I Will Never Go To Millwall Again

[BS3_RED]

We were held back like the coaches for over an hour and then we were put on a train (we had no choice in this). We waited for over half an hour only to stop at London Bridge station and be moved onto a tube (again we hade no choice inthis).

Ther tube were over filled and even the police said it was dangerous but still we proceded. We changed tube agin at Baker street and was taken to Paddington when we were informed that they were sorting out what trains we were going on. The fact that some of us might of driven in was never thought off and it was only cos i could prove to the police that we parked by QPR's ground that they didnt force us onto the train.

Even people that had parked by the ground were taken to Paddington and then had to make there way back to their car.

Utter disgrace and i have a good mind to complain to the police complaints commision.

Edit. We didnt get back to Paddington untill about 7-30 and only got back to Bristol at 10. I got back from Hartlepool in less time than that.

[exiledinwatford]

Understand how you feel BS - we wanted the Northern line back to Euston but ended up at Paddington. Security is a thankless task though. One of the policemen told me that there are gangs who don't even go to the match roaming around looking for small groups of away fans to attack. After all is said and done I thought the police were first class yesterday and the "Cattle truck" operation must have been a huge success. Despite disruption for us fans I don't know of any confrontation or injuries.

Sad thing is that it's so necessary.

[Dollymarie]

When I was at Birmingham new Street yesterday there were loads of police hanging about watching for any trouble, so I guess it happens wherever you are in the country. Was the same when I got to Temple Meads, storm troopers roaming about amongst all the rugby fans milling about.

[Avonmouth Docker]

Traveling from Kings Cross/St Pancras to Millwall took nearly 2 hours yesterday, and didn't see the police until the ground!!, and had to go via Surrey Quays, as the Jubilee Line trains weren't stopping at London Bridge, due to ongoing footy related incidents,

but to be fair, it wasn't as intimidating as you think walking to the ground, but maybe as i was on my own, and not wearing any colours, i wasn't a target?.

But it was a bit over the top waiting a hour in sweltering temperatures and being marched to the station like a criminal.

Mind you though, one funny thing to break up the boredom was a City supporter asking a female Sargent if her b***ocks were sweating in her uniform, to which she replied, if i had b***ocks, they certainly will be sweaty!!.

And all that palaver of getting shepherded onto a train to go one stop!!.

Managed to get the BT Plod to let me not go on the tube, so i could rush to Kings Cross Thameslink instead, only to get stopped by the MP Plod, for running across the concourse of London Bridge station!!.

Made my train with 5 mins to spare, and met up with 5 Forest supporters, who had an easy day of it in Leytonstone, plus 3 points more than us!!.

If i had been made to go to Paddington, i would of missed my train home, and would of had to pay an extra £40, to get a different train.

Just hope that we don't play Millwall next season, but maybe Rotherham will say something different about that!!.

And if we do, i hope it's towards the start of the season, and not the end, and maybe it would be a tad more enjoyable than it was yesterday!!.

[BS3_RED]

I agree about the police on the ground, i thought they were first class and wish some other police forces would take note, Avon and Somerset and West Midlands anyone.

I'm still not happy about it but am starting to think about all the good stuff that came out of it,like all the singing in the stations and the guys sliding down the escerlaters (sp).

[somered]

We were held back like the coaches for over an hour and then we were put on a train (we had no choice in this). We waited for over half an hour only to stop at London Bridge station and be moved onto a tube (again we hade no choice inthis).

Ther tube were over filled and even the police said it was dangerous but still we proceded. We changed tube agin at Baker street and was taken to Paddington when we were informed that they were sorting out what trains we were going on. The fact that some of us might of driven in was never thought off and it was only cos i could prove to the police that we parked by QPR's ground that they didnt force us onto the train.

Even people that had parked by the ground were taken to Paddington and then had to make there way back to their car.

Utter disgrace and i have a good mind to complain to the police complaints commision.

Edit. We didnt get back to Paddington untill about 7-30 and only got back to Bristol at 10. I got back from Hartlepool in less time than that.

My friend and myself had coach tickets from Hammersmith to Taunton which due to this vastly OTT operation we both missed, and all this despite constant pleadings with the Police, all of which I may add were met with total indifference, the Police then moved us to Paddington and onto a train bound for Bristol / Taunton for which of course we had no tickets (God knows how many more were put on this train without tickets), this must have cost Great First Western a fortune!

So in future when we have games in London I am only going to buy a single ticket because thanks to the generosity of the MP/BTP and First Great Western they let you travel home for nothing!

