+ Visit Cardiff FC for Latest News, Transfer Gossip, Fixtures and Match Results |
Public transport is my biggest gripe as well. It's like the old days of First Customer panel meetings lol!
Getting to and from the ground on a Saturday isn't too bad from Aberdare. Direct train to Grangetown or change in Radyr for Ninian Park. I usually get off in Central and get a bus to Canton to meet with friends.
Getting home from an evening kickoff is far from ideal. There's one train, resulting in a long wait in Grangetown. Not nice in the bad weather. If I can't get on it, I'm stuck in Cardiff, or there's a later train to Ponty and still a hefty taxi fare.
I used the Zeelo bus quite a bit, not often to go down, but certainly to get home. The only issue I had with it is that it didn't go through the village where I live (and another half a dozen or so who used the bus do), when it could have done as it was en route and would have taken an extra couple of minutes. A few of us emailed Zeelo, who weren't interested.
Free buses every 15 mins from The Train Station a hour or 2 before and after the game would help.
After the Swansea game I got a taxi by Jeff Whites because I couldn’t be arsed to walk down Tudor Street if the rain started lashing again.
Engagement and offers with the local communities should be welcome as well and balls to the whiners!
Maybe 100 or so free season tickets handed out to community leaders for them to give away each home game.
Corky, why doesn't the club hire marketing experts who understand yield management (no disrespect meant to any current incumbents)? There's at least one with football experience lurking on here...
A few general gripes:
1. Transportation to/from the stadium is truly horrendous. I cycled when I was back in the summer and security had cordoned off the cycle rack and moaned when I wanted to use it. The bus situation is a joke. No buses run near the stadium until around an hour after the game. The bus depot is 100 meters away FFS...
2. The general matchday "experience" is drab and boring. There is very little on offer underneath the stands and the prices are silly. (The music played always makes me laugh too - does the club not know anything about the demographics of the early arrivers at games? These are not teens into Taylor Swift, they're old farts.) I'm sure there are a lot of people on here who have been to a US sporting event at a newer stadium and been shocked by higher quality "experience".
3. I'm guessing the walk-up attendance on a match day is low. The reason for this is the club (and indeed most football clubs) have this all wrong - these are discretionary purchasers, not those who have no alternative for their $, like late flight bookers. The club should be discounting last minute customers, not penalizing them. Every empty seat is a wasted revenue opportunity with most costs of attendance being fixed.
J33 waste ground ? If going to build houses eventually but in the meantime Turn that into a free P+R
Some good ideas in here.
I have to say more / advertised supporters buses from the valleys would be good.
It’s a pain going if you want a few beers.
I generally drive because the transport links are so bad, but I can see why people who aren’t as fussed about being there won’t bother
Whenever Wales play rugby, Arriva and now Transport for Wales, make changes to get supporters home.
I know Cardiff City, or even Swansea, Wrexham etc don't generate that amount of passengers, but it's still an issue. I remember some years ago waiting for a train in Pyle on a Sunday. Every 2 hours. One turns up, 2 carriages, full of Man City fans. I couldn't get on it.
Would it be such a problem if train capacity could be increased when needed to get fans home safely, without hoarding them onto trains like cattle?
No, it was a Sunday afternoon. Found it. Sunday 11 March, 2012. They won 1-0. 2pm kick off. I tried to get a train around 6pm from Pyle back to Cardiff and it was rammed with Man City fans going home. Given the nature of the game, why on earth did Arriva not put on extra carriages? Not just for me, but I reckon that train left Swansea like that and anyone from Neath and Port Talbot wanting a train were fecked. Crap service.