Locals share what it's like living next to Bristol Rovers' Memorial Stadium - "I never go out on a match day"
We visited the area near Bristol Rovers’ Memorial Stadium to find out what it’s like, especially during match days.
A few years ago, I live in a quiet cul-de-sac next to Memorial Stadium as a student and can remember the area became very crowded during matchdays as well as very noisy with music and the cheering.
I visited the streets next to Memorial Stadium to find out from locals if much had changed since I moved out.
Myla, who lives near the stadium, commented: “On match days it does get quite noisy and that is a little bit annoying sometimes, but I don’t mind it. It’s not too bad.”
Lynn, who live near the area, added: “On match days, this street just gets quite busy. There’s normally policemen on horses, and you can just hear them from my room.
“It doesn’t really bother me, I don’t really care. It’s only a bit annoying when the bus takes a while to get up and down this strip and down Gloucester Road.”
Jacqueline, who works for a mental health provider in the area, said: “I think the only experience I have is via one of our service users who wouldn’t leave the house on matchdays because he was just overwhelmed by the amount of people, the traffic and the noise.”
Student Gus, who lives in the area, commented: “On match days especially, I do notice it can get a little unruly, especially back in August when there those protests and riots given on the day there was a Bristol Rovers game and a Bristol City game as well.
“Around this area I remember it getting fairly rowdy, but other than that what I’ve mainly noticed is just relatively good conduct. It gets a little loud, but no one really seems to be malicious at all, which is quite good and I guess it gives a nice sense of community around here.”
Eddie, who lives near Memorial Stadium, said: “We get all sorts of problems. The Police have to come round, police horses, all that sort of thing, keeping order whenever there’s a match.
“So we don’t like it very much and we can never park on match days. So we can’t go out in the vehicles because my wife’s disabled. When we come back I can’t park, so I never go out on a match day.”
Check out the video above to learn from local residents what it’s like living in the shadow of Memorial Stadium.