1st time visitor to Home Park (advice)

Hiya guys, first off I would like to say thanks for having me,

As you can probably tell from my name I am a Arsenal fan although I live in the midlands I do get to see them most weekends up and down the country while I am also trying to do the 92 club (currently 48/92) I am looking to make the most of a my significant other being away on the opening league fixture weekend by making the 550 mile round trip from my home town of Chesterfield to watch your season opener and tick off the longest outstanding ground from me and was hoping for a bit of advice if possible from some forum members,

Ideally wanting to know best place to park near the ground that is easy to get away after the game, anywhere good to eat before the game and perhaps anything worth while visiting for an hour or 2 before the game kicks off

Any help would be appriciated,

Thanks.

Parking near the ground means difficulty in getting away whatever you do.

If you are able to walk a mile or so then I'd recommend going to the Golden Hind. It has a car park behind it so that's a plus. It serves food and families are welcome. Best of all it's right at the top of the slip road off the A38 and couldn't be easier to find so once you've walked the 20 minutes or so back to your motor you're off and away in no time.

Otherwise there's a big, free car park by the ground but you'll need to get there early to get a space and getting out is a nightmare. No pub either but there'll be pasty vans about the place nearby, you could go to a Fan Fest (are they still going next year?) or toddle off to the Britannia (Wetherspoons) or the Cherry Tree (which also has a car park but is a bit harder to find and will be more encumbered by traffic afterwards).

Whatever you decide to opt for there's precious little else immediately by the ground to do if a walk around a park doesn't float your boat.

I reckon that's pretty much the main options covered.

There are no pubs virtually anywhere near the ground apart from the Britannia which get's ridiculously packed. You could try and get into the Fan Fest but that is always sold out 2 months before the fixture and is sold on a 'wink wink' nudge nudge type thing.

Parking near the ground or anywhere within a mile is a big no no, my advice is to park up by the new Cherry tree estate behind the pub but not near the main exit as you'll cause havoc with access and egress plus piss people off.

Welcome to ATD, I was a founder member here. Hearty and warm greetings.

Hi, thanks to both of you for the replies, I am certainly up for walking abit so looks like I will aim to leave the car further away from the ground and potter towards the ground for the game so to have a quick get away.

Hope you have great day, try not to trip over any of the rattling buckets surrounding the ground.

Don't expect too much and you might enjoy some of your day.

It's certainly not the Emirates Mo, think Ryanair/Easyjet.

If you do go to a game & you decide to bring your girlfriend with you stay away from our club president cos his a bit lethel around other peoples birds/wifes and if you see a fat bloke with the prez that looks like a pig best avoid to...lol

RegGreen wrote:

If you do go to a game & you decide to bring your girlfriend with you stay away from our club president cos his a bit lethel around other peoples birds/wifes and if you see a fat bloke with the prez that looks like a pig best avoid to...lol

arsenalmorris wrote:

Hi, thanks to both of you for the replies, I am certainly up for walking abit so looks like I will aim to leave the car further away from the ground and potter towards the ground for the game so to have a quick get away.

If you stride out impressively to Home park then the GH is about a 15 minute walk; if you dawdle then maybe 30 minutes tops.

The CT is about half of that.

Both are stunningly simple to navigate.

The GH has been recently renovated and is a bit trendier than the CT which is a very trad estate-styled boozer. Neither is expensive.

Les Miserable wrote:

It's certainly not the Emirates Mo, think Ryanair/Easyjet.

Haha thats fine, I have been various places such as Accrington Stanley etc that i'm sure your ground look more impressive than as well as some eastern European grounds that are even worse,


Thanks for all your help and comments guys

arsenalmorris wrote:

Les Miserable wrote:

It's certainly not the Emirates Mo, think Ryanair/Easyjet.

Haha thats fine, I have been various places such as Accrington Stanley etc that i'm sure your ground look more impressive than as well as some eastern European grounds that are even worse,


Thanks for all your help and comments guys

Which eastern european grounds do you refer ???? Arsenal dont exactly plan nk istra or banats yerevan !!!!

If you've got an hour or two to spare before the match have a walk around the Hoe and the Barbican.

Elias wrote:

arsenalmorris wrote:

Les Miserable wrote:

It's certainly not the Emirates Mo, think Ryanair/Easyjet.

Haha thats fine, I have been various places such as Accrington Stanley etc that i'm sure your ground look more impressive than as well as some eastern European grounds that are even worse,


Thanks for all your help and comments guys

Which eastern european grounds do you refer ???? Arsenal dont exactly plan nk istra or banats yerevan !!!!

Been to both Honved Budapest ans MTK Budapest. Both tickets were about £3 and the Honved one was again Anzhi from Russia in a Europa league qualifier with Samuel Eto'o amongst other playing,

I normally done 1/2 champions league games with Arsenal each season depending who they have which has took me to, Barcelona, Munich, Dortmund, Anderlect, Olympiakos to name a few. Also went to FC Koln a few season back with Arsenal as a pre season friendly and yesterday booked to go to watch us in Lens in a pre season friendly next Friday

Anyone else on here particularly interested in ground hopping or doing the 92

arsenalmorris wrote:

Elias wrote:

arsenalmorris wrote:

Les Miserable wrote:

It's certainly not the Emirates Mo, think Ryanair/Easyjet.

Haha thats fine, I have been various places such as Accrington Stanley etc that i'm sure your ground look more impressive than as well as some eastern European grounds that are even worse,


Thanks for all your help and comments guys

Which eastern european grounds do you refer ???? Arsenal dont exactly plan nk istra or banats yerevan !!!!

Been to both Honved Budapest ans MTK Budapest. Both tickets were about £3 and the Honved one was again Anzhi from Russia in a Europa league qualifier with Samuel Eto'o amongst other playing,

I normally done 1/2 champions league games with Arsenal each season depending who they have which has took me to, Barcelona, Munich, Dortmund, Anderlect, Olympiakos to name a few. Also went to FC Koln a few season back with Arsenal as a pre season friendly and yesterday booked to go to watch us in Lens in a pre season friendly next Friday

Anyone else on here particularly interested in ground hopping or doing the 92

I used to, those days are gone. Ive only got about 8 groinds to do following one club !

Argyle are nearer in standard to Ashburton (no offence Ashburton) than Arsenal.