Tonights game & Travel

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

We left my mate's house just off the Hagley Road at 5.30 and got to VP about 7.15...a journey that usually takes us 15/20 minutes...bottle-necks everywhere.

If that's a normal Friday evening, it's a NO from me!

We left Bearwood at six. Given the M6 troubles weren't making it a 'normal' Friday evening, I stuck the sat nav on, just to see what it might suggest. Red lines proliferated everywhere north and west of town. Its answer was a 16 mile detour via Oldbury, M5 and M6. Reluctantly I took its advice, yet was parked up within 25 minutes. But don't think I'll be making that my regular route.

My mate lives Bearwood/Edgbaston - I call it Bearwood/he insists it's Edgbaston - so seems like his all-knowing experience of every road and street in Birmingham let him down on this occasion. I'll refer to your sat-nav suggestion next time the whole of the West Midlands, apparently seizes up.
Cheers Lfs!

[Gareth]

2.5 hours from Bromsgrove for us, missed the first 13/14 mins....amount of people still walking up then was mental.

Very nearly sacked it off & turned around.

But....so long as the Sky schedules didn't get messed up we should all be grateful :-(

[cdbearsfan]

Sky didn't choose the kick-off time though. Blame the police and Nazis.

[cdbearsfan]

Have we had any explanation as to why the kick-off wasn't delayed yet?

[Clampy]

I'm just off the Hagley Road and the best way to VP is to take a left at the Ivy Bush. However as I don't drive i'm shit at saying what roads to take etc, but it's a lot quicker than going into town from the Hagley Road. A satnav should help with the route to take that way.

You go the same way as a mate of mine sometime's does. It is a lot quicker.

[Ads]

I would suggest because the WMP are the biggest shower in the country when it comes to policing football.

[CJ]

Sky didn't choose the kick-off time though. Blame the police and Nazis.

Exactly. And they had the choice of  inconveniencing either 150 fascists or 42,000 football fans. Idiotic decision

[skerra52]

I was absolutely furious on Friday night. Left Halesowen at 5.20pm, went via Hagley Road and then encountered gridlock from just past TGI Fridays. My brother was driving and, we both thought that once we had turned left at The Hollybush it would be plain sailing. Nothing of the sort, it was like that all the way to Newtown. We were listening to Talk Boll..ks and I couldn't believe that at 7.30pm they announced that The Holte End was filling up nicely so the match would go ahead at 7.45pm. Surely, it must have been obvious that, with all the empty seats people were struggling.

Anyway, I got out of the car at 7.40pm as my brother said at least one of us can watch some of the game. So, having a "gammy knee" at the moment, I had to walk/limp the rest of the way and got into the concourse just as Manure had scored.

I don't care who made the decision not to put the kick off back but, whoever it was,  should have their arse(s) kicked all the way from Villa Park to Halesowen to see what people had gone through to attend the match.

I feel much better after that!!!

[dave.woodhall]

I was absolutely furious on Friday night. Left Halesowen at 5.20pm, went via Hagley Road and then encountered gridlock from just past TGI Fridays. My brother was driving and, we both thought that once we had turned left at The Hollybush it would be plain sailing. Nothing of the sort, it was like that all the way to Newtown. We were listening to Talk Boll..ks and I couldn't believe that at 7.30pm they announced that The Holte End was filling up nicely so the match would go ahead at 7.45pm. Surely, it must have been obvious that, with all the empty seats people were struggling.

Anyway, I got out of the car at 7.40pm as my brother said at least one of us can watch some of the game. So, having a "gammy knee" at the moment, I had to walk/limp the rest of the way and got into the concourse just as Manure had scored.

I don't care who made the decision not to put the kick off back but, whoever it was,  should have their arse(s) kicked all the way from Villa Park to Halesowen to see what people had gone through to attend the match.

I feel much better after that!!!

I would guess, although I'm no expert, that in all matters safety the club have the final decision, acting on police 'advice'. Given that the police would have the best information about traffic flow and potential delays, it's realistically down to them.

[PeterWithesShin]

I'm assuming that the club would have known how many were in the ground from the ticket scanners, so would have a good idea of how many weren't in, if that makes sense. So if say, 800 weren't in the ground with 10 mins to go, but over 41,000 were, they'd go ahead with KO any way?