Might me a bit of a controversial post, but given the where the club are, the importance of the game, the distance of where we are traveling to, and the cost of petrol/ diesel i really don't understand how after the club thought about running a train, and then decided against it, at this point then everyone is up for the game. With the decision to not run a train this has meant people are looking to book seats on coaches and put up with the long travel of 6/7 hours there and back, however the club did fail to mention that they had only booked three coaches. If there was a high demand maybe the club could have scheduled more, or more importantly supporters could have booked there seats sooner rather than looking for ways to get up to Carlisle or being held to ransom by Virgin Trains and paying a national debt. Factor in the cost of the ticket, the spend on food etc, it will be atleast an eye watering £250 plus day, and in my opinion if it was maybe managed a bit better be it the foresight of demand that yes if a train was put on at a reasonable we would fill it then lets do it, yes if we notify fans that they must book early to get a seat on a coach then they would avoid disapointment or even the club could lay on more coaches. No doubt people within the club will argue about the facts of the ticket sales etc, and the away following etc, however i would point to games where results have mattered and the potential the club has with for the away following and this did not include free travel on all the games. They could also say that it was to short a notice, but if you would given the fans the notice period then maybe the club would have been suprised by the response.
Hopefully this game is a lesson that should be learnt before we play Preston in which once again i fear will bite the club on the backside by increasing the length of restricted ticket sales. General sale, if fans want to go to see their team become champions you shouldn't have to qualify for it, Preston have also extended the away end on few occasions this season to away teams and there is no reason why they wouldn't to us if there was a demand.
The fans then can budget for the game, the club can monitor sales, decide on the number of coaches needed, or if they scheduled a train how many seats would be available, maybe all to simple, maybe to expensive, i am just a fan that has supported the club since the 1970's and don't need to be a Valley Gold member to prove it.
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i think that we should have looked to run a train or atleast gauge the demand
what sort of country in the year 2012
have no trains running back from Carlisle after 18:50 that take 14 hours to get to London ,
it tell you what sort
a country that hasnt got a fooking clue
If that wasn't announced people wouldn't be moaning about not having things handed on a plate to them. I honestly think that a lot of our fans (and this isn't directed at you WIWALB) have developed an expectancy culture due to being spoilt over the years. I suppose that is testament to the hard work the club has put in over the years for us fans. A lot more than other clubs.
As for Preston, I doubt we know for certain whether we'd get increased allocation so it is only fair to have restrictions for those who have travelled up and down the country all season and/or invested in the club. If the allocation is opened up then I'm sure everyone will get a ticket.
I think the club were right to put the feelers out there, and we're lucky that there is an unofficial club rep on the board to feed info to us and to give some feedback back to the club but I dont think we're at the stage where because something is popular or not on charlton life means that the club can go with that as the general opinion of all Charlton fans.
Obviously if the sheffield results had been different over the weekend and promotion was looking more likely to be confirmed this saturday then the train might have been a go-er whether or not the club made a massive loss by estimating that at least 500 fans wanted to travel on it.
It was a hard call to book a train that needed 500 bookings when we'd "only" sold 500 match tickets bearing in mind that many of that 500 would already booked there own train or coach tickets.
There are 2,000 tickets for Preston. Anyone who wants one will be able to get them when they go on general sale.
The muted train could definately have been booked 1-4 weeks ago and sold out IMO. The only holding point would have been whether we would have already secured promotion by now, but that wouldn't have been known at the time of booking. Either way, it was going to be a massive game as if we had tailed off more than we have done, it still would have been vital for promotion.
Whether its the clubs priority in the first place is entirely another matter. We are not the most pro-active of fanbases, and don't have an active collective supporters group to co-ordinate such things. We rely a lot on club goodwill and have to be spoonfed to a certain extent, and if you weigh up that the staffing at the club has been greatly reduced the last few years, and this was at a time of processing season ticket applications and the Hartlepool offer, then i'm not sure if they would really have had the spare capacity to deal with this due to the fact it isn't vital to them, or their defined responsibility. Disagree with this, as it needed to be put 'out there' to bring some form of awareness, and as it wasn't confirmed, needed to be done in a soft-approach unofficial way. Thtough one message on here, it definately 'got out there' as i had a number of people who are not members on here ask about it at the Walsall game. I think the club was probably surprised at the size of the initial reaction in support of it, which probably made it a closer decision not to roll with it than originally thought.
I 1000% wouldnt be going if it was operation anything
I was under the impression that there was very little to no chance of the train happening if it was not completely in our own hands on Saturday against Carlisle.
Do Carlisle charter a train everytime their fans have to travel down to London?
We're spoiled at Charlton - season tickets must be amongst the cheapest in the country, for the last 20-odd years we've had a forward-thinking boardroom that bends over backwards to communicate with supporters and comes up with initiatives like Valley Express to help fill the ground, still people moan though.
If you want to go to Carlisle then follow the example of the 800 who've already booked up for it and stump up the cash and go. If, for whatever reason, you can't do that, don't moan that the club hasn't made arrangements for you to be teleported up there at a subsidised rate - it's your responsibility, not the club's.
Looking at the email I booked my tickets back in January knowing this COULD be the game that we did it, if not, what did it matter, it'll still be a decent day out, surely I'm not the only one who could have thought that?
#cafc you are a shit fucking club for away game ticketing, you're pathetic, how can you sell out Carlisle coach service and not sell more?
How can you sell out coaches to carlisle and not put on more? You knew it was gonna be high demand, pathetically ran club! #cafc
Looks like I'm heading to The Den to watch Millwall v Leicester then as I don't have £102 to fork out for a train to Carlisle
I hope we get promoted and the coaches leave all yous there and leave yous who are going stranded. #f**kingannoyed
it says sold out, why can't the pathetic c**ts lay on one more fucking coach?
Hi I'm Charlton & I think giving Millwall fans red card membership is a good idea. Charlton would be the down syndrome child in class.
Bit of an angry over reaction
If there was a train announced on the club website six weeks ago to Carlisle how many would have taken advantage of it?
Those fans who are not in a area where a coach pick up is not available, if there was one would you go to away?
How many other occasions will the fans have an oppertunity to see promotion and with what we have endured over the last three to four seasons i would expect alot of supporters would have love to seen the team go up.
Another point is that maybe just maybe it would give the team a lift.