Macclesfield is one of the friendliest away days around, although unfortunately The Star pub near the ground which was great fun on our last two visits has apparently closed down.

Equally unfortunate is the fact that the best pub near the station, namely the Tavern on Waters Green doesn’t open until 7pm!

So what is left? Well there are several other fairly unremarkable pubs at the station end, the pick of which is probably the George and Dragon. Heading out of town towards the ground, I’ve always quite liked The Albion on the main London Road, while tucked own Byrons Lane about 10 minutes walk from the ground on the town side there is a gem called The Railway View which boasts a few real ales, and like most pubs in the area is extremely “away friendly”.

Since the alleged demise of The Star the nearest pub to the ground is now The Golden Lion on Moss Lane, about a five minute walk from the ground itself, a rather middling Tetley’s pub.

Honourable mention to The Sun Inn near the town centre for its attempts to provide mind-blowing strength real ale amongst its unusual selection of beer and cider, and on both my previous visits I’ve scored a much needed lift from a friendly local.

At the ground itself its unlikely away supporters will gain access to the extremely compact Blues Bar near the main stand, and I can’t find any information as to the outcome of the club’s recent application for a drinks license for both the new stand and the away end, however the burgers were superb last time I recall!!

As an away day Accrington is a bit like a premature baby, alive and healthy, with everyone pleased to see it, but arguably not ready for the world of the Football League where relatively small clubs like us can overrun the tiny stadium and the moderate facilities thereabouts.

Patronising? Maybe so, but I have little time for clubs who fail to offer adequate covered terracing, seats for away fans, or whose social clubs have a policy of refusing away supporters.

That aside the people and hostelries of Accrington offer a typically warm Lancastrian welcome to well behaved away fans in search of a pint, but that I guess is the least you would expect from a club allegedly formed in a pub, and whose current ground (pre sponsorship) was named after the adjacent Crown pub.

Train travellers have a couple of options as they alight about a mile and a half from the ground, the most obvious of which is the rather basic “Railway” as you exit onto Station Road.

Whalley Road is the main road near the ground, and there are three options here, the nearest of which is the aforementioned Crown Inn that overlooks the stadium. A better bet for those in search of real ale (particularly dark mild!) is the Grey Horse further down Whalley Road towards the town, while The Greyhound is situated on Wyresdale Avenue just set back from the main road is reportedly becoming the “away pub”.

As I have only visited Accrington during the days they were in the Unibond League attracting crowds of about 4-500 I can’t really make any further comment on the current match-day experience, apart from to say that the pubs near the ground are adequate, but nothing special and that it’s a real shame the social club is now home only.

Also note that the current Stanley Arms situated in Stanley Street where the original club was formed, is not in fact the original Stanley Arms, so if you want football memorabilia with your real Ale try the Peel Park Hotel on Turkey St. although it is a good 20 minutes walk to the new stadium.

The good news is Chester can be an excellent day out, providing fantastic opportunities for a crawl round a mixture of traditional and modern bars. However, the bad news is that there isn’t a pub within 20 minutes walk of the ground, and the club bar has ceased to admit away fans after problems a couple of seasons ago.

Of course the game being on a Friday makes thing even more awkward for those travelling after work. Train travellers are also dumped at the rather grotty station on the outskirts of the city and miles from the ground although there is a “hopper” bus service that takes you into the city centre.

Near the station there are a couple of places worth mentioning. There is a public bar in the Westminster Hotel on the main City Road that is very welcoming to non-residents, although the beer is a bit pricey. If real ale and some food are the priority, then hang a right off City Road towards the City and take in the Union Vaults on Egerton Road followed by the adjacent Mill Hotel around the corner on the canal-side. This is a converted Corn Mill boasting four bars and a barge restaurant, and is welcoming to a wide variety of clientele including families with children.

