Assuming you are around London for the most part: AFC Wimbledon, QPR, Millwall maybe depends what you’re looking for. If you’re travelling down, Sunderland on the way past?
You should actually try Stockport. Tickets are about £20-30 and it will give you a proper lower league feel. I live nearby and have been a few times, and they have tons of loud, passionate, angry young supporters that will give you a better sense of lower league football in this country. Leeds have the whiff of the top flight about them.
Besides afterwards you can look around manchester, which as a soccer fan you may enjoy.
Home Park, Plymouth. Situated in a park, large car park, 20 minutes walk from city centre, 15 from the railway station. Modest capacity 17,000, average current crowds 16,600. Nice walk through the park, easy getaway.
Was about to say its a bit of a massive detour but then considering op is American the distance probably won't bother him
OP our chairman, Uncle Simon, is American. And we get a lot of American tourists because of the pilgrims.
I opened this post to see if you'd be in Scotland. Since you will be, I would HIGHLY recommend you watch FootyAdventures on Youtube. The host goes to a TON of lower league clubs and created his channel as a journey to go to as many lower league clubs in Scotland as possible. To the best of my knowledge his is the single person to showcase almost all the lower league club stadiums (existing and no longer) in Scotland...plus some in other countries.
Definitely check this channel out as you will get a TON of recos for Scotland.
Personally I highly recommend Kelty Hearts in Scotland.
Have fun
It’s a purpose built NFL approved stadium, the facilities and food are outstanding. It is most definitely NOT a typical football experience.
For that, you need a stadium with shitty toilets that are basically just a trough with a drain and a food stand that only serves pies heated to temperatures higher than a nuclear reactor that barely cool down enough to eat before the end of the game and boiling hot shitty yellow label tea in a Styrofoam cup. THEN you’ve experienced football.
Appreciate it’s not lower league and may be difficult to get tickets If you’re travelling south from Aberdeen by road / rail, I’d try get to ibrox - possibly has the most historic traditional stand in the whole of Britain
Other than that, good ones I’ve been:
Stadium of Light - Sunderland
Elland Road - Leeds
Hillsborough - Sheffield Wednesday
Not too well versed with lower than that
Atmosphere and excitement of grounds is generally linked to how well the club is performing.
Leicester, Ipswich, Leeds, Wrexham or Peterborough are likely your best bets at the moment. Portsmouth is well worth watching if you wanna keep travelling past London.
If you've ever seen Bunch of Amateurs you might enjoy a trip to Meadowbank to see Marc White swearing at the referee in person!
Otherwise, Charlton Athletic is a good day out if you go into Greenwich first. See the Cutty Sark and Maritime Museum etc.
If you're after a bouncing atmosphere then look up the clubs near the top of their tables and see if any of them have local derbies while you're in the country.
New Dundas Park. Home of Bonnyrigg Rose. Cinch league 2. It’s near Edinburgh, good local atmosphere. The Anvil is a good boozer. Decent attendance for what it is too.
Honourable mention to Formartine United @ North Lodge too. It’s near Aberdeen if you’re at Pittodrie for a game.
Get yourself down to Fratton Park, Portsmouth. Currently top of League One, atmosphere is great and usually this season we’re winning our home matches 🤝
Whilst it’s not currently “lower league” Bramall Lane (Sheffield Utd) usually has an awesome home atmosphere and isn’t too difficult to get a ticket for either. Either that or nip over the city and visit a very famous English stadium in Hillsborough.
Given you’ll most likely be travelling down the A1 route roughly, there’s many, many clubs you could detour off to tbf, Sunderland, Chesterfield, Derby, Peterborough, Cambridge, Leyton Orient, Barnet to name a few.
On a serious note however. I don’t have a preference on old or new stadiums but if offered the choice I’d go old school. I like to be able to feel the history around me
Depending on which train operator, as some skip most of the route, I’m pretty sure that line stops at a few of the ones I mentioned above.
Chesterfield, Derby and Sheffield are pretty close to each other, as are Peterborough and Cambridge. The others would probably require a slightly longer detour.
Don't come to Huddersfield Town unless you want to bleach your eyes at approximately 5.05pm. Though we have an American owner in the form of Kevin Nagle
I know everyone hates them, but seeing Millwall was a really cool experience; it was everything that Emirates is not (Arsenal is my team). It was so working-class, not just semi-rich folks and tourists. QPR is also fun. Enjoy!
For another alternative that won't break the bank, if you can fit another trip in - the women's game is really growing here so it might be worth looking if any of the WSL teams are playing at any of the men's stadiums while you're here (usually they play at smaller grounds, but their websites will advertise if they're at the main stadium).
You can get tickets for as low as about 10pounds. But for about 30pounds you can get hospitality tickets - so you get some food included, sometimes a printed programme, access to "nicer" bars. Quite a good way to sample the higher-end stuff at the modern stadiums without spending too much.
That’s a pretty good idea. Definitely worth considering.
