Whaddon Road: Cheltenham Town
Whaddon Road has been the home of Cheltenham Town Football Club since 1932, though sponsorship means it is now officially known as the very cool sounding Johnny-Rocks Stadium. The ground was also the temporary home of Gloucester City Association Football Club from 2010 until 2017, when they moved to the Jubilee Stadium in Evesham.
Whaddon Road has a capacity of 7066, although the record attendance is actually 8326 and was recorded after a game versus Reading in the FA Cup in 1956.
Stats
| Whaddon Road Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Opened | 1927 |
| Capacity | 7,066 |
| Average Attendance | 3,203 |
| Record Attendance | 8,326 (Cheltenham v Reading (1956)) |
| Pitch Size | 101 x 65 (6565) |
| Former Name | Whaddon Road, Victory Sports Ground, Abbey Business Stadium |
| Owner | Cheltenham Town |
| Sponsor | LCI Rail |
| Clubs Hosted | Cheltenham Town, Gloucester City |
| Cheltenham Town Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1887 |
| Nickname | The Robins |
| Club Mascot | Whaddney the Robin |
| Rivals | Gloucester City |
| Previous Stadiums | Agg-Gardner's Recreation Ground, Carter's Field |
| Kit | Red & White (Home) / Blue (Away) / White with Detailing (Third) |
| Training Ground | Cheltenham Town F.C. Training Ground |
| Shirt Sponsor | Mira Showers |
| Team Owner | CTFC Investments Ltd & The Robins Trust |
| Record Goalscorer | Dave Lewis (200) |
| Record Appearances | Roger Thorndale (702) |
Whaddon Road Photos
https://www.football-stadiums.co.uk/grounds/england/whaddon-road/#sigProId443416f409
Whaddon Road Seating Plan & Where to Sit
The Hazelwoods Stand opened in 2005 and is behind the goal at the Whaddon Road end of the stadium. It’s also where the away fans tend to be housed during matches. The Colin Farmer Stand, known to most simply as The Wymans Road but changed to honour the club legend Colin Farmer, runs along the side of the pitch and is where the more vocal fans tend to sit. The Speedy Skips Stand is behind the opposite goal to The Hazelwoods Stand and is a terraced area of the stadium. Finally, The Autovillage Stand has a terraced area at the front and a seated section at the back. This is the main part of the ground as it contains the dressing rooms and so on as well as a family section. Not all of the ground is open for Gloucester City games as the average attendance is only about 450.
Cheltenham Town Ticket Prices
Ticket prices for Cheltenham games differ depending on where in the ground you want to go and how old you are. The cheapest tickets are always in the terraces and the most expensive are for either The Colin Farmer Stand or The Hazelwoods Stand. Junior Robins get in for free but aren’t allowed in The Hazelwoods Stand. Standard prices are shown below:
- Adults: £18.00 - £26.00
- Concessions: £13.00 - £18.00
Be aware that buying on the day will incur a £2 surcharge per ticket.
How To Get Cheltenham Town Tickets
Cheltenham fans can pick tickets up from the ticket office, over the phone or online. There is a £2.00 processing fee when booking online.
Where to Buy
Getting To Whaddon Road
Cheltenham isn’t too far from London or parts of the North, so it’s reasonably accessibly as long as you aren’t heading there from the Hebrides. Here are some of the usual routes you’ll want to consider:
Train - Cheltenham Spa Railway Station is about two and a half miles from the ground, so it will take you about forty minutes to walk it. The journey takes about two and a half hours from London Paddington.
Bus - The A bus runs from the town centre to the ground.
Car - From the North take the M5 and leave at Junction 10 getting onto the A4019. Follow the signs from there. From the South you’ll leave the M5 at Junction 11 then get onto the A40. Keep following it until you see the B4075 and follow the signs from there. From London or Oxford Take the A40 and the B4075 and do as from the South.
By Air - Birmingham International Airport is about an hour away from Cheltenham by car.
Taxi - Getting a taxi from Cheltenham Spa Railway Station to Whaddon Road will cost about £8.50 and shouldn’t take much longer than ten minutes.
Parking Near Whaddon Road
There is very limited parking at the ground itself and on-street parking is also tricky. Your best bet might be a public car park in Cheltenham centre and a walk out to the ground.
Useful Resources
Whaddon Road Hotels
Cheltenham is home to one of the country’s most famous racecourses, so the town is used to welcoming plenty of strangers on a regular basis. Here are some of the choicest hotels around:
London Inn Cheltenham - £65+
Holiday Inn Express Cheltenham - £75+
Bell Hotel Cheltenham - £85+
Pubs & Bars Near Whaddon Road
Cheltenham is an interesting place to go for a drink, with plenty of colourful locals more than happy to tell you about their past. Here are some of our favourite pre-match pint destinations:
The Frog & Fiddle
Tailors Eating House
The Brown Jug
Facilities
With a couple of the stands being built reasonably recently the facilities aren’t bad. You can buy food, drink and other things before the game and the views of the action are generally quite good.
Prices
- Programme: 3.00
- Pie: 3.20
- Cup of tea: 2.00
Hospitality
Cheltenham Town offer a match day hospitality experience that includes a pre-match two-course meal by an award winning chef, seats directly outside your private box, and half time refreshments. Alternatively you can dine in the Steve Roberts Sponsorship Suite which comes with a lot of the same, plus a match day host to look after you.
Private Hire
Parts of Whaddon Road Stadium are available for private hire, with numerous function rooms and suites useable for private parties, conferences, corporate activities and more. If you’ve got an event to put on in Cheltenham then this will be one of your first ports of call.
Stadium Tours & Museum
There is no official tour of the stadium at the time of writing, however Cheltenham Town do occasionally run youth team days that include a tour as well as the chance for the team to train on the pitch.
About Cheltenham Town
Though the club as it is known now was formed in 1887, the town of Cheltenham actually has a rich history of football prior to that. In fact, the first ever use of three match officials was recorded in Cheltenham in 1849. The Robins spent the first thirty years of their existence mainly playing local football, with well-known cricketers also running out for the team. Cheltenham first gained promotion to the Football League in 1999.
Arguably the most successful manager in the Robins’ history was Steve Cotteril, the manager that took them up until the Football League just before the start of the new millennium. In 2002 he departed to join Stoke City and was replaced by the first-team coach, Graham Allner, who was sacked by January of 2003. The club won the FA Trophy under Cotteril in 1998 and, as the treatment of Allner showed, the club have struggled to replace the Englishman ever since.
Whaddon Road History
Whaddon Road was built on the site of The Berkeley Hunt kennels by the Cheltenham Original Brewery in 1927. Cheltenham Town moved in there in 1932 but it didn’t actually host senior football until 1999. The club celebrated their 70th anniversary at the ground by gaining promotion to the Football League for the first time.
As well as Cheltenham Town and, up until 2017, Gloucester City games, Whaddon Road has also hosted a couple of international matches over the years. In 1939 the England Amateur side beat their Welsh equivalents by five goals to two in the stadium. In 1993 the England Semi-Pro side won 2-1 against the Wales Semi-Pro side there. In 2011 the England Under-16 side completed the international hat-trick by winning 4-0 against Wales’ Under-16 lads. Sadly it wasn’t all wins, with the England Under-17s losing 2-1 to Italy in 2005.
Future Developments
There are no major developments planned for the ground in the foreseeable future, although the waste land behind the ground would be an ideal spot for an academy or training ground should they ever have the money to build one.
