[Albion] Evening games - does the aggravation make it worth attending?

[Guinness Boy]

I was back in Brighton by 11 on the 10.49 and pretty much everyone had left by then. That said my mate missed his last connection and had to get a bus home.

The problem is train capacity and whilst the frustration of fans is genuine and well founded it is out of the club's hands to do anything about it, other than improved stewarding, which I agree should be actioned.

Exactly this. People can start all the threads and posts they want about "that's it! I am NEVER going to a midweek game again!!!" but there is the square root of F All that the club can do about the trains, except for have a word regarding the stewarding which was, once again, poor on both sides of the tracks. Paul Barber just isn't going to be able to wave a magic wand and get Southern a shitload more rolling stock.

Things that could help will generally only help at weekends. Travel is MUCH better when EDF and Pyecombe are added to the P&R but they are not always available, especially mid week. As @Terry Butcher Tribute Act alludes to The Terrace isn't going to be much help when people have last trains or buses to make connections to. It will definitely help for weekend games but then the rolling stock is there for the trains.

If you're really fed up then feel free to stop going. Ironically you'll make it better for those who can be bothered to support the team.

 

[Muzzman]

I don't envy those going back to Brighton in the evening, I used to walk the 10mins it took to get the 49 bus in Moulescomb to get back to Hove. Getting back to Seaford is easy-peasy in comparison.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Maybe the club should have

Unfortunately, it will take a serious incident before this is deemed a priority to get sorted for the club and Southern Rail. The pushing, shooving and crushing to get on, when little kids and elderly are around is unerving to say the least.
Some people just want to get home midweek, not wait an hour in the concourse and get home at stupid o'clock.

Could be that all Albion 'travel partners' and 'stakeholders' need to sit around a table and work out what is a safe midweek capacity for the Amex, given the clearly inadequate transport infrastructure for midweek games. That might help focus a few minds

 

[Mexican Seagull]

Evening home games good for me when tied to a Saturday home game as well, flying in, allows me when I come over to, catch 2 home games - though choice this year of Forest & Villa games wasn't the best..... and actually rail down from London over the weekend to & from Victoria via Littlehampton on what was seconding as the Gatwick Express was "a lifetime experience", didn't realise you could pack so many people onto a train

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Love an evening game.
The only one I've missed was the Brentford Boxing day game.

That was only because there were no trains back to London

 

[Peacehaven Wild Kids]

…..meanwhile a few on here are obsessed with increasing the stadium’s capacity

 

[Hovegull]

Love an evening game.
The only one I've missed was the Brentford Boxing day game.

That was only because there were no trains back to London

 

[Hovegull]

More P&R options definitely helps.
They seem to ease the pressure off the trains too.

 

[BBassic]

I started cycling a few months ago as the train situation is beyond a joke and it seems nothing will be done to improve it. I know cycling is not a viable alternative for a lot of people but I just like the fact that you are actually moving rather than standing in the queue forever before the inevitable scramble trying to secure a place on the train and hoping the doors stop where you are standing !

Before I stopped going I used to like walking back. Took about an hour to get back to Queens Park. Only really viable on dry days of course but as you say, the feeling of making progress really helps the mood.

 

[Muhammad - I’m hard - Bruce Lee]

Midweek evening games for me are a non starter due to work and travel.
Shame, but there's nothing I can do about it except list my ticket

 

[brighton_tom]

We need to be more vocal about this to the club/FAB. All the moans are valid, but nothing will change if we only talk amongst ourselves.

 

[Milano]

It is so simple it's infuriating. If all the trains were 8 cars then it would not be anywhere near as bad. The fact Southern can not or will not do this is just ridiculous. As said something awful will have to happen for this to be properly looked at. I thought a local MP was taking this on, or did he use this for votes and has now gone quiet? Surely not..........

 

[Sussexscots]

Nothing will change because the way the Govia Thameslink (GTR) franchise - in reality, a management contract - is structured means there is no commercial imperative for them to improve. The Department for Transport (DfT) pays them a fixed fee to run services and assumes all the revenue risk. Late Thameslink trains from Brighton seem to be cancelled quite frequently on the mainline, but this and some fitba' supporters being inconvenienced every few weeks has no impact on their bottom line.

