The Proact Stadium

Sunday 10 October 2010

Chesterfield 2-1 Southend United

Aerial shot of the Proact Stadium (Google Maps)

Ratings

Overall Ground Quality : 7/10

Ease of getting there : 9/10

Atmosphere : 8/10

Programme : 8/10

View of Action : 7/10

Quality of the game : 7/10

The "football" feeling : 5/10

Chances of coming here for a random game : 7/10

Legroom : 10/10

Surrounding area : 6/10

Overall : 74/100

Programme - £3.00

The North Stand

Reception

Old and New

The West Stand

The South Stand

Chesterfield v Southend United

The iconic Southend United Trust Coach

The East Stand

The West and North Stand

The East Stand

The North Stand

The West Stand

Chesterfield 2-1 Southend United

Only a few months before our visit to the brand new Proact Stadium, we visited the dated Saltergate just before it was demolished. Saltergate was probably, at the time, one of the worst grounds in the country and a move away from their historic home was inevitable. The move to the new Proact Stadium was to be a catalyst for Chesterfield in a League 2 promotion push during the 2010/11 season. We decided on this fixture, Chesterfield verses Southend United, during pre-season when the fixtures came out as it was one of very few early opportunities to visit due to Leicester City playing at home the same time as Chesterfield.

With the fixture chosen, we set off at 12:30pm making our fairly short journey up the M1 and got into Chesterfield at 1:20pm. Upon our arrival, we chose to have a walk into the town and have a look and the unusual crooked spire which can also be seen on the new modernised Chesterfield FC logo. After our short venture into the town of Chesterfield, we drove towards the Proact Stadium and parked up at a shop Adrian visits as a sales rep. The shop was only around the corner from the stadium. We therefore parked up, quickly said hello to the shop owner, and then walked the short distance towards the Proact. The exterior of the Proact Stadium is rather nice and not like your usual bog standard new concrete block stadiums. With the beautiful dry stone appeared wall circling the stadium, it really shows a mixture of old and new. We took a few pictures of the outside the ground and whilst taking our usual walk around the stadium, we came across the iconic Southend United Trust coach which we have seen many times on our travels on the motorway.

The Proact Stadium is located on the site of the former Dema Glassworks. This was a prime location chosen by the club back in 2004. Planning permission was granted eight years later and the build started in 2009. It has a capacity of approximately 10,500 which is only slightly bigger than their former home, but with a large surrounding area, extending the stadium would be possible if required. Costing £13million to build, the stadium was designed by Sheffield-based architects Ward McHugh Associates.

A decent away performance by Southend United went unrewarded with a last minute winner to give Chesterfield all 3 points in a 2-1 home victory. Danny Whitaker opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the first half. The Shrimpers got themselves level when Anthony Grant found the back of the net. But it was Scott Boden's injury-time goal that gave Chesterfield victory over Southend United and moved them to within a point of League Two leaders Port Vale.

Following the game we left the ground and we were back at the car in no time. Our journey back was fairly straight forward and we were home by 6 o’clock.

Adrian and I really enjoyed our trip to Chesterfield’s new home. It is a lot better than the old crumbling Saltergate. The Proact Stadium could even be League 1 venue next season.