Philip Green, 9th March, 2019 - QPR v Stoke City

Travel: Having looked at the advice on these pages, I decided to catch a train into London and then jumped on the tube to Shepherd's Bush Market. This was a short walk from the ground and the floodlights were already on when I arrived in the area. Without them, however, the ground would be pretty difficult to spot as it is almost totally enclosed by housing.

Refreshments: I took a leisurely stroll along the Uxbridge Road towards the ground. There's a huge array of eateries from across the world along the 10-minute stretch to the ground, from chains such as Nando's to a Lebanese pastry place. As I wanted to have some time soaking up the atmosphere outside the ground, I didn't get anything to eat here, which turned out to be a big mistake. The home fans were all very friendly, and both sets of supporters mingled with each other in the streets around the stadium. There was a surprisingly heavy police presence - perhaps this was due to the disgraceful behaviour by some Potters "fans" in the match against Port Vale earlier in the season. But it was all very good-natured and the police seemed to spend most of their time dealing with angry local motorists caught in the road closures around the ground. As I said above, Loftus Road is almost completely surrounded by houses, and the only stand fully visible from the surrounding roads is the Main Stand on South Africa Road. Going around the perimeter of the ground was therefore a bit of a disappointment, as access to the other three sides was either through a gap in the houses or from the end of the Main Stand. A quick tip for away fans - make sure you know where you're heading when you get to the stadium. Lower tier blocks are accessed via South Africa Road, whilst fans on the upper tier will need to enter via Ellerslie Road. There's no shortcut between the two. Away coaches will drop fans nearer the Main Stand, so you'll need to allow an extra five minutes to get round to the other end of the away end if you are on the upper tier.

Impressions: Although the Main Stand at Loftus Road is quite impressive, I'd forgotten just how small it was. The corners are, however, completely filled in unlike most similar stadia, which makes for a good atmosphere. The stands are all very close to the pitch, which poses difficulties for subs warming up (and means that there's virtually no run-up for corners or throws). Away fans have all the School End stand to themselves and it sounded like there were plenty of Stokies in the upper tier. Those of us in the lower tier were ticketed into two small blocks, although there was no attempt to constrain us there by the few stewards in the stand. As a result, we spread all across the away end. I've not been to a game for years when there had been so many empty seats amongst the travelling supporters!

Atmosphere: I had hoped to have a bite to eat before the game in the ground, but the range of options (a chicken or beef pie, or a sausage roll) was truly woeful and very pricey in any case. So I settled for a coffee rather than having a beer and rued walking past all that lovely food on the Uxbridge Road. Stoke started off very brightly and looked the best I'd seen them all season. At least that was the case until the eighth minute when Sam Clucas had a fit of pure madness and stamped on a QPR player right in front of the referee. Stoke have had problems enough scoring goals this season, so when we lost one of our forwards with more than 80 minutes to play, it was only the desperately poor performance by QPR which kept us in the game. Having said that, it was one of the more spirited performances of the season and a draw was probably a fair result. The facilities in the Lower Tier were pretty basic, but ample for the few fans who were in there. I'm not sure I'd be quite so complimentary if the match was a sell-out! The stewards were very amiable before, during and after the game, again made easier by the lack of fans in the tier.

Exit: I retraced my steps to Shepherd's Bush Market station and was back on a tube train by 5.15. Some of the QPR fans in front of me were complaining how busy the station was - I thought it was remarkably quiet.

Enjoy: Despite the game being spoilt by the early sending off - entirely justified, I might add - I still enjoyed my return trip to Loftus Road. It's a ground with some character and I hope that I get to go there again before the club's inevitable move to a soulless stadium in the middle of nowhere.