Peterborough

Ground: London Road

Visits: 1

Date: 30th March 2013

Match: Peterborough - Cardiff 2-1 (League Championship)

Attendance: 9 236

At first I was planning to visit Fleetwood vs Gillingham on Easter Saturday. Two weeks ago I received a mail from a Peterborough fan though and I changed my mind. This might the last ever season with both ends terraced at Peterborough's London Road Stadium and he thought it would be a good idea for me to visit Peterborough before the ground become all-seated. After winning promotion from League 1 you have three seasons to comply with the Championship stadium regulations. This means the stadium has to be made all-seated and this was Peterborough's third and final year. I thought the rebuilding had already started and wanted to "save" London Road until building works had been completed. Anyway, a match against league leaders Cardiff City is something to look forward to and I bought a ticket for the Family Stand. From Manchester it takes around 3 hours by train and by 12.40 I arrived at Peterborough train station. I decided to visit the city centre of Peterborough, knowing there would be an impressive cathedral to look at. The cathedral was indeed impressive and after a few pictures I left for the ground.

London Road, the home of Peterborough United since 1913, is an old-style English football ground. Only the two-tiered Family/South Stand is newly (1996) built and with both ends terraced this felt like a proper football ground. As I found my seat, in row M, I noticed the strong wind and realized this would be a cold afternoon in Peterborough. The temperature was about 5 °C but in the shadow as well as the wind it felt much colder than that. Cardiff City were backed by more than 2 000 fans this afternoon and most of them were in the Moy's End to my right. With a low roof they had every chance to generate a good atmosphere. Before and after the match they let off a yellow smoke canister, very unusual to see this in England. As the match started Cardiff looked the better team and deservedly made it 1-0 in the first half. Cardiff seemed to control things in the second half as well but then Peterborough got their chance. A penalty and suddenly it was 1-1. The home supporters woke up and for the rest of the match there was a good atmosphere inside London Road. 17 minutes before the end Peterborough were given another penalty. 2-1 to Peterborough and the Cardiff fans were seemingly stunned. Cardiff then had their chances to equalize but the match finished 2-1 to Peterborough. A very important victory for a team in the relegation zone and they now have every chance to stay up. This a another great day out for me and tomorrow I head for Villa Park and the only Premiership match on this trip.

city centre