How to Do a Football Shuttle Bus
The Madejski Stadium isn’t close to Reading town centre or the station, but getting there on Saturday couldn’t have been easier.
At the station there was a signpost that couldn’t have been clearer.
Signpost at Reading Station
The walk wasn’t far too and I think it will be shorter and easier, once they finish the works at the station.
A Smart Football Shuttle Bus
The bus was a rather smart Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 and I think it was a hybrid too. It was also free to those with a bus pass.
Many other clubs could do well to look at how Reading organise the transport for fans.
It was a pity Ipswich went and lost.
Trains on Boxing Day
There is a good article by the columnist Alan Williams in this month’s Modern Railways, where he decries the lack of trains on Boxing Day.
Apparently, if you want to go from London to Brighton, you’re OK, but for all other journeys, it’s car, bike or walk.
I would have liked to go and see Ipswich play at Leicester, but they might just as well be playing on Ascension Island.
It strikes me that Boxing Day might be a day, when the train companies with a bit of co-operation from the FA could make a bit of money on a day, when many will be hungover and not fancy driving at all. In fact, many might not be able to do it legally.
So how practical would it be to go to your team’s away game on Boxing Day, if the trains were running?
Here are the matches in the Premier League.
Arsenal v. Wolverhampton
This would have been very practical, but Arsenal have postponed it to the 27th because of a strike on the London Underground.
All Wolves fans would need to do, is take the Virgin train from Wolverhampton to Euston and two stops on the Victoria line.
Chelsea v. Fulham
This is going on despite the Underground strike, which won’t inconvenience the majority of fans who can either drive, walk or take a bus.
Bolton v. Newcastle
As Bolton has a station at the ground, this is a very easy journey for Newcastle fans. On Sundays, there is a convenient train with just one change at Manchester Piccadilly.
Liverpool v. Blackburn
This is another simple one, with just a change at Preston.
Man Utd v. Wigan
This is a direct train and a tram.
Sunderland v. Everton
This involves three changes of train at a minimum of over four hours.
West Brom v. Man. City
This one involves a couple of changes and two and a half hours.
Stoke v. Aston Villa
This involves a single change and takes just over an hour.
And here are the Championship matches.
Watford v. Cardiff
Not the easiest by rail, as it’s a very long way.
Derby v Leeds
Just two hours on a direct train.
Millwall v. Portsmouth
Plenty of trains and they all take around two hours.
Southampton v. Crystal Palace
Plenty of trains and again they take just over two hours.
Barnsley v. Blackpool
Not the easiest and it takes three hours with two or more changes.
Burnley v. Doncaster
Two and a half hours with a change at Leeds.
Coventry v. Bristol City
Two hours with a change at Birmingham.
Leicester v. Ipswich
Three and a half hours with all sorts of changes.
Middlesbrough v. Hull
Over three hours with a change or two.
Nottingham Forest v. Peterborough
Not too bad, if you can get a direct train.
Reading v. Brighton
Between two and three hours via London.
Birmingham v. West Ham
About two hours and a bit, depending on where in London, you’re coming from.
So basically, with the fixtures as they came out this year, it really wouldn’t have been possible, as there are too many long journeys.
But then years ago, Ipswich always used to play Norwich on Boxing Day. The police put a stop to it, but there hasn’t been much trouble over recent years.
I’m certain though, that it would be possible to arrange a better fixture list.
How many grounds aren’t well connected to the rail network? Either directly or by a match-day bus from the station! I think the list includes.
Arsenal – Three rail stations and well connected to London termini.
Aston Villa – Two rail stations connected to Birmingham New Street.
Barnsley – Not too long a walk, but it’s severely uphill to get to the ground.
Birmingham – It has its own station on match days.
Blackburn – It’s a fair walk from the local station or a taxi from the main one.
Blackpool – A fair walk and no shuttle bus.
Bolton – It has its own station at Horwich Parkway.
Brighton – It has its own station.
Bristol City – It’s a long walk.
Burnley – A far walk from the station.
Cardiff City – A fair walk from Grangetown station.
Chelsea – A fair walk from the Underground station.
Coventry – You have to walk across the City Centre to get a bus. Last year on New Year’s Day it didn’t run.
Crystal Palace – Two rail stations and the Overground, although it’s not too easy from some London terminals.
Derby – Walkable from the station.
Doncaster – Taxi or possibly a shuttle bus.
Everton – A match day bus from the train.
Fulham- A fair but pleasant walk from the Underground station.
Hull – Walkable from the rail station
Ipswich – A short walk from the station.
Leeds – A shuttle bus from Leeds station.
Leicester City – A fair walk from the station and no shuttle bus.
Liverpool – A match day bus from the train.
Manchester City – Difficult by bus, but they are building a tram.
Manchester United – A tram.
Millwall – It has its own station.
Middlesbrough – Walkable from the train station.
Newcastle – It has its own Metro station.
Norwich – A short walk from the station.
Nottingham Forest – Walkable from the station.
Peterborough – Walkable from the station.
Portsmouth – Walkable from Fratton station.
QPR – Two Underground stations, but not too well-connected to London termini.
Reading – There is a shuttle bus from the railway station.
