Recreation Park (Indodrill Stadium)

Hospitality 7 and it’s our first experience out with Fife or Tayside. Two train trips and we’re 55 miles to Alloa, Clackmannanshire. £85 each for a 3 course meal, open bar from 12:30 to Kick off, half time snacks, tea and coffee and open bar from full time to last orders at 5:30. Jane had been the one in touch about this visit and very helpful with her emails. This continued when we met her on the day. Enthusiastic and bubbly, she was more than happy to help with any enquiries.

Learning from our Kelty Hearts travel experience we planned getting to and from Alloa with a little more care. A train from Monifieth to Stirling, change of platform and another train from Stirling to Alloa. Tickets already booked and paid for, it was an easy trip. We knew we had some time to spare when we arrived in Alloa so Tony consulted his best mate ChatGPT for some advice on what to do when we arrive. ‘I have an hour to kill in Alloa this morning, any recommendations?’ he asks, ‘You’re not exactly in a tourist hotspot – but you can still have a decent hour if you pick the right vibe.’ was the response. Without a proper ‘vibe’ in mind, we take a wonder to the recommended 14^th century built Alloa tower for a picture and then stop at Crams bar, advertised as ‘Alloa’s oldest pub’. A nice wee pub with locals at the bar, snooker on the TV and a Beatles playlist. We have a quick drink and head to the ground. A productive hour with a Historical vibe, we were ready for our hospitality at The Indodrill Stadium.   

Recreation Park (Indrodrill Stadium) is about a 10 minute walk from the train station. 15 minutes from the oldest pub in Alloa. We arrive at ‘The Rec’ and are pointed in the direction of the main stand by a very friendly steward. The ground has a capacity of 3,100. 2,195 standing and 905 seated. We go to the back of the main stand to find out where to go for our hospitality. ‘Clark?’ asks a lady, ‘Your rooms upstairs love’. Not knowing at the time, this was Jane, our host and helpful emailer. At the top of the stairs we’re greeted by chairman of the club Martin Ross, who knew my name and welcomed us with a genuine appreciation for coming. Tony did his usual introductory interview, asking him his role and how long he’s been involved with the club. Previously working in finance with the club, taking no salary, he has been chairman for the past year. Getting the job because he was ‘the only one that could do joined up writing!’ A quip that he clearly has ready when explaining how he got involved with Alloa as he used it again when we spoke to him 20 minutes later.

After our chat with the chairman we are shown to our room. Previous hospitality experiences, we’ve been in a room with others, sitting at a table of 5 to 20, with Montrose being the only time where we had a table for 2. Alloa not only offered a table for 2 but a room for 2. The Lawlor room was our location. A small room with a table for two, a small flat screen TV on the wall, empty optics, a corner drinks unit from the 80s filled with glasses and various Alloa F.C. memorabilia scattered on the wall. Chelsea, one of our friendly and attentive members of staff, asks what we would like to drink. We both ask for a beer and Chelsea returns with a galvanised beer tub filled with Peroni and ice, adding to the already random experience. She places it on the floor and introduces us to Lesley, who will be our server. Leslie from Alloa was equally as friendly and attentive as Chelsea, both of them frequently popping their head in each time they past our private room, to ask if we needed anything. Before settling for our meal, we take a wee wonder of the stadium and visit the club shop. A few bits and bobs and a ‘Vintage Top’ rack with last season’s strip on offer. I settle for a £6 badge and return to our cosy cave.

As the TV was only FreeView, we stick on Homes Under the Hammer for our meal, adding to the randomness of the day so far. Tony asks if it was possible to have a Jack Daniels and Coke as he nips out for a vape. ‘No bother’ says Lesley and she returns with a full bottle of JD, opens it up and sticks it on the optics. ‘Soft drinks in the cabinet under the glasses, I’ll grab a bucket of ice and just help yourself’ she says. Tony returns and swiftly helps himself to a 35ml nip. With an endless supply of beer in the iced beer bucket and a bottle of JD readily available, we start on the meal. A tasty lentil soup to start, standard hospitality steak pie for the main meal and apple pie and ice cream for dessert. Nothing too amazing but at the same time nothing wrong with the meal. A decent enough 3 course meal. We purchase a couple of raffles ticket strips, a few 50/50 tickets and scan a QR code to enter the Alloa FC lottery. Another first for our hospitality as we’re given a Wi-Fi password. This could be because the concrete blocks of our hospitality cell are that thick, no phone signal was getting through!

Just as Dion Dublin was showing us round his recently found property in East London, chairman Martin returns to see how we’re getting on. After Googling him a little more and armed with information, Tony continues with his interview from earlier as if he was about to pull out Mr Rosses “This is your Life” red book. A team sheet is put on the table and 45 minutes before kick off team manager Andy Graham give us a visit. A genuine guy who seemed more than happy to chat to us. Discussing his season so far as well as asking us about who we support etc. Bearing in mind there was less than an hour before kick off and at least another 5 hospitality rooms to visit, he seemed happy to give up his time.

