Comments on: Barnsley – Oakwell

By: Stuart

Stuart — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 15:51:15 +0000

Visited Oakwell for the League Cup 1st round. Cannot comment on the pubs or parking as me and my mate got a lift with a freind of ours who is a Barnsley fan; she knew where they parked – we didn’t! Also, I can’t comemnt on the hotels becuase we came straight home.
Oakwell itself is quite dated and in need of a revamp and redevelopment but it was OK – although not eye candy still a nice ground. We got in early and found the food, especially the chicken balti pie, hot and edible. It was quite nice, and although I’ve had better, a good start to the evening. Maybe the food and drink is a little overpriced but that seems the trend of all stadiums. The catering staff were polite and ready to take your order, unlike some!
Having first feared there weren’t many of us, we soon discovered that our vocalists had arrived and we spent the whole game singing, dancing, standing up and the stewards were completley fine with it which is nice – a lot of stewards yell even if you stand up to go to the loo. The only downer was we were the only ones making noise – the stand is great for singing – but Barnsley had no vocal support whatsoever apart from a very brief half hearted “come on Barnsley” near the start. A great game, and a great result for Morecambe and the Barnsley fans were gracious in defeat – well apart from our mate!! A dull joureny home – hahaha couldn’t say much! Overall a good trip out, one to recommend if you get a chance, go.

By: James

James — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:59:10 +0000

One of the best away days in the Championship. Everybody from the programme seller to the stewards to the police are all friendly and happy to help and the Barnsley supporters are salt of the earth and are passionate about their club and their town.
The food is overpriced in the ground and tastes quite bad. The atmosphere inside the ground is good because the home fans are passionate and you can get a brilliant atmosphere going in the away end. Even though we lost 2 – 1, was still an enjoyable day out!

..apart from the traffic after the game – waited over an hour just to get out of Barnsley!

By: Ben Teedy

Ben Teedy — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 12:13:17 +0000

This match is one I always look forward to, it is nearby and there is a good rivalry between the two clubs. Our away numbers were not very good this time around (probably due to how bad we are at the moment) but the home fans had a decent amount of supporters. The atmosphere was above average – the Barnsley fans were infrequent but loud. As always our following made up for it’s poor numbers with great vocal support – even when we were losing and playing terribly.

Oakwell has a lot of character It is a traditional four sided stadia with small office buildings in two of the corners. The ground is not eye candy, but is quite interesting. I prefer places like Oakwell to grounds such as the Keepmoat as these sorts of stadiums feel more English than the bland new circular stadiums that seem to be in fashion at the minute. The catering, toilet and seating facilities are disappointing. Food is overpriced and nasty, most of the toilets were ‘out of order’ and there was very little legroom in front of the uncomfortable seats. Stewarding was very good however – it was completely relaxed with no incidents of the green-coats being heavy-handed jobsworths (I wish more stewards were like that!)

I cannot comment on anywhere to park as I used a public bus from Sheffield. It was a quick journey from the Bus stop and the signing was adequate for a driver – but quite poor for pedestrians.

Keep Colours covered after the match, as fans from both clubs will be walking side by side on exiting.

By: ALAN

ALAN — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 17:12:25 +0000

TRAVELLED WITH 2 TEENAGE SONS, FOUND A GOOD PUB “THE WHITE BEAR” IN THECITY CENTER~ A BIT PRICEY FOR DRINKS BUT FOOD A BARGAIN AND VIRTUALLY EMPTY. PUB ABOUT 15 MINUTES WALK TO THE GROUND.
ALCOHOL AND SMALL SELECTION OF FOOD AND DRINK AVAILABLE IN THE GROUND AND YOU CAN SMOKE IN THE AREA BETWEEN THE TURNSTILES AND THE ACTUAL STAND.
GROUND REALLY OLD AND NEEDS MODERNISING BUT YOU CAN SIT (OR STAND) WHERE YOU LIKE AND THE LARGE ROOF MAKES FOR EXCELLENT ACOUSTICS ~ WE SANG THE WHOLE GAME AND IT REALLY WAS A PARTY ATMOSPHERE
GAME ENDED 2-0 TO US AND WE MADE THE SHORT WALK BACK TO BARNSLEY TRAIN STATION IN GOOD SPIRITS
ALL IN ALL A GREAT DAY OUT AS ALWAYS WHEN LEICESTER VISIT OAKWELL
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AS AN AWAY SUPPORTER

By: Rich

Rich — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:46:16 +0000

I visited Oakwell as part of a large Manchester United contigency in the League cup – there was trouble at half time on the concourse which has been documented aplenty elsewherse – but apart from that it was was a cracking trip.

Me and my mate were driving for this one so can’t comment on the local away boozers etc and suspect it would be a very different experience for a weekend league fixtue as opposed to an increased allocation on a Tuesday night anyway. That being said the pie shop at the bottom of the hill leading away from the ground offered brilliant value (sorry – can’t remember exact price). We parked in the club car park- the attendant had no qualms about us being away supporters. It was £3 although I would advise parking as far from the ground on that car park as possible as it will be easier to get away from (we were at the top near the superstore and it was 30 mins to get out).

The Police, in fairness to them, were very helpful when we were trying to find the ground, although later on relations unfortunately worsened betwen United supporters and South Yorks finest, though I suspect this was the exception rather than the norm.