I attended the John Smith's Stadium for Manchester City's 0-0 draw with Huddersfield in the FA Cup 5th round, it has a record-breaking capacity of 24,139 on my visit, out of a full capacity of 25,000 which as I recall included over 3,000 City fans, with it just being a short trip down the M62 or half an hour on the train from Manchester. The stadium for sponsorship reasons is called the John Smith's Stadium, but when built in 1994 it was known as the Kirklees stadium, a reference to the stadium being in the Kirklees Council area, although owned by Huddersfield Town, Huddersfield Giants in a 40:40 share, with Kirklees Council owning 20%. The stadium is quite small and in a way it feels new, such as the cool arch shaped roof, but in other ways it feels so old, such as going into the ground from the outside and all the concourses being outside, which even older stadiums such as Anfield don't have, instead there are more inside concourses, which obviously makes the ground seem a little colder and it certainly doesn't make you feel like getting chips, pies and co when it is raining etc. The atmosphere at the stadium was average, there wasn't much to shout about from both sides, there were only 3 shots on target for Huddersfield and 5 for Manchester City with no goals from either side. The stewards around the stadium seemed helpful enough, although I was confused and annoyed to have the lid taken off my bottle which I frankly couldn't understand, they didn't search my bag but they found it more important to take the lid of my Iced tea bottle and even come over me and take it off me myself, hence I felt like a child in a school having their phone taken off them, annoyed, confused and untrusted. The stadium seats seemed quite old, and the wheelchair bays were unmarked and it did feel quite squashed at times, most areas of the stadium felt old, which is frustrating considering this stadium is from 1994, albeit it isn't the most modern and new of stadiums, there are much older ones that do a better job, as much as it pains me to say it, for some facilities Anfield, Old Trafford seem to do it better. There were often people standing and getting in the way, which was difficult and although the stewards did move them, when fans were coming in for the second half it did really obstruct the view of the goal, which was hard to see at most times anyway due to the location of my seat and the overall setup of the stadium The view is also quite poor with no raised platforms, which even Hull manage to do. Huddersfield as a Championship team, can't be expected to compete with the Premier League teams, but with the club standing third in the Championship, they still are fighting for promotion and as one of the Championships larger teams this year, they should be doing better but still this is cushioned by the fact they haven't been in the topflight since around the 1970's (Correct me if I'm wrong) The food situation here is alright, the chips were a huge portion, albeit I was angry that they didn't have any pepper which was also confusing and frustrating that they would run out with pepper. The stadium is also quite unusual, on one side it feels like you're in a hill, a forest and on another side, you can see houses and it feels like a town. Overall, this stadium just doesn't impress me and it is a good stadium for a lower division side, which Huddersfield were when it was built, but now with the features mentioned including the open corners, this just isn't a stadium suited to a Premier League team elect?, or even a high flying Championship team, so sadly deserves a single one star. read more

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If an Ironsmith uses Iron and a Wordsmith uses Words, does a Johnsmith use Johns? But Johns use Call Girls, right? So then I don't get it. This stadium used to be known as the Galpharm Stadium, and I'd love to visit a Galpharm because there'd be a lot of Gals produced there obvs. First-Hand Experience: More info about my personal experience at this stadium - I was very impressed when the Galpharm first opened, and used to drive by on the M62 and be amazed. Being inside it - and I've only seen one live match here, in 2011 - was absolutely everything I always thought it would be. What a crowd, what a beautiful facility, and what a credit to the city and the team. It might even be the highlight of the whole city of Huddersfield. Definitely it took them to the next level and while they haven't been in the Prem yet, when they get there, the JSS means they'll be ready for it. I was lucky to go on a day when the stadium was nearly full. I have heard it is usually empty. I am hoping when they get to the Prem someday, it will be packed every single game. Definitely one of my fave non-Prem stadiums in the UK. I've been to most UK & US stadiums, due to lifelong obsessions with travel, sport & especially footy (soccer to Americans). Born & raised in England, I followed Oxford United (hometown team) to stadia all over the country at away games, and later Liverpool (fave team) around. Every stadium review - like all my reviews - are from first-hand personal experience, usually from several visits. In 2011, I was on music tour in the UK, and visited most stadiums for fun in my spare time. As recently as Fall 2014, when I was "stuck" in UK for 3 months, I went to hundreds yet again while travelling. I have pictures of me at most, which I'll post later. Also, when back in UK I'll take more pix, and add more stadia! *** return to regular review *** It was originally the Alfred McAlpine Stadium, opened in 94 and capacity 24,500. It's one of the most distinctive stadiums in the world because of the steep arched roof on all sides of the ground. It's up in the hills, and right by the M62 motorway. Some top musicians have performed here including Bryan Adams, The Beautiful South, Blue, Bon Jovi, The Eagles, Elton John and R.E.M. Um.. Blue? It's now bright blue and looks absolutely gorgeous so it scores 5. read more

A nice new stadium, recently renamed the Galpharm Stadium it is shared with Huddersfield FC soccer club. As Huddersfield is the birthplace of Rugby Leage, with the breakaway from union taking place in the nearby George Hotel read more

John Smith's Stadium - Stadiums & Arenas Near Me - Huddersfield, XWY

This stadium is fairly decent for what is now a League one football side. Like most lower league stadiums the corners are open, which means any atmosphere can quickly get lost. The standard of football here isnt great, which probably translates to the crowd which can often be quiet. As I usually am visiting to watch live football and not as a fan, I've often resorted to sitting in the away end just to feel a little more active and in with fans who sing. If it rains on a matchday you're most likely to get soaked unless you're sat well back under the covers. When there are concerts playing here you can quite easily sit outside and be able to hear as well as if you were inside. Its not the best example of a football stadium in the UK, but it is better than most in its league at the moment, and if you dont mind sub par football it may be worth a visit. read more

Been here a few times. Easy to travel to and not too far away from train station, also depending on which bus you catch not far away from bus stops. Nice big stadium but shame it doesn't get very full. Always very clean inside and outside around the stadium. Nice shop on the outside too with a good mixture of rugby league and football items. read more

A fairly new stadium near the Odeon Cinema. Home to Huddersfield Town and Huddersfield League with 24,500 seats read more

i had a tour of this ground when i was in hudders it was a nice ground but not what i expected.the food that they layed on was propa nice though they actually cared about us lol and were very respectful and polite to us read more