[Albion] Fight on the Falmer to Brighton train post-match

[BBassic]

I can help you with that one. My daughter and grandson were on the train going back to (ahem!) East Croydon, a woman was kicking off about something and wouldn’t shut her gob, she started swearing at the police and was taken off at Balcombe. At the same time Chelsea knobhead fans started having a go at the Old Bill and I believe a couple were also chucked off as well. Oh well, no accounting for taste eh? I reckon the old seaside air must have got to them.

Probably had a good old sniff of something...

 

[portlock seagull]

Poor Balcombe, ending up with some low life’s nearing midnight. Hope they froze overnight, that’ll learn ‘em!

 

[osgood]

Chelsea really missed you last night Ossie, even though it's been way over forty years since you last pulled on your number 9 shirt, you were still by far, more likely to score a goal than that fat imobile lump called Romelu Lukaku who now plays in your position, even though you are ermmm . . . dead.

Agreed , Happy to report that can still watch matches, and have changed clubs ,
was much more skilful and mobile than Rom , who was again marshalled superbly by BDB,
Think Ziyech goal was pretty reminiscent of me in my playing days though ...

 

[faoileán]

I hope the club and police review the last two matches as they didn't get either right: Palace match the policing was OTT and the post match fan circulation plan was a disaster. The Chelsea match last night the police were virtually absent and 3,000 pissed-off and lairy Chelsea fans were left to do as they like. The situation in the train queue after the match was close to getting out of hand, not exactly helped by stupidly long gaps between trains.

 

[Superseagull]

Or helped by the fact the first train out if Falmer post match was only 4 carriages long. Can’t anyone organise the first few trains to arrive after final whistle to be 7 or 8 carriages thus getting the train queue clearing at peak time? The longer everyone just stood there the worse the atmosphere got.

And yes, Sussex plod nowhere to be seen. Only police seemed to be the BTP and there were not many of them either.

 

[el punal]

Probably had a good old sniff of something...

Yep!

 

[Munkfish]

Yep!

I saw your card in the WSU toilets 3 sniffs of the gooch for a fiver. I heard very much it smells like crabcakes.

 

[zefarelly]

Or helped by the fact the first train out if Falmer post match was only 4 carriages long. Can’t anyone organise the first few trains to arrive after final whistle to be 7 or 8 carriages thus getting the train queue clearing at peak time? The longer everyone just stood there the worse the atmosphere got.

And yes, Sussex plod nowhere to be seen. Only police seemed to be the BTP and there were not many of them either.

Just a hunch. maybe plod from Friday were watching, in the Chelsea end . . . .

 

[el punal]

I saw your card in the WSU toilets 3 sniffs of the gooch for a fiver. I heard very much it smells like crabcakes.

And that’s why I walk sideways! Boom! Boom!

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Probably had a good old sniff of something...

Just ozone would have been enough, precious little fresh air to breathe in central London these days.

 

[S.T.U cgull]

Or helped by the fact the first train out if Falmer post match was only 4 carriages long. Can’t anyone organise the first few trains to arrive after final whistle to be 7 or 8 carriages thus getting the train queue clearing at peak time? The longer everyone just stood there the worse the atmosphere got.

And yes, Sussex plod nowhere to be seen. Only police seemed to be the BTP and there were not many of them either.

Not that it helps massively here; there was an 8 coach Gatwick Express before that 4 car one you mention, which had been filled to the brim. Having trains of that improved length makes such a difference especially when most of the away fans have come down on the train too - and given the rather reduced service across the network, its not like those longer trains are being used for anything else at the moment!

 

[Lindfield by the Pond]

It's nice to know we've done our bit to spoil their season. Thanks for the two points lads and sorry about the four you appear to have lost.

In my book I thought it was 2 points gained by them, and the 4 points we lost?

 

[BluesRockDJ]

Strange fans.

A group of about 20 or so were making their way towards the station just ahead of us when we came out of the WSU.

Their opener of "Same old Chelsea, taking the piss" was followed by them going through a repetoire of Palace songs. After that, it seemed to be getting quite "tense" in the queue for the trains as we made our way by towards the Bridge.

Why can't supporters just go home peaceably after a game ?

