[B_H_Baggie]

http://www.wba.co.uk/news/article/west-bromwich-albion-free-coaches-crystal-palace-2015-2277351.aspx

Club provide free transport for 13th successive season

Albion have released details of this season’s free coach offer for the 316-mile round trip to Crystal Palace.

The Baggies are due to meet the Eagles in a Premier League clash on April 18.

The fixture is subject to potential change were Tony Pulis’s team successful in their FA Cup quarter final against Aston Villa – the weekend of the Palace game is scheduled to stage the semi-finals.

But the club are again planning to put on up to 40 coaches capable of transporting 2,000 fans to Selhurst.

Fans can book their place when they buy their match tickets. A deposit of £1 is required which will then be returned by stewards at the start of the journey.

[Morany]

Going to throw my two pence in here. It seemed to divide opinion on both the Official Albion Facebook page and also on Twitter.

I'd like to say fair play again to the club for doing this gesture, however I think more needs to be done for the fans regards rewards.

Personally, I don't use the coaches, haven't done since I was old enough to travel with my mates on the trains. The last time I used them I vowed it would be my last anyway as there are a number of problems that as an away fan I see.

- Park very close to the ground or sometimes on the ground car park meaning your often pushed towards going in the ground straight away
- Normally get there quite close to kick off and then its straight back on and in traffic afterwards
- Being held at service stations for long periods
- Coats on seats approach and quite frankly stuck up approach of the 'Super Fan'

Don't get me wrong, they serve a purpose and they need to be there, just not for me.

 So onto the point. Given that there was a lot of talk around extra cash incentives for clubs to help out fans last season, there should be enough money in the coffers to subsidise travel for all of our support not just people that go on the coach.

Surely it wouldn't be hard to run a scheme for the Palace game of say 1,500 free seats and 1,500 discounted match day tickets to the value of the coach seat, and you choose which one you want. This would allow people to benefit from the same reward whether they were driving or going by train, or even booze bus.

Any thoughts?

[Albionic]

can the coach pick me up at say ....... Dereham? Swaffham?  please

[WBAinDEVON]

already booked me flight

[OldburyWBA]

Don't use the coaches even the free one. Would rather they used that money on subsidising tickets for a particular game to the same value given how many go to games by other means of transport and also how many live away from the areas so going by official coaches isn't an option.

Don't get me wrong its a great gesture by the club and does give a chance for some to go to a game they otherwise wouldn't have gone to I guess but agree with Morany other schemes would benefit more people.

[VVVAlbion]

It depends how you view it.

A reward for those that go to games anyway or a community thing giving help to those that wouldn't normally have the opportunity to go to an away game?
I see it as the latter and applaud the club for it (at the end of the day they don't have to do anything!)

I agree about the coaches though. Having travelled very occasionally on them in my younger years, horrible and you miss out on so much of the away day experience.

[AlbionFan]

I wonder if anyone knows if the club would, financially, lose out, break-even or make a profit from running free coaches based on the predicted additional ticket revenue.

For all the finance guys, is there a formula that could be applied to indicate profit, lose, break-even for this initiative and what would be the elements of such a formula?

Do away clubs receive a cut of attendance revenue these days?

Or am I over complicating the gesture?

[WBAinDEVON]

Whats the allocation at Palace? free coaches mean more people would want to go. amother ticket shortage possibly

[B_H_Baggie]

Whats the allocation at Palace? free coaches mean more people would want to go. amother ticket shortage possibly

Hopefully it gets moved to midweek after we go through to the next round of the cup, if that happens I can't see ticket allocation being a problem.

[ashdoy]

Want to book but will wait until after Villa cup game; cant go to Palace on a weeknight!

[DaveWBA]

Going to throw my two pence in here. It seemed to divide opinion on both the Official Albion Facebook page and also on Twitter.

I'd like to say fair play again to the club for doing this gesture, however I think more needs to be done for the fans regards rewards.

Personally, I don't use the coaches, haven't done since I was old enough to travel with my mates on the trains. The last time I used them I vowed it would be my last anyway as there are a number of problems that as an away fan I see.

- Park very close to the ground or sometimes on the ground car park meaning your often pushed towards going in the ground straight away
- Normally get there quite close to kick off and then its straight back on and in traffic afterwards
- Being held at service stations for long periods
- Coats on seats approach and quite frankly stuck up approach of the 'Super Fan'

Don't get me wrong, they serve a purpose and they need to be there, just not for me.

