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Planes, Trains and Automobiles- Matchday Travel Woes

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Ever missed the part or all of the game, or arrived back home at a stupid time due to transport mishaps? I've lost count meself. Had to walk from Victoria once in the early 80s. The district line went bandy, and buses were handily on strike that day, so hundreds of us trod it on one of the coldest days of the winter, arriving at half time.

Arsenal in the league cup final at Cardiff in 2003- picked up Als coach at Wimbledon Station- the tone was set by a crazy loner sitting at the front drinking neat vodka out of a plastic cup at five in the morning; early kick off for some reason. The coach broke down coming home- after a lengthy wait someone turned up to mend it- was given a load of grief so he sodded off. Think we got home 24 hours after we set off, went straight to work the next morning red eyed and half cut.

Remember going to Luton once when the train died. Managed to hitch a lift on the M1- the driver put his hand on my knee, so that was the end of that.

Worse one I heard of was the semi in Sunderland. A coach had most of its windows put through and still drove back to London, including the windscreen according to fable. Icy cold night, going down the M1, with the wind blowing through the coach. People pulled the curtains off and used as makeshift blankets Im told. .... that for a game of soldiers

 
Soulboy said:
Worse one I heard of was the semi in Sunderland. A coach had most of its windows put through and still drove back to London, including the windscreen according to fable. Icy cold night, going down the M1, with the wind blowing through the coach. People pulled the curtains off and used as makeshift blankets Im told. .... that for a game of soldiers
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Makes the punctured tyre we suffered up to Villa last season seem like nothing at all! We'd set off pretty early so thankfully only missed 25 minutes of the first half. As you all know we lost the game 1-0 thus ending our already rapidly fading title hopes. Got home at about 2am feeling pretty dejected. At least I was able to get a beer on the train back from Reading!

 
My mate Tony drove us to Liverpool in a mark 3 Cortina we parked up near Evertons Ground a couple of little scousers approached us "look after ya car for a pound" Tony told them to F@@k off we warned him that he shouldn't have done that this was the start of our woes got tonked 6 0 we got in the car on the way back on the outskirts of Liverpool the car overheated filled the Rad up with water and carried on not far down M6 car overheated again luckily we had filled the can up with water so we topped up the rad again and headed to the nearest service station bought some radweld and put that in but it still didn't stop the water from pissing out had a look at it it had great big holes in looked like it had been punched with a screwdriver took us well into Sunday to get home stop starting with cans of water filling up the boot me and Ernie relieved the boredom by playing 'Russian Roulette' with the traffic on the Motorway having to run run without stopping leaping the barrier in the middle from one side of the Motorway to the other and back

 
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When I was living up in Glasgow I heard about a spare for Liverpool at home in the league; Torres' debut. It wasn't a cheap ticket but I was so keen to see the match that I just made the snap decision to go.

I managed to book a fairly cheap train back up to Glasgow after the match, but had to brave the overnight megabus to get there in time for the game.

The rest is history with regard to the result - Meireles (of all people) scored the winner for them.

Raging, I ran to FB to get the underground towards my train, but as loads of people had left early so the trains were packed and they wouldn't let us on the platform. I missed my train. I had to wait in Victoria coach station for about 3 hours before a bus was available. Another overnight bus. All the way to Glasgow.  :face_palm:

 
i'm going to be a bit boring here. The only times I can remember turning up late was when I went straight from work. Plymouth away and a Tottenham night match I've already written about elsewhere.Jeunesse Hautcharage was another one, got there late from work, and when I asked some bloke the score he told me it was 4-0, or maybe 5-0, after all this time I forget.

Even the relegation at White Hart Lane when most of us were locked out, I sneaked up to the front of the queue so was was one of the few Chelsea to get in to the game. I've also written in depth about that one.

