football special trains

an older cardiff fan i work with mentioned going to some away games on a "special"... trains put on by british rail just for football fans....he mentioned going to bristol city in the anglo scottish cup back in the 70s and windows being put through by bristol fans...did any older people on here ever go on "specials"?

Not so much going away to matches but the football specials coming down from the valleys, I used to live in Aberbargoed and I remember all the football specials all being lined up down the track at Ninian Park halt coming in one at a time with 9 carriages, the train was actually too long for some of the platforms up the Rhymney valley

Yes.. first time was Swansea away 1980, in the old compartment coaches.. got bricked on our way into Swansea, but they were'nt around when we got off.. not unusual that.

Did Bristol a few times on the specials, last time was Shrewsbury away in the League Cup.. Nov 86. They had those old Victorian turnstiles and I got stuck in them with some big fat City fan. There was such a jam at the turnstiles, people were climbing over the roof to get in..

Also remember a Chelsea fan getting caught plumb with a brick at Ninian Park Halt in the 3-3 game.. the perils of sightseeing from a football special..the away specials were bricked most of the time at Ninian Halt..

Cant remember the game, but on one special one of our clowns kept pulling the Emergency Chord every 5 mins, until the Coppers threatened to kick everyone off unless it stopped..

Did a few football specials back in the 70s Wrexham, Maine Road but probably the best was Swindon in the cup. The same night West Ham had been beaten at Somerton Park and kicked right off, i seem to remember a programme seller got stabbed. When we arrived back at Newport station loads of lads from Newport, Cwmbran and Pontypool got off as we exited the station there was a large mob of cockneys outside. One of them shouts were f***ing West Ham, someone replies were f***ing Cardiff and we proceeded to chase them all around Newport town centre. Good times.

Without a doubt the best days supporting the City. Some of the trains were huge, Man city away had about 14 coaches with 2 engines pulling them. I remember going to Birmingham in the early seventies when we were top and there were three specials running. Probably the best days were around then as we would have a special to at least every other game. There was a freedom on the train that you don't get on a bus. You could walk up and down the train to see your mates, play cards etc.

In the early days of the specials the police hadn't got up to speed so when up to a thousand of us suddenly descended on a town we would take over. The opposition would often be waiting for us outside the station. I didn't go to Leeds in the cup but I know that they were waiting in force for us as many of my mates had the scars to bear witness!

Gradually the police wised up and we would be walked or bussed to the grounds.

By far the best means of travelling to an away game, oh the memories!

I went on one, Cardiff Central to Fratton, for the Pompey away game in 1983. Went on a few regular services to Bristol Rovers), getting off at Stapleton Rd, that was fun at the time.

They were an education....

I seem to remember going to a lot of the early 80's games on a family ticket from some promotion. I would have been 14/15 but looked 12 so would go on a normal train.

But, after being marched back by the coppers would be thrown (literally) onto the special on the way back. They were the Harry Potter-type carriages. We were 4 naive kids thrown in a compartment with unknown 4 lunatics.
As i said an education

I remember one back from a Welsh Cup game in Swansea. Someone kept pulling the communication chord meaning after about half hour we were still only 1/4 mile out of the station. Police warned us that if it kept happening we would all be walked back into Swansea City Centre. Somehow don't think that was ever going to happen

Leeds in the cup 1975, we took two or three football special trains up there, crazy day, the walk back to the station was a bit interesting.

Been to a lot of away games in recent years on the train and there's a fair few city fans on them (probably due to the crazily early times the supporters busses leave at ) They're a good laugh and a good atmosphere as the City fans usually congregate within a few carriages so there's a lot of football talk and people following the early kick off/late kick off on the way back

I'm actually surprised no clubs (as far as I'm aware) make more use of trains to transport fans, I'm not sure what the cost effectiveness of hiring 10/15 coaches and the staff that come with it would be compared to 1 train so maybe it's not viable. But if you can get a good price in advance the train is more comfortable and more fun than the supporters busses.

I went on one, Cardiff Central to Fratton, for the Pompey away game in 1983. Went on a few regular services to Bristol Rovers), getting off at Stapleton Rd, that was fun at the time.

i was on the one to Portsmouth... been on service trains quite a few times since but dont remember there being a football special since that one.... think they came to an end because of damage and trouble...

