Shuttle buses scheme could take off for Port matches
NEW shuttle buses could be introduced to take Southport FC fans to the Merseyrail Community Stadium.
The football club recently announced a new partnership with Arriva and the bus company says talks are ongoing over the possibility of introducing a shuttle service for home matches. Arriva also said that it was considering the potential for planning bus timetables in the area to fit in with kick-off times.
The Yellows hosted 36 bus drivers and other members of staff from Arriva’s Southport depot at their match with York City last Saturday.
The day, officially dubbed by the club as Arriva Day, saw Arriva staff and their families enjoy hospitality treatment at the club after the unveiling of a Southport FC-decorated bus, which featured the club’s colours and players photos.
Michael Brown, Southport FC media manager, said: “The rain and the result may not have worked in our favour but what a fantastic way to get the ball rolling with our new Arriva partnership.
“Our supporters and the people of Southport in general are at the forefront of everything we do and we’re always looking at ways to adapt what we do to benefit them. The current 44 Arriva bus service, which runs from Eastbank
Street in the town centre straight to the ground, is definitely one that we want to get more people using on a matchday.
“We’re particularly excited to continue working with Arriva and we’ve got a number of ideas for how we can move forward from Saturday’s launch.”
Southport fans and members of the wider local community are being actively encouraged to start using public transport more frequently to travel to and from matches as part of this new partnership between the football club and Arriva.
Gerry O’Leary, Southport depot general manager, said: “Despite the result on Saturday it was a great day for everybody involved and we’re especially excited to see how the relationship between the club and Arriva can grow.
“All of our staff had a great day and we we were delighted with how well received the new bus was. This is just the start of some really exciting things to come and I think everyone who came on Saturday would agree.
“We hope that our partnership with Southport FC will create even stronger links between us, the football club, and the local Southport community.”
An on-going public Spot the SFC bus campaign is also being launched whereby supporters can send pictures or videos of the bus in public directly to Southport FC to win a selection of prizes.