 So onto the point. Given that there was a lot of talk around extra cash incentives for clubs to help out fans last season, there should be enough money in the coffers to subsidise travel for all of our support not just people that go on the coach.

Surely it wouldn't be hard to run a scheme for the Palace game of say 1,500 free seats and 1,500 discounted match day tickets to the value of the coach seat, and you choose which one you want. This would allow people to benefit from the same reward whether they were driving or going by train, or even booze bus.

Any thoughts?

In complete agreement mate.

It wouldn't be hard to subsidise travel / match tickets in another manner. There have been numerous examples of clubs subsidising special trains for match days.

[Morany]

As someone who goes away regularly I'd be so annoyed if I didn't get a ticket for the Palace game due to the free coaches.

[Morany]

It depends how you view it.

A reward for those that go to games anyway or a community thing giving help to those that wouldn't normally have the opportunity to go to an away game?
I see it as the latter and applaud the club for it (at the end of the day they don't have to do anything!)

I agree about the coaches though. Having travelled very occasionally on them in my younger years, horrible and you miss out on so much of the away day experience.

Maybe not, but all teams were given extra funds to support these types of things. Here is a snippet from an article for last season. Not sure if this carried on to this season.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24446082

The Premier League's efforts to reduce costs for away supporters have been welcomed by a fans' group.

The 20 top-flight clubs have been given £200,000 each to subsidise travelling fans, with some offering ticket deals and others providing free coach travel.

The Football Supporters' Federation says ticket prices are the priority.

"The League's response has been very positive," said the group's chief executive Kevin Miles. "But ticket costs are the main issue."

[WBAinDEVON]

We took a few to Palace last season, rubbish view though

[Morany]

Don't use the coaches even the free one. Would rather they used that money on subsidising tickets for a particular game to the same value given how many go to games by other means of transport and also how many live away from the areas so going by official coaches isn't an option.

Don't get me wrong its a great gesture by the club and does give a chance for some to go to a game they otherwise wouldn't have gone to I guess but agree with Morany other schemes would benefit more people.

Take Palace and Man City away as an example. Palace coach would normally cost around £20. I think the gesture would be better suited to taking £20 off the City away ticket which is a whopping £44 at the moment. 

It's easy to get from West Brom/Birmingham and even London to Manchester and if you book in advance on trains, it can be pretty cheap. My train is about £15. Cheaper than standard coach travel with the Albion and gives me plenty of flexibility and a longer day out.

[Bob]

Don't use the coaches even the free one. Would rather they used that money on subsidising tickets for a particular game to the same value given how many go to games by other means of transport and also how many live away from the areas so going by official coaches isn't an option.

Don't get me wrong its a great gesture by the club and does give a chance for some to go to a game they otherwise wouldn't have gone to I guess but agree with Morany other schemes would benefit more people.

Exactly right mate, only part of the away support use the coaches. Subsidising tickets would help everyone. I haven't been on a club coach for over 20 years and have no intention of breaking that. Our support comes country wide now a days which makes it even more sensible to knock a tenner of the ticket price or something.

[east-stand-nick]

Was hoping to go to this as I'm a stone's throw from London, but the free coaches may mean I struggle to get a ticket now!

It's a good gesture though of course, but I think it would be better served discounting the tickets.

[WBAinDEVON]

trouble is with coaches i need to be on the lash in central london by 9am

[VVVAlbion]

I also kind of disagree with the suggestion that the club should directly fund another clubs ticket policy. All clubs should be putting pressure on those clubs with high prices to reduce them, subsidising them will not help the supporter in the long term.

[crazedwbafan18]

Was hoping to go to this as I'm a stone's throw from London, but the free coaches may mean I struggle to get a ticket now!

It's a good gesture though of course, but I think it would be better served discounting the tickets.

I reckon you'll be alright nick, there's always a few remaining for the free games.

[east-stand-nick]

I reckon you'll be alright nick, there's always a few remaining for the free games.

I doubt my Dad/brother will go so I can always use their season ticket I suppose!

[Black Country Pride]

Don't Stoke provide free coach travel for every away game?

[TheJacko2000]

Never been on the coach and never will, don't begrudge those that do though.

[Baggies54]

Coaches for fans would be more beneficial travelling to Sunderland as opposed to just down the road to Palace, both for the fans themselves and the team as I am sure approximately 2000 would make a lot more noise than the 800 we have at the moment.

[Morany]

Don't Stoke provide free coach travel for every away game?

I think they had that in place last season yes