Oh and then there was Rotherham. The 6-0. Weird one this. Being skint I hitchiked overnight, got there in plenty of time, and walked into some pub at opening time. All the pubs were supposed to be closed that day except to locals, but me being there on my own at openers, well knackered, and well and truly Behaving Myself, everything was fine. As I said, I was well skint, but got talking to the locals, who I have to say, were f**king brilliant. They were telling me about how much they hated Sheffield, so lapped up my stories about getting nicked at Wednesday away and all the rest of it. In fact I got on so well, they wouldn't let me put my hands in my pocket. As it happens, the pub was on the route from the station to the ground, so there I was with all these Rotherham watching the Chelsea that had come on the specials. I spotted this bloke I'd known for years, from South London somewhere, known as Goon .At the bar I announced that I knew "that lot". "Are they mates of yours? Get 'em in!" So I gave Goon and his mates a shout, and we just carried on with the pissup, having a right old time. So much so that we managed to miss the kickoff (got there at last). Listening to the match on the radio, we were two or three (I think it was three) nil down by the time we got out. "You're welcome to stay lads", we were told, but thanked them and staggered off to the ground.

Goon and his mates went in with the Chelsea, but on the spur of the moment, I turned left instead of right, straight into the middle of the Rotherham end. Pissed as a fart, doing my best pissed as a fart Billy Connolly impression. "I'm no English pal. I'm fae Glasgae. Hey jimmy can ye gissa cigarette?" Well out of it, I kept this up for the rest of the game, not bothering to watch the match. At the final whistle, I went out with the Rotherham mob, and if suddenly dawned on me that I didn't have a clue where I was going, and that I somehow needed to get home. So I sidled up to some Yorkshire Old Bill, and in a stage whisper I told him: "I'm not really Scottish, I'm Chelsea... "

I had intended to ask for directions either to the motorway or to the mainline station, with the intention of bunking back on the special, but f**k knows what happened then, because the next thing I remember was waking, up in the back seat of a carload of Chelsea fans that I didn't know from Adam. To this day I've got no idea what happened, no idea how I got there. If only I'd stuck around, but when they pulled up at a service station, I wandered off and got a lift down to Walthamstow, and from there I got the underground home.

Come to think of it, I'm sure I've already written about The Rotherham Saga, but what happened between my approach to the plod and the time I woke up is as much of a mystery as it ever was.

 
I remember the day after we played Celtic I was on the train back to gatwick I noticed a lot of people in a panic but I was to hungover and my nose was still sore from the night before to care what other people where doing. Got to the airport and it was nuts all flights cancelled because of a bomb scare what an absolute nightmare

 
1992 cup game against Everton. Cold midweek journey on the good old Chelsea special!! On the way up the train slowed down ( slower than normal) we eventually made it to Crewe, where the old bill decided that we wouldn't make it until after kick off, so we were going back to london!!

The biggest railway sidings in the country and they couldn't give us a replacement loco!! Had to repair our one then go back to london! Remember people started to leave the train and go for a drink outside the station, the old bill were having none of it and it started to kick off. I know wer'e a group together but I couldn't imagine being treated like this on a normal train. Got back to London to be met by a large police presence expecting there to be trouble and we didn't give them the satisfaction. The game was a 2-2 draw and we won the replay! The good thing is British Rail refunded the train fare and paid for the match tickets. That's my worst Chelsea special episode. Although early 80s did arrive late a few times.

 
Just one of many was the bruge away match.

To start with my usual travelling mates dropped out, work and stuff, so I jumped the train to dover, got into Calais about 2 in the morning, where I had to wait till 6 for some chels to turn up on a later ferry, off we go to Calais station for the train to bruge. After a sh*t journey, with no food or drink or food we finally turn up in a little town just outside bruge, we all shack up in a bar for a few hours till its time to head into bruge. Off the train we all get and start marching towards the ground, when 4 vans of bill pull up, show your tickets they ask, not much chance of that, as no one had one, so were thrown in the back, then they finally throw us out in a f**kin warehouse, where there's already 200 Chelsea being held, f**kin hours they kept us there, till they bussed us to port, which one I still don't know. By now I'm past giving a sh*t, which is just as well as the crossing was in the roughest seas I've ever seen, I honestly thought the ferry was going under, all you could hear was people throwing up, I was pissing myself laughing at the sights and sounds.Anyway we managed to dock at Ramsgate, where we took over the train back to London, straight in the pub, for some much needed refreshment, oh, and we lost 1 0 . the 2 nd leg at the bridge was one of the best nights.