Anyone suitably amused by miserable, eccentric landlords (similar to old Bill who used to have The Fox, now the Wanderer, next to Molineux) should take themselves to The Albion next to the shopping centre. It’ll probably be shut, as the landlord basically opens when he likes which I find very endearing. On my last visit on a steaming hot June day I was confronted with “button up your shirt please young man” whilst awaiting my pint. Fabulous! Years since I’ve been called a “young man” in any sort of context, so I humbly accepted the 1950’s standards!

For those who like me enjoy living in the slightly more recent past, the pick of the City Centre pubs is the Shropshire Arms on Northgate near the Cathedral. Enjoy real ale and old fashioned table top Galaxians in a 1980’s style.

The City boasts the usual charmless chains, and some of the bar staff and managers can be particularly rude to anyone resembling a football fan, particularly a Walsall fan I find! We tend to be quite unpopular in this neck of the woods for some reason, I always remember school trips to Chester Zoo degenerating into a scene from Quadrophenia when the local school kids realised we were from Walsall, and now 25 years on it would seem most of those kids work for either Wetherspoons or Ultimate Leisure.

Either way if you make it into the City Centre for a drink, or try any of the bars around the station I would definitely recommend a taxi to the ground useful numbers being (01244) 346464 for anyone at the station heading towards the city, i.e. Mill Hotel end. Or (01244) 372372 for anyone in the city centre.

Don’t forget by the way, when standing on the away terrace you are actually in Wales.

The Red Prince’s Addendum

The Red Prince, being currently native to the city, has added the following:-

Further to Geordie’s excellent guide I have one or two other place’s of interest I would like to add. Firstly, if you are coming up through town there are two places to avoid (unless you are wfc_2uk, if you catch my drift) and they are Bar 69, which is just off the A51 entering Chester City Centre, and the other is the very misleading Liverpool Arms on Northgate Street, next to the walls.

Places I can recommend, however, are; The Old Queen’s Head opposite Weatherspoons on Foregate Street, although this may be a little too ‘young’ for the older generation.

If you fancy a bit of quaintness (and some German lager no one has ever heard of), then try the Old Boot Inn on Eastgate Street in the city centre, set back in the Row’s just above Hallmark, it must have the lowest ceiling of any pub in Chester, and dates back several hundred years. It is a haunt for home fans, but usually of the flat cap variety, and I have not heard of trouble there.

Next up, and the closest pub you can get to the ground, is Telford’s Warehouse, just off Raymond Street. Set in a converted warehouse, built by Thomas Telford funnily enough, on the site of the old Shropshire Canal basin, it overhangs the canal and boasts live music on a Friday night, and a good (if a little expensive) selection of food and beverages, however, be warned that the students are back and it may get a little crowded.

If anyone is planning on stopping on after the match, the are only three real nightclubs in Chester namely; RB’s, on the corner of Eastgate and Northgate Street, Brannigans, on the corner of St. John’s Street and Foregate Street, and Revolution, on Foregate Street, just past Weatherspoon’s, none of which I would enthusiastically recommend, for those with exotic tastes, there is the Platinum Lounge, set on the Row’s on Bridge Street.

Here it is, the day we thought would never come when the rodents slipped into non-league obscurity and we signed you know who, but thanks largely to the latter three years on we meet our barber cap wearing neighbours from under the Severn on equal terms, well almost, we are of course top of the league and they mid-table nobodies.

Apart from when ourselves or the oh so mighty Wrexham are in town Shrewsbury is a relaxed day out pub wise, plenty wattle and daub style real ale bars dotted around the town and the area known as Abbey Forgeate near the disgusting tin shack that masquerades as a football ground

But of course tomorrow we are in town, so the air will no doubt be crackling with tension, fear not in my experience Shrewsbury fans are a well balanced bunch boasting a chip on each shoulder when in comes to the Saddlers.

So where to drink? The station is right next to the ground although an annoying little walk if you don’t fancy absailing down a grassy knoll, but there is a horrible amber painted pub called the Albion Vaults under the bridge as you exit the station, I was refused entry on my last visit so guess what? Recommended it isn’t. but I’m sure it’s lovely.

