Tips on how to get there, where to park and where to drink for QPR fans planning on seeing the New Year in with a trip to Sheffield for Sunday's FA Cup third round clash between the R's and the Blades.

Ground Name: Bramall Lane
Capacity: 32 609
Address: Bramall Lane Stadium, Sheffield, S2 4SU
Main Telephone No: 0870 787 1960
Ticket Office No: 0870 787 1799

By Car
Bit of a trek for Rangers fans this but relatively easy all the same. From London it’s north up the M1 and you might want to allow half an hour more than you normally would because there is an epic set of roadworks for a good 15 miles past Nottingham boasting ridiculous 50mph speed limits and Nazi style average speed check cameras so watch out for those. Bramall Lane is a much easier ground to find than Hillsborough and you should be parked up in the vicinity within ten or 15 minutes of leaving the motorway. Get off the M1 at junction 33 and take the first exit left at the top of the slip road onto the Sheffield Parkway. That road essentially takes you all the way there, winding it’s way down the hill into town past Morrisons, ASDA and Matalan. The speed limit drops to 50mph about halfway down and then down to 40mph just before the city centre and there is a speed camera immediately after the drop down to 40mph so watch yourselves on that one. Once in the 40 limit stay in the two left hand lanes and go down to the Park Square roundabout next to the Ponds Forge swimming pool. Go straight on there (third exit, signposted ring road and Chesterfield) then follow the road up past the train station. Bear round to the right following signs for the ring road and Barnsley now rather than Chesterfield and Bramall Lane appears on your left a short time later but basically you should be looking for side streets to park in as soon as you’re passed the railway station. The ground is well sign posted.

Map:


Parking No parking at the ground for supporters so it’s street and public car parks only I’m afraid. There is plenty of that available right around the ground for early (before 1.30pm) arrivals but the police start to close the roads from 2pm so you may find it hard to drive around looking after that. Several local businesses offer their car parks up for a small fee and the city centre and all its car parks, pubs and shops is but a five minute walk away. To be honest though there is plenty of street parking and it’s a relatively safe place so that’s what I’d go for.

Trains East Midlands Trains from St Pancras for this one, journey time of about three hours. The 0930 and 1030 departures both have £17 single tickets available and it’s only a couple of quid more for first class on both, the 1727 going back has £22 still going standard class or £23 first class.

If you’re walking straight to the ground from the station then come out of the main entrance and walk up to the main road on the ramp between the fountain and the giant steel blade water feature thingy. Cross the road and then turn left and follow the road that runs directly in front of The Howard past the Sheffield Hallam Student Union (formerly Pop Music centre) and the BBC Radio Sheffield building. cross the ring road when you reach it and the ground is visible directly in front of you over the tops of the houses. To get to the away end walk along the ring road up to the roundabout next to the church and turn left, go past the BP garage and we’re in that end.

Pubs
Most of the pubs in the immediate vicinity of the ground are home fans only although this isn’t an inhospitable place by any stretch of the imagination. Most QPR fans looking for a drink will try the town centre five or ten minutes walk away. There’s the usual Wetherspoons, RSVP and Lloyds Bar next to the City Hall concert venue if you like that kind of place (I don’t) while a little further afield fans of real ale and a wider variety of beers and spirits might like to try the Frog and Parrot on Division Street or the Devonshire Cat on Devonshire Green - both pubs have an excellent reputation and deservedly so. The Parrot will serve you a former Guinness world record holding beer that is so strong they only do it in third of a pint portions. Again you can probably walk to Bramall Lane in little over ten minutes from there.

Rangers fans arriving by train usually migrate to one of four pubs - The Howard is the most obvious, dead opposite the station, although it can get crowded on match days, the police like to pay very close attention to it and there have been problems in there in the past after the match. Slightly further up the hill is the Globe which isn’t a bad place and then further up still, across the road up the ramp and between the Library and the art gallery, there is The Graduate and then next to the Crucible the Old Monk.

The police attention on games in the city seems to vary massively - four years ago we went in the Monk before a game at Rotherham when Sheff Wed were at home and were welcomed warmly with our colours on with kids in our group. Two weeks later for Sheff Utd away the exact same police officers and doormen we’d spoken to a fortnight before refused us admission with colours and said no children were allowed inside then denied all knowledge of us ever being in there before. It really does seem to depend how they’re feeling. We’ve had problems trying to get kids (and I’m talking 14/15 year olds here not toddlers) into pubs even just to eat a meal on matchdays before so bear that in mind if the whole family is heading north.

Tickets and Travel
Rangers have 1000 tickets remaining and they’re a bit cheaper than normal because it is a cup match. Adults are £14 with seniors, students and under 18s £11 and juniors £9. Disabled tickets are £11. Worth bearing in mind that in previous years no cash has been taken on the turnstiles and Rangers fans have had to queue at a ticket window so arrive in good time if you don’t already have a ticket. LFW regular Mel is running a coach from Northolt, see the message board for details.

Links
Detailed Ground Guide
Official Website

Photo: Action Images

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