[Albion] The buses to and from the ground at marseille

[dwayne]

Probably deserves its own thread

I've asked in another thread but does anyone know of it was possible to get in the ground without going on one of those bloody buses. Lot of people missed the beginning of the game. Absolutely disgraceful.

And what was the story with Tony bloom redirecting some of these buses for his party ? Is that true ?

 

[Brian Fantana]

Yes, Tony was on a delayed flight from Heathrow and some buses were organised to get fans to the ticket collection point and then the ground.

I’m assuming those fans made it, as Tony arrived in the ground just as the game kicked off.

 

[Gazwag]

TBF when the buses started taking people to the ground I was told they were leaving half full as fans decided to stay and drink rather than get to the ground early - result from this I guess is that those who arrived late couldnt get on buses as they we full of fans who didnt want to get to the ground early

 

[dwayne]

TBF when the buses started taking people to the ground I was told they were leaving half full as fans decided to stay and drink rather than get to the ground early - result from this I guess is that those who arrived late couldnt get on buses as they we full of fans who didnt want to get to the ground early

Think you're not quite right there. Me and my bro were at the bus square 2 hours before and then only got on a bus 30 mins before the game and missed 10 mins. We were sat down with a bottle of rose waiting so not so bad but the buses were shambolic.

We were gonna skip the bus and get a taxi but people kept telling us other people who had tried that were getting turned away. Interested to know if that's just Chinese whispers.

 

[Munchkin]

Baffles me why they didn’t utilise the Metro.

We gave up with the buses pre game and jumped on the Metro with no problem and were at the ground in 15 mins.

With the amount of police around after the game it’s bewildering how they couldn’t have safely got fans back to the square utilising the Metro and police resources they had.

 

[Gazwag]

Think you're not quite right there. Me and my bro were at the bus square 2 hours before and then only got on a bus 30 mins before the game and missed 10 mins. We were sat down with a bottle of rose waiting so not so bad but the buses were shambolic.

We were gonna skip the bus and get a taxi but people kept telling us other people who had tried that were getting turned away. Interested to know if that's just Chinese whispers.

Maybe it was earlier then, my daughter and her group were on a bus at 2pm without any problems

 

[Mr Banana]

Quite a few people headed off to do their own thing. The convoy meant the last buses only missed a few minutes. It didn’t feel safe weaving in and out of traffic and there were a few near-misses. Felt sorry for the drivers.

The lack of basic facilities and in-person communication at the square could be interpreted as fairly appalling, depending on how high your expectations were. Especially as everyone had been given no choice but to go there. It was a bit like England away where, over the years, you realise you can’t trust the clubs/FAs and authorities to look out for you.

Everyone probably did their best and it ultimately doesn’t matter in the scheme of an amazing experience, given the horrors that we were told could happen in Marseille. The buses will just be remembered as a funny part of it for most, I think.

 

[dwayne]

Baffles me why they didn’t utilise the Metro.

We gave up with the buses pre game and jumped on the Metro with no problem and were at the ground in 15 mins.

With the amount of police around after the game it’s bewildering how they couldn’t have safely got fans back to the square utilising the Metro and police resources they had.

Right .... as I thought you could just get there any form you wished. Now annoyed with myself for not doing that.

I didn't take the bus on the way back...

 

[Salty_Seagull]

I actually really enjoyed the bus to the ground, not sure the driver did though with the amount of noise we were making. Party atmosphere on board and was hilarious seeing all the marseille fans giving us the finger as we drove past.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

I didn't go to the game, but I did have to leave Shoreham-by-Sea at half time to travel to Durrington and back, which meant dealing with the HEAVING A27 westbound.

By the sounds of it, it's a pretty similar experience to those who went to France.

 

[RM-Taylor]

TBF when the buses started taking people to the ground I was told they were leaving half full as fans decided to stay and drink rather than get to the ground early - result from this I guess is that those who arrived late couldnt get on buses as they we full of fans who didnt want to get to the ground early

Buses started arriving just after 130pm. Obviously at that time next to nobody, with the exception of maybe a hundred or so, was willing to travel.

More people started moving for the buses around 330pm, that’s when the queues started to form.

 

[WATFORD zero]

I didn't go to the game, but I did have to leave Shoreham-by-Sea at half time to travel to Durrington and back, which meant dealing with the HEAVING A27 westbound.

By the sounds of it, it's a pretty similar experience to those who went to France.

But with a greater risk of violence in Lancing and Durrington

 

[Nicks]

Buses started arriving just after 130pm. Obviously at that time next to nobody, with the exception of maybe a hundred or so, was willing to travel.

More people started moving for the buses around 330pm, that’s when the queues started to form.

Buses should have started leaving at 2.00 pm but went a lot later than that.
We jumped on the first convoy and had a right party in it.
God knows what the driver made of it all

 

[Deadly Danson]

We left around 3.20 on the busses. It was simultaneously the worst and best experience. Incredibly hot and crammed and waited around for ages to leave - hugely unpleasant but the songs and jokes on the bus and reactions from locals and car drivers which was a mixture of bemusement and rude and supportive gestures. Highlight being the driver who gave us the finger and promptly crashed into the car in front

 

[SweatyMexican]

A 15 minute drive that took an hour. There must’ve been a more efficient way than that.

A great experience though as others have said. Totally surreal as far as watching the Albion are concerned.

 

[dwayne]

A 15 minute drive that took an hour. There must’ve been a more efficient way than that.

A great experience though as others have said. Totally surreal as far as watching the Albion are concerned.

Absolutely ludicrous… we started 4 miles away from the stadium and after 20 minutes of driving …. Guess what … we were 4 miles away. Shambolic

 

[East Staffs Gull]

26 miles before entering the stadium. A proper Olympique marathon.

 

[Bozza]

A 15 minute drive that took an hour. There must’ve been a more efficient way than that.

A great experience though as others have said. Totally surreal as far as watching the Albion are concerned.

There’s obviously a more efficient to do the journey whilst covering less distance, but it seemed to be the route taken was designed to minimise the time crawling through slow-moving city traffic during what was rush hour.

So they took us out of town to use the motorway-type roads, leaving only the roads closest to the ground, which you can’t avoid, which were slower moving.

As long and as frustrating as the long journey was, the people who chose the route know far more about Marseille, the roads, the traffic and the potential risks than I do.

I imagine the chances of coaches carrying fans of little old Brighton being ambushed and bricked were pretty small, but if it had happened, people would be rightly asking questions about why the buses were taken down a route that made them sitting ducks.

 

[Official Old Man]

In marseille now. Spoken with many who didn't get out of the ground for 3 hours. Think about it. 3500 fans to move so how many coaches/buses does that take? Return journey for coach is 50 minutes. I saw 22 coaches, each taking 55 to 80 on the crammed bus. Convoy was well organised but needed more transport.

 

[ROSM]

Police and albion stewards were trying to get people onto buses from 1.45. I was meeting people and we got on around 3.30. Those who went early got lots of beer and seats outside.

This is an image around 25 mins into that 50 min journey

We started near Jour, were aiming for the red pin. The blue dot shows the actual location