I'd be interested to hear what others who went to Newport yesterday thought of the city and match day experience as a whole.

Personally, I had a cracking day. I went for a walk and a few pints in the town centre and I've never known anywhere where the locals were as friendly and helpful. We were stopped numerous times by people offering us directions to the ground and wanting to have a general chat about RL.

The ground wasn't as bad as I expected. I liked how fans were allowed to stand on the walkways around the ground to watch the game. The whole place had a really relaxed feel and they had a good system in place in the refreshment areas (special mention to the bloke who had a back pack with beer in meaning no queues at the bars).

In terms of the crowd, there seemed to be a lot of locals in Newport shirts there giving RL a chance, I had a few asking me certain things about the rules and they were eager to learn. They did say they were impressed all in all.

A top day out all in all, a rare good call by the RFL it seems.

Best away game I've been to in years.
Nice tidy traditional ground,Good craic with the taff's!!

God knows what state The Brewery Field is in if the Newport Ground is an improvement!!
Portaloos, Wakey type chalets at one end, Harlequins tent coverage at the other and Cas type terracing. Hardly a state of the arts stadium and wouldn't get a SL licence.
Crowd friendly enough but facilities poor.

Newport the city = hole
The ground = not worthy of hosting top flight RL (never thought I’d say this but Belle Vue has better facilities)
Ground parking = we were lucky but for most I guess it was a nightmare as 95% of the surrounding streets were ‘Permit holders only’
Ground staff = some of the nicest and most accommodating stewards I’ve had the fortune to encounter.
Home fans = the ones we encountered were either ‘ex-pats’ or eager to learn.

Therein, one of the first victims of the great myth that all Welsh RU club grounds are some great edicifices to kick & clap and could take as many thousand of the great unwashes masses that pitched up for a game.

I was at Bridgend a few years ago for the Wales Vs Australia test. In terms of comparison, the Main Stand at Newport is better, whilst the popular side (standing area) at Brewery Field is better than Newport.

For those of you that didn't go, this is a general description of the ground :

The Main Stand runs most of the length of one side of the ground, a sort of a Bramley cum Wilderspool with similar floodlights.

At the North end of the ground was a temporary 'family' stand with seats. This was just a elongaged marquee. Judging by what was behind it, at one time there was a terrace and the old scoreboard.

I was stood in the 'Argus Terrace' which ran down the opposide (long) side of the ground to the Main Stand. That reminded me a bit of the old stand at McLaren Field. Saldy not too much depth going back and towards the front, hardly any raised height, so the view could be difficult if there was a really big crowd present.

The southern end of the ground had no terracing, but did have the hospitality boxes (similar to Belle Vue Wakefield, but a storey less) and a large building in the corner that served as the scoreboard / dressing rooms / pavillion.


As has been said before, the locals were friendly and eager to learn more about the game. The Welsh chap in from of me (with a European Challenge Cup jacket on) was friendly to loads of people around him and being a predominantly union fan, was amazed at the fitness level of the league boys.

The bottom line is that there is a market for the club in that part of Wales and it would be a shame, present problems accepted, to come this far and let it all go to waste. Remember how the Catalans were in their first season ?

They'll still be none the wiser then I imagine.

If this ground is better than brewery field then i can only imagine taht brewery firled is just in fact that a field, the stadium was very basic, and the toliets where lets just say not the best! As was said about the the stewards where great and very very helpfull! Overall I think the stadium needs a lot of work if it wants a 2011 licence as that was one of the worst I've been to! Oh and the local fans where very chatty and intrested in all things rugby league, had 2 sat behind us and all the time they where going on about how league was better than union so that was good!

Would whole heartedly agree with those 2 comments especially the 1st, as one local said to me in the beer queue at half time Newport is refered to as the armpit of Wales............must be because it stinks.

The ground facilities were basic, but then again so are those at Wakefield, Cas, Salford & the mighty Saints. I hope that they can overcome the off-field problems & continue to build & grow as a SL club.

Thought Bristol was a fantastic place to stay, had a great couple of days there.

I was staying in Bridgend for this match,having booked before they moved the venues.Actually glad i didnt change to somewhere else,lol.The locals there were brilliant and as in Newport very much up for a chat.I actually used the brewery field carpark for the duration of the weekend and a superificial look at the ground suggested that it wasnt anything unreasonable.Certainly the sideline terracing looked to give better viewing.And as mentioned we need to remind ourselves that exisiting SL clubs have grounds we go to and do accept their 'limitations'.Certainly it was just a quick look round as the gates were open,lol.
If i recall one reason they are moving to Newport is that development work on the Bridgend venue is part of a future plan.

Travelled to Newport on the Celtic supporters coach and the banter was brilliant.

At least one advantage with the move to Newport is that the club are going to be just around the corner from this place : www.niac.co.uk/services.htm

At least one advantage with the move to Newport is that the club are going to be just around the corner from this place : www.niac.co.uk/services.htm

Indeed the sideline at Bridgend is a better viewing point then Newport.

IIRC, isn't there a problem with the Bridgend RU club (who techincally own Brewery Field) and the Crusaders were looking as part of their long term plans to build their own ground somewhere else in town and sharing with the local non-league soccer team ?

Indeed my recollection is that too.For reference when i had a quick look in there yesterday the football posts/markings were in place.Funnily enough i never heard one mention of local football at all.

The union boys i was stood with were a very good set of blokes, chatty, friendly and deadpan funny. They did say that Newport/Gwent Dragons were planning to move over the new bridge near the uni but that dang economic nosedive has scuppered there plans for the time being.

I thought Newport was ok to be fair, didnt hang around late like as we wanted to avoid the throng of u2 fans heading back to Bristol but i didnt see any problems around the town centre and no problems in the ground until the pished up "fan" tried to enter the field of play right at the end.

Before you all start, NO IT WASN'T ME!!

Back on topic, Enjoyed the day out, thought the Celtic fans were great, very friendly. The ground was a mix of cas, wakey & hull kr for me.

a sh[i1[/it hole then?

Exactly what I was thinking lol

I'd didn't mind it that much.
Reminded me a lot of Mclaren Field (not the mod!!) but a bigger version.
But then again I'm something of a traditionalist who yearns for them there olden days!!!

That can't be right, I didn't hear any racism all day.

Reminded me of Wakefield tbh, with the flat style boxes at one side.

I want to go back in time and visit Clarence Street. I was only 5 or 6 at the last game there against Hunslet.

right across the road from the city hospital to. very handy

One of the few grounds in the last 30 years that I haven't visited .... The time Leeds played York away it was moved to Bootham Crescent.

Aye i can vouch for you. Nice to see our brief conversations at games are getting that bit longer too.

Floydy - ariiiiiight.
Swarcliffe - floydy (nod of the head)

Next time who knows!

Didn't get much of a look at the town, as we got stuck in the M4 traffic, so arrived about 4pm.

Parking could be better (or at least a bit more info about where the car parks are that don't close at 6pm). Tried to get in the multi-storey near the ground, but it was closed and looked as if it had been for some time.

The staff at Newport were great, really came across as if they wanted you to enjoy your time there.Welcomed into the bar - no member only restrictions! reasonably priced food too - Shame the bitter was Worthingtons (didn't know it was still being made).

I enjoyed the atmosphere in the stadium. Nice to see a bit of history being made and was impressed by Kear's tackle on Scotty.

When we walked back to the car park (in the town) locals were really friendly and went out of their way to ask the score, etc..

All in all a pretty good day out.