If you fancy a pint of quality Banks’s then walk about 3 minutes up the hill from the station to the Bull’s Head on Castle Gate. However, my own personal favourites are the Lion and Pheasant which is a short walk away from the ground towards the town and The Old Lion Tap which is set in a back alley off the main road again walking over the river towards the town.

Back on Abbey Forgeate the home orientated Crown is probably the closest pub to the ground. While a little further along The Dun Cow offers the best option for those arriving early in search of quality pub food with its superb traditional menu and exotic meats for anyone that can’t resist a bit of pre-match alligator or kangaroo.

Honorary mention as well to the spacious warehouse conversion called The Armoury which is on the opposite side of the town where the river loops round, but still only about half a mile from the ground. If you have the time its well worth a visit, although it’s a bit pricey when it comes to food the atmosphere is far more relaxed than most other town centre pubs on a match-day.

Short and to the point this week, as Geordiesaddler has been inundated at work. With a city the size of Bristol, though, it is difficult cutting this down to a managable level!

A trip to Bristol can mean many things from the wonderful Smiles brewery tap near the hospital, the Wharf development down by the Avon, or the rather grotty and old fashioned city centre.

For a trip to The Memorial ground the best option is to stick to the plethora of pubs that exist on Gloucester Road. The Wellington is an excellent spacious pub that boasts Bath Ales and although home orientated I’ve never had any problems.

The more compact Victoria can be found a little further up Gloucester Road and is worth a look, although, like The John Cabot, it can get extremely busy on matchdays. I would tend to avoid the latter to be honest as it gets a bit “yokelly”.

Lovers of Real Ale may want to try The Annexe near the Cricket Ground about 7 minutes walk from the stadium. Good also if you have the kids or if it’s a nice day as this bar is family friendly, does good cheap food and boasts a beer garden.

There is also the usual social club at the ground, although with the choice of bars on Gloucester Road its hardly necessary.

As an inhabitant of run-down seaside town on England’s rain-lashed North Sea coast, I’m probably not in a position to criticise, but…. Cleethorpes makes Whitley Bay look like Accupulco.

Still, Blundell Park was raised just yards from the sea-front, so if the match is rubbish you can always watch the oil-tankers on the distant sea that apparently does exist on the other side of the seemingly endless mudflats.

The other good news is that Grimsby away boasts a very basic, but always welcoming away pub in the shape of the back bar of The Leaking Boot Hotel, about 7 minutes walk up the main road heading away from the ground towards Cleethorpes town centre. Let’s hope they still have “Punk Hits of The 70’s” on the juke box, as it’s always a nice livener to blast one’s eardrums with the Sex Pistols before the match, loosening the tonsils with an impromptu karaoke, which one year turned into a full-blown mosh-pit.

The beer too is pretty basic, and since the mosh-pit year has been served in plastic beakers that invariably leak, but if the sun is shining and the wind less than force 8 you can meander into the spacious beer garden that runs along the back of the bar.

The ‘Boot does have two other bars which are a bit more civilised (probably because we’re not in them), mainly for home supporters, and its also convenient for a chippy for anyone wanting to partake of the area’s excellent local delicacy.

That apart there’s not really much else to recommend near the ground. You can shoe-horn yourself into The Imperial which is further down Grimsby Road towards the Stadium but life’s probably too short to be honest. Leaving the Leaking Boot to go there gives you that hollow “why have I bothered?” feeling.

In the town and next to Cleethorpes station well, what can I say? Anyone who reads these guides will know I don’t like to be overly critical of particular establishments, however if garish karaoke bars allegedly once frequented by the infamous Maxine Carr float your boat then you’re in for a treat, otherwise just don’t do it! I was once chased right down the road to the station by a barmaid for the heinous crime of buying a bottle of pils to take away from one of them.

In-keeping with the general eccentricity of the place the station boasts not one but two real ale bars, called, wait for it… The Number One and Number Two Refreshment Rooms. They are both actually well worth a visit for a quiet pint and The Number Two has won a CAMRA award for its efforts.

