I used to live in south-east London and cycle to a job in Croydon every day - it was a hairy road though, there was a significant proportion of completely crazy drivers
I keep mine under my seat.
The club have a healthy attitude to cycling, unlike Selhurst Park where some jobsworth tried to stop me coming in, saying that my helmet was an offensive weapon
I can't see any council telling residents that their views on parking don't matter. Every council (Labour, Tory or Green) has made much of the fact that parking schemes are only imposed when people want them - there's no way that any councillors are going to tell people who want such a scheme...
You raise a fair point about lack of alternatives but I'm not sure where a car park for a couple of thousand cars could have been built near the stadium - it was tough enough getting planning permission for the stadium.
And, I might be wrong, but I thought it was pressure from the council that...