What away fans think of Roots Hall

[DoDTS]

The excellent footballgroundguide
http://www.footballgroundguide.com/southend_united/
gives away fans the opportunity to review the grounds they visited which I found an interesting read. For Roots Hall they have six reviews I will post them on separate posts for clarity:

First Northampton Fan on 17th August 2013

I had recently moved to London and with Southend effectively being on my doorstep, I thought this would be a good opportunity to tick another ground off on my list and to support the Cobblers.

I got a train from Stratford to Prittlewell station which is the closest station to the ground and with the help of a friendly Southend fan, I found the ground with little trouble.

There isn’t too much to do for an away fan before the game as most of the pubs are for home fans only so it is probably best to just head into the ground. It is also worth mentioning that the ground does not sell alcohol to supporters (away fans at least). I have read before that Southend fans have a bad reputation but everyone I spoke to was friendly and I didn’t feel unwelcome.

I met a mate of mine outside the away turnstiles and we proceeded to struggle with the electronic ticket barrier where the stewards had to help out. Roots Hall is a nice enough ground that can be considered unique unlike many of the modern stadiums. The away stand is great for singing and chanting due to the way the roof echo’s.

The game itself was very disappointing from a Northampton perspective as we missed a penalty and had a player sent off in the space of 20 minutes. From that point it was all Southend and the game was only ever going to end one way and Southend did enough to win 2-0. The atmosphere was good with both sides singing and producing some good banter throughout the match. Stewards were anonymous most of the time but I did see them remove a Cobblers fan but I’m not sure why. The facilities were basic but they served their purpose.

Getting away was fine and I was back on the train to London within 20 minutes where I had a pleasant chat with an old Southend fan about the game and our team’s prospects.

Other then the result it was a nice day out and one worth doing, especially if Southend leave Roots Hall for a new ground which seems fairly likely. Overall it is definitely worth a day out.

 

[DoDTS]

Second Leyton Orient Fan 20th February 2013

My Roots Hall visit was on a Wednesday night for a Johnstone's Paint Trophy Area Final. It was a big game and I was expecting a tremendous atmosphere. It didn't disappoint.

Getting there from London by train was easy enough and I was there in less than 50 minutes from Stratford. The nearest railway station is Prittlewell and the ground is extremely easy to find in about 10 minutes. Getting back was more of a hassle as for some reason the trains stop running directly into London after 9pm, necessitating a change at the non-descript town of Shenfield.

I was a little disappointed that I wasn't able to have a drink as all the pubs en route to the ground were home-fans only. There is a little food shack in the ground but they don't serve booze. I was minded to try a fish and chip shop which was recommended by a number of people which is passed on the way to the ground. However, the queue was ridiculous, actually curving out the shop and half way down the road. Instead I made do with a fairly mediocre sausage roll in the ground.

Roots Hall is a proper old school ground and the atmosphere was brilliant. The away end is covered by an arching rooftop which reverberates the sound back down. It is a bit of a squeeze in there as they have simply bolted on seats to what used to be the terracing. The view is also hampered by a number of supporting pillars. The front row is so shallow you can barely see the action, but luckily I got there early and could sit where I wanted. They don't seem to mind you standing here, which can be good but periodically means the already limited view is hampered even more when someone gets up. The only time I've had a worse view was at Bury, but the atmosphere made up for it. It was a really enjoyable football experience.

As for the game itself, then having lost the 1st leg 1-0, then Orient were always going to be up against it. Still a good performance from the O's saw us take a 2-1 lead in the leg, making it 2-2 on aggregate. But in the 90th minute, with the prospect of extra time and maybe even penalties on the horizon, Ben Reeves grabbed a goal for the home side, sending them onto the Wembley final.

On the down side, the stewards were a bit off-hand to be honest and the Essex Police even worse, unnecessarily re-routing people around four roads on the way out, which never kept the fans apart anyway. A lot of the Southend lot were also quite provocative.

We lost in dramatic fashion and the Southend fans invaded the pitch. I'd love to try Roots Hall again, although next time on a Saturday!

 

[DoDTS]

Third Rochdale fan 24th November 2012


My son and I decided to make the trip to Southend to watch Rochdale. I'd never been to Roots Hall before, so I was curious. We went by car, and arrived in Southend about 50 minutes before kick-off. Roots Hall is located in a residential area. We thought that it would be easy to park in one of the back streets, but it was really difficult to find a space. After about 20 minutes we got lucky, then walked to the ground, which took another 20 minutes, arriving just before kick-off.

It was reasonably cheap to get in; less than £25 for both of us. However, when we got inside the ground we realised why the ticket prices were so low. Roots Hall is all-seater. However, the seats in the North Bank were just bolted on to an old, gently sloping, terrace. There were two problems: zero leg room and a poor view. The gently sloping terrace means that you can't see properly if somebody sits in front of you - even somebody 5ft 2"would block your view. There are also pillars supporting the roof of the North Bank that can block your view too.

