GROUNDHOP DAY

Doncaster Rovers 0-2 Crystal Palace. Fa Cup. 10/02/2025.

Of all the things to be written on my gravestone, I would really like it to be something better than ‘Died walking to the Eco-Power Stadium’. 

The first chapter of my journey started in Doncaster, on a wet, windy and absolutely bloody freezing Monday night in February. FA Cup fever was in town, and so were the mighty Crystal Palace. From the moment the draw was made, it was a game I’d highlighted as a must go to. It’s not often as a Yorkshireman than lives in the sticks, that you get the opportunity to see Premier League opposition just forty minutes from your house. Not only that, I also wanted to go on a real-life scouting mission to see Jean-Philippe Mateta in the flesh, to decide if he was worthy of a place in my Fantasy Football team. I would later find the answer to that was a no, but I did find out what an absolute unit of a player he is – a physical specimen. 

The night didn’t start well. I’d arranged the sale and collection of a spare wardrobe that day, which was meant to be a quick load up and go job at half five. Instead, the guy turned up in a van which wasn’t even big enough for half of it. We loaded what we could into the van, and off he went (with the ends of it hanging out the back). It wasn’t until nearly half past six that he came back for the other half, which left me in an incredibly difficult position. Do I just bin it off, stay at home next to the log burner and watch Corrie? Or do I make a frantic dash to Doncaster, knowing there was a twenty-minute walk on top from where I was parked. The former did cross my mind, but then I remembered about Mission Fa Cup, and Mission Mateta. I also realised that skipping the first game since coming up with the idea of GroundHop Day wasn’t a good omen, and that I had to start as I meant to go on. When I got in my car and had a quick glance at the clock, there was only one hour and five minutes until KO.

Luckily, the estimated forty-five-minute journey was only thirty-five. That wasn’t because I was driving like Lewis Hamilton, it was because my Sat Nav was a total stress head, and had over-egged the traffic situation completely. When I arrived at BizSpace – a car park I had pre-booked on JustPark (address below) for a mere £3 – it was quarter past seven. Thirty minutes until KO. As I got out of the car, I bumped into four lads who were also heading to the match. Two of them were Palace fans, the other two Sheff Utd. Throw into the equation myself – a Liverpool fan – and it sounds like the start of the world’s worst pub joke. It then became obvious to me that many in the stadium will have just gone to watch a good cup game, and not necessarily to support either side. This is something I would have to remember when judging the atmosphere at the end of the game. It was also a reminder of one of the reasons I decided to start coming out to random games in the first place – I had walked to the ground with four people I’d never met before, chatting as if we’d known each other for years. Football is a common ground and conversation starter for many people, and that’s why I love it. 

On my way to the stadium, I was nearly greeted by death himself twice. Once crossing the busy A638 directly out of the carpark, and the other when about a hundred Palace fans came out of an alleyway just as I was passing. It was like a scene out of Green Street. Thankfully, my fate was different to that of Pete Dunham’s – God rest his soul. Of all the things to be written on my gravestone, I would really like it to be something better than ‘Died walking to the Eco-Power Stadium’. 

Speaking of the stadium, I’m not a fan. I never had the opportunity to visit Belle Vue, but from the footage and images I’ve seen, that stadium was the complete opposite to what they play in today. Yes, times change. Yes, Belle Vue only had a capacity of just over 9k. Yes, for this very reason Rovers probably felt they had to move on to cater for more. However, what they’ve replaced it with is about as template as you can get. Situated in the heart on an industrial area, it lacks any real sense of football feel as you walk up. Not every stadium can be sat in the middle of a terraced community, granted, but the Eco-Power just feels so out of reach of anything. It feels in the middle of nowhere and lacks any kind of oomph. It’s essentially a big, rounded rectangle plonked near a shopping centre and a lake. Even on a cup night – a proper cup night – I didn’t feel any kind of magic walking towards it. Although to be fair, all I could feel was myself getting piss-wet through. 

I got to the ground about fifteen minutes before KO, which I would have taken about an hour and a half ago when I was waiting for the wardrobe guy to come back. Annoyingly though, my plan to be here with plenty of time to spare had gone down the drain, along with the countless drops of rain around me. My initial aim was to give myself about forty five minutes to stroll around the stadium and try and capture the excitement and buzz that you tend to get before entering. Instead, I only had time for a quick power walk around, and by this point the majority of fans had already filtered in. I would also find out when returning home that many of the shots I took at this point in the night were underexposed and unusable. I had maybe underestimated how challenging it would be to use a £10 point and shoot camera. Throughout the night, there would be a fair few shots that fell into the over/under exposed category (example below), so moving forward I will have to get used to how I can tweak the very limited amount of settings on offer. Then again, the whole reason I bought a camera like this was for those exact limitations, and the imperfections and quirkiness they bring. 

When I arrived at the turnstiles, I bumped into a lad who was trying to get to his mates at a different part of the stadium. They’d all bought tickets in the South Stand, and he could only get a last-minute ticket into the James Coppinger Stand. His plan was cunning and faultless, he was going to go to the front of our stand and walk round to theirs – completely bypassing the stewards – and then be reunited with his mates. The Doncaster Job. I hope he made it. 

Walking out into the stands the atmosphere was quite rowdy, but then again anywhere in Yorkshire that has any trace of alcohol is usually rowdy. I got in about a minute after kick-off, as everyone had seemed to have used the same few turnstiles upon entry, meaning the queues had been fairly backlogged. As I made my way to my seat, I was pleasantly surprised by the view. With it only being a relatively small stadium, you would assume you’d get a decent enough view no matter where you sit. However, this was 5 rows back and directly in line with the corner flag – a corner flag that was soon to be harassed by Palace players celebrating the opening goal. 

The game itself was ok. Doncaster pushed as much as they could, but they were up against a well-oiled and defensively sound Palace team that had come here in good form. The first goal had an element of luck to it, as Daniel Munoz tapped in from a shot that had ricochet off the post. His instant reaction was to gather his troops and charge towards our corner of the stadium, where he was greeted with some lovely compliments from the Rovers fans. The fans, to their credit, didn’t let it deter them. They were relatively boisterous throughout. The second goal – arguably against the run of play at that point in the match – was an ice-cream scoop of a ball from Will Hughes – who was running the game like prime Iniesta – which was finished off just as tastily by Justin Devenny. 0-2 it finished, and the hearts of the Doncaster, Sheff Utd, Liverpool and whoever else’s fans were in there, were broken.

Actually, I take that back. The two Sheff Utd fans were probably quite happy.

Stadium: The Eco-Power falls into the ‘template stadium design’ category, and for that reason I can’t score it any more than a two. It lacks any character, and is generally not my cup of tea.

Location: As mentioned, it’s in the middle of an industrial area with no bars or anything of the sort around. The parking I found was a 15-minute walk from the stadium. Usually, this would be fine, but having seen a lot of horror movies, walking alone (in the dark) through an industrial estate seemed a bit dodgy.

Atmosphere: It was OK. Loud in parts, but relatively quiet for the majority. If I’m totally honest, I expected it to be bouncing at the start of the game. I’d imagine it’s a lot quieter for a standard league game, too.