Spotland

Saturday 13 April 2013

Rochdale 2-2 Port Vale

Aerial shot of Spotland (Bing Maps)

Programme - £3.00

Ratings

Overall Ground Quality : 7/10
Ease of getting there : 7/10
Atmosphere : 9/10
Programme : 9/10
View of Action : 8/10
Quality of the game : 8/10
The "football" feeling : 8/10
Chances of coming here for a random game : 1/10
Legroom : 10/10
Surrounding area : 7/10

Overall : 74/100

Pearl Street Stand

Willbutts Lane Stand

Sandy Lane End

Main Stand

Pearl Street Stand

Willbutts Lane Stand

Sandy Lane End

'Welcome to Spotland'

Sandy Lane End

Main Stand and the Ratcliffe Arms

Rochdale vs Port Vale

Main Stand

Sandy Lane End

Willbutts Lane Stand

The beauty of League 2!....A leaking roof

The rain across the Moors

Main Stand

Sandy Lane End

Police and Stewards controlling the 3,000 plus
Port Vale supporters in the Willbutts Lane Stand

Willbutts Lane Stand

Rochdale 2-2 Port Vale

We decided in the week that we would go up to Greater Manchester (...again) and see either Rochdale vs Port Vale with Vale chasing promotion or Bury vs Oldham Athletic with Bury on the verge of relegation. We preferred to see Rochdale vs Port Vale due to both teams being in good form rather than a scrappy relegation fight at Gigg Lane.

We set off just gone 9am, and headed up the M1 Northbound towards Snake Pass and then across the Pennines towards Manchester before turning off at Stalybridge towards Mossley, Uppermill, Delph, Newhey and into Rochdale.

After battling our way across the town centre, we found ourselves at Spotland and parked just of Sandy Lane by a deserted 1960’s precinct.

We then walked up to the ground and bought our tickets and programmes before taking some photos including a few photos inside. When we asked a few people where the best place to eat was, we we’re given the response “There’s a good chippy round the corner” at least 3 times making us think either the locals were on commission or it’s a good fish and chip shop. Nevertheless, we decided to give this chip shop a go. Situated on Willbutts Lane behind the away stand, the shop looked good with many colourful flowers in hanging baskets and the fish and chips matched the look of the shop, they were very good too.

After we ate our fish and chips, we continued to take photos outside the ground before deciding to go into the Ratcliffe Arms Bar behind the Main Stand to wash down our lunch with a cold pint.

We continued to walk round the ground and the area after our drinks before deciding there wasn’t much to do and went into the ground.

Spotland was built in 1920 and was completely redeveloped on three sides between 1992 and 2000. The ground holds 10,249 and is shared with the Rochdale Hornets rugby league team.

The game saw both Rochdale and Port Vale draw 2-2. Vale’s Liam Chilvers put the ball in his own net to give Rochdale the lead before top scorer Tom Pope levelled with a header.

Chilvers made up for his earlier mistake and nodded home in the 89th minute to put Vale 2-1 ahead.

Dale’s Kennedy headed home the equaliser deep in stoppage time to earn Rochdale a point and put Vale's celebrations on hold.

We left the ground promptly and ran back to the car before forcing our way back onto the B6452 driving down towards the A627, M60 and then back onto Snake Pass and then the M1 Southbound.

We really enjoyed our trip to Rochdale. A game with something at stake, a bumper crowd, the majority being away supporters, saw Spotland have a buzzing atmosphere which was the chemistry for a really enjoyable day.