Southend have a policy of allowing home and away supporters to share the North Bank. The Southend fans love the North Bank because it has a great echo. Unfortunately, the segregation on this visit was inadequate. There was less than 10m between the two sets of fans, the only separation being a piece of fabric draped down a set of seats and an handful of nightclub bouncers - I mean stewards. A hardcore of 50 or so Southend Fans spent most of the game watching, and shouting at, the Rochdale fans, creating an intimidating atmosphere. My son, who is eight didn't like it.

In the second half things escalated. After Southend scored their second goal to take the lead, the segregation between the two groups of fans almost broke down. I saw the stewards roughly man-handling a Rochdale fan from his seat. I don't know what this guy had done. Apparently, a number of complaints were made about the stewarding.

The upshot is that Southend United is a relatively cheap place to watch football. Parking near the ground is very difficult. And finally, I think that it's fair to say that the club isn't family friendly. They need to get the segregation sorted out in the North Bank as soon as possible, other wise something worse could happen in the future. At the moment, I would not advise taking a child to watch a game there.

 

[DoDTS]

Fourth Stockport fan 7th August 2010

Roots Hall was a place which I had always fancied. An old ground with plenty of character not an out of town flat pack stadium like the Greenhous Meadow or that one down the road in Colchester.

We arrived early (around midday) after a pleasant drive down from Stockport. We parked up on a road just near the Civic Centre around 5 mins walk from the ground, which was excellent and then set about looking for somewhere to have a pint or two.

There were a number of pubs near to the ground but most were home fans only pubs so we set off in search of some in the the town centre. After finding the centre we continued walking towards the seafront.

Along the way we came across ‘The Last Post’ a Wetherspoons pub which had a fair few County fans knocking about so we decided to stop there. The only downside to the visit to The Last Post was they were showing the Southampton vs Plymouth match on the TV, and then changed it to the Rangers vs Man City friendly!! We went to ask for it to be changed back and we were told that this was the game they were showing and that was that. Terrible.

Either way, after a few drinks we headed back to the ground hoping to get a drink or two there. When we arrived at the away end we were told we were in the wrong place and had to walk around to the other side (this despite a massive sign saying “away fans only” above the stewards heads). We walked around the other side to find that was home fans and was sent back from where we had just come. The second attempt to get into the ground was successful. Upon entry, the smell from the toilets was really foul and couldn’t be avoided. A quick hop up some stairs towards the stand we found a little cafe to the left hand side. There was a decent variety of food but no alcoholic beverages to speak of. This was quite disappointing so we left to find a seat.

The away stand was okay, apart from the multiple view obstructing posts. The way the roof was constructed though allows plenty of atmosphere to be created which was excellent. The seating was however a little cramped and foot room was not much to speak of. Similar to the away end at Luton they have bolted seats onto what was shallow terracing (two steps per row of seats) which means you don’t have much leg room and will quite easily do some damage to your ankle if you were to jump up to celebrate a goal (as turned out to be the case!!)

The game was a relatively dull affair but really exploded in the 80th minute when Stockport scored a hotly contested goal. This lead to a big player protest from the Southend players and their manager Paul Sturrock being sent to the stands. This melee contributed to the six minutes of stoppage time being added on at the end of the game. And wouldn’t you know it? Southend equalised in the 95th minute!

Exiting the ground was easy and the traffic also wasn’t too bad getting away from Roots Hall back towards the M25.

All in all a satisfactory trip to Roots Hall, and one which I would make again.

 

[DoDTS]

Fifth Wycombe Fan 23rd January 2010


A good old style ground that I had been looking forward to visiting, even though it may soon be replaced by a new-build. Easy to park on Prittlewell Chase which runs north from the ground leaving no more than a 5 minute walk to the away end.

I arrived early but found no decent pubs for away fans around the ground so headed into the ground. Once through the turnstiles I was greeted by the stench from the toilets but survived to find the small cafe by the entrance to the stand. The cafe was basic and the food didn’t look too appetising but the staff were friendly.

I settled for a warm cuppa and a read of the programme which, given the recent activity in the transfer window, was understandably well behind the comings and goings at both clubs.

I liked the ground, basic, no frills, pillars but seats close to the pitch, pleasant stewarding, fully covered so that the noise made by fans could be heard around the ground generating a good atmosphere given the modest attendance.

It was not a game for the purest and both sides missed excellent chances to secure victory but it gave hope to both sets of fans that they could progress up the table.

Easy to get back to the car and get moving however the route back towards the M25 was slow for a round 10 miles but all in all a relatively painless journey.

