Tom Hark Preston Park
Will Post For Cash
- Jul 6, 2003
- 72,727
Why the long face?
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[Albion] ST= Travel
- Thread starter ady1973
- Start date
Vaughan Storm
Active member
Spot on, although some of my mates have already been priced out of it which is only going to get worse if free travel goes next season. I'll have to consider cancelling if that happens as that's another £100 a year spent on travel potentially.
jackalbion
Well-known member
- Aug 30, 2011
- 5,059
Yeah if the free travel goes (which I don't believe it will be next season at least) then you've got to worry. Pricing people out generally is the issue for most of my mates, but the way do it here makes it pretty affordable.
Kalimantan Gull
Well-known member
I'm an exile, so don't go often, but I just drive and park in Stanmer Park, pay the cheap parking fee and stroll over to the ground. Pretty straightforward. Would love to take the train but the queues to get home can be painful
Yes. I don't doubt that for a second. I suppose ultimately it comes down to the effort an individual is prepared to invest to attend a game of PL football - and that will vary considerably from person to person. For me, the 'ballache index' has exceeded my tolerance level but I fully accept that for others it won't even be close to topping out.Aren’t many away games that are any better
So we regularly park at the Uni, but our experience may differ from yours as we live about 90 mins away from the Amex so usually get to the Uni about 2 hours before kick off thus have no issues getting in. Post game we normally leave the ground a couple of minutes before the end of injury time, and a brisk walk later are usually back on the a27 fairly swiftly.
Whilst I'd love to stay until the whistle every week, when it makes such a difference in getting home its a no-brainer sadly.
As context, for a 3pm game we have to leave home at half 10/11 and get back around 7pm.
thedonkeycentrehalf
Moved back to wear the gloves (again)
- Jul 7, 2003
- 9,417
I am lucky that I can afford the Seagull Travel 'overhead' for games where otherwise the 'ballache' index may come into play. It's not cheap but at the moment I am happy to pay the extra to avoid issues with trains etc which impact time with work, family, etc.
However, for others this is either not financially realistic or logistically possible. Some of my friends now live in London and this makes evening games a real challenge as they either miss the end of the game or get home very late which is not always great if you have work early the following morning.
It is also an age thing - back in the day I did many a midweek away trip to a dreary northern town to see us lose, get back to the Goldstone at 2am on Costa Coaches, drive 30 minutes to home and still be in work for 8am that morning. Not something I would consider these days.
If it wasn’t for the possibility of further European adventures I’d be thinking of not renewing my ST and just travelling to a handful of home games. I’ve been making the 600 mile round trip to most home games for 22 years since I moved to North Wales and the journey is certainly getting harder to justify. It’s not the Amex that’s the issue as I now park at the Uni but the traffic in the South East, particularly the M25, gets worse every year. If I’m lucky I can do it in five hours but nowadays it’s usually six plus. I’m not getting any younger either!
Well whatever you do don’t move to Mile Oak or you’ll be leaving at 10 and getting home at 9pm.
TWOCHOICEStom
Well-known member
Sound advice that.
jackalbion
Well-known member
- Aug 30, 2011
- 5,059
Its quite near the Southwick Tunnel, could it be possible its some sort of Bus Bermuda Triangle.
Sussexscots
3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 3, 3, 3, 3 ,3 ,3 3 coach chuggers
The trains now suck a lot of the joy out of the 'matchday experience'.
Saturday games, the trains are just about OK providing there's no operational problems. Sundays, not so good and you more exposed to the likelihood of engineering work. Night games are an utter shitshow. Fixtures getting moved to Friday nights this season is an unwelcome fresh hell. The post match train queue in the company of those jolly, picaresque, Chelsea chappies on Valentine's Day holds little appeal.
For the Prem matches that were originally scheduled for weeknights (Bournemouth and Villa) I'd have put my ST on the exchange; but it doesn't always sell. Southampton, Chelsea, Brentford moved to Friday nights with the possibility of more. I didn't buy a ST to miss over a quarter of our home matches.
At 60, I guess I fall into the getting old category and yes, I'll be considering whether retaining a ST for next season is worthwhile. I'm thinking I may just have a membership and pick and choose the games I attend.
Saturday games, the trains are just about OK providing there's no operational problems. Sundays, not so good and you more exposed to the likelihood of engineering work. Night games are an utter shitshow. Fixtures getting moved to Friday nights this season is an unwelcome fresh hell. The post match train queue in the company of those jolly, picaresque, Chelsea chappies on Valentine's Day holds little appeal.
For the Prem matches that were originally scheduled for weeknights (Bournemouth and Villa) I'd have put my ST on the exchange; but it doesn't always sell. Southampton, Chelsea, Brentford moved to Friday nights with the possibility of more. I didn't buy a ST to miss over a quarter of our home matches.
At 60, I guess I fall into the getting old category and yes, I'll be considering whether retaining a ST for next season is worthwhile. I'm thinking I may just have a membership and pick and choose the games I attend.
portlock seagull
Well-known member
- Jul 28, 2003
- 17,949
I share your pain. The Wisley interchange development for 3 years (why do we take so long here?!!) on top of the LHR-M3 section is just horrendous nearly always. All this before an accident, and closure or late night roadworks when the M23 junction onto is frequently closed forcing you to go cross-country up the A23 and Reigate-Dorking. And even then, other sections can be closed. Once both the M4 and the M40 junctions were closed, you literally couldn't 'Go West', the Pet Shop Boys would have been f***ed!
I've spent a good % of my life stuck on 'the road to hell', and if you're 'driving home for Xmas' then you'd better set off early!
deletebeepbeepbeep
Well-known member
- May 12, 2009
- 21,914
They will be soon I believe - a few hundred additional spaces (two tier).
portlock seagull
Well-known member
- Jul 28, 2003
- 17,949
All this, and a major factor in giving up my STH.
£1.99
Well-known member
- Mar 3, 2008
- 1,248
Brilliant news
Green Cross Code Man
Wunt be druv
Marvellous use of 'picaresque'. Probably a first for NSC.
Maybe not entirely an older person thing, but certainly a "where you are in your life" thing.
If you use the train and are in no great rush to get away from the Amex then there is no issue, particularly if you like a drink and a post-game catch-up with like-minded others.
And that's how my matchdays were for the first 6 or 7 years of the Amex era: early train to Brighton, pub beers, train to Falmer, watch the game, down to the WSL or North concourses for post-match beers and wandering back to the train an hour or two later when the queues were long gone.
In those days, I had no issues at all with the transport provision.
Now I take my 14-y-o and although he'd be fine with the pre-match bit - he'd entertain himself on his phone, the post-match bit wouldn't be much fun for him, hence we drive and park.
So, if you have stuff you need to get home for and/or have kids or other dependents and/or have a distance to travel, the transport can be a pain unless you drive/park, use Seagull Travel or leave before the final whistle.
schmunk
Well-used member
I'd say neither is acceptable. They should have remembered.
portlock seagull
Well-known member
- Jul 28, 2003
- 17,949
Nobody ever mentions though that to use Seagull Travel you have to potentially be picked up several hours before KO. Again if times a factor and you don’t have the luxury of…Same problem with P&R. Mill Rd Opened at 11am and unless you’re in it within first half hour you may well be stuck with a car you can’t park anywhere. Again, means leaving earlier as an exile so again this i.e.shite transport is a massive factor in giving up ST and/or following the Albion. You need the entire day and evening off to watch these days. Because our transport options are terrible.