The best and worse of the media munchies following Rotherham United around League One

Cambridge United, Tuesday October 1 2024.

Why, because Rotherham United triumphed on their travels for the first time in nearly two years with last-gasp winner? No, no, no.

You should have tasted the steak.

League One media catering is nothing like as good as it is in the Championship where the food on offer can reach almost restaurant quality.

So my expectations weren't high when I pitched up at the quaintly ramshackle Abbey Stadium on the autumn night made famous by Sam Nombe's last-gasp Millers winner.

In time, I handed over my voucher at one of the catering kiosks and couldn't believe what I was given in return.

Medium-rare strips of perfectly-cooked prime steak were presented to me straight off a piping-hot griddle, with a moreish herby sauce and a mountain of chips thrown in for good measure.

Too many chips even, if there can be such a thing.

The standard across League One varied from Cambridge cordon bleu to Northampton Town non-existent. Not a problem. Many clubs are on tight budgets so any food provision is appreciated.

But the drive to a stadium is made better by the hope of some tempting scran.

Cambridge's subsequent slide into the division below is a bitter, bitter blow to the third tier's media pack.

Sometimes, you had to nibble your food outdoors. Exeter City, Bristol Rovers, Northampton Town, Shrewsbury Town and Peterborough United didn't offer any indoor press provision.

Neither did Cambridge actually, but I can forgive them anything because of that steak.

Go on, U's. We need you back in League One.

The 2024/25 foodie rankings

1: Cambridge: An offering from the gods.

2: Huddersfield: Sausage, mash and beans. Very tasty. And you could go back for more.

3: Stockport: Chicken breast and rice. Play-off-standard provision from a play-off club.

4: Barnsley: Chicken strips (nuggets to me and you) with chips.

5: Birmingham: Moroccan spiced lamb with couscous. Not as good as it sounds, sadly.

6: Bolton: Cheese pasty, chips and beans. I’m not sure ‘cheese’ and ‘pasty’ belong in the same sentence but I’ve eaten worse things.

7: Wigan: Selection of pies. They take their pies seriously in that part of the world so these were excellent.

8: Wycombe: Selection of pies. Better than your average offering. I can vouch for the chicken.

9: Rotherham: Selection of pies plus sausages rolls. No chip-shop curry version this season, though. The excitement of it's one-off appearance last term still lingers in the memory.

10: Stevenage: Selection of pies. Cookies at half-time.

11: Wrexham: Selection of pies.

11: Charlton: Selection of pies.

13: Blackpool: Half-time selection of pies. Good pies, but it would have been better had they been available before kick-off when there was more time to savour them.

14: Exeter: Voucher for a kiosk pie/pasty. Excellent pasty.

15: Bristol Rovers: Voucher for a kiosk pie/pasty. Decent pasty.

16: Lincoln: voucher for a kiosk hot-food item.

16: Peterborough: Voucher for a kiosk hot-food item.

16: Shrewsbury: Voucher for a kiosk hot-food item.

19: Crawley: Home-made sandwiches. Guarded closely by an eagle-eyed official so you couldn't sneak extras.

20: Burton: Sandwich packs.

20: Reading: Sandwich packs.

22: Leyton Orient: Soup.

23: Mansfield: Half-time chips. There’s a dastardly story behind this that has appeared in a separate article.

24: Northampton: Zip. Zilch. Zero. Which is how many points I now hope they get next season.

EFL Cup:

Fleetwood: Voucher for a kiosk steak bake/hot-dog/pie. The steak bake won.

EFL Trophy:

Bradford: Selection of pies. Half-time chips and biscuits. Excellent League Two effort.

Chesterfield: Voucher for a kiosk hot-food item.

* All clubs offered hot drinks, either in unlimited supply in a press room or one cup only via a kiosk voucher when there was no press room.