramped. I have been to the
Hawthorns on a number of occasions and have
always found it to be a fairly friendly place.
The only thing against it, in terms of a day
out is the lack of nearby pub for away fans,
meaning that most elect to drink inside the
ground instead. Considering that the concourse
at the back of the Smethwick End is pretty
small in comparison to its overall capacity,
then it can have uncomfortable feel,
especially when there is a capacity away
support. Strangely I noticed
that fans were not allowed to bring in take
away food from the nearby McDonalds. Food
available on the concourse includes;
Cheeseburgers (£3.70), Burgers (£3.50),
Chicken Balti Pies (£2.90), Chicken &
Mushroom Pies (£2.90), Cheese & Onion Pies
(£2.90), Steak & Kidney Pies (£2.90),
Sausage Rolls (£2.90) and Pasties (£2.90). Greg Whitaker adds; 'I've been to the Hawthorns twice as an away fan and had a similar problem on both occasions. There is a huge metal gate, outside the stadium, next to the away fan section. On my first visit, this was closed before the game, meaning we had to walk in a big loop through a load of residential streets to get round to the other side of the gate. On my most recent visit, the gate was closed after the game. There are no signs to give you directions and, with it being an evening game, I ended up wandering deserted streets in the dark trying to find my way back to Rolfe Street station'. |
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| Where To Eat And Drink? | |
| The main pub for away fans is 'The Vine'
which is about a 15-20 minute walk from the
ground. From Junction 1 of the M5 turn left
towards West Bromwich town centre (opposite
direction to the ground). Take the first left into
Roebuck Street. The Vine is down on the left. You
can also street park in this area and then walk to
the ground. This pub also offers Indian food and
has an indoor tandoori barbeque (from 1pm on
Saturdays), plus has a beer garden with children's
play area. Barbara Osborne a visiting Newcastle
United fan adds; 'The Vine from the outside looked
like any small corner boozer, but inside it was
quite large and it was fairly easy to get served.
It had a good mix of home and away fans.' Matt Wharton informs me; 'The Vine is only a few minutes walk away from
Kenrick Park Metro station which can be
accessed from Birmingham Snow Hill
railway/metro station. Turn right out of the
station and walk along Devereux Road passing
through a residential area. At the end of Devereux Road turn
left and the The
Vine is just over the
other side of the road on the right'. Dave Wilson recommends; 'The Park Hotel which is just off junction one of the M5 and a 10 minute walk to the ground. You can park on their car park for £5 and away fans are always welcome. There are plenty of families who meet in here before games and it is a very safe environment. There is also plenty of street parking in and around the area of the hotel if you don't want to pay the £5.' Sean Mowat a visiting Sheffield United supporter adds; 'As you pass the ground on the right on the main Birmingham Road. Carry on about another half a mile and there is a pub on the right set back off the road called the Royal Oak. We've been in the last two times we've visited WBA. The beer is okay and they also serve Asian food (try the chicken kebabs!). It had a friendly atmosphere'. It also has the added benefit of showing televised football. If travelling by Metro or train from Birmingham Snow Hill and you like your real ale, then it may be a good idea to stop off on the way to the Hawthorns at the Jewellery Quarter station. Within a 10 minute walk of the station are at least three pubs serving decent real ale. These are the Rose Villa Tavern, Red Lion and Lord Clifden. The Red Lion and Lord Clifden are both listed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide, whilst the Brown Lion has recently opened and is effectively the brewery tap for the local Two Towers Brewery. See the Google map below for their locations (this will require you to use the arrows to move the map down and then to the to show the Jewellery Quarter and pubs). Alcohol is also available within the ground, albeit in plastic bottles/cans, in the form of Carlsberg (£3.70), Tetleys (£3.70) and Strongbow (£3.60), plus Red and White wine, Smirnoff Ice, and various Spirit Minatures (all at £3.80). |
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| How To Get There By Car And Where To Park | |
| The Hawthorns is located on the A41
(Birmingham-West Bromwich Road). If approaching
from outside the area the ground is about half a
mile from Junction 1 of the M5. On leaving the M5
take the A41 towards Birmingham, the ground is on
your right. Beware though of
speed cameras on this stretch of the A41. Street
parking or alternatively there are a few private
matchday car parks at some local industrial units
near the ground, or at Hawthorns station which
costs £4. Map showing the location of the Hawthorns football ground (at the bottom of this page). |
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| Halfords
Lane Stand |
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| By Train/Metro | |
| The Hawthorns has its own railway and
metro station which are about a five minute walk
from the ground. It can be reached from Birmingham
New Street, by first taking a train to Smethwick
Galton Bridge and changing there for the
Hawthorns. Total journey time is around 20-25
minutes. Alternatively the Hawthorns is also
served by direct trains from Birmingham Moor
Street and Birmingham Snow Hill. The metro line
runs from Birmingham Snow Hill.
