JakePompeySmith visited Meadow Lane on 17/04/2017

Game watched: Notts County 1-3 Portsmouth

Notts County was my favourite away day to date for numerous reasons, the main one being that Pompey won promotion to League One on that day! Notts gave us three separate batches of tickets due to high demand and we ended up taking nearly 4,500 fans there, which was just insane. The ground was nice, in a decent, scenic area with rivals Forest just over the River Trent. It did not lack character at all, it had its own unique feel but at the same time it was partly just four separate stands of the same height. The programme was small and a bit pathetic, with the design on the front not eye-catching at all. The burger inside the ground was THE best I have ever had at a football ground, forget Crawley, Leyton Orient and Carlisle, Notts County had the ultimate tasty burger. The cheese was cheesy (seems obvious but not in comparison to other grounds), the meat was a good portion and tasted amazing and the bun was, well, a bun - nothing special, but was made better by the lack of doughy layer on the top, a problem at places like Cheltenham and Cambridge. On to the game, it was just superb. It was nervy as we only secured promotion in the last 15 minutes or so of the match, and had to listen out for results elsewhere. The atmosphere in the away end all game though was incredible, as inflatables, tickertape and huge roars of noise filled the ground for the entire duration. One word about the stewarding, which doesn't apply to all may I add, but some stewards were seen and filmed to be kicking Pompey fans on to the ground, tripping them up with what seemed to me an intent to injure them. Now, yes, you could say that this is their job, to prevent fans entering the field of play, but at this stage there were already a good number of fans on the field and there was nothing they could do about that anymore. My question is why target harmless older men and women, some with children, and denying them the chance to celebrate with the rest of the fans, which is traditional in England, especially as roughly as they did? That does not overshadow what was my favourite ever away game however, as like I said, it was a small minority of stewards - 3 or 4 of them.
Overall
4.5
Atmosphere
4
Location
4.5
Value for money
4
Pint rating
Not rated
Pie rating
Not rated
Programme
3
Character
3.5
Stewarding
1.5
Added 19/04/2017