Här följer några "recensioner" och kommentarer som andra besökare skrivit på nätet om sina besök på Layer Road.

Vill man veta mer om arenan och hur den upplevs av en besökade supporter så rekomenderar jag verkligen att man läser den första långa men mycket givande texten. Layer Road och Colchester United är faktiskt det enda besök som författaren givit full poäng till. 100/100.

GROUNDS TOUR
Site: www.groundstour.freeserve.co.uk
Report: Ground 109, Layer Road, Colchester-Bournemouth 2003.09.27
© Steven Johnson (used with permission)

Result: Colchester United 1 Bournemouth 0
Attendance: 3.602

When planning my travels to complete the '92', I had at one point been due to finish the lot at Layer Road. However, after lengthy consideration, I decided to revert to my original plan of making Southend United's Roots Hall the final English league ground. With the likes of Fulham, Charlton, Brighton, West Ham and Brentford all still to be visited, the trip to Layer Road would be the first of a number to the south east in the coming weeks.

I left home at the unearthly hour of 6:45am to drive down to Crewe. From there, I caught a train down to London Euston, arriving in the capital around 10:40am. With part of the Circle line on the London Underground closed for the day, I had to catch the replacement bus service to Liverpool Street but was still there in plenty of time for the train to Colchester. It was a warm, sunny day as I arrived at Colchester station around 12:40pm, the mammoth journey to Layer Road almost complete. A short ride in a taxi and I was outside the home of Colchester United.

The vast majority of the ground could only be accessed by turnstiles on Layer Road, with a couple of other access points available behind the Popular Side. With the terraces all being numbered in the form of "Terrace 1, Terrace 2 etc", finding the right turnstile for the correct part of the ground was not easy, especially when you consider some of the turnstiles for the Clock End where situated at the opposite end of the stadium! I was surprised by the surroundings of the stadium as I had incorrectly anticipated a setting similar to Kenilworth Road, but the ground was set in a large, apparently safe and wealthy, residential area, more reminiscent of Barnet's Underhill than anywhere else. There was a hotel doing an excellent trade just a few minutes walk away on Drury Road and I headed down in this direction. There was another bar at the ground and a small convenience store. The club shop was deceptively large, split across three separate rooms and stocked a wide range of souvenirs and other small, unusual pieces of memorabilia.

By the time the turnstiles opened around 2pm, a fair number of people were milling around the ground and there was a noticeable police presence along Layer Road. All supporters were searched before entering the stadium, with long lists of what was prohibited within the ground displayed outside all turnstiles. My ticket was for the Barside terrace, a section of the Popular side, and I was able to pick a decent vantage point despite the numerous posts along the front and fencing to one side.

My initial thoughts on Layer Road as I assessed the look of the stadium were negative. I couldn't help feeling as I looked around the ground that something was missing; for whatever reason, the stadium seemed to lack that something extra to make it complete. However, as I studied the venue more closely, I started to warm to the place. It was strange to move from an initial sense of disappointment with the ground to a much more positive appreciation of the setting in such a short space of time.

The Barside Terrace ran for around half the length of the pitch, falling a few metres short of the Layer Road end. The space between the Barside terrace and Layer Road was unused, with a fence closing it off to spectators. The remainder of this Popular side of the ground was a further section of terracing, designated as a Family Enclosure. Both these terraces had numerous posts to restrict the view, with a low pointed roof. Part of the seating behind the goal to my right was also given over as a family area, with the remainder of this continuous structure labelled the 'Clock End', although I failed to spot any device indicating the time! This stand was unusual in that the Clock End section had slightly more rows of seats than the rest of the stand, with the lettering "CUFC" crammed into a small space in one corner of the seating. The front of this stand was lined with a ridiculous number of posts that must have made the view from virtually every seat pretty poor.

I was far closer to the opposite end of the ground, the Layer Road end, which consisted of a small, shallow terrace of just a few steps, covered by a low roof, with the terracing split into two equal sections. Initially, only the half of the terrace closest to me was given to the Bournemouth fans but with an impressive away following gathering, at half time the gate into the other half of the terrace was opened, to allow the visiting supporters to spread out. The remaining side of the ground housed the Evening Gazette Stand that was centred on the half-way line and was marginally larger than the other sides. Seating was provided in the Evening Gazette Stand, with covered terracing, the same height as the stand, on either side. At the front of the Evening Gazette Stand and the terracing by the Clock End, a couple of extra rows of plastic seats had been provided and these appeared to be the only part of the ground without posts in front, but looked like they may be somewhat exposed to the elements on a wet afternoon or evening. After I had been in the ground for some time, there were still lots of extra features about the stadium catching my eye, with Layer Road certainly not like some of the faceless modern venues where everything about the ground can be seen in one quick glance. The facilities may not be fantastic but with its numerous sections of terracing and seated areas, giving the place quite an enclosed feel, Layer Road is a unique, charismatic setting and one that, despite its limitations and countless posts, has a beautiful charm. A further comparison with Underhill was the netting behind the goals, positioned on top of the small stands to try and limit the amount of wayward balls going out of the ground.

