To whom it may concern at BHA....(Open Letter)

Seagull on the wing · May 15, 2013

Last night...we were 2-0 down and the way we were playing I felt it was no longer viable to stay for the extra time...knowing that it is difficult to get out of Bennetts Field car park I left to go back to the car. Being disabled I walked to the carpark via the South stand.. I was stopped several times by the police and stewards...some were helpful,some were jobsworths,seeing that the Palace fans were being kept in. But the point of this letter is how the carpark is monitored. I listened to the final two minutes on the radio as I was waiting for my passengers. They arrived at 21.50 and we moved off...twenty yards and stopped behind the car in front...and there we sat and waited...and waited. All the buses had gone,very slowly we moved and when we got to the entrance...there was nobody about,no police...no stewards...nobody,every one had gone home...apart from us and about another hundred cars...anyone else get caught in this mayhem...I arrived home at midnight...and I live 20 miles from the Amex.
When we first went to the Amex for the Doncaster game,there was chaos in the carpark and we suggested that they let the cars trickle out and give way to the buses at the entrance,for a while this worked but for some reason they stopped doing it this way.
I don't ask for special treatment...but living just 20 miles away would expect to reach my home before midnight.
The club say stay behind and have a drink...fine,but you cannot do this if you are driving.
Over the years of supporting this club I have spent many thousands of pounds on this club...indeed when they asked for donations to save the club I and others gave a 3 figured sum.
Of course this does not affect the fans who go by P&R and good luck to them,if I was able to go P&R I would,but that means going past the Amex to get to P&R.
The train is not an option as I would not be able to stand in a queue.
Fans are not chattel...they are your lifeblood,please treat them with respect.
Saying this I will still be there next season...(thought about that last night) for my dose of football.

Weretheweststand · May 15, 2013

I would suggest emailing this to Paul Barber because I'm pretty sure he takes all concerns like this from fans quite seriously.

pastafarian · May 15, 2013

i feel your pain.
We use Bennets Field, simply because we have someone wheelchair bound with us and is the most viable option. We have always stayed behind after the game, met friends and enjoyed whats on offer.
We think we have got the whole system down to a fine art, stay for about 1hr 30 mins and usually only have a 10 minute queue with stragglers to get out, sometimes no queue at all. Then some days it is absolute chaos.
And i think this is the crucial point,the days it does seem to work well and you get out swiftly there are police on the traffic lights an an army of stewards everywhere. Then there are the days when you START to queue for an eternity to get out an hour and a half after the final whistle to find everyone has googled off and its a free for all.
Ive been to other grounds and we are by no means the worst but we are close to taking the title off Reading.

If there was a report card "could do better" would be an entry.

Monday night was murder,we got back near the car after our usual but sombre time at the bar,took one look at the carnage in Bennets Field and went back to the scene of the crime for another drink.......which didnt help matters.

some of us are considering forming an escape committee, we need uniforms, maps,fake ID and someone that can dig a tunnel....private PM me if interested.

dave hylands · May 15, 2013

Weretheweststand said:
I would suggest emailing this to Paul Barber because I'm pretty sure he takes all concerns like this from fans quite seriously.

This, I sent a letter to him and got action really is a top bloke for matters like this , keep us posted

albion534 · May 15, 2013

Did anyone see the pissed woman fall over in Bennetts field trying to get into her car? Provided some amusement.....it was an absolute joke how long It took to get out

Seagull on the wing · May 15, 2013

Just had an Email from Paul...he has passed on my mail to the transport manager for reply.

Lethargic · May 15, 2013

Not helped by the fact that despite being told they were holding the palace fans back, we had to wait until the palace coaches left the coach park before we could move.

dougdeep · May 15, 2013

Isn't there only one more season of using Bennett's Field?

Seagull on the wing · May 15, 2013

Lethargic said:
Not helped by the fact that despite being told they were holding the palace fans back, we had to wait until the palace coaches left the coach park before we could move.

