Written by Max
Ground #22
New York Stadium – Rotherham United FC
Saturday 26th September 2021 – EFL League 1
Rotherham United 1-1 Crewe Alexandra
Attendance: 8,747
Entry: £23
Rotherham United have played at the New York Stadium since 2012 and it has a capacity of just over 12,000. ‘The Millers’ have spent the last 9 years since moving to the ground yoyoing between The Championship and League 1 and were unlucky to go down last season on the final day. They will be hoping to return to the second tier once more at the end of this season.
Although not quite as majestic as the name suggests, it’s a fantastic ground for a team the size of Rotherham and it was great to see it pretty full for today’s game.
Before moving into their new modern ground, the Millers played for over 80 years at their previous home, Millmoor. This was a traditional lower league ground with a capacity of around 8,000 and amazingly, 13 years after it’s closure still stands in good condition today. It is just a 5 minute walk from the current ground and the floodlights can be seen from the new ground, so after the game we walked over to have a look! It was strange to see just how well kept the ground still is, with goal posts still in place and the half built mainstand that remains unfinished, as it was when Rotherham last played there!
Onto today’s match though, and the visitors were looking for some much needed points having struggled early on in the season so far. The hosts, who are hovering around the play off places started the game the brighter but both sides struggled to get any meaningful chances on goal. The 0-0 scoreline at half time summed up a poor half from both sides with Crewe struggling to string more than 2 passes together and Rotherham failing to find any quality in the final third with numerous long balls going straight out for goal kicks.
Into the second half we went, and it was more of the same from Crewe. Really flat with little to shout about and just as the home faithful were beginning to get restless from their own lack of quality, a mistake at the back from Donavon Daniels gifted an opener for The Millers. Rotherham were completely in control and firing shots off at Will! Although not many of them were troubling Jaaskelainen in the Crewe net.
Rotherham would be made to rue these missed chances as in the 90th minute, 37 year old Chris Porter was pulled down in the box in what felt like the first time Crewe had made it that far forward all game! The ref pointed to the spot and the veteran striker sent the keeper the wrong way for his first goal of the season! You’ll struggle to see a more undeserved point but of course we will take it! You have to love football!
Now to rate our day at Rotherham’s New York Stadium:
Location: 8/10
The New York Stadium is located just an 8 minute walk from Rotherham station and just 5 minutes away from the Town Centre. This meant an easy journey for us on the train and plenty of pubs nearby to choose from before and after the game.
Kit: 7/10
This years Rotherham kit is a smart design with a red base and white vertical pinstripes. The sleeves and collar are also white along with the sponsor which fits into the kit nicely, along with white shorts and red socks.
This years shirt is obviously a hit with the locals too, with many of the 8,000 plus in attendance seen sporting the new shirt.
Facilities: 7/10
The concourse, as you’d expect from a new ground, is very clean and a good size. There was plenty space to move around and the ladies at the food counter served everyone quickly and efficiently. The concourse was painted in dark grey with areas in club colours of bright red.
Look: 8/10
The New York Stadium is a fantastic looking modern ground with all 4 sides being a similar size and all 4 corners filled in. It’s very unique to see a ground set out like this with only 12,000 capacity and it is great to see such a clean design. It is also good to see a side in the lower leagues with a ground they can get close to filling the majority of the time. The seats, in the away end were spread out well with plenty of leg room and the stairs were steep with each row being much higher than the one below meaning a great view could be had from everywhere.
The floodlights were a very unique design on one side with 2 of them coming out of the roof of the stand and leaning over the pitch. We also love to see goalnets in the club colours and the red and white ones here were very inkeeping with the ground as a whole. The ground is certainly something The Millers should be proud of!
Food and Drink: 7/10
Within the ground there was a decent choice of food and drink available ranging from, pies burger and hot dogs to beer, wine and spirits! We went for a Chicken Balti Pukka Pie and a pint of Somersby Cider each. The pie was Hot and tasty and the cider nice and refreshing.
The only real downside was the lack of dark fruits but luckily Emma had got her fix earlier in one of the nearby bars!
TOTAL SCORE 37/50
The New York Stadium is an impressive home for a side the size of Rotherham and a ground that many clubs, including Crewe, will look at with envy. Although the match wasn’t the most exciting for 89 and a half minutes, a last minute equaliser on an away day is why you travel all over the country following your team!
A point I have to make is how good it was to see the Town centre full of fans in Rotherham shirts pre match and the ground being as full as it was. With so many bigger teams in close proximity it is wonderful to see so many supporting their local side! The ground is certainly worthy of gracing the Championship, so best of luck to The Millers for the rest of the season as they aim to return there once again!
If you’d like to see where this puts The New York Stadium on our Leaderboard click here: THE 92
And if you would like to see our Non League Leaderboard click here: NON LEAGUE
Emma’s Ground Guide 