[Uxbridge Red]

A British Transport Police Officer took great pride in telling me that we were all under arrest during our forced march across the London Underground for breach of the peace? When I asked if we had been read our rights he then retracted his statement.

Must admit it was a bit crowded on the tube (more than a normal rush hour), although the chanting and singing on the escalator was the best I had heard all day. The transport police had a hard job to do but they made it harder by not telling us that we had to go to Paddington whether we liked it or not.

I quietly took a seat on the platform at Baker St whilst the rest of the herd were crammed (and I mean crammed - like something out of auchswitz) onto the Bakerloo line train to Paddington. Within seconds of the train leaving life returned to normal and I was allowed with a few others to go on my way.

It should have been made clear in the official police statement(s) on the website that by choosing to attend the football match and travelling by means other than the official coaches we were surrendering our civil liberty to travel freely after the game, and that the only place we would be allowed to go to was Paddington.

At least then, those that had driven and parked elsewhere, or who had arrived via other railheads, could have panned their route home better.

I saw a middle aged man with a beard being severely man handled by some BTP officers when he tried to leave London Bridge station by the main exit between the overland and underground corridors. He even had a dog lunged in his direction.

I don't think he was even a football fan but was stood in the wrong place at the wrong time and got carried on the wave.

What happened at Paddington? Were fans allowed to leave to go elsewhere - or was it a first great western train only?

[Topbuzz]

I think it was supposed to be but plenty of us got away n stayed about for the later trains

We like to think we don't live in a police state I'm not so sure!

[somered]

A British Transport Police Officer took great pride in telling me that we were all under arrest during our forced march across the London Underground for breach of the peace? When I asked if we had been read our rights he then retracted his statement.

Must admit it was a bit crowded on the tube (more than a normal rush hour), although the chanting and singing on the escalator was the best I had heard all day. The transport police had a hard job to do but they made it harder by not telling us that we had to go to Paddington whether we liked it or not.

I quietly took a seat on the platform at Baker St whilst the rest of the herd were crammed (and I mean crammed - like something out of auchswitz) onto the Bakerloo line train to Paddington. Within seconds of the train leaving life returned to normal and I was allowed with a few others to go on my way.

It should have been made clear in the official police statement(s) on the website that by choosing to attend the football match and travelling by means other than the official coaches we were surrendering our civil liberty to travel freely after the game, and that the only place we would be allowed to go to was Paddington.

At least then, those that had driven and parked elsewhere, or who had arrived via other railheads, could have panned their route home better.

I saw a middle aged man with a beard being severely man handled by some BTP officers when he tried to leave London Bridge station by the main exit between the overland and underground corridors. He even had a dog lunged in his direction.

I don't think he was even a football fan but was stood in the wrong place at the wrong time and got carried on the wave.

What happened at Paddington? Were fans allowed to leave to go elsewhere - or was it a first great western train only?

To be honest I never noticed if some people were allowed to move on elsewhere although one chap was refused permission to get his coat back from a storage locker at Paddington Station, we were just grateful to be able to get home, from what I could make out the police shepherded every one towards the train as soon as we left Paddington Tube Station, we were also accompanied by a dozen or so Police all the way back to Bristol

[bartolona]

Had to get back to Waterloo, so we just waited at London bridge for the masses to be taken down the escalator then went in the opposite direction. No way were we going back to Paddington then have to travel back across London.

[xerox6060]

Having read previous reports from other sides we half expected this to happen, from the police's prospective it was a very successful, one officer informed us it was one of the Mets biggest footy related operations of the season.

As said there were gangs of Wall fans roaming around and I have now doubt they would have picked people off if given chance, the City hooligan contingent amongst the trains was also a good 300 strong so I see the logic in the police's tactics.

It dosen't put me off going to London by train, as I think bar maybe WestHam next year this was a bit of a one off, though I wouldn't bother to go to Millwall again unless as yesterday the match had some massive significance.

[bh_red]

as someone else just said, this is pretty much what was expected to happen with the shepparing onto trains,

I'm surpised soo many people are shocked about it, the exact same stories have been on here for the last week or so,

unfortunate, but needed I'm afriad

[bringbacktherobin]

I wish i didnt get back on my coach and went home on the train, Sounds like i could of got it for free aswell.

[Barry]

If i had been made to go to Paddington, i would of missed my train home, and would of had to pay an extra £40, to get a different train.

Pretty much what happened to me, although managed to escape police escort at Baker st. but missed my train back to manchester.........£40 that i probably can't afford to spend down the pisser!

