Park Avenue Stadium
- Description
- Submit a review
- See 1 reviews
- Ground Layout
Last Update:
November 22, 2023
Park Avenue is located close to Aberystwyth Railway Station, 5-10 minutes walk south of the town centre, castle, pier and promenade. The main entrance to the ground is approached from a narrow road, with the view of the ground partly obscured by a large Arriva Bus Depot on the left hand side. Once past the bus depot boundary wall, the road opens up into a car park which ends at the riverside with a modern steel footbridge allowing the public an overview of the ground. Stepping back onto the car park we enter the ground in one corner, through the small red bricked ticket office, with its green painted pitched roof. Looking direct ahead of us the Rhun Owens Stand (Main) Stand sits proud on the pitch centre line, on the river walk side of the stadium. Named after a former Club Secretary, this tall and narrow stand is a unique structure in the Welsh Premier League, the raised seating deck of 250 dark green plastic seats contrasts with the white roof and glazed side panels with ABER FC written in black on the gently sloped roof. Considering the stand is so narrow is seems strange that the roof needs to be supported by two columns, despite this the view of the pitch over the dug outs is very good. This side of the ground also has a number of single storey buildings around its boundary, the club house, tea hut, club shop and a small enclosed training pitch which is used by the community during weekdays.
Looking on the opposite side of the pitch an equally narrow two storey media centre sits on the centre line, with a high platform television gantry beneath a sturdy sloping roof. The far side of this structure is currently a wide, gently sloped grass verge, leading to a boundary wall and a more narrow landscaped grass verge behind the goal at the Shed End, whilst to the left is a turnstile and toilet block, and seven rows of 392 uncovered black and green plastic tip up seats, reflecting the club colours, which leads back into the corner of the Town End. Finally, the Town End shares its border with the bus depot, but there has been enough space to erect a modern cantilever stand the width of the penalty area. The Dias Stand as it is called has unrestricted views, and seven rows of 322 green seats with ATFC picked out in black. A couple of nice touches to this stand are glazed screen ends and a flagpole on one side proudly showing the welsh dragon. The stand was named after a former player called David ‘Dias’ Williams who scored for the Club a remarkable 476 goals in 433 games, from the late 1960’s to the early 1980’s.
Park Avenue’s current seating capacity of approx 1,000, is one of the biggest in the Premier League and is double the minimum requirement for the Welsh Premier League and also meets the UEFA requirements for European fixtures.
During 2016 an artificial 3G surface was installed at the Park Avenue ground.
Park Avenue is one of two Premier League venues being considered to be upgraded to become a regional welsh international venue. A 3,000 seat capacity is the minimum required for U18 games at International Level. If Park Avenue is chosen space will need to be found to install an additional 2000 seats. Funding for such a rebuild would come from the UEFA hat-trick scheme.
If fans need to be segregated then visiting supporters are allocated the uncovered seats on the media centre side of the ground. This section of seating is reached by a separate turnstile block along the Coedian Y Parc Road. This area has a capacity of just under 400. Usually a bit of atmosphere is created by the home fans located in the Dias Stand.
At the ground itself is the John Charles Longe Bar, which welcomes all supporters. The town centre is only 10 minutes walk away where there are a wealth of pubs, clubs and of course fish and chip shops in the town centre. On Alexandra Road, there is a Wetherpoons outlet called the ‘Yr Hen Orsaf’ or ‘The Old Station.’
From South Wales
Follow the A487 into the south east side of Aberystwyth, after joining the A4120 continue following the road to the right at the A487 roundabout, then once over the river take a left turn into Boulevard Saint Brieuc. After a mile look for the Arriva Bus Depot on the left hand side, take the narrow lane just past the depot, this leads to the car park and ground entrance by the riverside.
From North Wales
Follow the A487 into the north east side of Aberystwyth. You then have a choice of routes into the ground. For games at 3pm Saturday afternoon I would recommend option 1, for midweek evening games the town centre option should present less of a problem with traffic.
