Stoke City moved to this stadium in 1997 from their old Victoria Ground. It is a modern 28,000 stadium, similar to The Riverside stadium and Pride Park but without 3 of the corners filled in. I first visited here in a pre-season friendly in August 2003 to watch Man Utd play there in what proved to be the farewell appearance for Fabian Barthez in a United shirt. Stoke were promoted to the Premier League for the 2008-09 Season and have remained there ever since

For a modern stadium, it is one of the noisier ones, even without most of the corners being filled in. I went to stoke's old Victoria Ground when Man Utd played there in the League Cup in 1993 and I remember it being a great atmosphere there that night.

The stadium is easy to find, off the M6 and onto the A500 and also right off the A50 too. There is parking around the stadium and also if you don't mind a 15-20 minute walk, there are various industrial sites with pay car parking within a mile of the ground. The train station is about 2 miles away, so a taxi or bus is the best option for that, otherwise you're looking at a 25-30 minute walk.