The Aesseal New York Stadium
Another week, another game, and this week the home of the league leaders Rotherham United, and as usual our undercover reporter Groundhopper was there sucking up the atmosphere as well as checking out the facilities…. see if your opinions on the Aesseal Stadium match up.
| Rotherham | ||
| Category | Score | Comments |
| First Impressions of the stadium, parking, ease of entry. | 9 | The Aesseal New York Stadium is modern but has a capacity of just over 12,000. Although close to the town centre there’s plenty of parking at the ground and nearby. The railway station is only five minutes away. Away fans are allocated the Mears South stand and coaches parked outside. |
| Food & Drink, range, quality, price. | 8 | The kiosk served the usual football fayre; pies, sausage rolls, hot dogs, burgers, hot & cold drinks & alcohol which was reasonably priced. Strangely they couldn’t do a black coffee. |
| View from your seat, any poles in the way, obstructed view, seat broken? | 8 | The view from the Mears South stand was unobstructed. It’s a steep climb to the top of the stand which was a challenge for the less ambulant. However, the incline prevented those in front from obstructing sight of the pitch. Wheelchair users are located on a platform at the rear of the same stand to our left. |
| Home team support, was it a library, good banter between the fans? | 7 | The attendance for this fixture was 9,731. Home fans could be heard but didn’t make the noise you’d expect when their team is top of the League. Rotherham’s website states that “drums are not permitted in the stadium by either sets of supporters”. Imagine our surprise to hear the occasional sound of a drum which we eventually located in front of the home end at the opposite corner to us. The offender was the club mascot who wasn’t very good. |
| What were the stewards like, helpful and friendly or jobsworths? | 7 | There were a lot of stewards positioned within the stand to keep us segregated from the home fans. Those we encountered were friendly & courteous. |
| Toilet facilities, clean and well equipped with hot water, disgusting. | 7 | The toilet blocks were clean and well maintained. There was hot water. |
| Ticket pricing, did the price reflect the facilities of the ground? | 8 | An adult ticket was £23 which is slightly cheaper than the average in League 1. |
| Ground facilities, half time service, did they let fans outside at halftime? | 8 | The concourse area is under the stand so enclosed and got very busy. Fans were allowed out to smoke. |
| Match atmosphere, did the Dons fans give good support? | 9 | I don’t recall any banter coming from the home fans. There were 608 Dons fans in attendance and although we weren’t allowed the drum, they made plenty of noise throughout. |
| Ease of exit, did the carpark clear quickly, traffic around the stadium? | 7 | Our departure away from the stadium car park was relatively quick after a brief wait to allow fans clear the ground. |
| Any other observations or comments that may have affected your scoring? | ||
| Name – Groundhopper | Total Score out of 100 | 78 /100 |
