Sheffield Wednesday Review Hospitality & Sport Ticket

Sportz Guru visited one of the most renowned football clubs in English history, amongst others made well known to the public due to the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 that struck this club. Situated in a former labour intensive city, this club brings a profound history as well as a thrilling vibe. Sheffield Wednesday Review Sport Hospitality Ticket.

Overall: 7,2
Atmosphere & Entertainment: 7,0
F&B: 7,0
Seating & Facilities: 7,5
Price: 7,0

Sport: Football
League: Barclays Premier League

Country: United Kingdom
State: Yorkshire
City: Sheffield

Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England has been the home ground of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. since opening in 1899. It is a 39,732 capacity all-seater stadium, making it the largest club ground in England outside of the Premier League. It is located in the Sheffield suburb of Owlerton and takes its name from the parliamentary constituency in which it lies.

On 15 April 1989, the ground was the scene of the Hillsborough disaster in which 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death at an FA Cup semi-final. This led to a series of safety improvements at the ground and other stadia around the country, including the requirement for top clubs to have all-seater stadia and the withdrawal of perimeter fencing.

Although the ground has received little investment since Euro 1996, it is still regarded as “a beautiful ground oozing character.”. It has two large two-tiered stands and two large single-tiered stands, all of them covered. All four stands are of a similar capacity with the South Stand being the largest and the West stand (used for away fans) the smallest. Only one corner of the ground is filled, between the West and North Stands. This area, known as the North West corner, is uncovered and is only used for visiting supporters when the West Stand’s upper and lower tiers are full. On the other corner of the West Stand is an electronic scoreboard.

Plans by the club to renovate the stadium and expand capacity to 44,825 have been approved by Sheffield City Council with the aim of hosting World Cup matches. The stadium previously played host to World Cup and European Championship football in 1966 and 1996 respectively.

Hospitality Package: Dooleys Restaurant

Admission to Dooleys Restaurant (pre- and post-match)
Guided stadium tour including changing room
3-course a la carte lunch or dinner at a private table
Executive seating on the halfway line
Half-time and full-time refreshments
Dedicated waiting staff and hostesses
Private pay bar facility
One allocated parking place per 2 tickets
Complimentary matchday program
Official teamsheet

Entrance for ticket holders in the possession of a hospitality ticket / package is done via the main reception entrance located in the South Stand. The stand houses the main reception, media and hospitality boxes, Press box, Television gantry, as well as the ground’s family enclosure, five modern refreshment kiosks and four bars. It also features concourse television sets relaying live coverage of the match as well as highlights at half-time. The team changing room and dug-outs are also situated here.

A nice touch is that you have to cross the river Don via a bridge in order to get to the main reception area. Here also the allocated hospitality tickets can be collected from 12PM onwards (for matches with kick-off at 3PM).

Almost in front of the main entrance is the Hillsborough memorial monument, which to date still has a huge presence commemorating the tragic deaths that took place in the Hillsborough disaster.

A champagne cocktail is presented before the dinner starts. If you fancy something else, please order something from the private pay bar located in Dooleys Restaurant. What stands out is their extensive wine list (6,7 wines per category red and white to choose from). This is something we did not experience yet in a sports hospitality package.

The package includes a three course a la carte pre-match meal, with two selections per starter, main and dessert. Food was of good quality and the pre-requested vegetarian dining options for one of our guests was well catered for. Improvements in service could be made in the waiting staff who served the food, this could however have to do with their relative young ages.

During half-time tea and coffee was provided and upon entering Dooleys. Full-time refreshments included a good variety of sandwiches. The private pay bar service ends approximately 2 hours after the final whistle.

Dooleys is the premier hospitality lounge/restaurant where also the a la cate dinner or lunch is served. A nice touch at Dooleys is that you are escorted to your own private table where your name is placed on a small Sheffield Wednesday shirt. In addition to this, it also is worthwhile to mention that a nice champagne cocktail is presented when entering Dooleys. This gives you a warm welcome and an afternoon to look out for. The suite opens 3 hours before kick-off and is not that big giving you quite an intimate feeling. The one thing that lacks in the suite is that there are no pitch views giving its location on ‘’the wrong side of the stadium’’ and also there are no Man of the Match (MoM) presentations. It would be nice to have accompanying pitch views and MoM presentations, taking into account that this is the premier hospitality package. As one could imagine there is dedicated host/hostess and waiting staff, complimentary matchday programs, teamsheets, match quiz, private pay bar facility and TV’s showing Sky Sports.

Executive padded seating is provided right next to the Directors Box. Some nice seats with ample leg space located on the halfway line. What we liked was the fact that you have to cross the regular turnstiles / catacombs from Dooleys Restaurant to the executive seating. A great indoor stadium walk to your seats. Sheffield Wednesday Review Sport Hospitality Ticket.

A private stadium tour is included upon request and we were very happy to have booked this tour. Lee Wilkinson, the friendly sales executive who helped us plan our hospitality package was ill and the tour was taken over by another friendly sales executive Lynsey Waller. She gave a superb tour showing us everything form the directors box, the Tunnel, press room, the pitch, changings rooms and yes also the laundry room!

The following hotels are nearest to the stadium:
1. Alara Bed & Breakfast Sheffield
2. The Garrison Hotel Sheffield
3. The Hillsborough Hotel Sheffield

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Disclaimer: This is not a paid review and we haven’t been asked to write this. All views and words are our own and have not been influenced by anyone else.