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Blackburn Rovers Ground Name: Ewood Park |
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| Contents | |
| What's The Ground
Like? Future Developments Jack Walker Stand & The Blackburn End (photo) What Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? Where To Drink? Riverside Stand (photo) How To Get There By Car & Where To Park By Train Looking Towards The Blackburn End (photo) Local Rivals Admission Prices Ground Layout Programme & Fanzine Fixtures 2007-2008 Ground Tours Disabled Facilities Record & Average Attendance Fans Ground Reviews Old Ewood Park Hotel Accommodation Feedback Return To The Main Menu |
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| What's The Ground Like? | |
| The ground is quite impressive, having had three new large stands built during the 90's. These stands are at both ends and at one side of the ground. They are of the same height and of roughly similar design, being two tiered, having a row of executive boxes and similar roofs. The ends are particularly impressive, both having large lower tiers. The only downside is the open corners, although there is a superb Sony Jumbotron screen at one corner by the away end, which shows an excellent pre-match programme and the teams emerging from dressing rooms and onto the pitch. There is also an electric scoreboard at the Darwen End of the ground. The Riverside is the only undeveloped stand, running down one side of the pitch. This is a smaller single tiered stand and is not as pleasing to the eye as its modern counterparts. It also contains a fair number of supporting pillars and is partly covered (to the rear). Just to highlight how much the ground has changed, this was at one time the 'best' stand at Ewood Park. One other interesting feature of the ground, is the fact that the pitch is raised. This means that players have to run up a small incline, whilst taking throw-ins and corners. Outside the stadium behind the Blackburn End there is a statue of former club owner Jack Walker. | |
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There are plans to re-develop the Riverside Stand, but there are no firm time scales as to when this is likely to take place. The proposed new stand will increase the capacity at Ewood park to around 40,000. |
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| Jack Walker Stand & The Blackburn End | |
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| What Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? | |
| Away fans are housed at the Darwen End, where the facilities provided are good. However, the
spacing between the rows of seats leaves a lot to be desired, being quite tight. The
Darwen End is shared with home supporters, but if demand requires it the whole of the
stand can be made available. Normally the away allocation is for three
quarters of the stand, at just
under 4,000 tickets, which are split between the whole of the upper tier and
part of the lower tier (with the lower
tier being allocated first). If you have not bought a ticket in advance, then you need to
buy one from the away supporters ticket office at the ground as you can't pay on the turnstiles. The ticket office is
located on the corner of the Darwen End & the Jack Walker Stand. Alcohol is available on the concourse as well as the normal range of pies (Hollands), burgers, hot dogs and chips. If you are looking to eat something prior to entering the ground, then there is a baker in Bolton Road selling hot pies from one of its windows. Across the Bolton Road by the home end is a McDonalds, which I noticed had a walk through service for fans! I found the Blackburn fans both friendly and helpful, plus coupled with the relaxed stewarding, has made it so far for me, four pleasant visits to Ewood Park. |
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| Where To Drink? | |
| The Fernhurst is really
known as the 'away supporters pub'. It is on the Bolton Road (A666) just across from the
ground at the away supporters end (Darwen End).
You can also park at the
Fernhurst pub for £3, but you will be delayed in getting away after the game.
It is a large pub with Sky Sports being shown on a large screen and has a
restaurant area to its rear and a large function room upstairs. On my last
visit the pub had even put up a number of signs welcoming the fans of the
visiting team, which was a nice touch. The Fernhurst
also offers reasonably priced accommodation. Most
other pubs that I came across in the area, had large signs outside showing
that they were for home fans only.
