Absolutely disgraceful

[Jackthelad]

West Ham views on "Fickle Brighton Fans" leaving early.
http://www.westhamonline.net/forum_flat.php?5795982||1||

 

[South Coast Eagle]

Good on you. But people with kids aren't in the same position of being able to simply be able to cope with getting back in the wee small hours if it came to it. As I have said before, I would much rather the people turned up for the first 85/90 minutes and left just before the end, than if they didn't bother turning up at all. Until the transport waiting times improve at the Amex this will always be an issue, maybe even more so if planning permission is granted for the extra 10k seats.

And it has nothing to do with supporting the team or not, as ROSM said, there were still at least 16k fans still in the ground at the final whistle

Good reply. In regards to our attendences, how do you compete with Arsenal, Spurs & Chelsea as 'local' teams for the up & coming football fans? This gets even worse when you see the kids proudly decked out in their new Man Utd & Liverpool shirts. Unfortunately this is the Sky effect & like it or not I believe you will see a drop in attendences & season ticket sales once the novelty has worn off. This is by no means any form of a dig, unfortunately this is a reality no matter how shit it is.

 

[DerbyGull]

I'm sure the club is open to ideas if it really isn't that hard, as you suggest. They could hire more park & ride buses (which costs them more money)

Why not buy a few cheap old buses (i noticed Brighton and Hove buses sold a couple of T reg double deckers to a company in this region), it may cost bloom a few grand but he'll make that money back in no time charging everyone a couple of quid. He could park the buses in the stadium car park and hire a bus driver for a couple of hours.

but how quickly they can get in and out will remain a problem unless the roads can be widened. The Bennetts Field car park, I think, has made it harder for the buses.

I don't know enough about this to comment.

Trains are up to Southern and Network Rail.

What are the maximum carriages allowed? Would 12 not be feasible?

...But I might take up the suggestion (and again, I know it's not for everyone) of walking back down the Lewes Road and getting a bus there in future.

I did this walking back from the Gillingham match. Walked past falmer school and up to start of moulsecoomb way and caught the bus from there. I'm sure we could have a few buses around there lined up and waiting to take fans into town.

 

[pigbite]

I've tried P&R, train from Brighton, train from Angmering and parking in Coldean/MC. Usually I have at least one of my three kids (all under 10) with me and have found driving and parking (I know - shame on me!) the best. We always stay until the end, it takes at least 10 mins to get out of the east stand as we are near the front and in the middle of a row. Usually need to take one of kids to the loo etc. etc. It's then a 20-25 min walk to the car and then a 30 min drive home. It's never taken me more than an hour and an half to get home to Rustington and that's with kids.

Last night, we walked past the queue for the Brighton trains at 22:05 and that was still at it's 10min wait stage, got to the car near the chippy in MC by 10:30 and home by 11. I had my 6 yr old lad with me and he was absolutely fine. To be fair, if it was not half term I would not have brought him but the point is I've never had any of my kids complain about waiting 20 mins for the train or walking a mile to the car.

I am not particuarly judgmental about people leaving early - each to their own as far as I am concerned - but I do think it becomes an escalating issue. The more people leave early then the earlier you end up having to leave to really get the benefit, the more people end up thinking they have to leave earlier and the more there is a negative vibe to the last part of the game - regardless of how the team are playing and what the score is.

As a side point however, what I have noticed is that all the STHs who are at each game around me always stay - it's the people who are using their mate's tickets that tend to leave...

My only gripe - why is the roof not actually big enough to keep everyone reasonably dry ;-) !

 

[Dave the OAP]

It took over an hour to get from virgin/esporta club entrance to the traffic lights on woodingdean road last night. It normally takes 2 minutes.

Stewarding is just bollocks....we had selfish buggers parking anywhere they want picking people up...I saw one idiot in a merc stop in front of a bus , get out and lock his car and wander off into the car park,,,,blocking the road completely..the stewards just looked at him. Pathetic

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Good reply. In regards to our attendences, how do you compete with Arsenal, Spurs & Chelsea as 'local' teams for the up & coming football fans? This gets even worse when you see the kids proudly decked out in their new Man Utd & Liverpool shirts. Unfortunately this is the Sky effect & like it or not I believe you will see a drop in attendences & season ticket sales once the novelty has worn off. This is by no means any form of a dig, unfortunately this is a reality no matter how shit it is.

I'm looking through rather blue and white tinted glasses here, but I really think we'll be able to sustain the attendances as long as we're in the Championship. I think a lot of kids who were Premiership fans are being won over by the football and the atmosphere of a packed stadium. Add to that the waiting list of fans wanting a season ticket and I think we'll continue with crowds we have got so far this year. It can't be understimated how well the board did in offering the 12 monthly interest free option for buying season tickets, meaning you could get one for less than £40 a month. Barring relegation or a huge increase in prices I think we'll sell out again next season.

