Sunday, 9 October 2011

Ewen Fields - Hyde and Man City EDS - ground info


This will focus on Ewen Fields when going to Hyde matches for now - I'll be watching Man City u19s vs Celtic u19s next week so I'll update this if there's any different info for that.

Ewen Fields has a capacity of 4,250, 550 of which is seated. The ground had a pretty dramatic makeover before the start of the 2010/11 season as Hyde went into a partnership deal with Man City, which involves Man City's EDS (kind of their reserves but usually youths, so sort of the next step up from the academy) using the ground.

Now most clubs who have their reserve team playing at a smaller ground just use the ground and don't edit it, but as part of the deal Man City redecorated it - turning a red ground into a blue ground, putting all their seats in, putting their club badge along with Hyde's on the top of the seated stand (see below for those last few), changing all the writing on the stands and the stadium boards to Etihad, Abu Dhabi, City in the Community etc, City in the Community the main sponsor on Hyde's shirts etc.


Opinions were divided on this - on the one hand it was good for the ground to be newly painted and decorated and improved in various ways, but many said Hyde had turned into a franchise and sold it's soul as a result. Personally I quite like what City have done with it, but I guess I'm a little biased as I go watch Man City now and again anyway - if Man United had done the same deal and turned it into a mini Old Trafford I must admit I'd have probably then been slating it!

Anyway details of the ground - you can see the seated area above, and to the left of it from the perspective of that picture, or to the right of where you enter the ground, is the "Scrattin Shed" or Shed End whichever you prefer. This is were Hyde's equivalent of the ultras are - the more vociferous fans in other words - expect lots of chanting and when you walk past it at the end of the match it stinks of beer! Not the best idea for an away fan to stand in this bit in other words.

The Leigh Street stand is opposite with the team dugouts in front of it - this is where most standing fans gather and is mainly covered, in fact pretty much all the ground is covered. Interestingly one of the stands behind the goals, the "Tinker's Passage" which is the one near the Scrattin Shed, (and in rare games where segregation occurs is the stand for away fans) has a big netting in front of it - see below - making it ideal if you want your pie and cup of tea without a stray ball causing you to end up wearing said cup of tea.


Admission for Hyde games is £10 for standing, with a £1 "upgrade" to go in the seated area (there's security blokes at the seated area entrances who you pay the extra pound to). The programme is £2, I got one and bizarrely the front and back and all the adverts inside are on colour glossy pages but the rest is black and white on normal paper pages. The programme does look a bit chunkier than most but this is mainly due to it having more adverts than most.

Chips are a quid and served in a small plastic cone so you don't get a lot of them, they're pretty tasty though. From what I remember of the other prices - fizzy drink cans are 80p, tea and coffee £1, pies were either £1.60 or £1.80. They have some meal deal options too which offer a tiny discount on getting everything individually, but we're talking actual meals here - £3.50+.

If getting there on public transport the ground is easily walkable from Newton for Hyde, Hyde Central or Godley stations, and from the newly built bus station. The area's not the best at night, a little rough but not too bad for afternoon matches.

The club has a small car park that fills up quickly, streets nearby are options but parking around the Hyde town centre area and walking up might be easier. The Morrisons supermarket has a free car park and I'm not aware of restrictions but that can be quite busy on a Saturday afternoon.

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