 

[DoDTS]

Sixth and Last Northampton Fan 12th April 2008


The decision to travel to Essex only came to me as I woke up at around 11am. Living in London now makes travelling a lot easier and this seemed to be the case today. A tube ride to Liverpool Street and then a train to Prittlewell station ran smoothly with plenty of seats for the duration of my journey.

I arrived in Southend just before 2pm and followed a mass of Shrimpers fans, until a lot of them eventually stopped at a fish and chip shop which I chose not to go into, although I was slightly peckish. I continued until I finally found tickets being sold to Northampton fans and got my student one for £14. After this I made my way to The Golden Lion where I met a friend. Service was friendly and efficient which is always a pleasure.

As I walked around the ground and then into it, I could tell it was ageing but with character which I didn't mind. Inside of the ground I saw all of the stands filling up. Seating in the away end was quite good; lots of legroom and a good view at the front with the sun beating down (it didn't stay that way for long though).

The game was quite a poor one in my view. Northampton took the lead through a header from Colin Larkin just after 20 minutes. This lasted until just after half time when Southend equalised through Lee Barnard, a player who had a stint with the Cobblers a few seasons ago whilst on loan from Tottenham. After that, Southend played the better and had a few good chances but nothing special. A draw was not what Northampton needed but I was just happy that we didn't lose as we usually do to Southend be it home or away.

After the game I got out with ease and re-traced my steps back to the train station where I waited less than five minutes. Seating posed no problems again as the majority of Shrimpers fans alighted at the closer stops within Essex, not busy at all.

All in all, it was a rather average day out on the spur of the moment. My first away game watching the Cobblers since August up in Middlesbrough. The draw all but ended our extremely slim hopes of a play-off spot. Southend look good to secure their place in the top 6 however. Hopefully I'll be able to come back to the town in a few seasons and see what their proposed new 22,000 stadium is all about.

 

[buffalowolf]

I enjoyed the last sentence from number six,think he will be collecting a pension before he gets to see the 22000 seater stadium .:smile:

 

[yogi bear up the cagire]

A number of the away fans seem to have a problem distinguishing the smell of urine from that of ozone. :winking:

 

[LCBB]

A number of the away fans seem to have a problem distinguishing the smell of urine from that of ozone. :winking:

T 50 yearshere has been that wiff for at least .

 

[Liam AAS]

In summary then:

Pros - Great atmosphere, nice easy journey from London and beyond, friendly home fans

Cons - Poor stewarding (no suprises there), no pubs for away fans, not ideal for fans that want to sit down.


I look forward to all of these problems being reversed when we get our nice new.... no I'm sorry I couldn't finish that one.:hilarious:

 

[OldBlueLady]

I thought the Boar was designated for away fans these days?

 

[slapheadsteve]

Second lowest away average amount of fans in the whole of the football league last season. There must be a reason?
Only Hatlepool had less away fans attending. Something must be putting them off.
Another valuable revenue stream, we could be tapping into missed?

 

[shrimpled]

Second lowest away average amount of fans in the whole of the football league last season. There must be a reason?
Only Hatlepool had less away fans attending. Something must be putting them off.
Another valuable revenue stream, we could be tapping into missed?

Location, location, location.

We're a pretty long journey for most clubs in the basement division, without being the draw of being a big club ala Plymouth and as Portsmouth will be this season.

 

[Kevin Hogg]

We are one of the few clubs that still appear to intimidate away fans.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Is our "double barrelled" roof on the West really "unique"?

 

[Uncle Leo]

We are one of the few clubs that still appear to intimidate away fans.

Really? I can't imagine many people eschew a trip to Roots Hall for that reason.

As shrimpled says, location - get to London and you're still an hour or so away - is surely a big factor.

As is our decision to play so many Friday night games, which mean many fans have to take time off work if they want to see their club play at Southend.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

For me I "do" an away ground for several reasons: Accers to "train spot" the ground, some like Oxford because I have pals who are Ox fans, some like Chesterfield as it (was) is a new ground, some like Cobblers/Wycombe as they are close. Few grounds (can't name one in our league) have atmosphere or good away facilities AND that is VERY poor and for sure The Hall is included in paucity of away welcome. Lots of room for improvement especially with the loos stench, and my real dislike of rotten stewards.
Some of the grounds I have been to I will not return to for reasons similar to those given about the Hall.It is really not very good business sense and I would like the management at SUFC to address the issues raised.

 

[ozzie]

great read again, thanks dodts,

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

We are one of the few clubs that still appear to intimidate away fans.

What has that got to do with football. I am tired of some people on here pretending that violence is "big" and "funny".

It isn't. Time to stop being a boy and be a man instead.

Southend United needs as many fans as it can get and a friendly, competitive atmosphere is required.

 

[SUFCFANS]

great thread. Maybe we should apply for listed status for that North Bank - that would scupper Sainsbury's plans :)