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Beautiful Down Town Bramall Lane
Getting There
From North: Exit M1 at Junction 34 following signs to Sheffield. Turn left after 3½ miles and take the 4th exit at the roundabout into Sheaf Street. Take the 5th exit at the 2nd roundabout into St. Mary's Road. Turn left after ½ a mile into Bramall Lane
From South and East: Exit M1 at Junction 31 or 33 and take A57 to the roundabout, take the 3rd exit into Sheaf Street (Then as North).
From West: Take A57 into Sheffield and take the 4th exit at roundabout into Upper Hanover Street and at 2nd roundabout take 3rd exit into Bramall Lane.
(NB – Due to some of the ground improvements and building work going on, some of the roads directly surrounding the ground could be inaccessible from time to time)
By Rail: On leaving the station turn left up the main road and bare left at the roundabout. Take the right hand fork at the next set of lights and keep going straight on until you come to the dual carriageway. Cross that and then go right until you reach the large church – turn left there and Bramall Lane is situated just behind that.
By coach – the coach station is opposite the rail one so same directions.
Parking there:
The only parking nearby is on the local side streets.
Eating there:
The City Centre is only a ten-minute walk from the ground and there are plenty of pubs that serve decent grub. As you would expect, price and quality vary considerably but as we are a large city there are far too many to go through individually. There are also plenty of take aways dotted around as well, including a MacDonalds on Queens road (just down from the station) which is only five minutes walk from the ground. If you’re looking to make a day of it and fancy a meal after the game there are loads of good, reasonably priced restaurants on London Road (straight out of the away end, up the nearest side street and it’s the next main road that runs parallel to Bramall Lane itself). Highly recommended are Candytown (Chinese), Muchachas (Mexican), Effe’s (Turkish) and the Mango Tree (Carribean). Further afield you’ll find Ecclesall Road, Division Street and West Street packed with café’s and restaurants although these tend to be on the more trendy side.
Around the ground there are loads of burger vans with the average price of a burger being around £2. Best of the lot is Pete’s Pantry, which is usually situated opposite the middle of the away end and has some chairs and tables to sit at. Huge fried sarnies at low prices – Egg/Bacon/Beans/Tomatoes/Sausage on a massive breadcake for around £2. Best burger van type food I’ve ever tasted – tell 'em ‘From The Terrace’ sent you. You can tell it’s good cos all the stewards and coppers have their dinners from there before going on duty.
I’ve no idea what the grub is like inside the away end as I don’t sit there on a regular basis! Needless to say - if it’s anything like the rest of the ground it will be over priced, under cooked crap to be avoided at all costs. The club doesn’t get any money from any of it at it’s all subcontracted out so do your eating before you get into the ground and we’ll all be happy.
Drinking There:
Most of the pubs within a mile radius of the ground are designated as home fans only although often it depends on the expected size of the crowd as to whether it’s strictly enforced or not. Despite something of a fearsome reputation, most Blades fans are generally warm and friendly. The best thing to do if you want a drink before the game is not to arrive in a large group or be overtly festooned in away colours. One thing to definitely avoid is rowdy behaviour or comments designed to wind the locals up because they will oblige and will assist you on your way to the local casualty – don’t say you haven’t been warned.
Away from the ground visitors are generally welcomed as long as they are well behaved. If you’ve arrived by train the Howard – big white pub opposite the station – is generally a meeting place for away fans. A brisk walk up the hill behind there will take you into the city centre where there are pubs and bars aplenty.
Anyone travelling from the direction of Chesterfield could try the pubs in the Woodseats / Chesterfield road area which are usually quite quiet at lunchtime and are only a further five minutes from the ground (or a 15 minute walk if you’re feeling energetic!)
Bramall lane does have licensed bars but I’m not sure if there is one in the away end although there’s certainly one in the home section of the same stand. (Anyone who has visited us and can clarify this could perhaps let me know by e-mail). The club is sponsored by Carlsberg so it’s their stuff that is on sale, over priced as you’d expect - £2.50+ a pint
Sitting There:
NB: There are no cash turnstiles at Bramall Lane – all tickets must either be bought in advance or from the official ticket office at the ground prior to kick off – either leave yourself enough time to queue or send someone to nip down when you first arrive to pick up tickets then. It may seem a hassle but it was done to stop the turnstile operators and stewards nicking cash, which it seems they were doing by the bucket load.
Away fans are generally allocated the Lower tier on the Bramall Lane end, which holds around three thousand (I think) – it’s mostly undercover but the front few rows and one corner tend to get we if it rains with the wind in the right direction. The upper tier is usually inhabited by home fans but is sometimes given over to away supporters if their club feels that a large travelling support is likely. This will boost the away allocation to around five thousand.
The stewards at Bramall Lane unfortunately have something of a reputation for being none too lenient so keep your cool. One thing to remember is that they do not allow anyone to run towards the pitch. Anyone who tries to vault the front of the stand and enters the cinder track around the pitch (for whatever reason) will be very forcibly ejected from the ground if they’re lucky, a few smacks and a trip to the cells if they’re not. The Blades Fans Associations have tried to get the stewarding sorted out for quite a while with no success as yet so just be warned.
Ticket for away fans will be £18 this season. Should you feel the need to try and sit in the home areas ensure you don’t wear colours, don’t offer vocal encouragement to your team and whatever you do, don’t jump up and celebrate if they score – the likelihood is you’ll get a severe kicking and then the stewards will kick you out.
Reading There:
The programme (£2) is one of the better ones on offer around the country – decent lay out etc. Usually contains about six pages on the visiting team including manager and player interviews. ‘The Flashing Blade’ (70p) is the longest running United Fanzine, available around the ground about six times a season. "The Green ‘Un" is the local evening paper (printed on green paper – hence the name) and carries a detailed match report on all the games involving the local teams, as well as full classified results, all the tables, brief reports on other games around the country alongside other sporting results. It is available from most Newsagents and off licences and usually hits the streets between 6 and 6.30pm costing 30p
Listening there:
Radio Sheffield and Radio Hallam cover local games but coverage is shared with Wednesday / Barnsley / Rotherham / Chesterfield on a rotational basis. Both have a phone-in slot at around 5-30, the best of which is ‘Praise or Grumble’ on Radio Sheffield which is always lively.
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13 May 08 
Preston North End Football Club