Internet Football Ground Guide - Fans Ground Reviews: Don Valley Stadium, Rotherham United FC

Don Valley, Rotherham United
League Two v Lincoln City
Saturday, August 9th 2008, 3pm
Colin Peel

Knowing how exposed parts of the Don Valley Stadium are, I decided to attend the opening match on August 9th, only for the weather to be extremely autumnal. Hey-ho. The fixture was only confirmed two days before when Rotherham accepted the Football League's 17-point penalty, so I couldn't get a decent advance train fare. However, the Don Valley Stadium (DVS) is very accessible by any means, so I elected to drive - access is easy from junctions 33 or 34 of the M1. I could have used the Supertram park & ride from Meadowhall (Ł2.50) but went for street parking in Darnall Road, finding a convenient spot five minutes walk from the ground. The car park in the stadium forecourt is for VIPs only but there are signed official car parks very close to the stadium (Ł3) and the street parking is abundant and apparently safe. I noticed two pubs on Darnall Road no more than ten minutes walk from the ground.

For the visit of Lincoln City only the Main Stand side was open but there were plenty of turnstiles for the home fans. Away fans are routed to a separate entrance at the east end of the ground. Lincoln had the end block of the stand and spilled over into the first block of open seating too - good turnout.

A large "Rotherham United" sign greets you at the turnstiles, which lead onto a small forecourt and the back of the main stand, accessed through wide glass doors. You enter at mid-level, with the pitch in a bowl below you. The concourses were pretty small and crowded, with standard footy fare of pies, burgers and beer. Frankly, the catering looked very unappetising. Toilet provision for men is seriously poor and the club may need to look at portaloos on the forecourt.

It had stopped raining by 2pm but I still opted for the Ł20 upper tier seating in case of further deluge. The lower section is only partially covered by the roof and the rake is shallower than the upper tier. Worse, the track has ten lanes on the stand side, which contributes to a distance of at least 25m between the first row of seats and the touchline. I sat near the back and the view was fine, if somewhat distant. The stand has no proper rear wall so the wind blew in unabated all game; when I walked out it felt a good five degrees warmer at ground level than my seat. I also noted that the roof beams have cut out sections which are not covered, so it is quite possible for people in the upper tier to get wet, but I gather that the club is working with DVS to resolve this. The huge electronic scoreboard wasn't in use.

The match was no better than average (1-0 home win), with little atmosphere being created by a crowd of 4,748 in such a vast space, despite the efforts of the home singing section in block 2. Match officials are going to like this place, the only time they come anywhere near the crowd is coming on and off the pitch. The atmosphere might be better at night under the stadium's towering continental-style floodlights.

All in all, the organisation was smooth for a first game and the DVS has a certain novelty value. As a neutral, I rather liked Millmoor, and if the Millers have to return to Rotherham in a new 'community stadium', I hope they can build in some of Millmoor's quirkiness and character instead of the bland boxes going up in places like Shrewsbury and Colchester.