[thatcham red]

To be honest, the only chance you might have broken free of the escort was at London Bridge before the escalators like someone has already mentioned. If you weren't a football fan and got caught up in it, it would have been a big unnerving, especially once on the tube that didn't stop (how hot was that tube anyway!!).

I thought the police operation was well over the top, but it worked and there was no trouble. Given that I had my lad with me, I was grateful for that.

Interesting conversation on the escalators with a copper. Millwall FC don't pick up the tab for any policing outside of the ground. So, all down to the local tax payers then........

[tin]

We were held back like the coaches for over an hour and then we were put on a train (we had no choice in this). We waited for over half an hour only to stop at London Bridge station and be moved onto a tube (again we hade no choice inthis).

Ther tube were over filled and even the police said it was dangerous but still we proceded. We changed tube agin at Baker street and was taken to Paddington when we were informed that they were sorting out what trains we were going on. The fact that some of us might of driven in was never thought off and it was only cos i could prove to the police that we parked by QPR's ground that they didnt force us onto the train.

Even people that had parked by the ground were taken to Paddington and then had to make there way back to their car.

Utter disgrace and i have a good mind to complain to the police complaints commision.

Edit. We didnt get back to Paddington untill about 7-30 and only got back to Bristol at 10. I got back from Hartlepool in less time than that.

Couldn't agree with you more there mate. It was an absolute shambles. We parked in Kings Mall in Hammersmith, right next to the tube station, and we tried explaining that and my mate nearly got arrested for merely questioning the route. Another mate of mine who happened to live in Islington, told them he lived in North London and wasn't going back to Bristol via Paddington and got threatened with section 5 at Baker Street! WTF?!

We somehow managed to dodge the ranks of police trying to force all and sundry onto the Bristol train and get round the back of them onto the Hammersmith & Cirlce line and got home by 9.30pm but that is easily the latest time I've got back from ANY away ground this season... And I've done 15 away games this year!

Utterly ridiculous!

[Bristolian76]

We managed to escape the cattle run luckily at Tower Bridge which is where we had parked, if not we'd have been ushered through to Paddington.

[WTFiGO!?!]

I'm still not happy about it but am starting to think about all the good stuff that came out of it,like all the singing in the stations and the guys sliding down the escerlaters (sp).

Mate, you got that bang on.

You know, transporting 10's of 100's of City fans from Bristol up to the most notorious Football Club in the Country is no enviable task, it has 'criminal activety' written all over it so from OB's point of view whatever measures put in place to prevent anything kicking off have to be made.

That's not to say that they didn't make errors and peed people, myself included, off....

All of this pails into insignificance though when considering the scenes you describe here. As I said to NickJ at the time ''This is what going to the Football's all about for me''.

First class, looking forward to seeing people's filming of it on You Tube.

[Bristolian76]

Ill have to find out how to upload my videos onto You Tube, i took a few in the walking through the station.

[CodeRed]

Like everybody else I was caught up in the escort but when we changed tube trains at Baker St we hung back and just said to the OB ( a sergeant ) "look - our car is parked up in near Brentford,we don't need to go on to Paddington" and he just said ok, wait on the platform till the rest have gone which is what we did. As said above literally within seconds of the "escort" dissappearing round the corner complete normality retured to the station.

On the Millwall rivals board one fan said they now only buy a one way rail ticket to away games as this happens to them everywhere they go and the OB just shove then on the train regrdless of if they have any tickets.

also,

All the tourists at LB were filming us on their mobiles and cameras - how weird was that!

and,

whilst waiting outside the Den after the game the PA guy kept saying "Don't forget the last train to Bristol (from Paddington) is 9.45pm".so presumabley people were allowed to free at Paddington to have a beer before getting this train?????

I actually thought the OB did a good job considering the circumstances, they were reasonably good humoured, we all got back safely, no City fans got attacked or hurt.......if they hadn't escorted everybody back to the station it could of been quite nasty at LB. Millwall know the OB escort everybody out so they don't bother lying in wait anymore - used to be quite different!

CodeRed

[Portishead Red]

I agree about the police on the ground, i thought they were first class and wish some other police forces would take note, Avon and Somerset and West Midlands anyone.

I'm still not happy about it but am starting to think about all the good stuff that came out of it,like all the singing in the stations and the guys sliding down the escerlaters (sp).

At last some sense!

So lets look at it a different way then.

