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[Albion] Albion Boxing Day - Martin Samuel









drew

Drew
NSC Patron
Oct 3, 2006
23,929
Burgess Hill
Written by someone who knows jackshit about the whole situation. To say the only access was only ever to be purely public transport when we make use of the Uni car parks and for many years had Bennetts field and the Bridge car park. The reason we don't have a boxing day game (and I prefer that) is that Govia don't run trains on boxing day. The advantage being it's another bank holiday to spend with the family.

Samuet has a distorted view and I believe he has family connections with Man City which taints his perspective. Ignore him.
 


TugWilson

I gotta admit that I`m a little bit confused
Dec 8, 2020
1,974
Dorset
Did you read his reply? Public transport is currently privately run. It’s not down to national or local governments.
I don`t care if PT is run by aliens from Zeta Reticuli the conditions for access to the stadium on match day were made with the government , they stipulated the use of PT only on match days and we agreed , their side of that agreement was to make that PT available , we then issued tickets which subsidise that PT we kept our side of that deal they haven`t . I do not care who is in charge of the PT just that it is there , if you make an agreement you stick to it .
 


Stato

Well-known member
Dec 21, 2011
7,481
if you work in the public service industry one of the downfall is you have to work on public holidays, I had to work Christmas Day and Boxing Day, Boxing Day was always the best day of the season to go and watch football, Always attracted a bumper crowd , and normally a local team would be the opponents,
who wants to go and watch your local non league team on Box Day, what’s a winter break got to do with playing football on Boxing Day
The planning authorities demanded the ground must be accessed mainly by public transport, but they failed to tell the transport companies to provide such a service , and indeed on normal match days service is indeed very poor . That’s is where the problem is
The days of derbies on Boxing Day went out with the three day week and you won't get the past back. There's no way either Police force would consent to a Brighton v Palace on that day. What you'll get is just matches and kick off times that suit the TV viewers. Planners have no power to demand anything of private transport companies. They can only consider the travel plan and grant or refuse permission. A winter break should start just before Christmas. That's what it has to do with Boxing Day.
 






Guinness Boy

Tofu eating wokerati
Helpful Moderator
NSC Patron
Jul 23, 2003
38,102
Up and Coming Sunny Portslade
I don`t care if PT is run by aliens from Zeta Reticuli the conditions for access to the stadium on match day were made with the government , they stipulated the use of PT only on match days and we agreed , their side of that agreement was to make that PT available , we then issued tickets which subsidise that PT we kept our side of that deal they haven`t . I do not care who is in charge of the PT just that it is there , if you make an agreement you stick to it .
So, in short, you’d like the government, who don’t provide transport for any of our other home games, to do so on Boxing Day? Have I got that correct?
 


Rdodge30

Well-known member
Dec 30, 2022
928
I read the Times and rarely get through one of Samuel’s articles- he’s a snide journalist and I always assume he has his own agenda although what that is I have no idea.

He wrote a godawful piece a few months back about how he confidently predicted that Brighton would go the way of Southampton because of the sale of players.

I can’t imagine any Brighton fans would’ve wanted to prioritise Boxing Day when we finally got Falmer
 




ROSM

Well-known member
Dec 26, 2005
7,087
Just far enough away from LDC


studio150

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 30, 2011
30,421
On the Border
Football was once played on Christmas Day, but that is now a long time ago. Maybe it's time for all top level football on Boxing Day to become a thing of the past and to be replaced with a winter break.

Stop on 20th December and restart on the first Saturday in January with the FA Cup 3rd Round. Bin the League Cup and those midweek dates can be used to fit in the league games that would be axed from the winter break period.

Won't happen of course.
 


drew

Drew
NSC Patron
Oct 3, 2006
23,929
Burgess Hill
if you work in the public service industry one of the downfall is you have to work on public holidays, I had to work Christmas Day and Boxing Day, Boxing Day was always the best day of the season to go and watch football, Always attracted a bumper crowd , and normally a local team would be the opponents,
who wants to go and watch your local non league team on Box Day, what’s a winter break got to do with playing football on Boxing Day
The planning authorities demanded the ground must be accessed mainly by public transport, but they failed to tell the transport companies to provide such a service , and indeed on normal match days service is indeed very poor . That’s is where the problem is
But we have home games at the Amex on Boxing day, Arsenal and Brentford. It's a pain in the butt for home supporters as much as it is for away fans. The club cannot demand trains are provided on boxing day and it's a bit puerile to suggest they should or even that local authorities have control over private transport companies.
 




