Last time I went to Old Trafford was near the start of the 98/99 season. We lost 4-1 after going 1-0 up through Mark Kinsella, ended up getting stuck in a massive traffic jam on the M6 after midnight, and the window of our coach got bricked in Shepherds Bush/East Acton (ironically on the same road I ended up living with a couple of my uni mates a year later). Ended up having to get a night bus home from Charlton at 4am. Hopefully tonight's journey back for the coach travellers will be less eventful.
My mate drove to that and we got caught in the jam and ran out of petrol a bit later when my twat of a mate thought he could run on fumes. Luckily we were within walking distance of a service station but still took ages to get going again. We got back to Lewisham in the early hours and he told us he would drop us there and we could get a cab home as he needed to get up in the morning. We weren't impressed but found out later that he didn't bother going in anyway and got the sack as a result.
6 no shows on our coach from Bexleyheath, could be they are just coming back by coach. Just been told NO stop on the return journey otherwise the drivers will be out of time. Never known that happen ever before with two drivers onboard.
So, while on the road, coach drivers are able to take a break or breaks totalling at least 45 minutes after no more than 4 hours and 30 minutes of driving. Those rest stops at service stations or beauty spots aren’t just for passengers to stretch their legs and go to the loo; they’re a legally required part of the coach driver’s working day!
On top of that, a coach driver must not work for any longer than 9 hours in one day, 56 hours in one week, or 90 hours in any two consecutive weeks. The coach driver must take a minimum of 11 hours of rest per day and an unbroken rest period of 45 hours in a week.
Perfect @Airman Brown, would you like a job on DVSA Enforcement?
‘Twas the stuff of nightmares. Pretty much an hour to get out of Manchester, delays on M6, part of the M6 shut, crawling past a convoy of loads of lorries on a busy M1 at 2am and some weird diversion on the North Circ. Back to Eltham at 345.
I don’t know how the drivers do it.
I am still exhausted and struggling. Like a hangover but after one (reasonably priced) beer.
Was a great night, but next time I will get the train.
‘Twas the stuff of nightmares. Pretty much an hour to get out of Manchester, delays on M6, part of the M6 shut, crawling past a convoy of loads of lorries on a busy M1 at 2am and some weird diversion on the North Circ. Back to Eltham at 345.
I don’t know how the drivers do it.
I am still exhausted and struggling. Like a hangover but after one (reasonably priced) beer.
Was a great night, but next time I will get the train.
Coach from Eltham was fine . We stopped on the way up at the services arriving at 3.20pm and was told to be back for 4pm by the driver. We were still waiting for some twat and his son at 4.15 which pissed me off . Driver said he expected to get to OT at 5.30 ish and we ended up getting there at 6.25 which was unfortunate. Got back about 3.30am after a couple of hold ups.
‘Twas the stuff of nightmares. Pretty much an hour to get out of Manchester, delays on M6, part of the M6 shut, crawling past a convoy of loads of lorries on a busy M1 at 2am and some weird diversion on the North Circ. Back to Eltham at 345.
I don’t know how the drivers do it.
I am still exhausted and struggling. Like a hangover but after one (reasonably priced) beer.
Was a great night, but next time I will get the train.
Excellent - I’m very pleased to read this. And next time you won’t get the train. You just need to do more coach trips to prepare
Coach from Eltham was fine . We stopped on the way up at the services arriving at 3.20pm and was told to be back for 4pm by the driver. We were still waiting for some twat and his son at 4.15 which pissed me off . Driver said he expected to get to OT at 5.30 ish and we ended up getting there at 6.25 which was unfortunate. Got back about 3.30am after a couple of hold ups.
Sounds like I called the pick-up time right then.
I gather there were 20 club coaches - minor exercise by historical standards!
‘Twas the stuff of nightmares. Pretty much an hour to get out of Manchester, delays on M6, part of the M6 shut, crawling past a convoy of loads of lorries on a busy M1 at 2am and some weird diversion on the North Circ. Back to Eltham at 345.
I don’t know how the drivers do it.
I am still exhausted and struggling. Like a hangover but after one (reasonably priced) beer.
Was a great night, but next time I will get the train.
Excellent - I’m very pleased to read this. And next time you won’t get the train. You just need to do more coach trips to prepare
Coach from Eltham was fine . We stopped on the way up at the services arriving at 3.20pm and was told to be back for 4pm by the driver. We were still waiting for some twat and his son at 4.15 which pissed me off . Driver said he expected to get to OT at 5.30 ish and we ended up getting there at 6.25 which was unfortunate. Got back about 3.30am after a couple of hold ups.
Sounds like I called the pick-up time right then.
I gather there were 20 club coaches - minor exercise by historical standards!
But 10/20 times what they are now used to operating though.
Ive not followed everything but given the inexperience, this all had a recipe for disaster. Not doubting it could I’m sure be better, and the coach coverage range far wider, but I think the club staff deserve some credit for it all not being a disaster. Reckon a few people have been working seriously hard the past couple of weeks.
Coach from Eltham was fine . We stopped on the way up at the services arriving at 3.20pm and was told to be back for 4pm by the driver. We were still waiting for some twat and his son at 4.15 which pissed me off . Driver said he expected to get to OT at 5.30 ish and we ended up getting there at 6.25 which was unfortunate. Got back about 3.30am after a couple of hold ups.
Sounds like I called the pick-up time right then.
I gather there were 20 club coaches - minor exercise by historical standards!
But 10/20 times what they are now used to operating though.
Ive not followed everything but given the inexperience, this all had a recipe for disaster. Not doubting it could I’m sure be better, and the coach coverage range far wider, but I think the club staff deserve some credit for it all not being a disaster. Reckon a few people have been working seriously hard the past couple of weeks.
