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FA Cup Final- Virgin Trains Press Release

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jopsuk

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this looks like it's a bit of a mess. Cause is the FA insisting on the late match:
Travel advice for Liverpool football fans: FA Cup Final at Wembley - Saturday 5 May 2012
Virgin Trains is warning Liverpool football fans that there are no realistic options for return train travel from London after the FA Cup Final on Saturday 5 May.

Major route improvement works by Network Rail over the Bank Holiday weekend will mean extensive route closures.

Passengers from Liverpool to London on Saturday 5 May will need to travel via Manchester or Chester, or use Stoke-on-Trent station but the decision by the Football Association for a 17:15 kick-off means there are no options for fans to return north the same day after the game.

With the route out of London closed on Sunday 6 May, the earliest that fans could return to Liverpool would be on Monday 7 May.

A Virgin Trains spokesman said: "We always try and help football fans get to and from matches on our network, and did this very successfully for Everton and Liverpool supporters travelling to the semi-final. However, on this occasion, as we explained to the FA, the choice of both a 17:15 kick off and the staging of the FA Cup Final on a Bank Holiday weekend when Network Rail had already planned essential route improvement works means we cannot offer fans the level of train service they have come to expect."

There are private charter trains being planned to operate with Liverpool FC’s Official Travel Partner, Thomas Cook Sport. Supporters are asked to contact Thomas Cook Sport directly or through the Liverpool FC website to gain further details. (www.thomascooksport.com or by phone on 0844 800 9900 Monday-Friday 09.00-17.30). Other charter trains with other promoters may also be arranged.
 
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ushawk

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All so they can stick it on the TV and get money for it - surely a 12.45 kick-off would of been better with the disruption in mind ?
 

MidnightFlyer

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I thought the whole point of the scrambled Premier Legaue fixture card that weekend was to allow the FA Cup to have centre stage at 1500 on Saturday 5 May? :roll: Gotta love the FA.
 

SS4

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They make out like the FA are the bad guys for no reason at all. NR have engineering works, not the FA.

Besides we all know most Liverpool fans can simply go from their local tube station ;)
 

sonic2009

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Its once again money & tv that talks.

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ushawk

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They make out like the FA are the bad guys for no reason at all. NR have engineering works, not the FA.

Besides we all know most Liverpool fans can simply go from their local tube station ;)

But the works have been planned for months in advance, not as if NR know whos going to be in the final.

Id imagine there would be several charters running for this now, more than the last 2 Liverpool Wembley games anyway.
 

EM2

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All so they can stick it on the TV and get money for it - surely a 12.45 kick-off would of been better with the disruption in mind ?
Er, the FA Cup Final has *always* been on TV (well, since TV was invented ;)) and free-to-air. The important change is that it has always been a 3pm kick-off.
Some things were always sacrosanct. No longer, it seems :(
 

Wath Yard

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But the works have been planned for months in advance, not as if NR know whos going to be in the final.

Id imagine there would be several charters running for this now, more than the last 2 Liverpool Wembley games anyway.


Yes, it's not as if they know the FA Cup Final is held at Wembley or several of the major teams that might reach the final are in the North West.
 

calc7

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What is stopping fans taking a more circuitous (permitted) route to Liverpool on the Sunday (eg via Banbury)?
 

ushawk

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Yes, it's not as if they know the FA Cup Final is held at Wembley or several of the major teams that might reach the final are in the North West.

They do run the possibility of that happening, but if the work will take a few days, then the bank holiday weekend if the best time to do it.
 

YorkshireBear

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i think its the 17:15 kick off is the issue causing travel home to be seriously hindered. And didnt the FA cup final used to be after the domestic season???
 

Wath Yard

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A time when tens of thousands of people potentially want to travel is not the best time to close the line. Even the Highways Agency has the intelligence to lift road works when it knows the motorway system is going to be especially busy. Public transport systems should transport the public to where they want to go, not tell them to not bother.
 

ushawk

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A time when tens of thousands of people potentially want to travel is not the best time to close the line. Even the Highways Agency has the intelligence to lift road works when it knows the motorway system is going to be especially busy. Public transport systems should transport the public to where they want to go, not tell them to not bother.

Well if the works are taking place over the whole weekend, its clearly a big job and it isnt something that can just be moved.

As said, its the evening kick-off causing the problems. Couldnt people go via Chester as well as i thought they are running normally ?
 

MidnightFlyer

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D1009

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Well if the works are taking place over the whole weekend, its clearly a big job and it isnt something that can just be moved.

As said, its the evening kick-off causing the problems. Couldnt people go via Chester as well as i thought they are running normally ?

It simply wouldn't be practical to shift the number of people in the time available.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
What is stopping fans taking a more circuitous (permitted) route to Liverpool on the Sunday (eg via Banbury)?

