[Albion] AEK Post Game Leaving

[studio150]

Not sure if it was a UEFA requirement, but what a pleasant surprise when walking round to the coach park after the game. No one way system, and the visitors section not open from them to drift out to be penned in by the police.

So if this is possible for AEK, I assume that this will now be adopted for Palace and being required to stay for a period of time will mean staying in the ground, so that home fans can get to the Park and Ride and Coach park without too much inconvenience.

 

[Commander]

It would make it a lot easier for both sides. But expect people will start complaining about their human rights or some such bollocks.

 

[Vicar!]

Schalke v Dortmund last year was interesting. For Dortmund fans there were two ways to the game. Bus from their stadium to a holding pen outside the stadium. If they wanted to come by train this was permitted but they had to use one specific exit. Again they then had to wait for supervised transport to the holding pen in the stadium. No away fans permitted In Gelsenkirchen town centre. Worked perfectly and match passed unusually without incident.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Schalke v Dortmund last year was interesting. For Dortmund fans there were two ways to the game. Bus from their stadium to a holding pen outside the stadium. If they wanted to come by train this was permitted but they had to use one specific exit. Again they then had to wait for supervised transport to the holding pen in the stadium. No away fans permitted In Gelsenkirchen town centre. Worked perfectly and match passed unusually without incident.

Sounds marvellous. The only downside I presume was being made to feel like a helpless infant, or a powerless citizen of a police state, rather than just a bloke going to watch a football match on a Saturday afternoon.

 

[Official Old Man]

Coach home was the quickest ever. We normally have to sit and wait for all the away coaches to leave first, no idea why, just a rule. This can be at least 30 to 40 minutes sat waiting
Thursday we left first and I timed it at 10:24, all of 20 minutes after the whistle.

 

[pasty]

Yup. Easiest coach getaway ever last night

 

[Publius Ovidius]

Coach home was the quickest ever. We normally have to sit and wait for all the away coaches to leave first, no idea why, just a rule. This can be at least 30 to 40 minutes sat waiting
Thursday we left first and I timed it at 10:24, all of 20 minutes after the whistle.

Blimey….absolute carnage in the Mill Hill P&R yesterday after the game…..I left on the whistle, queued in the pissing rain for 1 hour 10 minutes…..got on a coach finally and got home to mile oak after being dropped off at the top of mill hill at 10 past midnight! Conversely, got to the top of Mill Hill at 6 and queued an hour to get in the bus! Absolute shambles

the problem now with canning the bendy busses ( that by the way every European city we went to on our holidays last couple of weeks had hundreds of so they can’t be that badly inefficient) is that when a bus arrives, everyone piles on in threes and fours and it fills up really quickly and off it goes….now they have replaced these with coaches that you can only get one person a time on the steps into the coach so it takes ages to fill one coach.

last night at 11:30 there was 4 coaches standing waiting in the pissing rain, for 1 to be loaded and the stewards wouldn’t let the people in the queue go and wait by the loading area….it got really tense and a lot of naughty words were used aimed at the kids manning the area.

if this is now the norm for winter and I can’t get a car parking ticket, I will not be doing many games this season.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Sounds marvellous. The only downside I presume was being made to feel like a helpless infant, or a powerless citizen of a police state, rather than just a bloke going to watch a football match on a Saturday afternoon.

Better than the innocent non football fans of Gelsenkirchen having to suffer anti social behaviour from football fans. You can choose not to go to a 90 minute game of football whereas they are just going about their lives in their home town.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Remember reading on NSC that opposition fans were to be kept in 30 mins ..so no surprise

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Blimey….absolute carnage in the Mill Hill P&R yesterday after the game…..I left on the whistle, queued in the pissing rain for 1 hour 10 minutes…..got on a coach finally and got home to mile oak after being dropped off at the top of mill hill at 10 past midnight! Conversely, got to the top of Mill Hill at 6 and queued an hour to get in the bus! Absolute shambles

the problem now with canning the bendy busses ( that by the way every European city we went to on our holidays last couple of weeks had hundreds of so they can’t be that badly inefficient) is that when a bus arrives, everyone piles on in threes and fours and it fills up really quickly and off it goes….now they have replaced these with coaches that you can only get one person a time on the steps into the coach so it takes ages to fill one coach.

last night at 11:30 there was 4 coaches standing waiting in the pissing rain, for 1 to be loaded and the stewards wouldn’t let the people in the queue go and wait by the loading area….it got really tense and a lot of naughty words were used aimed at the kids manning the area.

if this is now the norm for winter and I can’t get a car parking ticket, I will not be doing many games this season.