They used to be fairly common place for the big away games not that we seemed to have many of those. Southend in the cup even. In fact I remember going to see an FA Trophy game at Bridgend Town and Wycombe Wanderers brought a special. I think I remember British Rail pulling the plug on regular specials following our FA cup replay at Arsenal. Our train was well under half full that night and if memory serves me right the Jacks who played at Palace on the same night had less than 30 people on theirs.

Without a doubt the best days supporting the City. Some of the trains were huge, Man city away had about 14 coaches with 2 engines pulling them. I remember going to Birmingham in the early seventies when we were top and there were three specials running. Probably the best days were around then as we would have a special to at least every other game. There was a freedom on the train that you don't get on a bus. You could walk up and down the train to see your mates, play cards etc.

In the early days of the specials the police hadn't got up to speed so when up to a thousand of us suddenly descended on a town we would take over. The opposition would often be waiting for us outside the station. I didn't go to Leeds in the cup but I know that they were waiting in force for us as many of my mates had the scars to bear witness!

Gradually the police wised up and we would be walked or bussed to the grounds.

quite a bit of freedom getting off them as well... the police were very slow figuring out what was likely to happen next ...
i remember a gang of skinheads running into Woolworths Swindon... and coming out all with long hair having plundered the wigs section.... mental times..

Without a doubt the best days supporting the City. Some of the trains were huge, Man city away had about 14 coaches with 2 engines pulling them. I remember going to Birmingham in the early seventies when we were top and there were three specials running. Probably the best days were around then as we would have a special to at least every other game. There was a freedom on the train that you don't get on a bus. You could walk up and down the train to see your mates, play cards etc.

In the early days of the specials the police hadn't got up to speed so when up to a thousand of us suddenly descended on a town we would take over. The opposition would often be waiting for us outside the station. I didn't go to Leeds in the cup but I know that they were waiting in force for us as many of my mates had the scars to bear witness!

Gradually the police wised up and we would be walked or bussed to the grounds.

quite a bit of freedom getting off them as well... the police were very slow figuring out what was likely to happen next ...
i remember a gang of skinheads running into Woolworths Swindon... and coming out all with long hair having plundered the wigs section.... mental times..

I remember the Woolies/ wigs episode, similar thing happened in Oxford, Woolies there had a slamming as well, the students were throwing buckets of water/piss over us from the surrounding buildings as well.

Yes.. first time was Swansea away 1980, in the old compartment coaches.. got bricked on our way into Swansea, but they were'nt around when we got off.. not unusual that.

Did Bristol a few times on the specials, last time was Shrewsbury away in the League Cup.. Nov 86. They had those old Victorian turnstiles and I got stuck in them with some big fat City fan. There was such a jam at the turnstiles, people were climbing over the roof to get in..

Also remember a Chelsea fan getting caught plumb with a brick at Ninian Park Halt in the 3-3 game.. the perils of sightseeing from a football special..the away specials were bricked most of the time at Ninian Halt..

Cant remember the game, but on one special one of our clowns kept pulling the Emergency Chord every 5 mins, until the Coppers threatened to kick everyone off unless it stopped..

Pulling of the cord deffo happened at Man City in FA cup - Trevor Francis scored 2.

Think I've only been on two.Pompey was the first and the second was millwall 1986 in the FA Cup...Cardiff Central to New Cross Gate...

yes they were great. 5 hours to do a 2 hour trip due to the emergency stop cord being pulled every 5 mins and coming home with no seats as they had been thrown out the windows. arhh happy days

yes they were great. 5 hours to do a 2 hour trip due to the emergency stop cord being pulled every 5 mins and coming home with no seats as they had been thrown out the windows. arhh happy days

no seats, no windows....Leicester away springs to mind...

Preferred it in those days tho.. no cctv, no phones.. and you never knew what was going to happen.. great fun

And there was the football special provided by the league in its livery! I know city had use of it once..

And there was the football special provided by the league in its livery! I know city had use of it once..

super league liner.... i dont remember us having it

And there was the football special provided by the league in its livery! I know city had use of it once..

super league liner.... i dont remember us having it

Did say vaguely..... Was at central station perhaps it was just visiting promoting the service?

Went to Swindon away- night match on a special- bedlam