Hick Town!

Car Parking: S.P. Rating: (2) On street is the only parking I've ever found at Solitude. I now come in from Westland Road and park in an adjoining street. The first time I did this a resident asked me to not park in front of his house as he was taking his 'handicapped' mother out and for some reason best known to himself it was easier done from the street, rather than his 'ample' driveway. I agreed under protest, but did it as I didn't want a scrape or other disfigurement on my car. So parking on the street at Solitude is in my opinion, less than ideal.

Access: S.P. Rating: (2) Solitude is not the best place to get into or out of as it is approached down a narrow residential street and leaves one feeling rather vulnerable if the natives should get restless. The turnstiles are okay and operators are civil and entrance is usually fairly easy.

Spectating Facilities: S.P. Rating: (4) One of the the Sky Blue Sports teams 'pet hates' is when we fans are stuck behind the goalposts at one end of the ground. Solitude is such a ground, as is Portadown (or was the last time I was there) and the home of the 'scum' to name but three. If like the old days we were allowed to change ends, at least that would be something, but alas we must watch our teams attacking efforts from a long distance for at least 45 mins. As such the Solitude stand rates a poor, as well it's pretty low and if you're behind the nets it's like being behind the wire.

Toilets: S.P. Rating: (2) Although a vast improvement on their old portaloo the gents toilet at solitude leave a lot to be desired. I could find nowhere to wash my hands and in the cubicle has no peg to hang your coat. Modernisation and basic hygiene obviously hasn't reached North Belfast yet.

Playing Surface: S.P. Rating: (4) The pitch has improved drastically at Solitude but it somehow appears to be out of kilter as if its narrower on one side, or is that an optical illusion. One thing they are to be commended upon is the floodlights, they are excellent.

Poor Park!

Car Parking: S.P. Rating: (4), I have never attempted to park in the 'Park', preferring to take a chance on the street which so far has worked out okay, so I have to give them a decent mark on this occasion. On the down side the area seems to be a bit small and both sets of fans can exit through the area, so it's not ideal, maybe a disaster waiting to happen.

Access: S.P. Rating: (4) The turnstiles at the 'home' of the I.F.A. are quite literally a nightmare, especially for us men and/or women with the 'fuller figure'. I admit I am a little claustrophobic and these turnstiles scare me as I think they're going to jam with me in it. Also they rarely, in fact never to be truthful, have more than two 'stiles in operation, a poor show for allegedly our top stadium.

Spectating Facilities: S.P. Rating: (4) At Windsor we have an unrestricted view but for some reason there were two cameramen blocking our unrestricted view of the proceedings. I wish clubs would learn the salutary lesson, that the 'paying punter' is the most important person, everything else is secondary (if these cameramen were from Sky Blue TV I apologise unreservedly). Sky blue TV I would add is not part of Sky Blue Sport, in fact at the moment it appears to be defunct, but I digress.

Toilets: S.P. Rating: (6) The toilets at the 'Park' are quite good as befits our International stadium, unfortunately when United were there they forgot to open them. Although they were opened eventually, what a relief that was.

Playing Surface: S.P. Rating: (4) The pitch at Windsor is to put it mildly is poor, the groundsman has to come on at halftime and replace the surface that has been damaged by the players studs. Surely with all the money raked in by Linfield (allegedly £250,000, but probably lots more and that's just from the I.F.A.), the least we can expect is a level playing field. In fact it's the only 'level playing field' we can hope to get, but even here it looks like we're going to be disappointed.

New (Grovesnor) Dump!

Car parking: S.P. rating: 3. Used to be the best ground for car parking, now it’s a joke. For some reason we’re not allowed round the back of the ground anymore, probably their version of progress.

Ease of access: S.P. rating: 3. Access is okay but there appears to be only two turnstiles and when we played there this season only one was operating, on the night that was okay, but if there had been a big crowd, I shudder to think what the consequences could have been.

Spectating facilities: S.P rating: 2. Spectating wise this ground is only outdone by Coleraine for inadequate facilities for us punters. To sit in the Grandstand is to view the action from a long distance and to stand under the cover at the far side is a poor view as the ground is beyond the greyhound track. On the plus side it’s now possible to stand beside the track as they’ve put up a boundary fence

Toilets: S.P. rating: 1. Only Porta-loos which is only slightly better than nothing.

Playing surface: S.P. rating: 4. Hard to rate this surface as to the naked eye it looks okay, but it suits the home teams type of play, ‘boot it up the field’ and hope it falls to a home player, rarely is there ever a lot of football played on it.