Absolutely nothing, though it would be very circuitous. I think the press release is deliberately economical with the truth to prevent the trains that are running being overwhelmed.
 

HSTEd

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If we had a unified rail system they could pull HSTs and run out of Paddington and Marylebone, but they can't because they have no access to those trains any more.
 

ivanhoe

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You would hope that a joint operation by Virgin/Merseyrail/ Arriva/London Midland could transport thousands via Chester and Crewe. I suspect that National Express and Megabus will make a killing.
 
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A time when tens of thousands of people potentially want to travel is not the best time to close the line. Even the Highways Agency has the intelligence to lift road works when it knows the motorway system is going to be especially busy. Public transport systems should transport the public to where they want to go, not tell them to not bother.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong? I recall going to the England V Poland WC match, at Wembley 3rd June 1989. It was a Saturday 3pm. If memory serves, The FA shifted the match to 3pm; because the North Circular Road was going to be shut at 6, for roadworks. I don't think it caused too much of a problem.
 

The Planner

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FA Cup finals always fell around the second or third weekend of May, missing the bank holiday. Public holidays have always been a period of large scale blocks, nothing has changed there.
 

Michael.Y

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Wouldn't be a problem if 127 years of tradition and history counted for something versus the FA's moneygrabbing antics. FA Cup Final has always been 3pm on a Saturday after the end of the season. They've changed it this year for no reasonable reason that I can see.
 

sonic2009

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Its a shame really, the last trains with a connection to Liverpool on the 5th May are :

2011 Euston - Liverpool 2345, Bus from Crewe.

2020 Euston - Liverpool 0046, via Stockport, Manchester Oxford Road, Hunts Cross & Bus to Liverpool from Hunts Cross.




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sonic2009

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Last year the FA Cup final, was on the 5th May due to the Wembley Pitch requiring not to be used 2 weeks before the Champions League Final. Now the only logistical reason i can think of is something to do with the Olympics? There may well be a load of rules and regulations stating that the pitch cannot be used x number of weeks before the Olympics, which means a pressure of the FA to fit all the league play off finals, FA Cup final in before this date arises.



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MidnightFlyer

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Wouldn't be a problem if 127 years of tradition and history counted for something versus the FA's moneygrabbing antics. FA Cup Final has always been 3pm on a Saturday after the end of the season. They've changed it this year for no reasonable reason that I can see.

The date is because of UEFA's policy that premier leagues and major cups must finish four weeks before the start of Euro 2012 (or any international competition) in qualified nations, so it had to be moved as the usual date didn't comply with that.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Last year the FA Cup final, was on the 5th May due to the Wembley Pitch requiring not to be used 2 weeks before the Champions League Final. Now the only logistical reason i can think of is something to do with the Olympics? There may well be a load of rules and regulations stating that the pitch cannot be used x number of weeks before the Olympics, which means a pressure of the FA to fit all the league play off finals, FA Cup final in before this date arises.



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As above, plus Wembley's being used for the three football league play-offs in late May.
 
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Michael.Y

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The date is because of UEFA's policy that premier leagues and major cups must finish four weeks before the start of Euro 2012 (or any international competition) in qualified nations, so it had to be moved as the usual date didn't comply with that.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The date matters diddly squat - it's the time.
 

D1009

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Its a shame really, the last trains with a connection to Liverpool on the 5th May are :

2011 Euston - Liverpool 2345, Bus from Crewe.

2020 Euston - Liverpool 0046, via Stockport, Manchester Oxford Road, Hunts Cross & Bus to Liverpool from Hunts Cross.

There's a connection to Chester (arr 2342) off the 2100 Euston - Manchester at Crewe, but the last Merseyrail is 23.00, other than the 2359 ECS to Birkenhead Central Sidings !
 

sonic2009

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We all know the time is appaling, but were mentiong why the FA CUP final is within the domestic season finish and not after.

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andrew bell

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Isn't it simple, the final should be played on May 13th, the games scheduled for that date should of been rescheduled for a midweek earlier in the season, that way the cup final is on a Saturday when there are no other games on and within the 4 week break impossed by UEFA/FIFA
 

tgsh2011

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Would the East Coast via Leeds, or Midland Mainline via Sheffield be available? Or is the match too late for that as well?
 

MidnightFlyer

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The date matters diddly squat - it's the time.

Well you did say 'end of season' ;)

I think the time is inspired both by the TV money and desire to have it away from the time of any other fixtures on the 5th. Of course, that doesn't account for why it can't be held at 1215, all they would have to do then is move Arsenal v Chelsea to later. Of course, doing that would mean it couldn't be televised as the evening game and Sunday is fully booked up...
 

sonic2009

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You've also got the fact that the Champions League finals are now on Saturdays, another TV complication.

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