The advantage of a small ground was shown through the fact that although just 3602 fans turned up, the stadium looked very well populated, with the crowd evenly dispersed around all sides. Only the Clock End clearly had numerous spaces still available. Although the crowd had been quite subdued before kick-off, with the only real noise being made to applaud the players as they came out to warm up, as the teams emerged for the game itself, the fans burst into rapturous applause and a terrific atmosphere ensued. The Barside Terrace turned out to have been an excellent choice of where to stand as the vociferous home supporters were all gathered under here and the low roof really helped amplify the chants. The Bournemouth followers were also vociferous but their chants seemed to disappear into thin air, with the acoustics of the Layer Road end making them sound quite muted.

For the first 20 minutes or so, there was non-stop singing from the Colchester fans in the Barside Terrace. None of the chants were continuous, but as soon as one had finished, another shout would go up from the back of the terrace, with everyone joining in straightaway. The fans were clearly buoyant after their team's win against rivals Wycombe, whilst chants about Ipswich were also commonplace! A considerable number of chants were directed at the away supporters, with the Bournemouth fans giving as good as they got, but this never threatened to turn nasty and was good-humoured and relatively relaxed. The home fans obviously didn't have a great sense of geography, with chants of Bournemouth being a "small town in Brighton" and claims that everyone from Bournemouth was Welsh! Given that I thought Bristol was in Wales and Chesterfield in Yorkshire before travelling there, perhaps I should not criticise! The Colchester fans certainly had a great sense of humour though, with a dangerous early shot for the home team prompting them to chant "You'd better pray for rain" at the Bournemouth fans. As the Bournemouth fans shouted "Sh*t ground, no fans", the home supporters retaliated with the cry of "What's it like to see four sides?", a reference to the three stands at the excellent Fitness First Stadium. The opposition players and match officials took the abuse aimed in their direction in good spirit and both were able to have a laugh with the fans.

As the game became more scrappy, the noise dropped a little, but suddenly the match exploded just before half-time, as a Bournemouth player was sent off for appearing to hit out at an opponent, with some of the Colchester players reacting angrily and the accused player equally aggrieved. Every Colchester fan in the ground appeared to be waving and chanting "Cheerio" as the player made his way off the pitch. The Bournemouth fans were clearly angry with the referee and this added further to the pulsating atmosphere. It looked as if Colchester would fail to make the extra man count until a wonder goal, fairly late in the 2nd half, prompted scenes of wild celebrations on three sides of the ground, with fans in the Barside terrace surging forward. The Colchester fans were whistling loudly for the end of the game long before the 90 minutes were even up!

Another terrific shot from the home team hit the cross bar and this was the only point of the afternoon were the mood threatened to turn ugly off the pitch, with the massed Bournemouth fans not happy about the loud, mocking chants of "You might as well go home" aimed in their direction. Fans on the terracing by the Evening Gazette Stand also seemed to join in a few of the chants, but for any neutral spectator visiting Layer Road, the Barside Terrace is definitely the place to head for. Loud cheers greeted the final whistle just before 5pm and the home fans could celebrate a 4th consecutive victory. The atmosphere was hardly family-friendly, with every chant seeming to contain at least one f-word, but the Colchester United supporters provided a benchmark for supporters the length and breadth of the country in their tremendous, loud and positive backing of their team.

It was apparent that Colchester's supporter base, or at least those on the Barside Terrace, was almost entirely male. This was more than compensated for, however, by the appearance of two Miss England contestants on the pitch at half-time to participate in a penalty shoot-out competition. A number of young supporters of Colchester and Bournemouth were also taking part, with Eddie the Eagle, Colchester's comic mascot taking his place in goal, after his strict warm-up routine! Both sets of fans booed the young supporters of the opponent's teams taking the penalties, with the youngsters running across to the opposition supporters to celebrate when they had scored! The loudest cheers of the afternoon came for the Miss England girls when they took a penalty each for the Colchester team! The poor girls were then led across to the supporters in the Barside Terrace but took the chants of "Get your t*ts out for the lads" (one of the cleaner songs aimed in their direction) in good spirit!

Layer Road was closed to traffice after the match and it was a surprise to see police with dogs lined up along the street. With Colchester's north station a good few miles from the ground, after failing to get a taxi, I jumped on the 64 bus into the town centre, where I was able to get a cab to the station. Despite having to catch a rail replacement bus at Liverpool Street, I made it to London Euston in time for an earlier train than I had origially planned to catch, and was back in Crewe before 10pm. Getting the train seemed to have been a good idea, with the traffic around Colchester town centre almost making London seem quiet and congestion free!