No doubt. I did walk them through some of the pitfalls but they had to do the work. I suppose what troubles me is that for years we had fans and staff who went out of their way to provide the best service to fans - volunteers from CASC got about 4,000 fans to OT in 1994, for example - and now we don’t. The club had no money or staff then, either.
i’m certain we’d have sold the other 600 tickets last night if the coach service (including VEX) had been provided.
‘Twas the stuff of nightmares. Pretty much an hour to get out of Manchester, delays on M6, part of the M6 shut, crawling past a convoy of loads of lorries on a busy M1 at 2am and some weird diversion on the North Circ. Back to Eltham at 345.
I don’t know how the drivers do it.
I am still exhausted and struggling. Like a hangover but after one (reasonably priced) beer.
Was a great night, but next time I will get the train.
It's funny you talk about a hangover. That's how I've felt all day and only had two pints (was driving from Altingham tram station)
No real issues with the coach service. Back at Hall Place at 3am and home in Bexhill by 4am, only issue was a minor skirmish with two deer near Flimwell but everyone escaped unharmed.
‘Twas the stuff of nightmares. Pretty much an hour to get out of Manchester, delays on M6, part of the M6 shut, crawling past a convoy of loads of lorries on a busy M1 at 2am and some weird diversion on the North Circ. Back to Eltham at 345.
I don’t know how the drivers do it.
I am still exhausted and struggling. Like a hangover but after one (reasonably priced) beer.
Was a great night, but next time I will get the train.
Excellent - I’m very pleased to read this. And next time you won’t get the train. You just need to do more coach trips to prepare
I used to get them all the time back in the day, probably with Betty, Syd or a young Dicko involved. I did admittedly upgrade to the train in the mid 90s and therein lies the problem.
‘Twas the stuff of nightmares. Pretty much an hour to get out of Manchester, delays on M6, part of the M6 shut, crawling past a convoy of loads of lorries on a busy M1 at 2am and some weird diversion on the North Circ. Back to Eltham at 345.
I don’t know how the drivers do it.
I am still exhausted and struggling. Like a hangover but after one (reasonably priced) beer.
Was a great night, but next time I will get the train.
Excellent - I’m very pleased to read this. And next time you won’t get the train. You just need to do more coach trips to prepare
I used to get them all the time back in the day, probably with Betty, Syd or a young Dicko involved. I did admittedly upgrade to the train in the mid 90s and therein lies the problem.
You’re right, I just wasn’t prepared.
There’s still some time to change that. Morecombe will likely be rearranged to a Tuesday night, hopefully in February when it’s bitterly cold, so you can go back and give it another go ;-)
I too was on Betty’s coach when I was going regularly. It disappeared into the ether, but I went to Kent Uni In Canterbury, and not only did they run a coach up to the home games, you could get one away to. Ran by a bloke called Trevor during our Prem years.
Unfortunately, the core of those coaches have either stopped going or sadly passed away over the years. To airman’s point above, although I take the piss in a joking way about the coach, I’m not sure where and who the next stewards that would volunteer are coming from.
This may change were we to go back up the leagues, but for a lot of games we run one, maybe 2 away coaches, and the people that get them aren’t getting any younger. Yesterday is a good example. It seemed like the pull of the game was as much about the drinking and the all dayers people were on. It’s become a big part of the away days now where fans post pictures of what they drink on the trains etc. nothing wrong with that, just the polar opposite of the people that get coaches. For them it’s getting from a to b and they may have a drink at the ground or just before, but I think we have a dwindling number of fans that may choose it in the future
Went by coach yesterday. Was a regular back in the day, a lot of the time on Betty’s coach with a lot of regulars inc AFKABartram and FannyFanackapan to name just two, about six of us travelled together week in week out enjoyable a good day out win or lose. Stewarded coaches a fair number of times too, much more of a job than it appears nowadays. Used to have to collect all the fares on the coach, was a worry going into the game with sometimes £500 or more in my pocket, spent the game continually checking I still had it. Didn’t really encounter any major problems. Once broke down at Boroughbridge on the way back from, I think, Boro away and had to spend four plus hours in the local pub whilst a replacement coach was arranged. Got back to Bexleyheath about 4am from a 3pm kick off. Couldn’t do it regularly now, too regimented regarding when you stop and for how long etc plus I find it too uncomfortable now.
May I add that P’boro being called off means that it, and Morecombe are likely to be on a Tuesday night, so it gives all you weaklings who couldn’t handle Man Utd a chance to practice and harden your resolve.
We may get another Man Utd moment in coming years, and I don’t want to be back on here then, hearing the same old cries.
You’ve all got a golden opportunity, particularly with Morecombe- don’t waste it
Comments
Everyone make it back with no dramas?
I don’t know how the drivers do it.
I am still exhausted and struggling. Like a hangover but after one (reasonably priced) beer.
Was a great night, but next time I will get the train.
Your have Cabbles along in a minute.
Left old trafford about 1030 got indoors in East Sussex 5am after a very short 5 minute detour to drop my brother off in Woolwich/ Shooters Hill.
Was worth every minute. Fantastic away day.
I gather there were 20 club coaches - minor exercise by historical standards!
i’m certain we’d have sold the other 600 tickets last night if the coach service (including VEX) had been provided.
You’re right, I just wasn’t prepared.
I too was on Betty’s coach when I was going regularly. It disappeared into the ether, but I went to Kent Uni In Canterbury, and not only did they run a coach up to the home games, you could get one away to. Ran by a bloke called Trevor during our Prem years.
You’ve all got a golden opportunity, particularly with Morecombe- don’t waste it