Three course meal finished, a few bottles of Peroni and a number of drinks from the JD optic and it’s time for the actual football. Before we head to the stand for the match, Jane asks if we would mind another few people joining us at half time in our hospitality broom cupboard. The board room was getting set up for the end of season awards so they had to move people out of there. Word had spread that Homes under the hammer was on and the Lawlor room was in high demand. With a few Peroni’s and half a bottle of JD still left we were happy for more to join us.

We’re directed to our seat in the stand by Lesley. No back on the chair and a steel girder blocking our view, this was by far our worse seating experience so far. We stick it out for 10 minutes and decide to walk round and join the real supporters. Standing next to the Alloa ‘Ultras’. Rumour was that Stenhousemuir fans had travelled 16 minutes in the car or 46 minutes via public transport according to Google maps, to meet Alloa fans. Why? Who knows, but there was a slight tension in the air and me and Tony were ready to help out! First though, we had our half time food to experience.

We return to our hospitality snug to find our table has been moved in order to accommodate another 2 couples. Tony explains our situation with his now routine ‘we put away a few pounds a month to pay for hospitality’ script. We then hear from a woman from William Hill who is there with her partner as a freebie from work and a guy who owns his own blind fitting company. One of the couples also owns a caravan in Monifieth and regularly visits the Angus town. Somewhere I often walk my dog. Small world eh?! Good chat!

Half time refreshments include tea, coffee and a selection of sandwiches, pies and sausage rolls. Although there was 6 of us to feed, there was plenty of food to go round. Lesley appears with a Bovril for one of our guests. I joke that I would have had that if offered. Lesley without hesitation offers to get me one. Without a doubt, any request we made would have been met by Lesley if she could. Although she had an important bowls tournament the next day, Lesley was still 100% focussed on meeting any of our needs.

After making the most of the food on offer, we head back down to our spot on the terraces behind the goal. No joy with the raffle or 50/50 draw and we need to wait until Wednesday to find out about the Wasps Lotto results. The second half isn’t going Alloa’s way and although they have already secured a playoff place, the ultras are getting restless. Word is out that the 16:32 Stenhousemuir to Alloa train is nearly in and a group of Stenny fans are at the platform. This sparks a group of youths to dash off. Full time whistle goes and we head back to our hospo hollow for the final time. My steel bucket still has plenty of Peroni and ice in it and there’s an abundance of JD left. We continue some more small talk with our half time friends and have our final few drinks. Lesley’s attentiveness doesn’t fade and she keeps checking in on us with friendly reminders that last orders are at 5:30.

We polish off our final drink around 5:45 and bid our fond farewells. Jane, Chelsea and Lesley all come to wave us off as we walk out of our private dining one last time. We make our way to the train station chatting about the day but are still aware that we may need to get involved Green Street style, if the young team require us on platform 1!

Recreation Park Hospitality Ratings

Entertainment 2/5

A low score for the entertainment. A raffle and standard 50/50 draw. Although Homes Under the Hammer was available along with a choice of FreeView channels, a bit of football or at least some kind of sport to choose from on our private TV would have been nice. Pre-match chat with the manager was good. 

Hosting 5/5

Best yet. From Jane’s pre-visit emails, to Chelsea and Lesley’s constant check-ins, the hosting was brilliant. The private room was a first and slightly surreal but added to the experience. Everyone was really friendly and the staff were helpful and chatty. Nobody walked past our room without checking we were ok. I feel without a doubt, Lesley would have sourced anything that we asked for on the day.

Seating 2/5

Worse seats we’ve had. No backs on them and there was a giant pole blocking most of the view. Chose to stand in the terraces instead.

Meal 3/5

Basic but did the job. Lentil soup and a standard steak pie. Followed pie an apple pie (potentially shop bought) and ice cream.

Half Time refreshments 4/5

One of the best selections of half-time refreshments available. A choice of sausage rolls and pies along with ham, cheese and egg mayo sandwiches. Plenty to go around with some still left over even though they were shared between 6.

Drinks 4/5

A bucket of Peoni that seemed like it would never end and a full JD bottle popped into an optic. There was plenty of drink available. We were given a choice of a few different beers and pretty much any spirit available. Lots of soft drink in the 80s corner cabinet too.  

Value for money 5/5

This has been our most enjoyable hospitality so far and definitely good value for money. As well as the great hosting from the friendly staff, the 3 course meal, the abundance of drink readily available and of course the table for 2 private dining, little touches like our name on the door, the Alloa napkins and free WIFI added to the experience. Alloa staff got the vibe perfectly right. Not too overly friendly but also not being too formal and treating you like a boardroom exec who has paid hundreds for their seat. Cheaper than Brechin and Arbroath and offered more.  

Total 25

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