Another away day, another horrendous kick-off time with no way of getting home via public transport for NUFC supporters.
In a season that’s already seen our 3pm 30th December fixture at Liverpool shifted to 8pm on New Year’s Day, 3pms away to Arsenal and Manchester City moved to 8pm those Saturday nights and a trip to south-coast Brighton shifted to 5.30pm.
As the northernmost team in the league by quite some distance (118 miles, if you’re interested), we have significantly further to travel than most supporters. And yet we’re continually given the worst fixture times with no straightforward way home.
Yes, we could get the bus (and I did all four South Coast away trips on the bus last season), but it’s long, tiring and uncomfortable. People can drive, but see above (and imagine 6,000 supporters’ worth of cars on the road).
Some might even say just stay over, but the expense doesn’t bear thinking about after a bruised post-Champions League bank account. And speaking of expense, Fulham has the cheek to charge £40.
Why is it so hard to organise fixtures with supporters in mind? What don’t the broadcasters understand about the fact we’re so far away from everyone?
Sometimes, it’s unavoidable. Like fixtures that have to be played in the evening. For Chelsea in the cup, I was able to get the train down, and back as far as Peterborough, where a couple of lovely mates drove us back. What really frustrated me about that night was the fact that we hopped onto an 11.35pm train to Peterborough. The final destination? LEEDS.
How is it so hard to run a train to Newcastle at that time when the final destination is barely over an hour further away?
You could say the club has something to answer for too. Right now, it has some power in putting limitations on what the likes of ITV can do for televised fixtures. But seemingly, all clubs are more interested in the money.
Evening fixtures in the North West, Yorkshire and even North Midlands aren’t half as bad on the bus; but doing it week in, week out is a killer. After Brighton, I was stiff for a week – at the tender age of 31, I’m getting too old for regular bus travel. Tragic, isn’t it?
But regardless of age, how much premature back pain you have, we should at the very least have the option to travel by train where possible. It’s eye-wateringly expensive, don’t get me wrong, but it’s worth it for the speed and comfort. And anyway, what kind of a kick-off time is 7pm??
We also need a cap on cup fixture prices; it’s bizarre that I’ll be paying more money for this trip than I will be when I go later in the season. For a fourth-round fixture no less.
Do better Fulham, NUFC, ITV, Sky and TNT. For the love of god, please do better.