GTR nominally assume the cost of rolling stock. Are they likely to invest in that? Highly unlikely I would say, given Labour's manifesto pledge to take the Railway back into public ownership.

I'm certain the whole situation boils Barber's pish. Chelsea/Bournemouth/Villa evening games there have been fewer people attending. Yet while the club can huff and puff, what realistically can they do? The Terrace may help at weekends, but Saturday games are not much of an issue. Making sure the queues are being correctly and intelligently martialed might be one thing.

Otherwise, I fear empty statements about 'allowing plenty of time' and 'carefully planning your journey' are probably as good as it gets.

 

[Wozza]

It seems like we’ve had a lot more evening matches this season. We had barely any in the first couple of years in the Premier League. If only they scrapped all these unnecessary international breaks, all matches could be on a Saturday.

Unnecessary? There has to be qualifiers. And there has to be friendlies (Nations League) to enable teams to bed-in new players.

Games can't be slipped into midweek only because of the globalization of football, and the distance many players have to travel.

Anyway, the international calendar is fixed now for MANY years ahead, so nothing's gonna change.

Good news: in 2026/27 there are three, not four, international breaks.

Bad news: One of them (late Sept/Oct) is a double weekend break, with no PL football for almost three weeks!

 

[mwrpoole]

What I do find a little strange is that the club are paying Southern for x amount of people to travel for free. This seems to be a blank cheque for Southern to do as they please, but knowing the club as we do, and knowing the club do really go the extra mile to make things work, I’m really surprised that Southern aren’t held to account with their service levels. Perhaps they are & the club hold back payments but we just don’t know.

 

[El Turi]

Unnecessary? There has to be qualifiers. And there has to be friendlies (Nations League) to enable teams to bed-in new players.

Games can't be slipped into midweek only because of the globalization of football, and the distance many players have to travel.

Anyway, the international calendar is fixed now for MANY years ahead, so nothing's gonna change.

Good news: in 2026/27 there are three, not four, international breaks.

Bad news: One of them (late Sept/Oct) is a double weekend break, with no PL football for almost three weeks!

With the World Cup and Euros being expanded, they don’t need to have as many qualifiers as they do. In South America, 7 of the 10 teams qualify for the World Cup so do they really need to play 18 qualifiers which involve a large proportion of players flying in from Europe.

 

[Seagull Stew]

With the World Cup and Euros being expanded, they don’t need to have as many qualifiers as they do. In South America, 7 of the 10 teams qualify for the World Cup so do they really need to play 18 qualifiers which involve a large proportion of players flying in from Europe.

I can't really see FIFA wanting to reduce the amount of games. If anything, they will try to cram more meaningless international tournaments, in an effort to compete with UEFA.

 

[Creaky]

. . . . . . . .

I've made no secret of this opinion this week though. If you're not bothering simply because of the transport or opposition and you have a BN or RH post code it's really a bit flakey. If you live further afield, as I was reminded many do, then I can see why you might not bother.

Absolute rubbish view as far as I'm concerned.

Yes in the 90's I went to games no matter what to support the club. That support was needed at the time and if we were ever in that situation again I would do the same.

The club doesn't need that level of support today

I now go for a selfish reason, to enjoy myself. If travel, weather etc means I won't enjoy myself then I don't go, simple as. Not "flakey" but sensible.

 

[stewart12]

More P&R options definitely helps.
They seem to ease the pressure off the trains too.

when the stadium opened and the stadium capacity was just over 20,000 we had 3 main P&R sites. We've since lost one of those and meanwhile the capacity has gone up to 30,000, which may not seem like a big leap but it is an extra TEN THOUSAND PEOPLE.

Whilst the train situation may be out of the clubs hands, other alternative options could well be within their power and these could ease the strain on Falmer station

-AT LEAST one more P&R site
-Shuttle buses into central-ish Brighton
-Monorail

 

[Guinness Boy]

Absolute rubbish view as far as I'm concerned.

Yes in the 90's I went to games no matter what to support the club. That support was needed at the time and if we were ever in that situation again I would do the same.

The club doesn't need that level of support today

I now go for a selfish reason, to enjoy myself. If travel, weather etc means I won't enjoy myself then I don't go, simple as. Not "flakey" but sensible.

The PLAYERS very much need our support. The club probably doesn't need the money though.