Cambridge United's Abbey Stadium

Cambridge United's Abbey Stadium is a strange mix of the old and the new. In a strange way that is similar to Rochdale and Rushden, the away fans get the newest and arguably best stand at the ground. Then of course there's the main highlight of a trip to Cambridge, that ever fun 5 minute countryside walk to the away end.

--------------------------------

Who fancies a long walk in the country side? Then how about a trip to Cambridge United? Complete with all you need, annoying cyclists, people walking their dogs, cow crap all over the place and to round it all of, the Abbey Stadium. You get dropped off the coaches at a "local" pub and then get to set off on a trek of a mile or so, if you want a programme, you even have to walk past the away end (taking it up to the mile or so mark) and to the street and buy one there before walking back.

However, don't be fooled into thinking the club car park will see you avoid the countryside walk, oh no. You aren't allowed to park in the official car park unless you're "on the list" and it is a tiny car park, so it's street parking mainly. It may be a shorter journey, but you'll still end up walking through a field to the away end. There are few away ends, probably in the whole world, where you have to walk that far just to get there and it's impossible to park right outside of the away end.

Cambridge is relatively easy getting to from Lincoln as you only have to get onto the A1 from the A46 and then just follow that for a bit. If I remember correctly, it didn't take that long to get to the ground once you're inside the city. 

As with one or two grounds, the away fans get a choice of being behind the goal or at the side and this was a tradition that they kept with after they were relegated to the Blue Square Premier in 2005. However, unlike most situations, the seating is behind the goal whereas the terrace is at the side. I have experienced both of these views and it's annoying because I prefer the view from the terrace but I also like sitting down.

The club have announced that they have abandoned plans to redevelop the Abbey and will instead by looking into a new stadium. Rather strangely, during the planned redevelopment of the whole ground, Cambridge moved the pitch about 30 yards up, meaning that if you were in the seated away end, you would be a considerable way from the goal.

The pitch was briefly moved towards the other end of the pitch but during our visit during the first season in the Blue Square Premier, the pitch had been moved again, pitch being closest to the home fans. To be fair though, the view was a lot better than I remembered it being.

The stand behind the far goal is also terraced but this is quite small and only covers 2/3 of the pitch behind the goal and with the pitch constantly moving, Cambridge fans must feel like they're in a lottery with regards to whether the goal will be near them or not.

The one thing I would warn about the terraced away end is the incredibly low roof and beams, as City fan Duncan Bayes found out in 2002/3, jump too high and you'll smash your head on the supporting gantry.

It would be easy to write about Cambridge's atmosphere....if they had one, this unfortunately is one of the quieter grounds in England and in 3 visits, I failed to hear a single chant. That might have something to do with that they didn't score during the three visits. This could have easily changed since my last visit, but the one thing I've tended to find on my trips around various grounds is that atmosphere don't usually change on a regular basis.

I found the atmosphere at Cambridge to be relatively poor, with them only really getting behind their side once they had scored, still, that was a marked improvement on the past when they were silent for most of the game.

The programme was ok, not the best, but one thing that's certainly in it's favour is the fact it's not full of adverts, which is very rare for the Blue Square Premier. However, don't mistake a lack of adverts for a sign of a good programme. Most of the articles aren't particularly good, or even interesting.

Around the ground there's not a lot to do other than a bookmakers and a chinese take away, but a bit further away is a shopping estate and the town centre is only a five minute or so drive away.

--------------------------------

--------------------------------

My final bit of advice comes to those who are planning on going via the train for a night game. Please note that if the game ends at 930ish, you will NOT be able to make the only 2 trains back that would get you back anywhere near Lincoln on the same night. I did the walk thinking that Google maps might have made a mistake and the walk was considerably shorter than the websites made it out to be, I was wrong. It's at least half an hour walking (and I walk fast), so your best bet is to get a taxi, which cost just shy of £8 to the train station, but did get me there with plenty of time to spare.

Overall I kind of like Cambridge, it's not the best ground by any stretch of the imagination and does look quite disjointed with the various different types of stand. However, overall it's a nice enough game to go to and the fans on my visits have been nice enough. I will certainly aim to go to a random game here at some point.