Hartlepool United's Victoria Park

Lincoln City's recent record at Victoria Park isn't the best and they've failed to win there on my three visits, but it's a ground I do enjoy visiting and a ground I would definitely visit for a random game if given the chance (assuming I was in the area).

If you'd have asked me at the start of the 2002/3 season if I'd been going to Hartlepool away on a Tuesday evening, I'd have probably laughed and said "no" but I had got into the habit of going to every game at that point and the trip to the League leaders was inevitable. Infact, City were top of the league for about 1 hour and 10 minutes after taking a 1st minute lead.

Anyway, we arrived at the ground and after hearing how cold Hartlepool was, I was mildly suprised and couldn't see what people were complaining about. Ok, it wasn't boiling but it wasn't cold either. The one thing that was hilarious going up to the ground was going past all the dads and their sons. The dads were just sticking the thumbs down and the little kids were doing w****r signs and stuff like that.

Anyway, after a 20 minute wait for the gate to final open, we entered the ground and to be fair, it was a fairly nice ground, not in the obvious style, but because it was subtle and again had that vital "football feel". It was a great mix between new and old, which is something that you don't really get in football grounds these days.

The stand that the Imps' fans were in, is arguably the best at the ground with an all seated stand behind the goal, it is fairly small but still offers a decent view of the action and the leg space was really satisfying, that is if you find the right seat. The only problem with this stand is that it has NUMEROUS pillars, meaning that finding an unrestricted view is near enough impossible.

Another issue is that they often make games all ticket for away fans and they try and force you to sit in your seat, but as they sell from the end block onwards, those who buy their tickets early end up with the worst seats in the ground.

The stand to our left was a very tidy all seated stand where the design is fairly simple and non complicated. It is however one of the smallest side-stands in the Football League in terms of seating. I imagine it offers a reasonable view though.

Continuing around the ground you get to behind the other goal and it's an average sized terrace. This is where the Hartlepool atmosphere came from and it is amazing at Victoria Park. Whilst not continuous, it is one of the loudest atmospheres I've experienced on my travels and when they scored, it sounded like an explosion.

The final stand to the right hand side is a seated area that is raised above some terracing. This looks to be quite an old stand and the seating is does not look comfortable in the slightest. Despite this, this seemed to be the most popular stand for the Hartlepool fans.

I really like Hartlepool and I wish I could go more often, but it is quite far out of the way and that is the only problem. If I lived up in the area and couldn't get to watch Lincoln for whatever reason, I would get a season ticket at Hartlepool United.

Despite it's small nature, this is one fo the more enjoyable grounds in the lower leagues and it's an excellent away day.