Remember if travelling by train then you can normally save on the cost of fares by booking in advance. Visit the thetrainline website to see how much you can save. |
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| Smethwick
End |
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| Programme | |
| Official Programme £3 | |
| Local Rivals | |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers, Birmingham City, Aston Villa. | |
| Ground Layout | |
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For
a stadium plan showing the individual block
numbers |
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| Admission Prices | |
| Common with most
Clubs, West Bromwich
Albion operate a category system (A &
B) for matches whereby tickets cost more for
the most popular matches. Category A prices
are shown below with Category B prices in
brackets:
All areas of the stadium*: Adults (A) £39 (B) £25 Senior Citizens (A) £29 (B) £20 Students/Under 21's (A) £25 (B) £15 Under 17's (A) £ (B) £10 *
Apart from the West Stand, where no
concessions on the adult ticket price are
available. |
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| Fixtures 2012-2013 | |
| West Bromwich Albion FC fixture list (takes you to the BBC Sports Website). | |
| Disabled Facilities | |
| For details of disabled facilities and club contact at the ground please visit the relevant page on the Level Playing Field website. You may also wish to check out the West Brom Disabled Supporters Club website. | |
| Record & Average Attendance | |
| Record Attendance: 64,815 v Arsenal FA Cup 6th Round, March 6th, 1937. Modern All Seated Attendance Record: 27,751 v Portsmouth Premier League, May 15th, 2005. Average Attendance: 2011-2012: 24,793 (Premier League) 2010-2011: 24,683 (Premier League) 2009-2010: 22,199 (Championship League) |
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| Fans Reviews Of The Hawthorns | |
| Joe Fowler
(Chelsea) 17/11/12 Robert Bury (Blackburn Rovers) 7/4/12 Mark Knowles (Norwich City) 28/1/12 Sean O'Brien (Blackpool) 15/1/11 John Price (Newcastle United) 5/12/10 Josh Turner (Newcastle United) 8/08/09 Geoff Harman (Peterborough United) 3/01/09 James Rumsey (Sheffield United) 12/02/08 Jacob Januszewski (Barnsley) 16/05/07 |
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| Hotel Accommodation | |
| If you require hotel
accommodation in the area then first try a hotel
booking service provided by Late Rooms. They offer
all types of accommodation to suit all tastes and
pockets from; Budget Hotels, Traditional Bed &
Breakfast establishments to Five Star Hotels and
Serviced Apartments. Plus their booking system is
straightforward and easy to use. Yes this site
will earn a small commission if you book through
them, but it will go to help with the running
costs of keeping the Guide going. The Hotels
listing also includes details of how far away the
accommodation is located from the football ground.
Access their West Bromwich & Birmingham Hotels and Guest Houses pages. Remember that you can use the above link or panel below to book any other hotels that you may need for business or leisure, either in the UK or abroad. |
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| Map showing the location of the Hawthorns, railway stations and listed pubs | |
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Instructions for using
the map:
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| Feedback | |
| If anything is incorrect or you have something to add, please e-mail duncan@footballgrounds.net and I'll update the guide. | |
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