Southampton – A fair walk from the railway station.
Stoke – Miles from the station, but there is a match day bus service.
Sunderland – It has its own Metro station.
Swansea – A long walk from the rail station.
Tottenham – Two train stations, but not that well connected to London termini.
Watford – Walkable from the station.
West Bromwich – It has its own rail station and tram stop.
West Ham – A short walk from Upton Park station.
Wigan – A long walk from the rail stations, and there is no match day bus. The club website says use a taxi.
Wolverhampton – A short walk from the rail station and the tram.
So some clubs are fairy ideal places to ave home matches on Boxing Day. Others like Blackburn, Blackpool, Bristol City, Cardiff City, Coventry, Leeds, Leicester, Southampton, Swansea and Wigan are definitely not, unless they break a habit of a lifetime and run a shuttle bus from the station.
To schedule what matches are played, it is a very simple matter and could even be organised like a cup draw. a list of practical pairs would need to be drawn up, when the teams in the division were finalised after the play-offs. Obviously conditions of distance and police views would prevail. So Arsenal could be paired with say Aston Villa, Fulham, Norwich, QPR, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton. I’ve left out Tottenham and Chelsea, as the police would probably want them on a less high-profile day.
You would start by drawing the home teams from the list of grounds with good transport connections. And then a draw would be made to see who they played.
There are a few problems however you do it, as both Newcastle and Sunderland are difficult to get to and the police would object to the derby on Boxing Day.
But I suspect with a bit of goodwill and co-operation between the rail companies, the FA and the police something could be worked out.
An aside here, and equally important, to those who don’t follow football, is that a lot of major shopping centres, like Meadowhall, the Metro Centre at Gateshead and Westfield and Eastfield in London have rail stations, so a good train service will help a lot more people.
I thought train companies were in business to make a profit. Surely with a bit of radical thinking, they could turn Boxing Day, into a nice little earner.
How About?
- Fans to football, rugby and other sporting events.
- Shoppers to large shopping centres.
- Families to the coast, big cities and other attractions.
- C and I often went on holiday on Boxing Day, as it can be a good day to fly long haul.
It might even help some get back to where they live and work a lot easier. Especially in these days of very complicated family relationships.
Suarez, Terry and Hansen
Luis Suarez has been given an eight match ban and a substantial fine for abusing Patric Evra in a racist manner. The ins and outs of the case are discussed in this article in the Daily Mail.
What annoys me about this case is the way that Liverpool and its fans will not let the matter drop. Suarez has been found guilty by the FA and may not normally be a racist, but it would seem that the evidence showed he said something very inappropriate.
It was very similar last night at Tottenham, with John Terry being cheered by Chelsea fans at every touch, after his well-publicised incident with Anton Ferdinand.
and then Alan Hansen makes a serious gaff on Match of the Day.
You could argue that his problem was less serious, as he was trying to make a serious statement and got the wrong words. Which of course he shouldn’t have done!
In the heat of the moment, we might all made statements appropriate to our feelings. I have several times said or mouthed things like “You stupid bastard”, when I’ve been cut up say, by another driver. But these days few of us would use any racial phrase in that sort of statement, even if they could have done, by virtue of the other person’s race. It doesn’t help either party.
In my view, the Terry case is the most serious of the three as the police have got involved. But then, this is not the first time, that the England captain has been touched by the law or scandal. Just read his Wikipedia entry.
In my view, John Terry’s real problem is that just like Alan Hansen, he has let himself down. He would not be the first footballer to do this and I hope he follows Tony Adams example and rebuilds his life constructively.
In some ways the pity of the Suarez and Terry cases is that the alleged offences were not spotted by the referee at the time. In that case, it would have been an immediate sending off, which would have probably calmed the situation somewhat, as sending off results in an immediate one-match ban, until the case is considered. So perhaps for racist behaviour it should be two or even a three match ban?
After all, if two of my employees had a racist spat, the first thing I’d do would be to send them home to cool off, whilst I discussed with my lawyers, whether I should fire someone.
Arsenal Postpone, Chelsea Don’t
Can I assume that this is because most Chelski fans wouldn’t be seen dead on a train, so the strike makes no difference to their prawn-sandwich eaters?
The Sir Bobby Robson Bridge At Ipswich
The bridge spans the River Gipping at Ipswich.
It effectively connects the new housing on the west bank to the offices, waterfront and football ground on the other.
Note that the River Gipping becomes the Orwell at Ipswich. The name might come from the same source as Gippeswyk, the old name for Ipswich.
92 Clubs – Week 7 – 5 Clubs – 9 Trains, 1 Tram
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7
Day 43 Day 44 Day 45 Day 46 Day 47 Day 48
So it’s all done now!
As there was only five clubs, the highlights of the week are thin on the ground.
Best Signposted Stadium of the Week
Wimbledon was the easiest to find, as I just got on a bus and waited until, Kingsmeadow was announced. It is one of only a few stadia, which are announced on the buses. Only London stadia can be announced on buses and a few are, although others have their own stations.
Worst Signposted Stadium of the Week
This has to be a joint award to Wycombe and Yeovil. I hardly saw a sign to any of the grounds, that would help a walker or a driver.
