scotrail158713
Established Member
Woah, it’s too soon to be making that joke.Some would argue they still didn't turn up.
Woah, it’s too soon to be making that joke.Some would argue they still didn't turn up.
Unless the Conference rules have changed, clubs are not penalised for no-shows if they are travelling by rail and an incident prevents them from fulfilling the journey.
However, the Conference does penalise no-shows or late arrivals if a journey is made by road.
They took a coach between Euston and at pancrasWhen the 2010 volcanic ash cloud cancelled flights all over Europe, Liverpool FC were due to play Atletico Madrid, in Madrid.
They travelled by train for some legs of the journey
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2010/apr/20/liverpool-atletico-madrid-travel
- Runcorn to London Euston (Virgin Trains)
- Euston to St Pancras (by coach)
- St Pancras to Paris (Eurostar)
- Paris to Bordeaux (SNCF)
- Bordeaux to Madrid (by plane)
Strangely, a while later I happened to meet the Cardiff City coach driver, who told me that he'd driven all the way to the destination airport to take them to the ground. It wasn't, apparently, a rare happening.
They took a coach between Euston and at pancras
Without going too far off topic - it would make more sense to have the old ‘north’ and ‘south’ divisions to avoid lower league clubs with limited funds having to make such journeys - Dover to Barrow is a heck of a journey for anyone!
to a certain extent they do but even a league like the Northern premier has teams from the North west or North east having to travel 150 miles to Norfolk for a game
I might also point out that for a non league team hiring a coach which can also carry a few (paying) supporters along with the team is probably a much cheaper option than 20 rail tickets ( most teams travel with 14 or 15 players plus managers coaches and physios even at non league level)
500 meters.That's what it says?
Pretty sure Wenger used to do it in his early years at Arsenal. Infact they'd still travel to games in North West as you had that incident of him getting abused at Stoke on Trent station a few years back.
Manchester clubs both get on at Stockport for London games (often pictures of them waiting in the papers).
Evening,
I was in Barrow yesterday for the game and was a bit surprised to arrive at Holker Street and find that Dover were coming by train.
According to the home club official at the front door they had offered to send a coach to Preston to pick up the Dover team and send them back on the supporters bus.
Not to be though - my surprise being that to get to Barrow I left Edinburgh before they left London, just seems to be cutting it exceptionally fine for a National League. My disappointment at the game being off not as high though as the two guys sat in front of me on the way to Barrow who were discussing how they'd completed the 92 and were now doing the Conference. Better luck next time guys.
Anyway a nice new train from Lancaster to Barrow and then a cramped what I think was a 2 car 158 on the way back. Knock on from earlier was a long wait in Lancaster so a wee shunt into town for a couple of beers was the order of the day. Finally made it home 2 hours late.
Annoying but in the grand scheme of things its inconsequential and totally irrelevant compared to what the family and friends of the person involved in the incident are going through.
So here is what I saw of Holker Street and a quick snap of the sign at the station
So the Dover team were stuck at Euston but the supporters coach made it all the way to the ground before finding out the game was off? I find that very hard to believe.
Certainly, if I was travelling from London to Barrow as a spectator (obviously needing no time to get changed and have a warm up at the ground ) I would be on the 0830.
500 meters.
Without doubt. I've done this journey and you would be off your head to book on the 0930, especially as players. I bet there were Dover fans on earlier trains than this too. It was very bad judgement by Dover. My personal view is that Barrow should be awarded a walkover and Dover fined by the league.
The National League should be asking serious questions as to why they were booked on the 0930. A 1200 scheduled arrival at Lancaster with a need to transfer to a coach for an hour road journey is making little allowance for any potential delay.
500 meters.
Meanwhile in reality, football teams do not arrive at away grounds three hours early.
468.2 meters along the Euston road according to Google mapsIt's about double that. It's not far, but they were hardly going to get a bus. Apart from the number of people, they'd have a large amount of luggage to take between the stations.
On the contrary I would suggest a scheduled arrival at the ground at 13.00, two hours before the game is leaving plenty of time.
20 odd first class rail tickets from London to Lancaster, a coach from Lancaster to Barrow, a train from Dover to London and tube fares etc. Hardly a cheap option.
If you like real ale Lancaster is definitely one of the better cities to get stuck in, so not all lost!
Strangely, a while later I happened to meet the Cardiff City coach driver, who told me that he'd driven all the way to the destination airport to take them to the ground
20 odd bulk discount, advancing booking, weekend first, tickets.....nice business for the TOC so amenable on pricing. A local coach, doing short trip. The players won’t be local to the team, so have to travel to a coach pick up point anyway - many will prefer getting to Euston.20 odd first class rail tickets from London to Lancaster, a coach from Lancaster to Barrow, a train from Dover to London and tube fares etc. Hardly a cheap option
very risky sporting teams with long journeys travelling on the same day but I think Dover and sutton were taking a big risk, stockport should have been ok but the circumstances were unfortunate
I heard the Barrow manager on the radio earlier. He wasn't happy that Dover weren't travelling until today. And with a schedule that left no room for delays. They were expecting a crowd of 3,000, so the match being called off has cost them a lot of money.
