Football ground Stadium:MK struggled to cope with the drinking demands of over 21,000 rugby fans on Sunday afternoon as Heineken Cup Rugby descended on the sleepy backwater of nPower Division 1 side MK Dons home ground.
Having booked into the stadium’s on site hotel we arrived at what appeared to be a building side at approximately 10:30 on Sunday morning only to find our access to the hotel blocked by match day security. We eventually got close enough to walk the final few yards only to discover, much to our disappointment, that all the hotel bars had been sold to match day corporates and we weren’t allowed to buy a drink in our own hotel prior to the game.
Having been made to feel unwelcome we made our way round the stadium to the entertainment area and thought we’d missed it only finding a few food stalls and a single solitary van selling beers. As luck would have it, we got there before the crowds arrived and experience from previous trips had taught us to get in a few double rounds as come 11:30 the place started to fill up and queuing to get a drink involved planning half an hour ahead so over stretched were the resources. Fortunately, with an Asda next door, some of the crowd decided to avail of the off license facilities setting up their own unofficial party area in their car park or things would have got considerably worse. However thanks to the good natured Saints and Ulster supporters things remained under control with many making light of the lack of facilities.
However by one o’clock the volume of beers started to take its natural effect and the task of queuing for refreshments became the even more fun task of queuing for toilets, with four or five thousand fans being serviced by 4 portaloos! Believe me, by that stage they were not a pretty site! Undeterred and with the stadium opening it’s doors we decided to take it indoors as things surely couldn’t be any worse inside, could they?
Unfortunately the stadium was completely overwhelmed by the numbers and it became next to impossible to get a drink – in fact we didn’t manage to get one throughout the 2 hours we were inside as it became a decision to either miss 25 minutes of the match or get a beer and unfortunately the toilet option was just as bad with lengthy queues everywhere.
Lucky enough, a cracking game of rugby broke out to distract most inside from the various inconveniences and fair play to both sets of supporters for generating a terrific atmosphere throughout. The Ulster fans just about edged that one with a dogged display of determination to make our presence felt throughout with some of the renditions of Stand Up being truly inspiring as pocket after pocket of Ulster fans stood to attention as the musical call to arms issued forth around the stadium.
Despite the poorly organised facilities, both sets of fans have to be congratulated for making it a day to remember if not the right result, or really, the right location. Things did improve after the final whistle as, purely and simply, most fans abandoned Milton Keynes for Northampton at an unseemly haste with the available facilities just about right for the less than 100 of us staying in the area.
Hey, it was a rugby trip, and despite the result and the previous difficulties a good night was had by all!
I was somewhat surprised to read this morning as we poured through the papers for match reports to find that Northampton are staging the semi-final at the same location in a fortnight’s time. I hope the organisers have learned from this experience – the fans certainly deserve better.
What was your match day experience like? Let us know below.
KPICASA_GALLERY(20110410NorthamptonVUlster, 20110410NorthamptonVUlster2, 20110410NorthamptonVUlster3)
Corrections, comments or questions?