Oh! Did'nt know that....that is ridiculous....what was the point of that...some of the away games I used to go to we were held back...till the home fans had gone....I thought that was the arrangement at the Amex Monday night..

HastingsSeagull · May 15, 2013

I go past the Amex to get park and ride. Takes up about 15 mins total for both directions after driving past, to stepping off bus.

Leaving on the final whistle I was home in Hastings (30 miles) at 23.15. Not sure on your disability but just putting it out there as a comparable since you mentioned driving past Amex as reason for not using PnR not your unknown disability.

Brighton Breezy · May 15, 2013

I left the ground at the final whistle and went straight to the R Bus line. I did not get on a bus until 10.51pm. There were still at least another bus load of fans left after our one went.

Dr NBC · May 15, 2013

I'm fortunate that I can still park on campus in my usual parking lot. Though for many exiting the Amex does seem to be somewhat of a logistical nightmare.

Loadicus Trux · May 15, 2013

We were held up in Bennet's Field for well over an hour too!

Please forgive me if this has been answered before, but looking at the situation on Monday night, why on earth wasn't a slip road built straight on to the A27 from the car park? Instead of having to battle with the buses.

Publius Ovidius · May 15, 2013

Loadicus Trux said:
We were held up in Bennet's Field for well over an hour too!

Please forgive me if this has been answered before, but looking at the situation on Monday night, why on earth wasn't a slip road built straight on to the A27 from the car park? Instead of having to battle with the buses.

What over the railway line?

Loadicus Trux · May 16, 2013

granny weatherwax said:
What over the railway line?

I'm an idiot. Thanks for pointing out the obvious.

fosters headband · May 16, 2013

Seagull on the wing said:
Just had an Email from Paul...he has passed on my mail to the transport manager for reply.

I live just three miles away in Woodingdean and normally I wait have a drink then go. But Monday I stayed in my seat until it was just me and the Palace fans, then I left the ground went straight for the bus.
It was the worst I have known the bus situation, we stood there longer than I have known before. I got home at 11.15 and stood there watching the cars streaming past me from Bennetts Field, something I have not seen before. I think something went terribly wrong with the transport management on Monday (the buses) .

ROSM · May 16, 2013

I left at the final whistle with my 4 year old and my father in law who walks with a stick. We weren't moving quickly but we joined the queue for the race course park and ride and got the last of the first batch of buses. Back at the car by 10.15 and home by 10.30. There was a significant queue airing for the next batch of P&R buses

Publius Ovidius · May 16, 2013

Loadicus Trux said:
I'm an idiot. Thanks for pointing out the obvious.

Actually there looks like someone has put a slip round out of Bennetts field just near to the roundabout. I wonder if that will be the next exit?

On Monday, we were parked in the virgin club and the mrs picked me up by the bus stop at the university at the top of the hill from Virgin and that queue moved very quickly because they stopped people turning around at the mini roundabout, instead making them drive into the left hand car park and back round to join that queue....

It took us about 15 minutes to get away, which was. A record. The queues for the busses looked horrendous though.

It will be interesting if we are forced to close Bennetts field next year as the planning permission dictates. Getting away on busses will be much quicker I would have thought.

ROSM · May 16, 2013

It will be interesting if we are forced to close Bennetts field next year as the planning permission dictates. Getting away on busses will be much quicker I would have thought.

Good point. I cant see how the club an do without it now - not unless they have some upset 1901s and box holders.

I know I have an advantage in being in the east stand, but the park and ride bus to race course has usually done me well. Only once did I miss the first setvof buses. The special bus back to rottingdean is less reliable.

Lewes Seagull · May 16, 2013

I left right on the final whistle, wandered over the Swan, had several more pints, stepped out at closing time and boarded the expected and near empty bus within about a minute, which drops me in Lewes 200 yards from my house so I was still home before many. So there are advantages of being a trainee alcoholic

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