He said Barrow have one of the lowest budgets in the division but they always travel the day before if they have a long way to go.
I support a non league team and have never known the away side to come by train even when the ground used to be next door to the station (it's 2 miles away now) they have some pretty long journeys as much as 150 miles and always a team coach arrives with the away team
Man city also have a deal with virgin trains that give fans a discount when travelling to away fixtures by train.
Dover have been travelling by train for many years, mainly up north where the ECML and WCML can be used, hiring out 1st coaches. The squad meet in London, players rarely live in Dover anymore.
I remember a Hearts v Kilmarnock game being called off because the Kilmarnock team bus got stuck in an M8 motorway closure. Irony was a lot of the fan buses got there because they diverted- the team bus being early got stuck in the closure section.
Without going too far off topic - it would make more sense to have the old ‘north’ and ‘south’ divisions to avoid lower league clubs with limited funds having to make such journeys - Dover to Barrow is a heck of a journey for anyone!
Below that level 6 is divided into 2 geographic regions to reduce travel, level 7 below that is divided into 4 regions. Leagues go down to level 10 with the geographic areas becoming smaller.
Yesterday probably summed up the folly of having FIVE national leagues. Dover will now have to travel to Barrow on a Tuesday night.
It is probably due to the larger amount of southern based teams at that level which causes teams that should ideally be in National League South ending up in National League North.
The problem was at level 7 there was 3 regional leagues and 2 of them were southern based, each promoting 2 clubs. So for years out of 6 clubs promoted 4 would usually be southern going into step 6 which took the north league at step 6 further and further south. Now its 4 leagues at step 7 with an equal number of north and south (the extra league is predominantly Midlands based, which promotes into the north).
The likes of Hereford, Oxford and Gloucester tend to be the demarcation clubs, when ideally it'd be the likes of Solihull and Kidderminster.
Dover to Barrow is nearly as long as trip as you'll get in England so if they can afford first class travel for their squad and staff for that journey they could have got a coach the day before and a reasonably priced hotel. It's only a once a season trip. Now they'll have to go on a Tuesday night.
The mistake they made yesterday was not leaving early enough or having a coach on standby. They should have been out of Euston before 9.
They should just leave earlier to account for delays if they're travelling on the morning of the game.
Can you show your workings please?
A discounted advance group booking in first class at the weekend plus cabs/local coach trip vs booking a coach and (at least one) driver for two days, finding a hotel that has 15-20 decent rooms available and a conference room, all the extra food, and possibly hiring training facilities too.
Are the players in the National League full time professionals? If some of them have jobs in the 'normal' world as well then travelling on the day is clearly preferable for the players.
It was just stupid of Dover to book a train at 09.30 from London to Cumbria, especially when Lancaster to Barrow is another hour to factor in. Basically meant everything had to go like clockwork to arrive on time for the game.
Obviously you can't account for a serious incident but trains do frequently get cancelled and delayed.
to a certain extent they do but even a league like the Northern premier has teams from the North west or North east having to travel 150 miles to Norfolk for a game
I might also point out that for a non league team hiring a coach which can also carry a few (paying) supporters along with the team is probably a much cheaper option than 20 rail tickets ( most teams travel with 14 or 15 players plus managers coaches and physios even at non league level)
If you like real ale Lancaster is definitely one of the better cities to get stuck in, so not all lost!
Without doubt. I've done this journey and you would be off your head to book on the 0930, especially as players. I bet there were Dover fans on earlier trains than this too. It was very bad judgement by Dover. My personal view is that Barrow should be awarded a walkover and Dover fined by the league.
On the contrary I would suggest a scheduled arrival at the ground at 13.00, two hours before the game is leaving plenty of time.
Indeed, and even 13:00 is a tad on the early side. Most teams like to ideally arrive around 13:30, giving players about half an hour to prepare and stretch their legs before warm-ups begin.
We often leave early when travelling by coach to games (always the same day as the game), meaning there is some flexibility if traffic is an issue. If the journey is going okay, however, we will stop at a services to avoid getting to the ground too early.
The coach isn’t perfect though, and on one occasion we got within ten miles of the ground before an accident closed the motorway ahead. Thankfully the match and league officials were happy to wait and the squad eventually arrived at 3pm, with kick-off 40 minutes later.
I was surprised that Dover etc didn’t have much padding in their schedules, but at the same time incidents like these cannot be predicted.
Don't be silly.
Last time I went to an away match in Cumbria, half of my team's supporters had to be taxied back from places like Crewe and Preston because of major disruption on the WCML after the game. Personally I'd always be out of London before 0800 at the latest for a match like that. How silly of me.