It's interesting to find what's being built right under your nose, and whilst it has been open for quite some time now when a massive new Sports World (formerly known as Sports Soccer) opened in a new shopping park just outside of the usual shopping area in Cambridge, I was obliged to find out what it's like. This now not very newish Sports World isn't the only one Cambridge has to offer though, as there is also one in the centre of town - that's not too shabby in size either. What exactly do these shops have to offer? Well I'll be happy to let you know.

With the arrival of the new Sports World came an influx of a brand I had hardly ever heard of before, Lonsdale. Hmm.. what's that I thought. It didn't look very nice but people seemed to be picking up new outfits of it by the bucketful from somewhere. I wondered where, and not to be outdone in the fashion stakes (although needless to say at this point it didn't click to me that wearing Lonsdale is actually a step backwards) I went up there one evening to look around. You see on this shopping park there is a big car park, so even on the busiest Sunday it's actually quite easy to find somewhere to park. At this stage parking there was also free, so you could walk around for as long as you wanted, although I've heard now that there is an £80 fine if you stay in the car park longer than 3 hours - similar to the fine my local Tesco now also offers on it's car park. Lovely big organisations, aren't they?

All the shops on this strip stay open late until 8PM, and that's not just for holidays or Wednesdays. I like late night shopping much better, avoiding the crowds and it's much easier to just stroll around at your own pace - although you do have to stay aware of the time. Entering the new Sports World I immediately realised it would be almost impossible to bump into someone because that's just how big it is. As you enter the doors (and through the sneakily disguised security gate things, you know what I mean) there is a staircase straight in front of you. Got to start with the floor I'm on first though.

It's not unusual to walk into a shop of Sports World nature and one of the first things you see being the bargain bins, and whilst they perhaps do add a cheap looking nature to the shop the truth is Sports World is cheap - so why would they try and hide it. The quality of the clothes isn't up there with JD Sports, so they've got to do something to get ahead of the competition because one things for sure, their tactics have allowed them to have two massive stores in Cambridge, whilst JD Sports only had one tiny shop. Say you need some socks for sport as well or something, having them right there at a bargain price can work as a good reminder that you needed them or just prove as good stock placement because you can know what you want to buy, grab it, pay for it and go. You don't want to stay in a shop too long, unless it's raining of course.

Down the left side of the store is all the mens and childrens clothes. As I mentioned, one of Sports Worlds favourite brands is Lonsdale, and whilst that means you can pick up a collared t-shirt for about a fiver the quality is bad. Flimsy collars and no buttons to do up. Told you it was cheap. All the 'hoodies' are the same as well, just different colours with 'LONSDALE' written across it in big letters and an ugly zip. Urgh. It wouldn't be right if I didn't tell you about the other brands on offer though, as there are Nike and Adidas, only not the prettiest selection. There is normally a lot of stock so you should be able to find your size, although the hardest thing will be finding something you actually like.

A lot of space but a lot of stock also means you'll find things really high up, and there never seems to be anyone around for you to ask you to help get things down, so pretty much if you like something that is high up (a good way of the shop getting you to go over to a certain area) you may find that getting someone to assist you will be too much work, because the staff there definitly aren't overly excited to be helping you. Surprisingly for a sports shop, Sports World also does carry jeans at a cheap price, although don't expect any big brands. Personally I've never bought them, but I've got expensive taste.

Whilst the clothes area is relatively neat whoevers incharge of accessories obviously needs the sack. Pretty much everytime I go in there I will find gloves, scarves and caps on the floor. The selection is really quite poor as well, a lot of the stuff just being the same but in different colours. The caps are also quite close to the tills, which can make it difficult to browse and they're high up - so once again you'll probably need assistance that isn't around.

The whole right side of the shop is dedicated to trainers, but the whole area is carried as though it is a market stall. Boxes everywhere piled up, trainers in the wrong places, and hardly anywhere to sit or mirrors to look in. I've never personally purchased any trainers from Sports World, although I know people who have and are satisfied with their purchases. To me there is nothing in their selection that I like currently, although one good thing I can say about this area of the shop is that they seem to keep this side of the store well staffed. There's usually always someone there to serve you, but with the trainers being more expensive than the clothes I'm not surprised that they want to get your business more on that side of the store. Having said that, the trainers are still quite cheap.

Upstairs is the more specified area, and it's generally well organised, although except for the till staff there is no one up there. It offers replica football tops, sporting equiptment, golf clubs, etc. Also the womens range is upstairs, even putting on fluffy boots that were all the rage when I last went up there looking around for some reason. Still don't expect anything upstairs to jump out at you as a must buy, because you've got to remember it is still Sports World at the end of the day.

How different is the store in the centre of Cambridge? Well it's not just closing early that is the difference, because this store also has a lot less space and has things in funny places. For example, it can be hard to even enter the store sometimes if some idiot is standing there with a push chair, because of all the special deal boxes there's not really any space to get in. Also round the clothes there seems to be almost like a one way route around them, with small gaps that no one could ever squeeze through really. The selection of things, whilst still wide, is also more limited than it was in the other store - you will find the cap selection a lot smaller.

The trainers selection is better organised here, although it still doesn't look as neat as sports shops such as JJB's and JD's. Amazingly the store is actually three floors because of the strange dimensions of the shop. You can't really fault Sports World for this, although at the same time why do they rent a shop with such a strange layout. There is nothing extra stockwise to what the other Sports World has in it, everything is just squeezed in where ever they can put it though.

I've never had any problems with the staff, in fact I went for a job there once and they seemed like really nice people - just not very willing to help. If that makes sense. Nothing I've ever bought from there have I had any problems with either, and they don't seem like the sort of company that would have a strict returns policy, although I can't really comment on that. Both shops are quite accessible for everyone and include changing rooms. Personally there's nothing really in the shops that I would want to buy, although at such cheap prices I have seen families in there buying up bags and bags of clothes. If you like to wear sports clothes and don't really care about the quality, Sports World is for you, but how many people really think like that? You can shop online with them at Sportsdirect.com, although I think you'd be better off going to the store in person.