Having had to endure the boredom of Premier League football in the last couple of weeks, it was a refreshing change to be back at a 2nd Division venue. Once places like Layer Road have disappeared there will be little incentive to complete a tour of the 92 grounds. Every stand at Layer Road is a unique structure with quaint peculiarities and a tangible character. The club also makes an extra effort with other aspects of the matchday experience, such as its half-time entertainment, with the PA announcer informing the crowd a military band would be performing at the next home game. The Colchester fans possibly surpass any others in the country in terms of passionately and vociferously supporting their team - there is certainly no other set of supporters who can match the wit and humour of the Colchester followers. If I had eventually ended up completing the 92 grounds at Layer Road, I certainly couldn't have picked a finer, more appropriate setting than the home of Colchester United.

Grounds Tour Rating: 100

FOOTBALLGROUNDZ
www.footballgroundz.co.uk

This has to be the most friendly football club in the country. The stewards are helpful and useful. The ground is small and even 3000 makes it look fairly full. All sides have low stands with a lot of terracing. The views from behind the goal are superb at the seated end but not so good on the away terracing area. Relocation has been on the cards for a number of years but nothing has yet happened. The club will do well to remain in Div 2.

The ground has a real football atmosphere to it and I would genuinely prefer to see a game here or at Darlington, for instance, than Old Trafford. This is real football with real fans.

FOOTBALLGROUND GUIDE
Site: www.footballgroundguide.co.uk
Report: Ground 69, Layer Road, Colchester-Swindon 2001.03.20
© Lee's Travels (used with permission)

I had originally planned to visit Layer Road the previous weekend, until their home game against Brentford was switched to the Friday evening. However, I had the week off work and was pleasantly surprised to discover on the Monday morning that Colchester would be hosting Swindon Town on the Tuesday night. This unscheduled trip to another ground before the end of the season was looking doomed when heavy blizzards were forecast and so I set-off for Essex in mid-afternoon fearing that my journey would be a wasted one. The distance to Colchester was quoted on Autoroute as being only 61 miles however it took me over 2 hours to reach my destination. As soon as I hit the A10 the snow arrived and I was tempted to turn around and go home. However, I stopped and made a quick phone call to the club and they advised that the snow hadn't arrived there yet and the game was still on.

Upon arrival at Layer Road - which was quite well signposted - I parked in a road that ran parallel with the Main Stand, although I never found one official car-park so I was glad I arrived early. I walked around to the ticket office and paid £12 for a seat in the Clock Stand which is behind a goal. It seemed that I was the first supporter to arrive (it was still only 5 pm) and having spotted an open gate I took the opportunity to take some pictures of the ground before the night set-in. As soon as I stepped inside the stadium a burly official appeared and beckoned me over. He asked what I was doing and so I explained, showing him the ticket that I had just purchased as proof that I wasn't trying to bluff my way into the match for free. Surprisingly, he allowed me complete freedom of the pitch and the stands, and I even sat in the dug-outs. Now Wembley or the San Siro it isn't, but as I sat in the home dug-out surveying all around me I suddenly adopted a fondness for the place. I spent the next 20 minutes or so moving around the entire stadium and wandering across the pitch, which was in fairly good condition for the time of year.

However I couldn't stay inside for ever, as it was far too cold! I thanked the official and made my way out to familiarise myself with the surrounding area. I have to say, that is very little. I found one pub further along Layer Road and had no joy finding a chip shop until I was pointed in the direction of a local housing estate. It was safe enough to walk through, but too far off the beaten track for the majority of visiting (and, indeed, home) fans to bother walking to.

As kick-off drew nearer I made my way into the ground again and took up my seat in the Clock Stand. All of the entrances to the various parts of the ground are located on Layer Road itself and the Clock Stand is behind the opposite goal to the turnstiles. As I made my way through the concourse behind the Main Stand I could smell the liniment being used in the players' dressing rooms and the cups of Bovril being served in the basic catering outlets. Although the temperature was plummeting I was warming to the match ahead. I found my seat and soon discovered that it gave a pretty poor view of the goal opposite due to being directly behind the Clock Stand goal. But again top marks to the club staff, as a steward saw that I was unhappy with my view and asked if I wanted to move to a better seat at kick-off. True to his word he returned to me as the referee's whistle blew and directed me to the best
seat in the stand that was still free.

The ground itself is rather like Barnet's Underhill or Cambridge's Abbey Stadium, in so much as it is not the best looking piece of modern architecture to be found throughout 'The 92'. Pillars obstruct ones' view in nearly all parts of the ground and some of the stands and terraces seem to have been onstructed as an afterthought. Still, I felt that Layer Road had an overwhelming advantage over the aforementioned venues in so much that the staff were more than friendly and the crowd were superb. Less than 3,000 turned up to see Swindon win 1-0, but they created a right old racket inside the tight ground. Even the 200-or-so fans from the West Country added to the occasion.

Layer Road has all the trappings of a lower league setting, and due to its' cramped surroundings it is difficult to see much improvement in the future. I think it would be shame if the club decided to relocate and make a fresh start at a new home. To me, Colchester's present home is a charming place and a refreshing change from the corporate hospitality and the glamour that has become part of the game in recent times. And I know many fans will understand when I say that it seemed even more special with the floodlights on and the ever-threatening snow blowing across the pitch. I was so glad that I never turned back home on the A10.