TugWilson

I gotta admit that I`m a little bit confused
Dec 8, 2020
1,974
Dorset
So, in short, you’d like the government, who don’t provide transport for any of our other home games, to do so on Boxing Day? Have I got that correct?
Because they made the conditions for the stadium which included the transport clauses - YES i expect adequate PT to be available on ALL our scheduled home fixtures . It`s bad enough that we are the only club in the EPL and probably the whole EFL that has such conditions put on them , so the least they can do is honour their side .
 


ROSM

Well-known member
Dec 26, 2005
7,087
Just far enough away from LDC
Because they made the conditions for the stadium which included the transport clauses - YES i expect adequate PT to be available on ALL our scheduled home fixtures . It`s bad enough that we are the only club in the EPL and probably the whole EFL that has such conditions put on them , so the least they can do is honour their side .
Not quite correct. There are planning policies on how much new car parking can be built for any new development. Shopping centre, stadium or arena. It is up to the applicant to demonstrate to the planners by means of a travel management plan, that their development can operate in these guidelines.

So any agreement should be between the club and travel partners. Now nobody could have foreseen brexit, covid legacy, govia treating their staff like shit (maybe we could that last one). Maybe the govt could step in and legislate on this or use regulators to enforce. Maybe it's an argument for an independent regulator for football to liase with transport regulators?
 


Weststander

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Aug 25, 2011
70,544
Withdean area
Because they made the conditions for the stadium which included the transport clauses - YES i expect adequate PT to be available on ALL our scheduled home fixtures . It`s bad enough that we are the only club in the EPL and probably the whole EFL that has such conditions put on them , so the least they can do is honour their side .

The planning conditions would’ve been set by a planning authority in the late noughties. A UK government, especially in 2024, has zero connection to the above. There is no “they”.

The planning authority or any authority wasn’t going to provide whatever the club wanted for transport. It was down to the club to arrange matters.

Why should the public purse be dipped into at great expense because for two short time periods on a public holiday a few thousand football supporters might use some train-lines in Sussex? There are more pressing priorities for taxpayers money.
 




Guinness Boy

Tofu eating wokerati
Helpful Moderator
NSC Patron
Jul 23, 2003
38,102
Up and Coming Sunny Portslade
The planning conditions would’ve been set by a planning authority in the late noughties. A UK government, especially in 2024, has zero connection to the above. There is no “they”.

The planning authority or any authority wasn’t going to provide whatever the club wanted for transport. It was down to the club to arrange matters.

Why should the public purse be dipped into at great expense because for two short time periods on a public holiday a few thousand football supporters might use some train-lines in Sussex? There are more pressing priorities for taxpayers money.
Very good points. And I’m not sure if @TugWilson can suggest how said government would deliver the once every two years transport.
 


Zeberdi

“Vorsprung durch Technik”
NSC Patron
Oct 20, 2022
7,744
Because they made the conditions for the stadium which included the transport clauses - YES i expect adequate PT to be available on ALL our scheduled home fixtures . It`s bad enough that we are the only club in the EPL and probably the whole EFL that has such conditions put on them , so the least they can do is honour their side .

It was the Club’s commitment to their own objectives of having sustainable travel links to the stadium (included in the first Application and Transport Assessment as part of the planning applications) that lead to the Transport Strategy commitments and the ‘conditions’ included in the Applications.

When the Club submitted an application in 2011 to increase the capacity from 22,500 to 30,750, and increase parking spaces, it was the Club’s original Transport Strategy in the 2008 Application that the Council reviewed for compliance and whether the increased capacity would meet the 2008 commitments.

‘Adequate’ PT is a slightly different issue and the Council noted at the time, additional on site and off site parking could be necessary if PT was inadequate but it doesn’t address the Boxing Day issue where there is no public transport at all, therefore the Club can not meet it’s own commitments to encourage sustainable travel by scheduling matches on days public transport is not available.

Review here which may be of interest

.
 


Tony Le Mesmer

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
1,390
South Wales
The idea suggested by that article that an independent football regulator is a bad idea because Brighton cannot play home games on Boxing Day (which we did three years ago in front of under 15,000) screams of an argument put forward to a journalist who is anti independent regulator by a club who are anti independent regulator
Totally this..... Should have been the headline nothing to do with Brighton Boxing Day no show. Makes me mad!
 


bhadebenhams

Active member
Mar 14, 2009
354
Remind me which club Samuel’s son worked for and whose private yacht he stayed on during an F1 race?

Also remind me which well known football journalist threw a hissy fit when a new hack had the temerity to sit in ‘his’ chair at a press conference?
 
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Pliny the Gull

Well-known member
Mar 4, 2024
271
Personally. Got the train to the Brentford game, no probs. Wouldn't have if Boxing day.
The game day is the game day.
 


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