The South Wales Police have apparently expressed their dissatisfaction to the Hampshire Police over the pre-match arrangements at the rendezvous point for coaches and minibuses. Those of us who travelled to Pompey by coach will know what a complete waste of time the RV point was, so it was encouraging to hear that the SWP share the same view.
Regarding the well-documented incident outside the Good Companions public house which happened after the game, a total of six Portsmouth fans were arrested on the day along with one Cardiff supporter. It is likely that a couple more Portsmouth fans and several more City supporters will be arrested in due course as a result of video footage taken by the Hampshire Police. It was acknowledged that most of the Cardiff fans involved in this incident initially attempted to prevent a group of local thugs from bullying a couple of City supporters outside the pub, but it was alleged that several ended up going well over the top.
Millwall Home (25/9/10)
As of yesterday afternoon, Millwall had sold 1,049 tickets for their visit to the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday. Around half of the visiting fans who have bought tickets will be travelling on official coaches laid on by their club, while the rest are travelling without any restrictions.
The club is expecting a crowd of around 23,000 for the match. If Saturday's game passes off without any major incidents, then it is expected that our trip to Millwall in March 2011 will be free from travelling restrictions for our fans. However, that situation is obviously dependent upon what happens between now and then.
Barnsley Away (2/10/10)
Tickets are already on sale for this game. Coaches will be expected to meet the police at a rendezvous point near Junction 37 of the M1 between 1pm and 2pm, but other than that there are no travel restrictions.
Bristol City Home (16/10/10)
A voucher exchange system has been put in place for all Bristol City fans travelling to this game.
Coventry City Away (19/10/10)
Tickets for this game are now on sale. No firm arrangements have yet been made as regards the policing of this fixture, but it is anticipated that there will be no travel restrictions for Cardiff fans.
Leeds United Away (23/10/10)
It was confirmed that the kick-off time for this game has been moved forward to 12:30pm on the insistence of the West Yorkshire Police. A voucher exchange system will be in operation, meaning that all City fans will be required to visit the Woolley Edge Services between 10:00am and 11:30am and exchange vouchers for match tickets. These services are situated between Junctions 38 and 39 of the M1, and are a considerable distance away from Elland Road.
Coaches will be escorted from the services to the ground in three separate convoys. Alcohol will be served in the away section up until kick-off, but the bars will be closed at half-time and full-time. City fans are likely to be held inside the ground for a minimum of 30 minutes after the game while the police clear the areas outside.
The ticket allocation for City fans is approximately 1,700. Adult tickets are priced at £29.00. They will go on sale from the Ticket Office on Monday morning (27/9/10).
All Cardiff supporters who are driving to Elland Road are asked to get there as early as possible and to use Car Park A, which is the nearest one to the away section. The turnstiles will be open from 10:30am.
Personally, I was extremely disappointed with the confirmation of these arrangements. The West Yorkshire Police apparently initially requested a full bubble trip for City fans along with a midday kick-off and an allocation of 1,250, so things could have been even worse. Nevertheless, I feel very strongly that we, as a group of supporters, are once again being treated unfairly.
I am reliably informed that the West Yorkshire Police fully acknowledge that the major problem with this fixture at Elland Road is the potential behaviour of some of the home supporters as opposed to the visiting fans. Having been to Leeds three times recently, I can fully appreciate that preventative measures of some kind have to be put in place for a game such as this one, but the fact of the matter is that a voucher exchange coupled with a 12:30pm kick-off is far more of an inconvenience for the majority of our travelling supporters than a full bubble trip with a 3:00pm kick-off would have been.
We have travelled to Leeds on three occasions since we returned to the Championship in 2003. Those fixtures have all been bubble trips for visiting fans. On each occasion the games have kicked off at 3:00pm and on each occasion the behaviour of the City supporters has been exemplary. Our reward is a 12:30pm kick-off and a voucher exchange system. As far as I'm concerned, that stinks.
These arrangements mean that any South Wales-based City fans attending this game will have to get out of bed at a ridiculously early hour, while many will encounter difficulties in sorting out transport to their departure points if they are travelling by coach. This situation is a nightmare for independent coach operators such as myself and I'll be very surprised if the club sells its full allocation under such circumstances. The feedback I've been getting is that many regular away travellers simply can't be bothered with this sort of nonsense, and I can't say I blame them.
Swansea City Home (7/11/10)
This fixture will be a full bubble trip for visiting fans. No surprise there.
Bristol City Away (1/1/11)
Bristol City have written to Cardiff City stating that this game will be a full bubble trip for visiting supporters. Our club is not at all happy with this situation and has written back to Bristol requesting talks on the subject. The arrangements might change between now and then, but the impression I got last night is that this fixture is almost certain to be a full bubble trip for City fans despite the objections of our officials.
Posted to CCMB by TLG.