Chesterfield B2Net Stadium
Chesterfield 2-2 Aldershot (5th Feb 2011) att 5669
I shall definately miss Saltergate. The large Kop, the main stand whose sides looked like a delapidated house. The strange Compton Street stand and the openess of the away end. However, that is all but in the past now and on this wet and windy day in Derbyshire we find ourselves at what seems like a million miles away from Saltergate.
The transition Itself was a small one, the new stadium being no more than 1.3 miles away. Having made the short drive up from Leicester (we were at Welford Road the previous night and stayed over) we decided to head over to Saltergate to see if we could take a few last snaps of the old girl before she makes way to housing. Alas there was no way in as all was locked up.
And so we drove those 1.3 miles and found a small car park from where we made a two minute walk across to the B2Net Stadium. Having previously had a look in the summer we were aware of what it looked like, but it seemed to be better than remembered. for one, the first time we visited there were no spires on the main enterance (which represent the church crocked spire for which the town is famous).
We then proceeded to the club shop where i got my badge to add to my collection and picked up a copy of Saltergate Sunset. This is certainly worth a read if you wish to find out more on the history of Saltergate.
And so to the away end and in common with a majority of new grounds we had to get tickets from a portakabin located directly beside the away turnstyles before entering. THis was to be my fist proper glimpse of the B2Net and I was very pleased with what I saw. It seemed to have a uniqueness to it which new grounds such as Colchester, Darlington and Shrewsbury (to name a few) don't seem to have. The corners certainly didn't feel too open and the curving of the roof (which we later agreedwas the reason it felt unique) were a welcome change. I shall be looking forward to a return if Chesterfield don't mange to get promoted this season.
The transition Itself was a small one, the new stadium being no more than 1.3 miles away. Having made the short drive up from Leicester (we were at Welford Road the previous night and stayed over) we decided to head over to Saltergate to see if we could take a few last snaps of the old girl before she makes way to housing. Alas there was no way in as all was locked up.
And so we drove those 1.3 miles and found a small car park from where we made a two minute walk across to the B2Net Stadium. Having previously had a look in the summer we were aware of what it looked like, but it seemed to be better than remembered. for one, the first time we visited there were no spires on the main enterance (which represent the church crocked spire for which the town is famous).
We then proceeded to the club shop where i got my badge to add to my collection and picked up a copy of Saltergate Sunset. This is certainly worth a read if you wish to find out more on the history of Saltergate.
And so to the away end and in common with a majority of new grounds we had to get tickets from a portakabin located directly beside the away turnstyles before entering. THis was to be my fist proper glimpse of the B2Net and I was very pleased with what I saw. It seemed to have a uniqueness to it which new grounds such as Colchester, Darlington and Shrewsbury (to name a few) don't seem to have. The corners certainly didn't feel too open and the curving of the roof (which we later agreedwas the reason it felt unique) were a welcome change. I shall be looking forward to a return if Chesterfield don't mange to get promoted this season.