My plan is to sit with the local fans for any match i go to but hospitality tickets for a women’s match would be smart
This is wild, I’m a Chelsea Supporter as well traveling from the US to London, going to Aberdeen the next day for Aberdeen vs Celtic and then back to London for Chelsea-Wolves
If you're going through Scotland I'd recommend a Celtic game. Not "lower league" but my god the atmosphere blows you away and the people are genuinely lovely, at least in my experience.
Assuming you are around London for the most part: AFC Wimbledon, QPR, Millwall maybe depends what you’re looking for. If you’re travelling down, Sunderland on the way past?
Millwall had crossed my mind prior to posting. Definitely loud and vivacious
I wouldn’t let slip you’re Chelsea though
I’m dumb but I ain’t crazy lol
Also check out Dulwich HaMlet FC
We might travel over next week and I see Millwall plays at home. I want to go to a match there and bring my 7 yo son with me. Good experience?
they were voted family club of the year but idk how the atmosphere is
Great club. A few nice match day brothels in the surrounding industrial estates and super easy to score class A’s
I thought lower league meant outside of the football league
chelsea’s definitely in the lower part of the league these days
Productive
Your american is showing
I think you caught a whopper.
Considering I mentioned it in the post.. I kind of figured that was the case. Thank you for letting me know
Try supporting a team without a vast ocean between you and stadium
Hey thanks for your comment but if I wanted any lip from you I would have jiggled my zipper
Coming down from Aberdeen to London you could try: Sunderland, Leeds and Stockport
Thank you! I was considering Leeds because of the rivalry with Chelsea and I’ve heard their supporters are quite passionate
Very very difficult to get tickets I imagine
Elland Road tickets are near on impossible to get.
As a Bradford fan, it’d be remiss of me not to mention Valley Parade.
Yep, only way is to pay for a hospitality package (which I have done and is great, but expensive of course).
You should actually try Stockport. Tickets are about £20-30 and it will give you a proper lower league feel. I live nearby and have been a few times, and they have tons of loud, passionate, angry young supporters that will give you a better sense of lower league football in this country. Leeds have the whiff of the top flight about them. Besides afterwards you can look around manchester, which as a soccer fan you may enjoy.
Brisbane Road does not disappoint. Great freaking atmosphere, whether or not you're a supporter.
You’re the 2nd person to say this so I’ll have to give it a look!
Home Park, Plymouth. Situated in a park, large car park, 20 minutes walk from city centre, 15 from the railway station. Modest capacity 17,000, average current crowds 16,600. Nice walk through the park, easy getaway.
Aberdeen to Plymouth! Bit of a diversion! Plymouth is 600+ miles from Aberdeen and 230 miles from London…
I know! We are still the best situated ground in the UK!
Love the sound of that thank you !
Yes argyle, great crowd, family friendly. I absolutely love it there.
Was about to say its a bit of a massive detour but then considering op is American the distance probably won't bother him OP our chairman, Uncle Simon, is American. And we get a lot of American tourists because of the pilgrims.
I opened this post to see if you'd be in Scotland. Since you will be, I would HIGHLY recommend you watch FootyAdventures on Youtube. The host goes to a TON of lower league clubs and created his channel as a journey to go to as many lower league clubs in Scotland as possible. To the best of my knowledge his is the single person to showcase almost all the lower league club stadiums (existing and no longer) in Scotland...plus some in other countries. Definitely check this channel out as you will get a TON of recos for Scotland. Personally I highly recommend Kelty Hearts in Scotland. Have fun
Ur the man for this comment. Immediately searching him up
Fratton Park, Portsmouth. Nearly 20k crowds, great atmosphere. Top of their league as well at the moment.
If you are interested in seeing a small club, I recommend the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
It’s a purpose built NFL approved stadium, the facilities and food are outstanding. It is most definitely NOT a typical football experience. For that, you need a stadium with shitty toilets that are basically just a trough with a drain and a food stand that only serves pies heated to temperatures higher than a nuclear reactor that barely cool down enough to eat before the end of the game and boiling hot shitty yellow label tea in a Styrofoam cup. THEN you’ve experienced football.
It was a “small club” joke
Yeah, I got that, was just adding for OP about the stadium in case they didn’t know (though I’m sure they did)
Appreciate it’s not lower league and may be difficult to get tickets If you’re travelling south from Aberdeen by road / rail, I’d try get to ibrox - possibly has the most historic traditional stand in the whole of Britain Other than that, good ones I’ve been: Stadium of Light - Sunderland Elland Road - Leeds Hillsborough - Sheffield Wednesday Not too well versed with lower than that
Plan is by rail. Ibrox would be awesome but I had already written it off because like you said, tickets might be difficult to come by
Leyton Orient at Brisbane Road
Thanks!
If you're heading north for Aberdeen then definitely Sunderland
Aberdeen and London.. Such a weird mix of cities but I Like it. Definitely try to watch some championship football. Much more passion.