Option 1 (Avoiding town centre)
Two miles before reaching Aberystwyth Town Centre you will approach the University of Wales buildings, take a left turn into Cefnllan. This will lead out to the A44 junction ,you will then need to follow the A4120 Heol Y Bont Road over the railway bridge, then at the next roundabout take the road to the right into Boulevard Saint Brieuc. After a mile look for the Arriva Bus Depot on the left hand side, take the narrow lane just past the depot, this leads to the car park and ground entrance by the riverside.
Option 2 (through the town centre)
Follow the A487 past the University of Wales buildings, once in the town centre take a left turn into Ffordd Y Mur,this will bring you out directly in front of the railway station. Take a right turn into Dan Dre, then once past the bus halts take a left turn into Coedian Y Parc,and on the right hand side of the road, opposite the retail park you will see a depot for Arriva Buses, take the narrow road to the right, this road leads to a car park and footbridge by the riverside, and the main entrance to the ground.
From Mid Wales
Follow the A44 into the east side of Aberystwyth. Two miles before reaching the town centre take a left turn into the A4120 Heol Y Bont Road, follow the road over the railway bridge, then at the next roundabout take the road to the right into Boulevard Saint Brieuc. After a mile look for the Arriva Bus Depot on the left hand side, take the narrow lane just past the depot, this leads to the car park and ground entrance by the riverside.
Parking
There is a car park along the riverside, next to the main entrance as well as a pay an display car park (Cost £3.70) at the top of the stadium entrance road on Park Avenue.
Aberystwyth town centre railway station is 5-10 minutes walk from Park Avenue, and can be reached by the following train services:
From England and Mid Wales: “Cambrian Main Line” Shrewsbury-Newtown-Machynlleth-Aberystwyth From North West Wales: “Cambrian Coast Line” Pwllheli-Barmouth-Dovey Junction-Shrewsbury (change at Machynlleth to catch the Cambrian Main line service onto Aberystwyth)
Please note that since both these routes are single rail branch lines they run every two hours in each direction-not exactly ideal if you miss your connection!
See ‘By Bus’ below for walking directions from the station to the ground.
Booking train tickets in advance will normally save you money! Find train times, prices and book tickets with Trainline. Visit the website below to see how much you can save on the price of your tickets:
Aberystwyth bus station sits to one side of the main railway station building and is also 5-10 minutes walk from Park Avenue. Here is a list of bus services to the town centre from the surrounding area.
From North West Wales X32 Bangor-Caernarfon-Machynlleth-Aberystwyth 514 Machynlleth-Talybont-Aberystwyth
From South West Wales X40 Cardiff-Carmarthen-Aberaeron-Aberystwyth
Walking Directions to Park Avenue
A straightforward five minute walk. Come out of the railway station/bus station exit and take the first left turn past the railway station building, into Coedian Y Parc.Follow this road for two minutes. On the right side of the road, opposite a large retail park you will see a depot for Arriva Buses, take the narrow road to the right, this road leads to a car park and footbridge by the riverside, and the main entrance to the ground.
Adults £8
OAP/Under 18’s £5
Over 11’s £2
Under 11’s Free
Official Matchday Programme £2
Newtown, Carmarthen Town and Bangor City.
Welsh Premier League Fixtures (takes you to the BBC Sports Website)
Record Attendance
1,207 v Barry Town
Welsh Premier League, August 27th, 2000.
Average Attendance
2017-2018: 369 (Welsh Premier League)
2016-2017: 379 (Welsh Premier League)
2015-2016: 367 (Welsh Premier League)
If you require hotel accommodation in Aberystwyth then first try a hotel booking service provided by Booking.com. 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 help towards the running costs of keeping this Guide going.
Official Website: www.atfc.org.uk
Official Social Media
Facebook: www.facebook.com/atfcgreenarmy
Twitter: twitter.com/aberystwythtown
YouTube: >www.youtube.com/user/AberystwythTown
If anything is incorrect or you have something to add, please e-mail me at: [email protected] and I’ll update the guide.
Special thanks to Owen Pavey for providing the stadium photos and information for this Aberystwyth Town Park Avenue page.
Why were you looking forward to this game and visiting the ground itself?
How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?
What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?
What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the stadium?
Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..
Comment on getting away from the ground after the game
Summary of overall thoughts of the day out