‘I had to leave at half-time’: How train strikes and cancellations are ruining football away days

Hardy football fans tend to take travel disruption in their stride. But ongoing railway woe is testing even the most ardent ultra.

This weekend’s FA Cup third round falls in the middle of industrial action by railway workers. Train companies have advised against “all but essential travel”. For most fans, following their team isn’t just essential, it’s absolutely vital.

While football supporters get advance warning of strikes, it’s the increasing problem of last-minute cancellations that makes train travel tricky.

On the Thursday night between Christmas and New Year, Middlesbrough took 4,900 fans to Blackburn. Boro came from behind to win 2-1.

Fan Richard Kielty, 51, was among the travelling support but was forced to leave the stadium long before his team’s fightback.

The train he was set to catch back to his home in Church Fenton near York had been cancelled at the eleventh hour.

He explained to i: “Midway through the first half I checked my phone and to my dismay saw that my train was cancelled. So I had to catch an earlier one or risk being stranded in Blackburn.

“I’d only been inside the ground for 45 minutes but left my seat and approached a steward to be let out. He said: ’But you’ve only just got here!’

“I walked back to Blackburn station and could hear the Boro fans singing back in the ground. I assumed we had scored. It was a bittersweet moment. I should’ve been in the ground celebrating. Instead, I was standing on platform two in the freezing cold.”

Richard was forced to miss Boro’s fightback at Ewood Park (Photo: Getty)

On that same midweek night Sunderland fans were also putting in the miles. More than 4,500 Wearsiders came in a convoy of coaches and cars to watch their team at Wigan.

One diehard Wigan season ticket holder was absent. Stuart Lancaster lives 40 miles north of the town. He does not drive and relies on trains. His journey to home games should be a 30-minute train ride. But the service on the West Coast Main Line has been anything but routine this season with a stripped-back timetable.

Stuart, 57, was sure he could get to the stadium for kick-off but was worried about getting home afterwards. He said: “There was a train timetabled to run but with so many cancellations it’s just not worth taking the chance, so I just stayed at home.

“It’s really upsetting not to be able to watch Latics. But train trouble is making midweek home games totally impossible.”

Britain’s railway network seems to hover above a relegation zone. The dreaded announcement of “unavailability of train crew” is the modern day equivalent of “leaves on the line”.

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Last July, when England’s Lionesses had their finest hour at Wembley, some fans had to depart early after several trains going north just vanished from the schedule. Imagine being one of those supporters who had to leave before history was made.

In December 2021 Celtic fans watched Ange Postecoglou pick up his first silverware in Scotland at the League Cup final. After the celebrations English-based Celtic supporters found the last train from Glasgow Central to London cancelled. The service spiked one minute before it was due to depart.

That night rail replacement buses were summoned and it would take weary travellers until the early hours to get home.

Ian Clark, 62, watches his beloved Everton home and away. He journeys from his home in Arnside, south Cumbria.

“I’ve been using the train to get to Goodison Park since 1976. It used to be fairly simple, just turn up at the station and jump aboard.

“These days trains are making my life hell. Getting to games becomes a massive logistical challenge. I have to put so much planning into it, working out what my Plan B and C is, should a train suddenly get cancelled.

Following Everton has become increasingly difficult for Ian (Photo: Dickie Felton)

“Things have got much worse in recent years. I decided not to go to City away last Saturday as it’s just not worth getting marooned in Manchester.”

On Friday night Everton are at Manchester United in the FA Cup. There are no trains. However, Clark has managed to car share with a United fan.

Despite missing his team’s goals at Blackburn, Richard Kielty is reluctant to completely bail on rail: “I love travelling by train. The atmosphere and camaraderie is brilliant and I’ve met some lovely people – Boro fans and away fans.

“When the trains are running normally it’s a lot less stressful than driving. It allows me to have a few beers and make a day of it. It is part of our match-day ritual.”

Heading towards the second half of the football season unions and railway companies remain in a stalemate and cancellations show no sign of let-up.

And fans like Richard must endure more disruption in the endeavour of getting to and from a football match.

What train operators say to football fans

Train operators have apologised for disruption that’s blighted the 2022-23 football season.

Chris Jackson, regional director at Northern said: “We recognise the rail network across the North of England has not performed as well as we’d have liked over the last few months and we’re sorry for the disruption and inconvenience caused. 

“The new timetable is now in place and brings with it an additional 3,000 services a week across the length and breadth of our network.” 

TransPennine Express (TPE) says it posted its “best ever” performance results prior to December 2021 but since then prolonged disruption affecting services has been caused by train crew sickness, a persisting training backlog as a direct result of Covid and “infrastructure issues” outside of its control. 

Combined, these factors have seen a number of “on-the-day” or “evening before” cancellations.

A spokesperson for TPE added: “In normal circumstances, we have enough people to fully operate our scheduled timetable – and have more drivers now than ever before – however the combination of factors has put unprecedented pressure on our ability to effectively operate our services.

“Our customers want, and deserve, reliable and punctual train services, and we are sorry we have not been able to consistently provide that due to the ongoing issues. TPE’s team continues to work flat-out to deliver higher levels of service delivery.”

An Avanti West Coast spokesperson said: “We are sorry to our customers who have been impacted by short notice cancellations of our services over the last few months. We know this is a source of an enormous amount of frustration and inconvenience and are grateful for the patience our passengers have shown.”

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