 

[jd312]

I hope the club and police review the last two matches as they didn't get either right: Palace match the policing was OTT and the post match fan circulation plan was a disaster. The Chelsea match last night the police were virtually absent and 3,000 pissed-off and lairy Chelsea fans were left to do as they like. The situation in the train queue after the match was close to getting out of hand, not exactly helped by stupidly long gaps between trains.

Precisely. The policing was overkill for Palace, and completely under-resourced and frankly uninterested against Chelsea.

Around 15-20 Chelsea were starting fights in the queue next to me with at least one scuffle where they jumped over the barriers to attack an Albion fan. It was due to parents calling for peace as there were children present that ended it.

Police weren’t anywhere to be seen. Only two luckless stewards. I eventually saw three British Transport Police keeping warm under the ramp before getting on the platform. When I told them about the incident, they took zero interest in what I had to say apart from correcting me for thinking they were Sussex Police.

Against Arsenal there was trouble in this same area. Never are there police on the bridge monitoring for signs of trouble in the queue. Not rocket science to know that's a good place to be.

 

[pure_white]

Police were on the bridge for the Palace game. I agree the levels of policing were inadequote for Chelsea. What do others think about holding away fans back? Should Chelsea have had a special train back to Bognor Regis and Eastbourne, I mean London? Or is this where the problem lay their fans are scattered everywhere?

 

[Gazwag]

Or helped by the fact the first train out if Falmer post match was only 4 carriages long. Can’t anyone organise the first few trains to arrive after final whistle to be 7 or 8 carriages thus getting the train queue clearing at peak time? The longer everyone just stood there the worse the atmosphere got.

And yes, Sussex plod nowhere to be seen. Only police seemed to be the BTP and there were not many of them either.

Don't be silly the train company couldn't care less, there's a reason people call it the covid express when they can only be bothered to run 4 car trains. I think it's done on purpose. Some fans got home to Bexhill at gone 1am last night due to cancellations.

 

[South west gull]

Police were on the bridge for the Palace game. I agree the levels of policing were inadequote for Chelsea. What do others think about holding away fans back? Should Chelsea have had a special train back to Bognor Regis and Eastbourne, I mean London? Or is this where the problem lay their fans are scattered everywhere?

Definitely a train back to London

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

 

[Gabbafella]

There was a group of 3 Chelsea lads on the bus back into town, I overheard one say they needed to get off at a certain stop but didn't know where it was so I told him it was one stop after mine so just keep an eye on when I get off. He thanked me, as did his mates and wished me a good evening.
One of them had also dropped his wallet and a woman let him know, he picked it up, thanked her and said "we should stay down here more often, everyone's really nice."
Not as exciting as the other stories, but made a nice change to just get along with other humans instead of getting into a testosterone fueled, geographical pissing contest.

 

[faoileán]

There was a group of 3 Chelsea lads on the bus back into town, I overheard one say they needed to get off at a certain stop but didn't know where it was so I told him it was one stop after mine so just keep an eye on when I get off. He thanked me, as did his mates and wished me a good evening.
One of them had also dropped his wallet and a woman let him know, he picked it up, thanked her and said "we should stay down here more often, everyone's really nice."
Not as exciting as the other stories, but made a nice change to just get along with other humans instead of getting into a testosterone fueled, geographical pissing contest.

Generally this is how interactions with away fans go when they come to Brighton, but it's interesting to see young blokes 18-30 from certain clubs who feel that they have a reputation built in the 70s and 80s by their dads that they have to uphold, Chelsea being a prime example. Their fans are generally not from poor tough backgrounds; they are affluent working class and lower middle, and they come from places like Epsom and Sutton which are hardly rough areas. But they feel obliged to act the Chelsea way which is arrogantly aggressive and obnoxious.

 

[jackalbion]

Or helped by the fact the first train out if Falmer post match was only 4 carriages long. Can’t anyone organise the first few trains to arrive after final whistle to be 7 or 8 carriages thus getting the train queue clearing at peak time? The longer everyone just stood there the worse the atmosphere got.

And yes, Sussex plod nowhere to be seen. Only police seemed to be the BTP and there were not many of them either.

Depends where the trains origin is, on the amount of carriages, the Hastings services can generally only be 4 and the Lewes shuttles are a maximum of 6 (if you can find the conductors). The Seafords can be bumped up to 8 and I think that is what the GX ones were.