 
Richard P said:
1992 cup game against Everton. Cold midweek journey on the good old Chelsea special!! On the way up the train slowed down ( slower than normal) we eventually made it to Crewe, where the old bill decided that we wouldn't make it until after kick off, so we were going back to london!!

The biggest railway sidings in the country and they couldn't give us a replacement loco!! Had to repair our one then go back to london! Remember people started to leave the train and go for a drink outside the station, the old bill were having none of it and it started to kick off. I know wer'e a group together but I couldn't imagine being treated like this on a normal train. Got back to London to be met by a large police presence expecting there to be trouble and we didn't give them the satisfaction. The game was a 2-2 draw and we won the replay! The good thing is British Rail refunded the train fare and paid for the match tickets. That's my worst Chelsea special episode. Although early 80s did arrive late a few times.
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I was on that train too.

 
84,home from Grimsby via Donny where our coach was wrecked by dirty Leeds.waited in a lay-by freezing until a replacement came up from London. home at around 9 the following morning.

Last year,15hrs back from Amsterdam because of 2 accidents outside Calais.

Fog at Stansted on the way to Stockholm in 98 delayed our flight 5hrs then overbooked flights home and a truncheon shaped bruise to keep me awake.

86, heavy snow coming back from Shrewsbury ruined our Saturday night out!

it's that positive negative karma sh*t...

 
Harrow said:
84,home from Grimsby via Donny where our coach was wrecked by dirty Leeds.waited in a lay-by freezing until a replacement came up from London. home at around 9 the following morning.

Last year,15hrs back from Amsterdam because of 2 accidents outside Calais.

Fog at Stansted on the way to Stockholm in 98 delayed our flight 5hrs then overbooked flights home and a truncheon shaped bruise to keep me awake.

86, heavy snow coming back from Shrewsbury ruined our Saturday night out!

it's that positive negative karma sh*t...
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I was at the Shrewsbury FA cup tie. We drove there, got there early and had a couple of pints, then went to the ground. Gates were still shut and the cops were saying the game might be called off, then the special arrived and everyone ws let in. Remember Speedie throwing a few snowballs at the chelsea fans during the warm up.

Drove back to Fulham and got there just in time for a pint before the pub closed... Great day out

 
Coming up from Winchester has yielded a few instances...

Brentford 12/13: diverted to Paddington due to engineering works at Fleet.

Southampton 13/14: Diverted via Staines, and to add insult to injury, the Hounslow loop due to engineering works at Wimbledon.

Steaua Bucharest 13/14: No delays to speak of, but on the way back some woman's dog shat in my carriage.

Everton 13/14: South West Trains were running a £10 return deal. A combination of human Tetris and door failures saw me barely arrive in time for kickoff. I opted for a bus back to Waterloo, and the driver chucked everyone off at Sloane Square. For some reason, I took the next bus rather than get on the tube.

Aston Villa 14/15: Not as bad as other examples, but engineering works on the district line made me go back to Waterloo via Clapham Junction.

 
Devil Dog said:
I was on that train too.
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So was I remember a group jumped on a train on the next platform @ Crewe, no idead how they got back after the game though! Old bill / British Rail, managed to get us back to Euston just after closing time from what I remember!

 
Any one on the train back from Brighton 83/84 when poor bloke hanging out the window I think near Gatwick got struck by train coming the other way. He came back inside the train with severe head injuries, I think his girlfriend was with him. Ambulance was waiting at Clapham Junc to take him to hospital, where I think he was on life support but unfortunately died.