If it’s a nice day (yes I know I’ve jinxed it now) and you find yourself on the sea-front you can walk down to the ground, or a street that leads you to the Leaking Boot along the sea wall rather than Grimsby Road. I usually bus it from the main Road by the station which takes five minutes rather than using up 20 minutes valuable drinking time walking it, but if you’ve got the kids or fancy some sea air it’s a pleasant and unique approach to a football ground. Have a good trip all, and remember the match report will be late this week as I’m actually going to the game, sorry!!

Well, somewhat belatedly and puffing and blowing following a run down the length of the country, Geordie’s pub guide has just arrived. Enjoy the night out!

Well it’s a fair few years since I’ve been to Plymouth!! But as I recall it is an unusual ground set on the outskirts of the city in the area next to Central Park, which walking from the station up Alma Road takes you past a Wetherspoons, namely the Pennycomequick Hotel which is adjacent to the railway line.

Then if you walk up to the top of Alma Road there is another Wetherspoons called The Britannia which is no more than five minutes walk from the ground cutting across the Park.

If parking on the other side of Central Park there is the Central Park Towers which is in the heart of the student district. I used to go for a drink in the student union bar of the University but I would imagine this will be closed at this time of year.

Beer is also reportedly served in the stadium.

Anyone looking to make an afternoon of it heading down to The Barbican to take in the sea air will find a more plentiful and varied supply of pubs near the sea-front although many of them are a bit touristy. Those in search of a more traditional atmosphere should head for The Minerva set between the Barbican and the tacky shopping centre, supposedly and old haunt of Francis Drake, and at 500 years old the oldest pub in the city.

Rising from the featureless approach of the A46, Lincoln is an under-rated away trip spoilt only by the annoying band with whom away fans now have to share a stand.

There are 46 pubs to enjoy in the splendid City Centre, many of which are dotted along the High St. which itself is easily accessible from the station (about 15 minutes walk to the ground, left and left again at the church).

Unfortunately on my last visit Lincoln seemed to developing a chav infestation so High St. wise I avoided the chain pubs and headed for the more traditional and compact Golden Eagle which is worth a visit with football memorabilia and real ale (Bateman’s), then headed up to the George and Dragon, another more traditional pub which is nearer the football ground end of the High St.

Nearer still is the more spacious City Vaults, but I have to say on my last match-day visit there was a distinct “atmosphere” between the home supporters and the visiting York City fans. Maybe it was some kind of Cathedral rivalry I hadn’t quite grasped, I don’t know.

You can actually have a proper pub crawl heading away from the station up the High St. and then hang a left at Scorer St. to the ground, but this will rob you of the enjoyable saunter along the Sincil Drain, one of the most picturesque approaches to an English football Stadium.

My choice therefore is to take an earlier left turn down Portland St. to the logically named Portland Arms, which is amongst the friendliest and just all round most enjoyable away pubs in the country. Friendly staff, pub games and a fine choice of real ales (Bateman’s again!) can be enjoyed in a relaxed atmosphere, before heading along the Sincil drain/bank to the ground about 5 minutes walk heading away from the City centre. Don’t forget to look over your shoulder for the superb view of the Cathedral.

Nearer the ground still on the corner of Monson St. and Sincil Bank is the Ripon Arms, which isn’t as good as the Portland IMO but still well worth a look for convenience sake.

At the ground there is the usual social club, namely The Centre Spot, which is as ever for this type of establishment friendly but a bit basic, but cheap it isn’t! Situated behind the goal, near the tiny South Park Stand, for those that went last time this is the opposite end to what used to be the away end but is now convenient for the away area of the new stand in which we will be housed.

For those awaiting trains on the way home you can get a pint in the Tudor bar of The Grand Hotel opposite the station, although last time I had to wait until 5.30 for the bar to open. So don’t lose your head if you get there at twenty five past.

What can I say? No more than, it’s back by popular demand. Happy drinking!

Well it doesn’t seem five minutes since we were planning pub meets near The Stadium of Light and Upton Park, so for some of our newer supporters this might be a bit of a culture shock. Yes folks its back to Division Four, but despair not!