The police let us all out at the sametime and we go up to the train station where millwall fans will be eagerly awaiting our arrival. All hell breaks loose, innocent people get caught up in it and try and run for cover - which means crossing the railway line or going back down the steps where no doubt more millwall and city will be going at it.

The police were superb today (except for the poor fans on the coaches). Yes it was annoying being kept back but that was for OUR OWN SAFETY. They were co-operative and friendlyd didnt even feel the need to react when the little berks in the stand next to us started pulling up the segregation. Imagine if that was ashton gate and avon and somerset police............

The singing in the station was just brilliant. We managed to get out of the "escort" and made our way back to Brentford with no hassle whatsoever. If you wanted to get out of the escort to get connecting trains elsewhere you could have quite easily - the police said that themselves.

As i said in a previous post, great day spoilt by the football..!

[WTFiGO!?!]

On the Millwall rivals board one fan said they now only buy a one way rail ticket to away games as this happens to them everywhere they go and the OB just shove then on the train regrdless of if they have any tickets.

- they just want you out the place.

Also, fair play to you, I do sympathise with those greatly inconvenienced and at different points of the pilgramage it might not always have been possible but I find in life the ability to offer a diplomatic 'quiet word' to be a great vertue.

My Doncaster mission is a good case study for testinomy of this.

[WTFiGO!?!]

All the tourists at LB were filming us on their mobiles and cameras - how weird was that!

Football and more specifically Football spectatership is a cultural phenomenon tbf and one I'm very proud to be a part of.

Yesterday was a classic.

[tin]

Football and more specifically Football spectatership is a cultural phenomenon tbf and one I'm very proud to be a part of.

Yesterday was a classic.

I agree mate. My best part of the day was starting the very first song on that escort at London Bridge! "Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole... Bristol... City!" Great buzz!

[devonrobin]

- they just want you out the place.

Also, fair play to you, I do sympathise with those greatly inconvenienced and at different points of the pilgramage it might not always have been possible but I find in life the ability to offer a diplomatic 'quiet word' to be a great vertue.

My Doncaster mission is a good case study for testinomy of this.

same for me showed the police my ticket at london bridge they then told me 2 hang back after the fans went past they told me 2 go on my way

the singing at london bridge was brilliant

[wesco]

I had to get to waterloo and despite asking on a number of occasions if I could get ut of the escot I ended up at baker street before managing to get free. Missed my train and was lucky not to have to pay again. I can understand why they do it but it was like we were criminals being hearded like cattle.

[Squeak]

We managed to finally get out of the escort at Paddington and made our coach at Victoria Station with minutes to spare. Enjoyed it though, all that singing through London Bridge was brilliant! Can't wait to see some of the vids taken on Youtube.

[EmersonsKev]

To be honest, the only chance you might have broken free of the escort was at London Bridge before the escalators like someone has already mentioned. If you weren't a football fan and got caught up in it, it would have been a big unnerving, especially once on the tube that didn't stop (how hot was that tube anyway!!).

I thought the police operation was well over the top, but it worked and there was no trouble. Given that I had my lad with me, I was grateful for that.

Interesting conversation on the escalators with a copper. Millwall FC don't pick up the tab for any policing outside of the ground. So, all down to the local tax payers then........

Stu, I think we had the easier ride back in fairness by getting on the 2nd train out of South Bermondsey after looking at the YouTube clips that are floating about. Me and the gang did break free from the police escort at London Bridge with very little problems, the fact that we weren't wearing colours and had the missus made it easier.

As you have said the Police operation was OTT. However with the Millwall numpties and the numbers that we had taken via train and tube we were an ideal target for gangs and mobs to have a "pop" at. I believe the OTT police operation was necessary to ensure that the minority of fans wishing to cause problems didn't get the opportunity to do so and make it a safe trip across London(maybe not with Overcrowding which needs to be looked at) I think this would have all been irrelivent had we won.

[Bristol Boy]

Met up with an old mate, travelled to London Bridge then cut out on the Jubilee Line to Charing Cross then on to Covent Garden-Beer then a walk into Chinatown for a meal.

Back to Green Park for another meet and got back home on Thameslink ( First Connect Rail) at 1.30am.

I was determined not to let the MP or Millwall spoil things.

[bs3]

Six of us got out the escourt at London Bridge. A copper stopped us and asked way we were going and if we staying in London that night. I told we were going get a taxi up west and then the last last train to Bristol. The copper told us to "piss off quickly" so we did and jumped in a taxi.

After spending most of the on tubes and trains I had a real guts full.

The tube was really packed coming from Whitechapple before the match, I can't imagine it was worse then that.