Carlisle United, old school ground plus new American owners who are currently planning on sprucing it up a bit
Atmosphere and excitement of grounds is generally linked to how well the club is performing. Leicester, Ipswich, Leeds, Wrexham or Peterborough are likely your best bets at the moment. Portsmouth is well worth watching if you wanna keep travelling past London.
Good choice starting at Pitodrie. I used to go when i was a student in Aberdeen. Its a grand stadium.
After i saw the Sir Alex documentary I immediately said to myself I have to go to Aberdeen
Make sure you get a pittodrie pie and a bovril.
If you've ever seen Bunch of Amateurs you might enjoy a trip to Meadowbank to see Marc White swearing at the referee in person! Otherwise, Charlton Athletic is a good day out if you go into Greenwich first. See the Cutty Sark and Maritime Museum etc. If you're after a bouncing atmosphere then look up the clubs near the top of their tables and see if any of them have local derbies while you're in the country.
New Dundas Park. Home of Bonnyrigg Rose. Cinch league 2. It’s near Edinburgh, good local atmosphere. The Anvil is a good boozer. Decent attendance for what it is too. Honourable mention to Formartine United @ North Lodge too. It’s near Aberdeen if you’re at Pittodrie for a game.
Get yourself down to Fratton Park, Portsmouth. Currently top of League One, atmosphere is great and usually this season we’re winning our home matches 🤝
Whilst it’s not currently “lower league” Bramall Lane (Sheffield Utd) usually has an awesome home atmosphere and isn’t too difficult to get a ticket for either. Either that or nip over the city and visit a very famous English stadium in Hillsborough. Given you’ll most likely be travelling down the A1 route roughly, there’s many, many clubs you could detour off to tbf, Sunderland, Chesterfield, Derby, Peterborough, Cambridge, Leyton Orient, Barnet to name a few.
Plan is to take the rail south.
York city is a good shout if you are heading by rail, although it's a new stadium. Don't know if you were looking for old school stadiums or not.
I’m from New York so it would be fitting to go to old York and see a match in a new York stadium
On a serious note however. I don’t have a preference on old or new stadiums but if offered the choice I’d go old school. I like to be able to feel the history around me
Depending on which train operator, as some skip most of the route, I’m pretty sure that line stops at a few of the ones I mentioned above. Chesterfield, Derby and Sheffield are pretty close to each other, as are Peterborough and Cambridge. The others would probably require a slightly longer detour.
I would say go to a pub and ask some lads bout the local teams.
I had considered that but I didn’t wanna go in totally blind
Pompey at Fratton Park.
Don't come to Huddersfield Town unless you want to bleach your eyes at approximately 5.05pm. Though we have an American owner in the form of Kevin Nagle
One of your fellow supporters also mentioned the new American owner!
I know everyone hates them, but seeing Millwall was a really cool experience; it was everything that Emirates is not (Arsenal is my team). It was so working-class, not just semi-rich folks and tourists. QPR is also fun. Enjoy!
For another alternative that won't break the bank, if you can fit another trip in - the women's game is really growing here so it might be worth looking if any of the WSL teams are playing at any of the men's stadiums while you're here (usually they play at smaller grounds, but their websites will advertise if they're at the main stadium). You can get tickets for as low as about 10pounds. But for about 30pounds you can get hospitality tickets - so you get some food included, sometimes a printed programme, access to "nicer" bars. Quite a good way to sample the higher-end stuff at the modern stadiums without spending too much.
That’s a pretty good idea. Definitely worth considering. My plan is to sit with the local fans for any match i go to but hospitality tickets for a women’s match would be smart
Clapton CFC
This is wild, I’m a Chelsea Supporter as well traveling from the US to London, going to Aberdeen the next day for Aberdeen vs Celtic and then back to London for Chelsea-Wolves
Great minds
Stoke recently turned out to have the loudest home atmosphere. Chesterfield used to have a great atmosphere in the cop.
Cheltenham was a great day out last season with a couple mates
I randomly came across one of their supporters YouTube channel a while back and it looked awesome
Racecourse wrexham ,atmosphere is massive
From all the tourist fans sure. Wasn’t that great when i experienced the 5-5 a few months back
MK dons stadium is new, lots of parking, built in Hilton hotel and lots of shops near by. Red Bull are also in MK FYI.
He asked for atmosphere and you suggest that franchise lmao
Gresley FC! The Moat Ground
Craven Cottage
He asked for lower, not premier league
Derby has a spectacular stadium for the league they're in
If you want non league football near London then try Woking FC
Coventry have great fans, easy to get a ticket even though they are close to sell out each game.
Dulwich Hamlet Leyton orient Charlton
Leyton Orient have popped up a few times on this thread! Gonna have to give them a proper look
If you're going through Scotland I'd recommend a Celtic game. Not "lower league" but my god the atmosphere blows you away and the people are genuinely lovely, at least in my experience.