The ground is of a fair size. The corner in-between the DPD and Sharp Stands was filled with 1,800 covered seats, at the end of the 2016/17 season, much improving the overall look of the stadium. Toilet facilities and concourse areas are adequate but nothing to write home about. As always, it’s always better when we win but this wasn’t a bad day. Another ground ticked off and another night of what if's. An away win the the Premier League, our talismanic captain opening his account and straightforward logistics contributed to a top day out. Me and my friends left Darlington at 10am hoping to get to Stoke at 12:30. The connections from the local station were ideally timed and we had no hassle of car parking. Instead I ate a burger from a van directly outside the away end and headed straight inside. Search our database of hotels to find the lowest rate for your stay closest to Bet365 Stadium. We settled for a burger van where the prices were ridiculous but the food was great. This made the Mackems go ballistic. On the outside, it looks quite similar to a number of other stadiums, with the metal panelling and roof supports. Despite this the Sunderland faithful were very loud throughout the game for the full 90 minutes and outsung the home fans, however they didn't really need to get behind a team who was winning so comfortably! Clive Dunkley informs me; ‘Just to the North Stadium, in an area called Herons Cross, just off the A50, we found some street parking available on Grove Road (ST4 3AY). In all honesty, we could've played all night and not scored, the final score being no goals apiece. As you come out of the away fans section there were stewards and police for 100 yards going both ways along the road about 2 metres apart. Search our database of hotels to find the lowest rate for your stay closest to Bet365 Stadium. The police operation and buses used to transfer visiting fans to/from the ground were good. I didn't have a pie, but I had a sausage roll and that was delicious! Perhaps the Potters fans needed their players to ignite the he game, which they basically failed to do. Stoke scored twice early on in the game, which enthused the home support. Travelling on the official supporters coach, the bet365 Stadium was very easy to find although you can't miss it when driving either. You don’t have to have seen him play to know just how much of a legend Sir Stanley was/is, and he’s especially lauded up in Stoke, where, according to Wikipedia, “he became indelibly known as one of the all-time greats of the British game”. As we were staying at the local Holiday Inn, we had no problems getting away from the ground after the game. At half time you were allowed outside into an open area, where they had a burger fan. Nearby on Eastern Rise is Longton Rugby Club which also has parking available at £5 per car. Officially the North, West 1 and West 2 car parks are restricted on match days to those who have parking permits. Norwich re-took the lead a bit against the run of play but Stoke equalised within minutes. 7. I'm not usually one to go to the cup games, but I knew Wolves would take a strong following to Stoke, so two mates and I got our tickets along with the other 4,600 Wolves fans. After home wins against Newcastle and Man City I thought that Stoke was a winnable game judging by the confidence under Poyet (in the end I was to be wrong about the result). No issues getting back to the station, although there was a bit of abuse getting thrown at us by some irate Stoke fans. There weren't enough shuttle buses so you had to decide whether to wait until they came back or walk. Still, if that's all I have to complain about…. Convenient car parking, albeit a £6 charge. Took my own food. After arriving in Stoke we took the number 23 bus from outside the railway station to Hanley bus station. Inside they were showing the live Premiership early kick off game, plus they also have a betting facility in there if you fancy a bet. We were told beforehand that that there are not many pubs by the ground and what ones there are for home fans only so we stopped off at a pub beforehand, which was located just outside Uttoxeter for food and drink. There was a little bit of a queue trying to get away from the stadium, probably took half hour to reach the main road leading to the motorway. We saw plenty of locals making the same journey and I must say they were a decent bunch, encountered no hostility even though we had club colours on. Turn left at the island and then continue straight up this road for about three miles. The journey was simple as I drove up. You really do need to allow enough time if walking as it is a trek from Stoke centre to the stadium. We lost the game 2-0 but the fans stuck with team and really deserve better as Niall Quinn once said "if Sunderland produced a team as good as the fans, they'd be in Europe every year" which I'm sure few people can disagree with. Football Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. This imposing stand has a large lower tier of seating with a smaller tier above. The club has also been managed by Chris Kamara, the former player who is now better known for his punditry and laughing fits on Sky Sports. After the game, the buses back to Stoke line up behind the Novus Stand – which is just a short walk from where the away fans are situated. It's easy to spot the ground as it stands out on a hill near a few hotels and a business park. It is a bit of a trek to Burslem but there are no pubs worthy of a visit in the vicinity of the Britannia in my humble opinion. All in all a good day, and I would go again to the bet365 Stadium. It wasn’t intimidating in my opinion but loud. Pedestrians can also join the footway from the towpath, which runs along the Trent and Mersey canal. The atmosphere was a bit unusual with Stoke fans looking to next season and enjoying the match like a pre-season friendly. It had decent facilities with a pool table and tellies galore. Everything including the attending police were light hearted with lots of banter. We will arrange a quality city centre Madrid hotel for you as well as coveted match tickets to the big game. Keep fighting Carl. A decade after it was first opened, the club finally obtained full ownership of bet365 Stadium in a £6m deal after the previous joint-partnership with Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Stoke-on-Trent Regeneration Ltd. Of course, it wouldn’t be until the sponsorship deal in 2016 that the ground would get its current name. Me and my two sons set off at about 12:30pm and the journey was straight forward enough until the last 20 minutes or so as we there weren't a lot of sign posts indicating where exactly to go to get to the ground. The club have ploughed a huge amount of money into ensuring their conference facilities are amongst the best in the country, hoping that their location in Staffordshire will attract business from both the North and the South. The bet365 stadium looks imposing from afar, as it is perched upon a hill with hardly any buildings around it. We were held in the ground for a while and then on the coach park for a little while longer. I thought the inside of the stadium was quite disappointing being rather bland and lacking character, although I’m sure that this can be developed in time. After long talks and promises of possible expansions, bet365 Stadium finally got a boost in capacity in the summer of 2017, which took the final tally to just over 30,000 that still stands to this day. I travelled to the game by private supporters bus, which set off from Middlesbrough at 8.30am. After having a mooch around the ground, we stopped to admire the brilliant Sir Stanley Matthews statue. I asked the police outside the railway station about the bus service. Though I read the club are working on filling them in, hopefully improving the overall internal look. At Burslem there is a choice of several decent pubs selling real ale. This is good some respects but I could not believe this was going to be a raucous crowd. The canal is below the second bridge, where there is a pathway down to it. Stoke have dedicated wedding planners to help you organise your special day, so you can hold a big affair in The Tony Waddington Suite or a smaller gathering in one of the club’s 3 licensed suites. The Harvester is what you'd expect in terms of food and drink, nothing too exciting but did the job. Also, you will end up singing to Tom Jones… I tried to resist, but hey I'm only human… Also, I did feel a bit shortchanged on the experience. The Britannia Stadium or newly named "bet365 stadium" is a fairly tidy ground with two stands behind the goals of equal size and stands either side of you, the left of which had two tiers. The bet365 Stadium stands out on approach and looks quite modern from first impressions. The atmosphere here is said to be ‘intimidating’ and ‘the best in the country’. A good day out, even my non-footballing wife enjoyed it! Former Stoke City player Sir Stanley Matthews, who officially opened the stadium on August 30th 1997, had his ashes buried underneath the center circle when he died in February 2000. Stoke have eschewed the game categorisation employed by many clubs, and instead offer premium or standard seats for a lot of their seating areas.