Away Day Review – The Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk FC.

So finally, after our Greenock trip provided the first three away points of the year, I was a little more optimistic for this one – although, given the hammering we took at home to Hamilton last time out, I really mean ‘a little’.

Early commitments meant I was in the area a good couple of hours before kick-off so it was Sportsters Sports Bar for the usual pre-match pint before heading to the ground. A steep £4 car parking charge was the first thing we encountered at the Falkirk Stadium. Given the numerous free parking areas all around the ground, I think Falkirk will find people avoiding paying that on most occasions.

The Falkirk Stadium is nice on the eye. A very attractive main stand, highly resembling Hampden does look good on approach. We were in the away stand behind the goals though and the common £15 entrance fee was paid. It was much to my delight that this time, the £15 wasn’t grudged at all. There was no big pillar blocking your view, the seats were fit for purpose and you didn’t scrape your shins open on the seat in front every time you moved.

Back to the basics in terms of food this week with a pie and tea hitting the spot. Again, no complaints on either front. Pie wasn’t burnt, had plenty of filling, didn’t fall apart after the first bite and tasted pretty good. Albeit, these are all things you expect whenever you buy a pie but as you’ll have read here, the food experiences aren’t always what you’d hope for around the grounds.

Our view of the game was fine. I’m not a great fan of sitting behind the goals, but as mentioned it was nice to take the game in with no obstacles to avoid. The fact that we got three of the five Livi goals up or end too made the view even better!

The Falkirk Stadium scores highly on the atmosphere front too. When Falkirk took the lead, you got a real sense of the delight from the home fans given the high noise level that echoed across to us. Likewise, when we grabbed our goals, it felt there were a lot more in the away end than actually was. A rendition of a certain chant by Livi fans in honour of Falkirk manager Steven Pressley sounded brilliant both at the time and on the highlights package - even better was the clear as day ‘we want six’ calls as the game drew to a close.

Overall, there wasn’t much that the Falkirk Stadium let us down with – a good view, decent food, a brilliant atmosphere, five Livi goals and three points – they’re far too kind to us!

Access – 6/10
Admission – 7/10
Pie and Drink – 8/10
Stadium/View – 8/10
Atmosphere – 9/10

Overall – 38/50