Just because it’s a midweek game, and an FA Cup Replay we don’t give Groundhopper the night off, so clutching a match ticket and a seat on the coach, we sent them off to investigate what the Lamex Stadium has to offer.
| Stevenage | |||
| Category | Score | Comments | |
| First Impressions of the stadium, parking, ease of entry. | 7 | The Lamex appears to be a fairly modern stadium. Entry to the away end was quick although I understand that there were queues outside as kick off approached. The parking in the nearby Fairlands Valley Car Park was free. Unfortunately, the car park remains unlit, and the surface is uneven making it treacherous for those less ambulant supporters. The walk to the ground via the underpass took about 10 minutes. | |
| Food & Drink, range, quality, price. | 6 | The food outlet sells the usual burgers, hot dogs, drinks and chips. No alcohol. | |
| View from your seat, any poles in the way, obstructed view, seat broken? | 8 | We were allocated the entire stand behind the goal. No obstructions and seats were in good order. | |
| Home team support, was it a library, good banter between the fans? | 7 | Located on the terrace to our right the home support had their drum and were fairly vocal. There was some banter between the two groups of supporters | |
| What were the stewards like, helpful and friendly or jobsworths? | 7 | Stewards seemed friendly and there didn’t appear to be any issues. | |
| Toilet facilities, clean and well equipped with hot water, disgusting. | 6 | The toilets are dated, the type you’d avoid using on a cold day | |
| Ticket pricing, did the price reflect the facilities of the ground? | 7 | An adult ticket was £22 which was pretty steep for an FA Cup 1st round midweek replay. | |
| Ground facilities, half time service, did they let fans outside at halftime? | 5 | Limited space at the back of the stand where the toilets & food concession were located. This is an open area, but supporters weren’t allowed to smoke there or go outside at HT. Stewards were regularly checking the toilets to ensure that fans weren’t smoking in there. | |
| Match atmosphere, did the Dons fans give good support? | 8 | The 336 Dons fans, exceeding the usual attendance for a midweek away fixture, made plenty of noise without the drum. Apparently, drums are permitted but we didn’t ask because it normally doesn’t travel midweek and so it stayed at home. | |
| Ease of exit, did the carpark clear quickly, traffic around the stadium? | 7 | Exit from the dark car park was slow but once on the road we were away. | |
| Any other observations or comments that may have affected your scoring? | |||
| Name – Groundhopper | Total Score out of 100 | 68/100 | |
