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The stadium is situated in a park and on its exterior it has impressive windows depicting a footballer and a rugby player to reflect the shared nature of the stadium. From the main entrance we walked around the stadium, going past the club shop and were assisted by very proactive stewards all the way. There was also a fair amount of good natured banter from the home support and we encountered nothing but friendliness from the good people of Hull.
Once inside the Stadium there was live Villa V Chelsea match on the screens and plenty of pies and pints in the kiosks. One disappointment is that the club don't sell the balti pies, but there was the usual suspects including cheese and onion pasties for us veggys. Inside the ground the stadium is breathtaking. Completely enclosed and very impressive. The PA announcer does his best to whip up some enthusiasm and is quite effective with the medley of footy type songs that are played up to kick off. Just before the teams enter the arena he welcomes the away supporters and introduces the three home stands to us culminating in the East Stand who made as much noise as possible to intimidate us. The teams come on to some gladiatorial music and all in all a sense of occasion is created. Excellent!
During the game I found the Hull fans to generally be fairly quiet, however the team definitely had an off day even though they beat us 2-1. I found the seat treads to be less than generous to anyone with a big backside like mine! and perhaps I wouldn't have enjoyed being squashed too closely if Blackpool had brought a large following. At the end of the game we were held back a few minutes while the home fans were cleared. Again Sky sports was left on in the concourse and we were able to find out that Carlisle had drawn again! Good move this, one that the miserable sods that run Bloomfield Road could follow.
We had a trouble free walk back to the car and were out of the car park in 5 minutes. After the game we had a run round the local run down streets and visited The Boulevard, former home to Hull RLFC. I was delighted to find that they were preparing for greyhound racing that evening and we were able to gain access to the Threepenny Stand for a look around. Hard to believe this place was staging Super League rugby two years ago. Still in good nick though and the pitch was marked out and ready to play on. A further five minutes brought us to Kwik Save and Boothferry Park. Couldn't get access here, but did manage to peer through the gates to see the overgrown pitch and the crumbling South Terrace. Also managed to have a look at the former Boothferry Park rail halt which is also crumbling away. A good day out this one all in all bought medium haddock and chips on the way out of town. The haddock was about the size of a small whale and we paid a visit to the Humber Bridge observation point too which is ok if you like big structures (I do) Yeah it was a good day out.