That might have been because about an hour before that there was complete carnage and big crushes as people came from about five different directions in an attempt to squeeze onto the buses. The person in charge maybe thought the best thing to do would be to grab hold of the situation and calm everything down a bit. There was one lady trying to control things on one of the buses we tried to get on in the loading area, which didn't go well. Not her fault at all, but just needed a bit of common sense and patience from the fans. A combination of the weather, the time and the defeat probably didn't help, but some people were just acting like complete twats.

On a possibly related note, there seemed to be a lot of people there who hadn't used/didn't understand how the P&R ran, which was odd. Fella I sat next to on the bus asked, when we were heading up Mill Road, when it goes to the Racecourse...

 

[Official Old Man]

the problem now with canning the bendy busses ( that by the way every European city we went to on our holidays last couple of weeks had hundreds of so they can’t be that badly inefficient) is that when a bus arrives, everyone piles on in threes and fours and it fills up really quickly and off it goes….now they have replaced these with coaches that you can only get one person a time on the steps into the coach so it takes ages to fill one coach.

They use the bendies at Gatwick North for the long stay car park.

 

[Machiavelli]

The thing that I noticed on leaving the ground and the 25 minute walk to the car was the rain.

 

[Jeremiah]

They use the bendies at Gatwick North for the long stay car park.

Gatwick North vs Brighton & Hove Albion - Is that a fixture that awaits us when we drop into the Europa Conference League ?

 

[Change at Barnham]

For anyone who questions fans loyalty for leaving before the final whistle needs to be forced to read this thread.
In fairness, I think the people who are most critical of early leavers can usually get home within about an hour.

If you are with kids or have an event to get home for, leaving 5 mins early can save an hour.
When you can chill at the stadium after the game and only have yourself to worry about you can certainly benefit from staying and enjoying every moment.

 

[ady1973]

Left at 85mins.....yes I'm a bad supporter. But having to drive back home to the New Forest around 80odd miles.
I feel it is justified to leave a little earlier than others.
Also didn't fancy queuing in the rain for the Mill hill P&R .
Was home just after midnight if anyone is interested.

 

[Sorrel]

Bigger queues than normal at Lewes station on the way in, with a train cancelled but then an extra one laid on, so that was good.

We left just past 92 minutes, ran from the west upper to the station and got straight on a Lewes train that left within 30 seconds. Considering what the rain was like after that, driving home, I’m glad we did that. If it had been 2-2 we’d probably have stayed and had a much longer journey home.

We get the bus normally for afternoon matches, but it isn’t an option for evening games so there are more driving and on the trains.

 

[tigertim68]

Left at 85mins.....yes I'm a bad supporter. But having to drive back home to the New Forest around 80odd miles.
I feel it is justified to leave a little earlier than others.
Also didn't fancy queuing in the rain for the Mill hill P&R .
Was home just after midnight if anyone is interested.

That was quicker than me , used the Mill Hill P&R ,live in Portslade home 1215

 

[VAL1850]

Stayed inside stadium for about 30 mins for rain to stop, which it didn't... Smallish queue for EB bound train, long wait on platform plus a change at Lewes, home at midnight not the best or worst but considering 8pm KO and ET okay....

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Gatwick North vs Brighton & Hove Albion - Is that a fixture that awaits us when we drop into the Europa Conference League ?

They are a team that shoots on sight

 

[weetle]

Left at 85mins.....yes I'm a bad supporter. But having to drive back home to the New Forest around 80odd miles.
I feel it is justified to leave a little earlier than others.
Also didn't fancy queuing in the rain for the Mill hill P&R .
Was home just after midnight if anyone is interested.

I dithered but decided to stay until the final whistle, queued over an hour in the rain & got to Southampton at 1am. You made the right call