Arriving to games late

[CountryRoyal]

Also arrived late to 'Boro at home under Steve Clarke, and missed Danny Williams' opener.

Yep missed that too, but in fairness I missed the entire first half because I was delayed 30 minutes because a farmer was moving his herd of cattle a mile down the road.

[Millsy]

I once came to a game late.

I missed a couple of minutes of football.

I wrote to John Madejski to ask for a refund because they started the game without me, which is rude.

I wouldn't start dinner without everyone having their meal brought by the waiter.

[Old Man Andrews]

Never been late for a game. I have a ritual of always arriving at least an hour before kick off either home or away and I've always been lucky with traffic etc.
I really enjoy watching the warm up' s as stupid as that sounds. Not sure why but I've always found them really interesting.

[bakerlou]

We beat Palace 2-0 at Selhurst Park in 1995, we were already 1-0 up when I got in, and it was 2-0 shortly afterwards. This game was notorious at the time as Robert Codner bossed the midfield for us and Paul Holsgrove was outstanding playing as a sweeper, two facts which people familiar with those two players but who did not attend that match cannot, and perhaps should not, ever believe.

We lost 2-1 to Oxford in November 1999, James Lambert was playing for them as was Joey Beauchamp (at least one of those two ccunts scored, I can't remember), the match kicked off before noon on a Sunday, I strolled in after around 25 minutes. True story.

Two from the archive there. My record of late arrival has improved marked in recent years as a result of not going to the match any more.

[double d]

Never been late for a game. I have a ritual of always arriving at least an hour before kick off either home or away and I've always been lucky with traffic etc.
I really enjoy watching the warm up' s as stupid as that sounds. Not sure why but I've always found them really interesting.

Stamford bridge is easy to get yo via the many options though isn't it.

[St Pauli]

Arrived late to the Crawley Reading Cup game 2013. There was a big queue outside and we heard the roar of the home fans as they scored the opener.

Walked into the toilet before we moved into the stands as I was battered and needed a piss. Found loads of guys snorting coke off each other.

Went on to win 3:1, but not after Reading fans fought each other in the away end, and an advertising boarding was ripped off and thrown around.

[Stranded]

Never really late as always tend to get to the ground early and have a beer or two in the Jazz Cafe. Only ones that come to mind are the Cardiff PO Semi home leg as the bus from Henley never showed so had to rush back home and get the car. Got in 5 mins late.

Other time was an away game at Orient, think we won 2-1 remember Kevin Dillon scoring and jumping on the fence. Was pay on the day and had had my money nicked from my jacket pocket before the game. Had given up on getting in and just hanging around until after the game when a mate of mine showed up a few mins late and lent me a tenner to get in.

[RoyalSwine90]

I arrived late to the Brighton home game (2-2) last season.

I had completed Tough Mudder that morning in Cirencester and did not finish until half 1. I was caked head to toe in mud so had to shower and then make my way to the game in rapid time.

By the time I got there, the score was 1-1. As I hadn't eaten I decided to get food at half time. As a result of the queue I missed the start of the second half and subsequently missed Brighton score.

Luckily I did manage to catch our equaliser

[John Smith]

went to a Chelsea game in 71, train was late so got to stamford bridge 15 min late, Chelsea had just scored their fourth goal saw another 9 scored

chelsea v jeunesse hautcharage 13:0

Good. Serves you right for going to watch that crock of shit

[jc1871]

Bradford City Fa Cup Quarter final replay, missed the first goal and only just got in for the second. I remember traffic that evening a nightmare

[Gav]

West Ham away. Remember running through the rain in an effort to make kick off, which I missed by about a minute. Seol Ki Hyeon struck the ball just as I arrived on the stand. Pandemonium. Good timing.

Also virtually every home game. Apologies to the people on my row. Rest assured, it's in my personal development plan to address this.

[Stockport Royal]

Remember me and my dad arriving late in the car to Sheff United away on Tuesday night, couldn't find anywhere to park to make it worse.

Heard a huge noise which signalled Sheff United going ahead, and just as we were outside the ground, a smaller noise for a Dave kitson equaliser.

Can't even remember the full time score to be honest.

[handbags_harris]

Arrived late to a few games over the years but the one that really sticks out was Villa away in 2006. Stuck in horrendous traffic all the way to Birmingham, missed Doyle's opener early into the game and arrived just as Sonko got harshly sent off and Angel scored the penalty. Barry scored in the second half and it absolutely pissed down on the way back to the car and we all spent the 2.5 hour journey back home soaked to the bone. We played incredibly well with 10 men and I reckon if Sonko hadn't been sent off we would have won that.

Agreed with that assertion, J-Lloyd Samuel should have been sent off second half, will never understand how Lee Mason gave a yellow for a cynical trip on Doyle who was clear down the line, yet a last warning for exactly the same just minutes later with Seol clear down the line in exactly the same scenario. And to top it off, Samuel was subbed a minute later for Whittingham who then delivered the cross with his first touch for Barry's winner. That Villa side had mediocrity written all over it, Sorensen, Aaron Hughes, Luke Moore, Liam Ridgewell, Samuel, hardly a group of players to strike fear into the opposition.