As if by decision of some Division Four welcoming committee, the fixture computer has handed us an opening day trip to the basement league’s most enduring member, Rochdale. Arguably one of the most atmospheric and friendly away trips there is to be had.

Indeed, such is my love of the town’s hostelries the last time we played Oldham away on a Saturday I stopped off in Rochdale for a pint at the splendidly named “Mucky Duck”, just for old times’ sake. Anyone arriving early by train might want to consider this excellent local’s bar on Drake St. about 5 minutes walk from the station. Most pubs in Rochdale seem to have friendly, flirtatious barmaids serving frothy Northern bitter in outsized glasses, but The Duck really sets the standard in these departments and is worthy of patronage.

Unfortunately the ground is a fair shank from the station and the town centre but delightfully there are several very good bars on its doorstep. Studds is situated directly under one of the “behind the goals” stands and serves hot food as well as beer.

The others are proper old-fashioned match-day pubs and all worth a visit for the same reasons as the Mucky Duck.

Next to the traffic lights on Bury Road (northern) approach to the ground there is the mainly home orientated Cemetery Hotel which is the only one that really caters for real ale seekers. Boasting three rooms and an upstairs eatery this bar has a nice mixture of facilities. One of the rooms is no smoking, while the restaurant is part of The Campaign For Real Food, so chips are off the menu I’m afraid! Probably a good place to go if you arrive early with the family, or are just approaching from Bury Road.

In addition to Studds at the ground there is the Radcliffe Arms on Sandy Lane literally right next to the home turnstiles. This is the place to be if you want cheap beer. Although independent from the club it’s very much a Rochdale FC pub having been named after a former club chairman.

Given the time of year The Church Inn might be the best bet for an alfresco pint. The landlord has been known to do barbecues for the rugby fans who share Spotland during the summer, and it’s also the nearest to the away turnstiles on Willbutts Lane.

Lastly if you need to supplement your proper beer intake with overpriced weak lager served in a plastic beaker (ahem!!) or are unlucky enough to arrive late and miss the delights of the aforementioned, the away stand has a bar to go with it’s superb along the pitch view.

One little fact about Rochdale, they survived re-election in 1980 when the Grimsby delegate went into the wrong room during the voting, and the Luton delegate turned up late, God bless ‘em, The Football League, and especially the basement division wouldn’t be the same without the Dale trip, be nice to see them with us in a higher league next season.

Well, old age comes to us all, but it’s going to stretch Geordiesaddler’s mental abilities next season remembering what some of the hell holes we’ll be visiting look like. I’m sure he’ll pull together his beer addled brain cells long enough to provide his invaluable service, however. So, for the final time this season, the wonders of the “Garden of England”:-

Sadly the last pub-guide of the season sees us having a farewell drink with League 1, on a trip that has traditionally been at the cusp of our recent history’s twists and turns.

A time for reflection I guess, whether it be hiding behind the bogs at the infamous McKnightmare game, that wonderful sunny afternoon that marked the start of the Graydon era, the victory on way to survival in Lee’s first full season, or his Priestfield demise twelve months later, Gillingham and its pubs has that sort of feel.

The Will Adams on Saxton Street is the best pub in town, with a lovely atmosphere and well kept ale. Landlord (Pete if I remember), often greets away fans with a handshake and a yarn about a trip he made to Fellows Park or some such tale, Well worth taking the 15 minute walk from the ground.

Train travellers could try the Southern Belle opposite the station which itself is only about 8 minutes walk from the stadium, but the pick of the pubs near the ground is The Livingstone Arms which runs the Will Adams close for friendliness, and is also handy for the away end that is accessed by a little alley way nearby.

The pub itself is filled with football memorabilia and the staff are absolutely spot on. There is also a chippy opposite and a bookies around the corner.

Have a pint on the steps outside and pretend its August 1998 and those magical moments before the Graydon team took its bow. The relegation we thought would occur that year has finally arrived eight years later but at least a trip to The Livingstone gives us a chance to drink a toast to the days of Rambo, Ada, Marshy, and Whacka, proper Saddlers.