Remember the train being very quiet pulling into Victoria, sad end to a great day, easily 12,000 or more down there as it was all ticket. Stewards opened a massive gate as thousands couldn't get in and people with and without tickets streamed in.

 
Middlesbrough away about 92/3? friday night game live on sky drew 0.0, our coach got there late as the driver got lost even though we could see the ground in the distance.

Stoke away 1995 League cup drew 0.0 went in a mates car, it broke down on the way just outside Stoke, managed to get a tow truck to pick it up, ended up getting a lift to the ground much to the amusement of the locals 5 lads jumping out of a pick up truck, we couldnt pick the car up until the next day i was the only one with money on me but the others were quite skint, we tried to find a b&b but had no joy so spent the night in a NCP car park, dossing about on the stair well, we went to a petrol garage where ob pulled us up asking what we were doing ect, we told them they said watch us we'll give you something to watch, with that they sped off, within mins two plod cars were racing up & down a dual carriageway.

We finally got the car back at midday, that was a long trip lol!  

 
Luton town away, New Year’s day 1980 3-3 draw

I got there alright but getting home was a nightmare as I lived out in the sticks. I got back to Guildford station ok but with it being new year’s day buses  were like our defence back then ,none existent  and I had to walk 9 miles home.I tried thumbing it as you did but no fukcer would be pick me up and I arrived home grumpier than usual !

The reverse of the above was when we had to get up North for a mid day / 11.00 o’clock kick off. Stoke one year springs to mind. We had to get the last night train out of Guildford up to Waterloo to then bunk down at the station …now that was fun ! To then get across London to Euston to get the one of the first trains north… As much as I love Waterloo ,at three in the morning it is a cold and miserable place full of low life(myself included J )  …no idea if you can kip there these days without getting moved on I guess not ?!

 
Oh sh*t.. how did I forget the time I never made it to Carlisle?

Another skint Friday night, I decided to hitchhike up to Carlisle. My mate who was supposed to go with me, didn't go in the end because his misses wouldn't let him. Got as far as the Watford turnoff on the motorway, and who should turn up driving some kind of van, but this other mate of mine. Where the f**k are you going, says he? Carlisle, for the football, I told him. He was on his way to Nottingham, to see this nurse he knew, so he said. I can take you as far as Nottingham, if you like, he tells me. That'd be great says I, but then he changes his mind. "f**k it I haven't been to football for ages", and so we were off to Carlisle...

We got as far as Pontefract when he tells me his eyes are burning, he can hardly stay awake, Could I drive the rest of the way? I had driven but never taken a test, so I thought it best not to risk it. So we pulled over on to the hard shoulder to get a couple of hours kip. Next thing I know there are blue lights everywhere, old bill all over the place. Not having a clue what was going, they hauled us off in separate cars, and slung me into a cell in Pontefract nick. Presumably my mate was in another cell. Nobody told me a f**king thing. Next morning I was handcuffed between a couple of CID and escorted down to Acton nick, where I was again left in the cells. After a while, they put some obviious grass type slimeball in with me. Not that I could have grassed my mate even if I'd wanted to, as far as I knew he'd been going to see this nurse he knew. Ask no questions hear no porkies.

Around midday on the Monday morning, they finally let me out. "Ok you can go now", said one of the uniforms. That was when I was finally told why I'd been pulled in. Turns out my mate had not only nicked the motor but had used it for a robbery in Park Royal. Not only that, but there was another bloke with him, whose description wasn't a million miles from mine.

When I got home, my mother was fuming because the old bill had turned the place over looking for evidence. It was harder work convincing her of my innocence than the old bill. Next time I saw my "partner in crime" was a couple of years or so later. No hard feelings or anything, and looking back there;s no doubt at all that it was for the best that he didn't tell me.

 
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