FilthyDon wrote:
Really not understanding the love for Walsall away. Has to be one of the dullest in the season.
Shit stadium (one of the worst in the league IMO), poor service and no beer inside (usually a queue of about 50 people for half an hour from the shack in the corner serving about 5 things), stadium is basically in the middle of an industrial estate and nothing decent in Walsall town. Restricted view too from some parts of the away end with the stand supports.
Yes there's the Saddlers bar, but its no different to any other reasonable pub/supporters bar at other grounds. Beer certainly isn't anything extraordinary (but I find it hard to describe any beer as "special" or "excellent", just some are slightly better than others). Hardly a complex 30 year old single malt.
Well, here's a detailed explanation for you:
No beer inside: no longer the case, according to Football Ground Guide.
Stadium is basically in the middle of an industrial estate and nothing decent in Walsall town: you could say exactly the same about a lot of other stadia, including our own.
Restricted views in the away end: not really much of a problem with our levels of away support.
Saddlers Bar no different to any other reasonable pub/supporters bar at other grounds: I'd be interested to hear your views on which are better. In my extensive experience, Saddlers is without equal, for reasons already stated on this thread by a number of people. Stevenage, Bury and Hartlepool are all good, but much smaller and more basic.
Beer certainly isn't anything extraordinary: subjective, of course, but there are very few places you can go that close to any football ground with that wide a choice of sensibly priced beers and ales.
Hardly a complex 30 year old single malt: I enjoy my whiskeys just as much as my beers, and I can taste equally different ranges of flavours in beers as in whiskeys. If you can't, then you're probably drinking the wrong beers!
Ultimately, it's an easy and cheap day out from MK by train, the stadium is right by the station, and a very good bar (in the opinion of many of us) is right next door. For the basic stuff that makes a good away day, it ticks all the boxes.
, it's still no beer inside. That may have changed ofcourse, but not sure how frequently Football Ground guide is updated.
Oh I can taste the difference between beers, but even an 'excellent' beer isn't anything to shout about whereas an 'excellent' whisky is well worth it. I've had a cold bottle of Peroni I've enjoyed just as much as highly regarded real ales. But even the best beers in most places aren't considerably to your usual lagers. Had a £15 pint of an imported, award winning Australian pale ale once in a micro brewery which was very nice, but still not worth an £11 premium over a standard pint. I live just outside of Walsall and have tried most of the local stuff and nothing was spectacular or worth the trouble. If anyone can reccomend something on Saturday I'll try it and wait for the orgasm. Maybe I've missed the better stuff.
Can't think of any other bars/pubs attached to stadiums, but that's because there aren't many that are open to away fans too. I suppose that's a positive for it in that it's not home only. Re the restricted view - any time I've been unless you are there to get somewhere in the middle early the pillars to either side block some of the view. Not hugely, but definitely in the way.
It definitely seems like a few on here seem to love Walsall away, nothing wrong with that. I just don't think much of it at all. I only look out for it as it's the nearest away game to me, but not for any other reason.