[tmesis]

My uncle always goes on about a game in 93-94 season, Swansea away, coach broke down in the Bristol area, arrived to the game late and walked into the stadium just as Hartenberger equalised.

I was on that coach. They heard of long delays on the Severn Bridge (turned out to be about half an hour, according to some who went that way anyway) and we instead went up towards Gloucester and around. It took ages. We arrived with half an hour to go, and still got charged full price to get in. We saw both goals though.

There was a game at Barnsley in 87/88 (a night game) where the coach got stuck in traffic, and arrived about 15 minutes late, to find Reading were winning 2-1. Final score, 5-2 to Barnsley.

Our game at Fulham in 93/94 suffered from total gridlock around Hammersmith, and some fans were still coming in well into the 2nd half. Fulham had actually agreed to give us part of the home end as well as the whole away end that day, but far fewer made it than expected, and our section at the other end only had a few hundred in it.

There was a game at Crewe in 1989 where the coaches got delayed in traffic. One voted to turn round, and the other ploughed on, but didn't arrive until the last 15 minutes or so.


My personal "favourite" though was a game at Welling, the 1st replay of a cup tie that needed three replays. It was a night game, and I rushed off after work, getting to London Bridge station at what I thought was a reasonable time.

Unfortunately they were having staffing issues (I think there was a really bad flu bug going around), which meant the information boards were all blank and there were hardly any staff about, so I had no idea which platform I needed. It took a long time to find the right platform, and it took a long time for a train to turn up because one or two got cancelled.

The upshot was that I got to the ground just as the teams were coming out for the second half, but the turnstiles were shut. I banged on the doors and eventually a steward opened up and said I had to go to the away turnstiles. Welling's ground doesn't actually have away turnstiles, but they'd opened up a gap in the fence at that end to let fans in. The problem was that to get there, you had to go through a park, and the park gates were about half a mile down the road.

A ran to the park gates, only to find they were padlocked shut. I ran back, and after a bit of grumbling, the steward agreed I could jump over the turnstiles and make my way through the crowd to the away end.

During the time I was running to/from the locked park gates, two goals were scored, one for each team. Ours was a twice taken penalty, which meant I heard "away appeal and cheer", another away cheer, then a home cheer (for it being struck off), then another away cheer as we scored. Very confusing when you are outside a ground. I then heard a big home cheer, and knew they'd scored.

Naturally, they were the only two goals of the game.


I also missed 65 minutes of the 2006 UEFA Cup Final after being nicked for having a slash behind a bush across the road from PSV Eindhoven's ground. I was kept in a cell at the police station (luckily only just down the road from the ground) for about three hours, before being fined €100 and released. I saw three of the four goals though, but I was sat in a section of very miserable Middlesbrough supporters.

[CountryRoyal]

Leeds home game a couple of seasons ago, needed to pick up some tickets from the ticket office and the queue was outrageous. Got there 10 or so mins before kick off, only got in at half time.

[Hendo]

My uncle always goes on about a game in 93-94 season, Swansea away, coach broke down in the Bristol area, arrived to the game late and walked into the stadium just as Hartenberger equalised.

I was on that coach. They heard of long delays on the Severn Bridge (turned out to be about half an hour, according to some who went that way anyway) and we instead went up towards Gloucester and around. It took ages. We arrived with half an hour to go, and still got charged full price to get in. We saw both goals though.

That’s a much more accurate account of what happened!

[sonkimarsson]

Not to me, but to my dad on Friday. Couldn’t park in the usual spot so he dropped me off. Next see him grinning walking up the stairs to our seat. Literally walked in as Aloku was scoring that worldie! Told him to go back down and try it again.

[bcubed]

West Ham away. Remember running through the rain in an effort to make kick off, which I missed by about a minute. Seol Ki Hyeon struck the ball just as I arrived on the stand. Pandemonium. Good timing.

Also virtually every home game. Apologies to the people on my row. Rest assured, it's in my personal development plan to address this.

Also arrived late to this but not in time to see the only goal of the game.
It was still enjoyable and there was a miraculous block on the line (header over the bar?) in the second half by someone

[Gav]

West Ham away. Remember running through the rain in an effort to make kick off, which I missed by about a minute. Seol Ki Hyeon struck the ball just as I arrived on the stand. Pandemonium. Good timing.

Also virtually every home game. Apologies to the people on my row. Rest assured, it's in my personal development plan to address this.

Also arrived late to this but not in time to see the only goal of the game.
It was still enjoyable and there was a miraculous block on the line (header over the bar?) in the second half by someone

Sidwell

[Readingfanman]

Most I have missed of a game from arriving late was about 35 mins, was living in Bristol at the time, and overslept, missed my train, and ended up getting to Reading at 3:15 before a taxi over to the Madjeski. Had missed Everton score early on, but managed to see us come back and win our first game of the 12/13 season with a Le Fondre double in the second half. Well worth the rush.