Alcohol is also served within the ground. Andrew Kennedy a visiting Sunderland supporter adds; 'I would also recommend the Golden Cup pub just up Bolton Road from the Fernhurst (going away from the ground). It is on the small side but had a good mix of home and away supporters on my visit'. This pub is a good 15 minute walk away from the Fernhurst going uphill. A little closer but in the same direction is the Bear Hotel which also has a bar. If you are arriving at Mill Hill station, then you might want to give the Navigation pub a try. It is a Thwaites pub which sits on one side of a canal and on my visit had a good mix of home and away supporters. It is about a five minute walk way from the station. As you exit the station turn left and just keep straight on up the road in front of you. As you approach a bridge going over the canal, the pub can be seen just over on the right. |
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Riverside Stand |
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| How To Get There By Car & Where To Park | |
| From The North Use Motorway M6 to junction 30, to the M61 - leave junction 9 then onto the M65 towards Blackburn - leave the M65 at Junction 4 (A666) and follow signs towards Blackburn. Ewood Park is about 1 mile down the road on the right hand side. From The South From The East Various private Car Parks are available around the ground, costing in the region of £3. If you want to get away reasonably quickly after the game (the roads immediately around Ewood are closed off for crowd safety for around 30mins after the game) then as you come down the hill on the A666, you will pass a Total garage on your left. Turn right at the next traffic lights and down on your left there are some industrial units where you can park for £3. After the game turn left out of the car park, so that you are going away from Ewood, turn right at the second mini roundabout and this will take you back up to the M65. For a map showing the location of the ground click
here
(to take
you to the Street Map website). |
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| By Train | |
| Blackburn station is at least
a couple of miles from the ground and hence a good 20-25 minute walk away. Perhaps grab a
taxi instead, or as Dave Grest suggests; 'get a Darwen bound bus from
stand M, outside of
the railway station. It costs £1 one way and you really can't miss the
ground'. Blackburn station is served by trains from Manchester &
Leeds. Tony Durkin adds; 'The main doors to the railway station face the bus station, from where you can take a either a Number 1, 3 or 225 bus (the latter goes from Stand N) bus to Ewood. To walk it to the ground instead, turn left at those main doors and go straight on towards Darwen Street. Turn left and you will reach a major junction over which runs a railway bridge (Darwen Street Bridge), which is impossible to miss. Crossing over the road as soon as you turn left onto Darwen Street will be a help, as when you get to the junction you need to follow the road towards Bolton and Blackburn Royal Infirmary. It is called Great Bolton Street after the bridge and then becomes Bolton Road. Follow this straight along for just over a mile (passing the Infirmary on your left and the canal on the right). After you go under another railway bridge and pass Kwik-Save supermarket on your right, the ground is on your left just after you pass the Aqueduct pub (for home fans only)'. Tony Hughes informs me; 'Closer to the ground is the small station of Mill Hill, which is a 10-15 minute walk away. Blackburn station is only a three minute ride away from Mill Hill. Walk up the steps from the platform and turn Left onto New Chapel Street continue along the street past the shopping area and park. (If you need any money, there is a Lloyds TSB bank with 2 cash machines on this street.) With the Spar supermarket on the opposite side of the road from you, turn left into New Wellington Street. Continue down New Wellington Street until you come to a small bridge that crosses over the Leeds Liverpool canal. You are now on Albion Street there is a large mill building on the left and a small school on the right. Walk along Albion Street to the end, and you will find yourself on Livesey Branch Road. Turn Left onto this road, and you will be able to see the football stadium in front of you at the foot of the hill'. |
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| Local Rivals | |
| Burnley, Bolton, Preston, Manchester United, Manchester City. | |
| Admission Prices | |
| Like a number of
Clubs, Blackburn operate a match category policy (1 & 2) whereby
the ticket prices cost more for the most popular games.
Category 1 games for the 2007/08 season are: Manchester United, Liverpool,
Chelsea and Arsenal. Category 2 prices are shown below in brackets: Home Fans: Jack Walker Stand (Centre): Adults £35 (£25), OAP's/Under 21's £25 (£15), Juniors £20 (£15) Jack Walker Stand (Wings): Adults £30 (£20), OAP's/Under 21's £20 (£10), Juniors £15 (£7) CIS Riverside Stand: Adults £25 (£15), OAP's/Under 21's £15 (£10), Juniors £15 (£7) Blackburn End: Adults £30 (£20), OAP's/Under 21's £20 (£10), Juniors £15 (£7) Darwen End: Adults £30 (£20), OAP's/Under 21's £20 (£10), Juniors £15 (£7) Away Fans: |
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| Programme & Fanzine | |
| Official Programme £3. 4000 Holes Fanzine £1. |
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| Fixtures 2007-2008 | |
| For the Blackburn Rovers fixture list click here (to take you to the BBC Sports Website) . | |
| Ground Tours | |
| The club offer 90 minute tours of the ground, which are run on weekdays all year round. The tour costs: Adults £3.50 and Concessions £2. There is also a family ticket available, priced at £10 for two adults and two children. Tours can be booked on 08701-123-456. | |
| Disabled Facilities | |
| For details of disabled facilities at the ground please visit the relevant page on the National Association Of Disabled Supporters (NADS) website. | |
| Record & Average Attendance | |
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Record Attendance: Average Attendance: |
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| Fans Reviews Of Ewood Park | |
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David
Wallace (Neutral) 8/5/05 Phillip Harper (Tottenham Hotspur) 6/10/02 |
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| Old Ewood Park | |
| To see a photo of the old Main Stand (now the Jack Walker Stand) shortly prior to its redevelopment then click here to take you to the Old Grounds & Stands Section of the Guide. | |
| Hotel Accommodation | |
| If you require hotel accommodation in the area then first try a hotel booking service provided by Football Hotels who are powered by Activehotels, who specialise in locating accommodation near or within a short travelling distance of the football ground. They also have the added advantage over some other hotel booking services that you pay on departure. Yes this site will earn a small commission if you book through them, but it will go to help with the running costs of keeping the Guide going. To access their Blackburn page click here. | |
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Feedback |
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If anything is incorrect or you have something to add, please e-mail me and I'll
update
the guide. |
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