Nottingham Sports & Outdoors

If you aren't from a Commonwealth country chances are you won't know anything about cricket! To tell you the truth lots of English people don't have a clue either...me included!!
Well a summer visit to Nottingham gives you a chance to watch a quintessentially English game at Trent Bridge.
It can last all day ...so wear suncream, or take an umbrella, bring a picnic, (and maybe a book)!

I went here some time ago (2001) for a friends Birthday and we had a fantastic time, I think I just about broke even. And we discovered that the bigger the dog the more likely it was to win the race, big emphasis on the more, not all the time.
There was a bar serving £1.50 pints, chips and gravy and that kind of food.
We made a few bets, mostly each way, when I was there you could put a minimum bet of £1 on so being poor students of course we did so.
At first, if you've never being to a place like that, it can seem a little daunting, but just talk to someone who look like they know what they're doing! It's very friendly atmosphere, everyone shares in with eachothers triumphs and tribulations.
Admission on the current website is £5 per adult. And race days are-
Monday - 18.00 - 23.00
Friday - 18.00 - 23.00
Saturday - 18.00 - 23.00
Tuesdays (special children free morning)
There is free parking or you could take bus numbers 44 and 45.

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Meadow Lane is the home of the oldest professional football club in the world: Notts County. Nowadays, Notts County are a lower league side, so it is easy to buy tickets on matchdays and the atmosphere is always very safe and friendly.

The stadium's capacity is 20,300. Tickets for adults for a Notts County league game cost £16.

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The City Ground is the home of Nottingham Forest Football Club, who were European Champions twice. I have seen some very good games here, including Forest's last European run, when they beat Auxerre and Lyon before losing spectacularly to a Jurgen Klinsmann inspired Bayern Munich side. This was also one of the stadiums which hosted the 1996 European Championships, and I saw Turkey play Croatia here, when there were 10,000 Turkish fans inside the stadium. If you are interested in the history of European football, the City Ground has seen a lot of it!

The stadium's capacity is 30,602. Adult tickets for a Nottingham Forest league game on matchdays cost £22-26. There is a £2 discount if you buy your ticket in advance.

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The National Ice Centre is one of the top ice stadiums in the country. It cost £43 million to build and houses two ice rinks, one of which transforms into Nottingham Arena for concerts. Britain's oldest ice hockey team, the Nottingham Panthers play here, with seats for 7,500 spectators. It is also one of the top venues for ice skating.

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Trent Bridge is the third oldest international cricket ground in the world. The first test match played here was in 1899 when England played Australia.

I've watched England play Australia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka here and also been to Nottinghamshire county games. It's a great place to watch cricket.

The opening of the Fox Road Stand in 2002, increased the ground's capacity to 15,350. The William Clarke Stand is where the "Barmy Army" and assorted drunks in fancy dress hang out. If you like your cricket noisy and rowdy, this is the place for you. Personally, I prefer the Radcliffe Road stand, where you can get a great view of the game form behind the wicket and look down at the Barmy Army, without getting showered with beer and being forced to take part in countless Mexican waves. If you have loads of money, like wearing a jacket and tie to cricket and getting really close to the players, then the Members' Pavilion is the place.

Nottingham Forest are often referred to as simply 'Forest', the title the club carries on its badge. They were founded in 1865 shortly after their neighbours Notts County, which is oldest club in the football league. Nottingham Forest are often referred to as the 'Garibaldi Reds', named after the italian freedom fighter Giuseppe_Garibaldi who fought in red shirts and was immensively popular in Britain at the time.

Nicknamed The Magpies, the club is one of two professional football clubs in Nottingham, the other being their old enemies Nottingham Forest. The Magpies play their home games at the Meadow Lane stadium and play in a black and white striped kit, which was the inspiration for Juventus's strip of the same design.

Though they have not won a great deal of major silverware in their history, County are considered to be one of the most famous 'little' clubs in English football.