SCFC2West Bromwich Albion v Swansea City on Wednesday, 13th March 2019 at 19:45.
Distance from the Liberty Stadium: 135 miles ~ 2 hour 30 minutes.
Address: The Hawthorns, Halfords Lane, West Bromwich, West Midlands, B71 4LF
Telephone: 0871 271 1100
Web-site: www.wba.co.uk
The Hawthorns
What’s The Hawthorns Like
Up to 3,000 Swansea fans could be accommodated on one side of the Smethwick End, and shared with home fans.
The facilities and the view of the pitch are OK, but the leg room is cramped. The concourse is pretty small, and it can be squashed.
Alcohol is sold in the ground along with burgers, a range of pies, sausage rolls and pasties.
Visiting West Bromwich
Birmingham is the second largest UK city, and has a multitude of eating and drinking places to suit every appetite.
Ethnic food is highly popular and every region of Asia is represented in its restaurants.
Birmingham has loads of museums, art galleries and theatres.
Hotel near the ground are Premier Inn West Bromwich Central (B70 6JJ) 1.3 miles away, The Park Inn (B70 6RS) 1.1 miles away and The Hare & Five Hounds (B71 4AN), 2 miles away.
Birmingham itself has loads of hotels with some great offers available.
What’s on in Birmingham
The musical ‘Kinky Boots’ has music by Cyndi Lauper is at The Hippodrome (B5 4TB) from 11th – 23rd March, tickets range from £26 to £112.50.
The weekend after the game, Resorts World Arena (B40 1NT) has Blue Planet 2 Live in Concert (Saturday) with visuals from the TV series accompanied by a full symphony orchestra, tickets are £31.10 and George Ezra (Sunday), only return tickets are available from £31.45.
For kids, ‘Tom Gates – Live on Stage’ is at The Alexandra theatre (B5 4DS), from 13th to 16th March with tickets from £19.50.
Cadbury World is open 10-3 weekdays and 9:30-4 on weekends, prices are £17 for adults, £12.50 for kids (under 4’s free), with Family tickets (2+2 £51) and (2+3 £61).
Advance booking is advised and you can book tickets online or by calling 0121 393 6004.
StarCity (B7 5SA) has a Vue cinema, ten pin bowling, mini golf, laser station, a football centre, gym, casino, a climbing centre.
It’s really close to the motorway and a place where quite a number of hours can be spent.
Eating and Drinking in West Bromwich
There are no away fans pubs close to the ground.
For a great pub and amazing Indian food, head to The Vine (B70 8DB). There’s street parking in the area and it’s a 0.8 miles walk to the ground.
You need to be there a good 2 hours before kick-off as it gets mentally busy in there. That tells you all you need to know about how good the food is there!
The Park Hotel (B70 6RS) is just off J1 of the M5 and a 0.6 mile walk to the ground. The car park is £5 and away fans welcomed. There’s street parking around the hotel.
Desi Junction (B70 6PB) is 1 mile away and The Royal Oak (B71 3RQ) has good beer they also serve Asian food, which is about 2.5 miles away.
A little further afield and en-route (3.5 miles away) is The Stores (B69 2AS), just off J2 of the M5. It’s a lively pub that does regular pub grub.
There’s a ‘Fan Zone’ across the road from the ground (corner of Birmingham Road and Halfords Lane). It has live music, a large screen showing sport, plus food and drink is sold.
You’ll have to smuggle in your Greggs from the shop opposite or a McDonalds from the local outlet (B21 0AP), as it’s not allowed in the ground.
Parking near The Hawthorns
There’s street parking or a few match-day car parks at local industrial units or at Hawthorns station for around £5.
The Beeches Road Methodist Church (B70 6QE) costs £5, has CCTV and is a ten minute walk away and easy to get onto the M5 after the match.
Around the corner from the Vine is a St John’s Ambulance Depot (B70 6QX) offering parking for £3.
Alternatively you can also choose from a selection of private car parking spaces near The Hawthorns – including around 28 parking spaces which you can reserve for your visit from just £5.00 for the day.
Train and Metro to West Bromwich
The closest stations are The Hawthorns (5 minute walk) and Smethwick Rolfe Street, (0.3 mile walk).
The Hawthorns is served by a Metro service from Birmingham Snow Hill station, whilst Smethwick Rolfe Street is served by trains from Birmingham New Street.
The Metro service takes 8 minutes to the Hawthorns from Birmingham Snow Hill and trains run every 15 minutes.
Train tickets are not valid on the Metro, you have to buy a ticket for it (ask for a matchday special adult return).
Birmingham Snow Hill station is signposted from Birmingham New Street and a 10 minute walk away.
Trains leave from Swansea at 12:54, 13:29, 13:55 and 14:29 arriving at Birmingham New Street 3 hours later.
The only train after the game is the 22:12 getting in at 02:17 (with an hour wait at Bristol Parkway).
For the Travelling Jacks making the trip – Be Loud, Be Proud and Be Positive!
This Travelling Jacks guide was kindly provided by Swans fan Steve Griffiths.