Birmingham City on 13 January 2024
Distance from the Liberty Stadium: 148 miles ~ 2 hours 55 minutes.
Address: St Andrews Trillion Trophy Ground, Birmingham. B9 4RL
Telephone: 0121 772 0101
Web Site: www.bcfc.com
What’s St Andrews Like?
Up to 3,000 away fans are in the Gil Merick Stand’s lower tier; facilities and the view from here are pretty good. A variety of pies are sold along with pasties, burgers and hot dogs, John Smiths, Fosters, Bulmers and wine.
Keep your club colours covered around the ground or in the city centre as it can be dodgy.
For a light-hearted take on a visit to St. Andrew’s, have a read of this blog post from the Swans League Cup visit there back in 2013 – when the Jacks were the reigning Capital One Cup holders.
Visiting Birmingham
Birmingham is the second largest UK city, and has a multitude of eating and drinking places to suit everyone.
Ethnic food is highly popular and every region of Asia is represented in its restaurants. Birmingham has loads of museums, art galleries and theatres.
There are many hotels near the stadium if you fancy making an overnight stay of it and enjoying all Birmingham has to offer.
Hotels include The Royal George Hotel (B9 4PN) 1.1 miles away, Old Crown Hotel (B12 0LD) 1 mile away, Rowton Hotel (B12 0PJ) 1.3 miles away, Clayton Hotel (B5 5JT), 1.9 miles away and Prime Lodge (B7 4PT) 1.8 miles away.
Cadbury World (B30 2LU) is the place for chocoholics. You can save 5% of the entry cost by booking on line at www.cadburyworld.co.uk.
Birmingham has it all when it comes to shopping! From malls to shopping centres to independent shops. The Bullring (B5 4BU) is probably the best known and has over 160 shops on one site along with plenty of places to eat or drink.
Birmingham has a National Sea Life Centre (B1 2HL) is open 10-6. Sea Life tickets bought on-line start at £12.75 and family tickets provide big savings.
About 14 miles from St Andrews is Drayton Manor Theme Park (B78 3SA). It’s a good day out, really good value and queues not as bad as Alton Towers or Thorpe Park.
You save a huge amount booking on line and print your tickets plan your day at www.draytonmanor.co.uk. It has its own hotel and many places to stay close by.
Eating and Drinking in Birmingham
Most of the pubs near the ground should be avoided. A friendly, small pub is ‘The Cricketers Arms’ (B9 5AX) 1.1 miles away, the pub is used by home and away fans but you should be OK there.
Otherwise it’s best to drink in the city centre and get a taxi to the ground (about £10). If you are walking to the ground from the city centre, there’s ‘The Anchor’ (B5 6ET) 1.2 miles away, with a range of real ales; it’s behind Digbeth coach station.
The ‘Old Crown’ (B12 0LD) is on the way and 0.9 miles from the ground. It’s Birmingham’s oldest building, dating back to 1368 and has a large menu and rooms available for an overnight stopover.
If you like real ales ‘The Wellington’ (B2 5SN) serves 17 of them and is 1.7 miles from the ground. It doesn’t serve food, but you can bring your own takeaway and they provide plates, cutlery and condiments, local takeaways deliver to the pub.
Close by is a Wetherspoons ‘Briar Rose’ (B2 5RE) 1.6 miles from the stadium. There’s a taxi rank nearby to get to the ground.
Parking near St Andrews
There’s a small car park outside the away end, but spaces are limited. A private car park is on Coventry Road, but the road is closed until 45 minutes after the game.
You can also choose from a selection of private car parking spaces near St. Andrews – including on-street parking, off-street car parks and 71 reservable spaces.
If you arrive two hours before kick-off to the left hand side of the ring road, behind the BP garage. Local schools and businesses also offer parking for around £5.
Trains to Birmingham
The nearest station is Bordesley, 0.8 miles from the ground, served by trains from Snow Hill and Moor Street.
If you arrive at New Street Station, walk to Moor Street (10 minutes) or take a taxi (about £9) or it’s a 25 minute walk to the ground.
Bus number 60 bus from the city centre goes to the ground. It leaves stop MS4, across the road from Moor Street Station going every 10 minutes taking 15 minutes. The number 60 also calls at Birmingham Coach Station.
It is a 3 hour 20 minute train journey to New Street from Swansea High Street.
There are no direct trains back to Swansea after the game, so you’ll need an overnight stay or a lift home from a fellow Jack!
Don’t forget if you’re one of the Travelling Jacks – Be Loud, Be Proud and Be Positive!