Most Surprising Town of the Week
Wolverhampton surprised me. The ground is fairly close to the centre and easily walkable from either the station or the tram. There’s even an underpass under the busy ring road connecting the ground to the town centre. Quite a few grounds need these. surely, they mean that fans can get a meal or a drink in the centre before or after the match. I seem to remember seeing a report, that the proximity of Portman Road to Ipswich town centre, was worth millions a year to the town.
Dump of the Week
I know Yeovil has evolved over time and totally sold itself to the car, but surely they could do much better. I would be repeating myself endlessly, if I added to what I said on Day 48.
Who Will Be Chelski’s Best Manager This Year?
Or should it be this month?
After all the current incumbent can’t be given much more time by Roman Abramovich, can he?
Gay Footballers
There are no openly gay footballers in the UK, although there are others in countries such as Sweden and the United States.
It is relevant to look at the history of black footballers to get a handkle on how gay footballers will appear in the UK.
Viv Anderson was the first black footballer to play for England and he burst on the scene in the mid-seventies with Nottingham Forest. His rise had a lot to do with Brian Clough, who I suspect didn’t give a care about anything other than your ability to play football. And Anderson could certainly play!
At the time Anderson made his mark, Other black players also made the breakthrough. Notably, this was the three players Cyrille Regis, Brendan Batson and Laurie Cunningham at West Brom. But now black players are commonplace and we’re even seeing the sons of black players entering the game and being successful.
I first saw black players in the early 1960s. There weren’t many and they did get abuse. The most notable was Albert Johanneson, who played for Leeds.
It has been a long journey from the 1950s and 60s to where we are today. And I don’t think that there are many, except those on the Far Right, who regret it.
It will be a long time before gay footballers are in the same high position. Judging by the time scale it took for black players to be fully successful and accepted, it will probably be somewhere between ten and twenty years.
One of the differences between black and gay players, is that although black players are obvious, gay ones are not. So how many are there out there at the moment.
There are probably more than you think!
I don’t have any evidence, but news stories over the years have constantly found quite a few gay policemen. In fact, in one case, the Chief Constable of Sussex police made an appeal for gay officers, to help solve a homophobic murder and was totally surprised at the response he got.
So I wouldn’t be surprised if there are quite a few gay footballers. I suspect too, that many of their team-mates know the truth and keep the secrets of the dressing room. After all, all footballers know how their eccentricities or problems are reported in the tabloid press.
Some months ago, I wrote this.
I was at the Ipswich Inter Milan match in the San Siro, when I found myself sitting next to a journalist, who worked for one of the more outrageous tabloids. We chatted about various topics concerning football and Ipswich in particular and I can’t remember how it came up, but we started discussing my coeliac disease. I then said that the statistics indicated that there must be at least one footballer, who must be a coeliac. I suggested it might make a story, as it might help those with the disease. He then said that the readers of his rag wouldn’t be interested. But if I knew a footballer who was gay, then that would be a very valuable story.
THe full post is here. The last bit may well be the key. Despite what is generally thought, there have been a large number of intelligent and very savvy footballers. I always note Derek Dougan, who was not considered very bright by the press to be very bright in his early years, but went on to be an author and a very good chairman of the Professional Footballers Association. So I do not think it unlikely, that one of the current crop of footballers, who is coming to the end of a good career, who just happens to be gay, will come out. I suspect too, that he won’t sell his story to the tabloids. After all with the coming out of Gareth Thomas, they can now see that the support from most people and the media is very strong.
This article in Wikipedia, discusses the issue of gay footballers and is well worth reading.
So I agree with a survey from the University of Staffordshire, that found that 90% of football supporters expect there to be an openly-gay footballer by 2015.
If you look at the dynamics of the long road to success of black footballers, I would actually think that 2015, might even be a bit pessimistic.
But just as this process is happening in the UK, it is also happening across the world. So I suspect that by the time of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, one of the major football nations will have an openly gay footballer in the team. As homosexuality is illegal in that enlightened country, let’s hope that it has the right effect on the Qataris’ attitudes.
But then I live in hope that FIFA will see sense and realise that they are risking players lives and health by playing in the summer in the desert.
It Would Appear That Money Can’t Buy You Everything!
Because Manchester City lost in Naples last night, it would appear that if the Italian team win their last match, then Manchester City are out of the Champions League.
How sad! I shall be crying into my cornflakes! Like hell, I will!
At least it proves that money can’t buy you everything. Although, the jury is out on the allocation of the last two World Cups, judging by certain newspaper headlines.
The Fightback Against Cable Theft Has Begun
Last night there was a debate in the House of Lords about the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill.
Lord Faulkner of Worcester said this, whilst proposing two amendments to deal with scrap metal theft.
As an indication of what we are up against, I would draw your Lordships’ attention to a giant screen advertisement at West Ham United’s football ground,which was seen on 27 September and which, I believe is there on a regular basis. It says, in huge letters, “We want your scrap for cash”, followed by three exclamation marks. All that was missing were the three words “No questions asked”.
So what was the evidence on the 27th of September? The picture is shown here.
The Anonymous Widower 