We do not have anywhere near as many clubs around us to compete with like yourselves though and for that we are rather fortunate.

I get annoyed at people who moan about folk leaving 5 minutes early when they have gone to the effort of going to the game itself and could easily have watched it at home. As I said, I would much rather have a 20k crowd for 89 minutes, than 14k for 90 minutes.

 

[South Coast Eagle]

I'm looking through rather blue and white tinted glasses here, but I really think we'll be able to sustain the attendances as long as we're in the Championship. I think a lot of kids who were Premiership fans are being won over by the football and the atmosphere of a packed stadium. Add to that the waiting list of fans wanting a season ticket and I think we'll continue with crowds we have got so far this year. It can't be understimated how well the board did in offering the 12 monthly interest free option for buying season tickets, meaning you could get one for less than £40 a month. Barring relegation or a huge increase in prices I think we'll sell out again next season.

We do not have anywhere near as many clubs around us to compete with like yourselves though and for that we are rather fortunate.

I get annoyed at people who moan about folk leaving 5 minutes early when they have gone to the effort of going to the game itself and could easily have watched it at home. As I said, I would much rather have a 20k crowd for 89 minutes, than 14k for 90 minutes.

Without a doubt. As the great *ahem* Status Quo said, you pay your money you make your choice. If I've forked out a wedge of my limited disposible income to attend an event, if I want to leave I bloody well will & I would not appreciate a holier than thou preacher telling me I'm shit because of it.

You never know, if we get permission & actually build our new stadium then we will have our own new fans. Hopefully if this is the case they'll see us playing the attractive style of football that we are doing at the moment rather than the dross of the last four seasons.

Off topic here, who would you prefer to win tonight, Palace or Saints? Just playing devils advocate....

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Without a doubt. As the great *ahem* Status Quo said, you pay your money you make your choice. If I've forked out a wedge of my limited disposible income to attend an event, if I want to leave I bloody well will & I would not appreciate a holier than thou preacher telling me I'm shit because of it.

You never know, if we get permission & actually build our new stadium then we will have our own new fans. Hopefully if this is the case they'll see us playing the attractive style of football that we are doing at the moment rather than the dross of the last four seasons.

Off topic here, who would you prefer to win tonight, Palace or Saints? Just playing devils advocate....

Southampton, clearly

 

[chrissyboy01]

EVERY SINGLE "fan" who left upto 10 minutes early now, please feel disgusted with yourselves, 1-0 versus west ham and you are all heading for the exits, absolute f***ing joke.

How do you know what the circumstances are behind people leaving early - who are you to judge? As for Sky commentators well, say no more as they are no doubt whisked away in private vehicles parked within the stadium confines. Maybe they would be less critical if they had to join the queues for the public transport.

 

[portlock seagull]

I think the situation's exacerbated by the sheer number of evening games we've had to date and everyone's had horrendous experiences getting away if they follow the club's request to use public transport or P&Rs.

For me though weekday evening games are a bit of nightmare because I live outside of Sussex. It's a 4.30pm finish at work and then rush all the way praying the M25's not horrific (just normal congestion!), then park in Balcombe because it's about the only station "just off" the M23-A23 corridor relatively. Then jump on the train, change at HH, train to Lewes (because Brighton station's a no go zone in the "crush hour" and then Falmer from there. All very stressful because every minute counts and there are endless jam-points like the M3 and M23 turnoffs before continuing by train / making 3 connections, all of which can be missed if one of them is slightly delayed!

Then I have to do the reverse post match and what I've found is that motorways in this country are WORSE (!) late at night than in rush hour e.g. so many lane closures on M23 and M25, M40 that I've been getting home at 1am or 2am (for the Palace game, just what I needed!). Last night I got home shortly after midnight. BUT that was only because I sprinted from the North Stand when the board went up for extra time and the motorways mercifully weren't too bad dispite the poor weather.

Now I'd loved to have stayed for the 8mins extra time but I take my work relatively seriously and can't be exhausted because of a football match the previous evening. And staying for those 8mins extra time could be the difference between me getting home as I did at just after midnight or 2-3 am. If we played an evening game every now and then I'd perhaps bite the bullet. But we don't. We're practically nocturnal these days and should really be called the Owls!

So sorry Mr Hurstpierpoint Seagull, some of us aren't students and don't live next door to the ground as you do!

 

[Deleted member 18477]

I think the situation's exacerbated by the sheer number of evening games we've had to date and everyone's had horrendous experiences getting away if they follow the club's request to use public transport or P&Rs.

