Flying footballs, roof banging and a good game of League Two football

I’d almost forgotten what it was like to go to a live football match. The train journey there, the sense of anticipation beforehand, followed by the crushing sense of disappointment afterwards (hang on, that’s only for Aston Villa matches). Keen to avoid too much crushing disappointment and still a little unsure about going to a packed Premier League ground, I decided that Swindon v Bradford at the County Ground was the ideal opportunity to see my first live professional match since February 2020.

Quite a lot had changed since that last match, an FA Cup fourth round replay between Oxford and Newcastle. One thing that hadn’t, however, was the mixture of excitement and uncertainty I felt at visiting a new stadium. Anyone who knows me will be well aware that my sense of direction is notoriously bad: if there are two ways to turn, you can be absolutely sure that I will choose the wrong one. On the rare occasion that I’m brave enough to ask for directions, the words ‘you can’t miss it’ always fill me with horror. If there is a way of ‘missing it’, I will find it.

With all this in mind, I managed to drag my partner with me with the promise that there was a nice fabric shop in Swindon for her to look around while I was at the match. The fact that one of Swindon’s main tourist attractions appeared to be a roundabout didn’t make me feel too optimistic, although apparently you can get a good view of it in action from near the ground.

The journey from Swindon station to the ground was very straightforward, with flat surfaces for my wheelchair. Pleasingly, the staff and fans at the stadium were all extremely friendly. I was particularly impressed – and relieved – that the wheelchair spaces were under cover. The roof is quite low, so anyone with a particularly high wheelchair would have to be a bit careful, but they did the job well. The roof was occasionally banged with frustration by the people behind us, although this was quickly sorted out by the steward!

Swindon were pretty disappointing in this game, despite being in the play-off places in League Two, and deservedly lost 3-1, dropping down to sixth in the table. Bradford were very clinical and, if anything, could have scored even more than three as they climbed to eleventh. Their fans were enthusiastic throughout. Being from Yorkshire myself, I particularly enjoyed the chants of ‘Yorkshire, Yorkshire, Yorkshire’. One slightly tricky moment came when the ball came hurtling at high speed towards me – a hazard of being so close to the action – but I watched it whistle just past, and all was well!

I’ll definitely return to the County Ground again soon. There was a real community feel and the facilities were of a good standard for League 2. I might even sneak a look at the ‘Magic Roundabout’ next time too…