Aldershot Away - Disgraceful Facilities

Wrexhamfan · 23 Nov 2015, 17:28

Wrexham fan here. I notice you are due to go to Aldershot in a couple of weeks and wanted to forewarn you about the terrible facilities on offer to away fans

- Only 1 turnstile open prior to kick off meaning long queues and some fans missing kick off.

- Sub standard catering on offer. The bun my burger was served in was stale and the "help yourself" milk I put in my tea was out of date

- The approach to the away end is totally unsuitable, through a dark unlit park which was dangerous on the way out of the ground at 5pm. In addition to this the steps through the park mean it is unsuitable for the disabled and elderly. My friend who i travelled with actually had to help an elderly lady get out of the ground.

- Away fans being shunted onto the open air terrace and not allowed to go on the covered, already well segregated terrace felt like we were being inconvenienced for the sake of it. Given the weather it would have made much more sense to give us some shelter over head.

- The "toilet" facilities on offer were completely unacceptable and on a par to being at Glastonbury festival. there are no facilities to wash your hands after using the toilet.

- 2 Portaloos were not sufficient for the away following Wrexham regularly has. This meant the queues were up to 30 deep and meant they could not cater for everyone to use them during the 15 minute interval.

- Unisex portaloos quickly meant that they were unsuitable for women to use with no alternative on offer to them

- Portaloos meant there were no facilities for disabled fans to use...then again as disabled fans can not get through the approach to the away end I suppose this doesn't matter to Aldershot!!

However on the bring side you will be pleased to know that you are suffering and paying your £17 to find the nice shiny new scoreboard they clearly spent their budget on!!!

I really hope my complaints to Aldershot, the FSF and the league improve things for you guys as it was so far from acceptable it is untrue. Oh and I can't post here without warning you to enjoy top spot while you have it....Gary Mills red army is coming!!

Bob lwc - Good luck

23 Nov 2015, 18:12

Thanks, been to Aldershot a couple of times and agree it's a relatively poor ground - although there are certainly worse at this level (looking at you Altrincham/Welling).

Malabus · 23 Nov 2015, 19:24

Welcome to non-league. Thank goodness it's only a few more months of this hellish experience. Then we go to Accrington.

RegencyCheltenhamSpa · 23 Nov 2015, 20:40

Yes was awful last time we were there. Though the park is the nicest part of town. Luckily I was staying just over the border in Farnham so was soon back in nicer surrounds.

shevates · 24 Nov 2015, 07:25

the actual ground I love, a fantastic old end which creates a fantastic noise. but it does end there, facilities are shocking.

24 Nov 2015, 09:37

Always found Aldershot fans a friendly bunch and definitely one of the louder sets of fans at home with their 'ultras' behind the goal. Didn't notice anything wrong with the town itself either but when you have a ground with three sides effectively and the other three pretty ramshackled there is limited room for growth.

Reliant Robin · 24 Nov 2015, 17:09

Sad to hear things have slipped at Aldershot. When Aldershot & ourselves were both in League 2 it was one of the away trips I enjoyed - yeah, the park is a bit of a pig to negotiate if you are not able bodied, especially in the dark, and the small portaloos are a bit primitive, but on the positive side I always felt their stewards were top notch and very friendly, the burger caravan food was always decent and one of the cheapest I encountered anywhere, and the pub at the top of the park the 'La Fontaine' I think it was called, was a lovely old traditional wooden floor / solid wooden bar style public house that sold a fine selection of ales to the weary traveller - and the staff were very friendly to away fans. I'm surprised to hear the Wrexham fans were not allowed under cover, as we CTFC fans had always been allowed in the stand at the opposite side to the Aldershot faithful and it did used to get a bit fruity with the rival singing, but that's what made it such a good away trip. I suppose like we have had to do since relegation, some of the turnstiles have had to go unmanned at times.

Malabus · 24 Nov 2015, 18:07

Reliant Robin wrote:lovely old traditional wooden floor / solid wooden bar style public house that sold a fine selection of ales to the weary traveller

Were the elves and dwarves friendly?

RegencyCheltenhamSpa · 24 Nov 2015, 18:10

Robin wrote:Always found Aldershot fans a friendly bunch and definitely one of the louder sets of fans at home with their 'ultras' behind the goal. Didn't notice anything wrong with the town itself either but when you have a ground with three sides effectively and the other three pretty ramshackled there is limited room for growth.

Jesus. One of the worst places I ever been in the UK. Architecturally dire and in terms of shops and amenities, truly odd and like a different world.

Reliant Robin · 24 Nov 2015, 18:39

Malabus wrote:
Reliant Robin wrote:lovely old traditional wooden floor / solid wooden bar style public house that sold a fine selection of ales to the weary traveller
Were the elves and dwarves friendly?

What they may lack in stature, they more than make up for in their Typhoo and PG Tips Validity Department, in fact they have a whole Organisation dedicated to it, called:

"Elves And Safe Tea"