By Groundhopper, MKDSA Roving Reporter
The long suffering Groundhopper made another journey North this week, this time to Hillsborough and here’s the verdict on the day.
| Sheffield Wednesday | ||
| Category | Score | Comments |
| First Impressions of the stadium, parking, ease of entry. | 7 | Hillsborough is an older ground located in a built up area of Sheffield with limited parking available. The coach & minibuses dropped us off in Leppings Lane near to the away end before leaving the area. The all seater stadium has a current capacity of 34,835. |
| Food & Drink, range, quality, price. | 7 | The kiosk served hot food; pies & sausage rolls etc, tea, coffee and alcoholic beverages. Prices like elsewhere had increased since our last visit. The concourse area under the stand is quite spacious. |
| View from your seat, any poles in the way, obstructed view, seat broken? | 7 | We were in one block in the upper part of the West Stand directly behind the goal with a good view of the pitch slightly hindered by the posts at either side of the stand. The seating is cramped with little leg room. Wheelchair bays for visiting supporters are in the stand’s lower tier and so we were unable to interact. |
| Home team support, was it a library, good banter between the fans? | 6 | The attendance for this fixture was 24,318. The home support didn’t make a great deal of noise considering their position in the league and they won having been 2-1 down. Mainly just goal celebrations. |
| What were the stewards like, helpful and friendly or jobsworths? | 7 | The stewards were friendly, greeting us as we entered the ground. |
| Toilet facilities, clean and well equipped with hot water, disgusting. | 7 | No change to the toilets which are still very dated and in need of an overhaul. However, there was hot water. |
| Ticket pricing, did the price reflect the facilities of the ground? | 6 | An adult ticket remained at £24 which is what we paid last season but doesn’t reflect the standard of facilities. |
| Ground facilities, half time service, did they let fans outside at halftime? | 6 | In need of an update. Fans were allowed downstairs to smoke outside. Just as we commented on our last visit the PA system in the stand is too loud. There was some half-time entertainment. |
| Match atmosphere, did the Dons fans give good support? | 6 | We didn’t take the drum but the travelling support made plenty of noise. It’s disappointing that some reverted to using misogynistic chants. For some reason Sheffield Wednesday don’t share the number of visiting supporters in their attendance figure so I don’t know how many MK fans travelled. |
| Ease of exit, did the carpark clear quickly, traffic around the stadium? | 6 | Departure from the ground was delayed whilst we waited for the minibuses which had been caught behind the road closures as they returned to the area. Traffic around the stadium was very slow to clear. |
| Any other observations or comments that may have affected your scoring? | ||
| Name – Groundhopper | Total Score out of 100 | 65 /100 |