For me though weekday evening games are a bit of nightmare because I live outside of Sussex. It's a 4.30pm finish at work and then rush all the way praying the M25's not horrific (just normal congestion!), then park in Balcombe because it's about the only station "just off" the M23-A23 corridor relatively. Then jump on the train, change at HH, train to Lewes (because Brighton station's a no go zone in the "crush hour" and then Falmer from there. All very stressful because every minute counts and there are endless jam-points like the M3 and M23 turnoffs before continuing by train / making 3 connections, all of which can be missed if one of them is slightly delayed!

Then I have to do the reverse post match and what I've found is that motorways in this country are WORSE (!) late at night than in rush hour e.g. so many lane closures on M23 and M25, M40 that I've been getting home at 1am or 2am (for the Palace game, just what I needed!). Last night I got home shortly after midnight. BUT that was only because I sprinted from the North Stand when the board went up for extra time and the motorways mercifully weren't too bad dispite the poor weather.

Now I'd loved to have stayed for the 8mins extra time but I take my work relatively seriously and can't be exhausted because of a football match the previous evening. And staying for those 8mins extra time could be the difference between me getting home as I did at just after midnight or 2-3 am. If we played an evening game every now and then I'd perhaps bite the bullet. But we don't. We're practically nocturnal these days and should really be called the Owls!

So sorry Mr Hurstpierpoint Seagull, some of us aren't students and don't live next door to the ground as you do!

Ignore all the bellend's that criticize mate. Everyone lives THEIR life differently. If others can't respect that then they are clearly not living in the real world that's for sure.

 

[South Coast Eagle]

Southampton, clearly

Hopefully you'll be disappointed.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

If we played an evening game every now and then I'd perhaps bite the bullet. But we don't. We're practically nocturnal these days and should really be called the Owls!

 

[Fran112]

In case you had'nt noticed when you go to the cinema you get the choice of what time you want to watch a film you dont just get a one off showing like you do with a football match, And when was the last time you watched a film at the cinema at the same time as over 20,000 other people with a poor transport system to get you home afterwards. Trying to compare the 2 is just complete nonsense.

Precisely. You choose which film you go to watch so you can see the end. You do not choose to go when you can't see the end, so why do you choose to go to a football match where you can't see the end when you could choose to watch it on tv when you could see the end.
Sorry makes no sense to me!
Just be honest and say you'd had enough and the game was over for you.
As said by many, have you gone to watch a match or support a team!

 

[SockMonster]

Now I left early last night for the first time ever I think because I have a new baby son at home and didnt want to leave my wife coping with him on her own for to long. Soft excuse i know. I actually only left in injury time but I got home about an hour earlier than usual because of the lack of queues. I wont be doing it again I hope but it is tempting. I can understand some fans who have a long way to go particularly on an evening game wanting to get away early. Each to there own I say and I dont think any one should criticise.

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Hopefully you'll be disappointed.

Will be interesting to see what teams are put out, how seriously will Freedman be taking it?

 

[South Coast Eagle]

Will be interesting to see what teams are put out, how seriously will Freedman be taking it?

Reserve goalkeepers to start for both teams, Saints are putting out a 16 year old for his debut, we may well be doing the same.

Our 'cup team' has already knocked out Boro & Wigan this season, I think if we beat Saints then we'll be more inclined to start the quarter finals with our first team in the hope of two televised semi finals.

Should be interesting, Saints fans are worried as we are the in form team at the moment, Palace fans are worried as Saints are top of the league. Should be a great game so on that prediction 0-0 after 120 minutes, Saints to go through on penalties!

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Reserve goalkeepers to start for both teams, Saints are putting out a 16 year old for his debut, we may well be doing the same.

Our 'cup team' has already knocked out Boro & Wigan this season, I think if we beat Saints then we'll be more inclined to start the quarter finals with our first team in the hope of two televised semi finals.

Should be interesting, Saints fans are worried as we are the in form team at the moment, Palace fans are worried as Saints are top of the league. Should be a great game so on that prediction 0-0 after 120 minutes, Saints to go through on penalties!

Haha. Would definitely have watched if it was shown on telly, should be a cracker. As you say, two form teams with a few talented youngsters thrown into the mix. Going for 2-2 after 90, Palace to win in extra time

 

[South Coast Eagle]

Haha. Would definitely have watched if it was shown on telly, should be a cracker. As you say, two form teams with a few talented youngsters thrown into the mix. Going for 2-2 after 90, Palace to win in extra time

Yeah you've f*cking jinxed it now!

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Yeah you've f*cking jinxed it now!

Haha, if only it were that easy