SPORTS FANS BRACE THEMSELVES FOR ‘BUSIEST DAY EVER’
FOOTBALL and rugby fans are demanding to know what plans are being put in place to accommodate them on arguably the busiest day of sport ever hosted by the Welsh capital.
Saturday, November 12, will see Cardiff hosting a Welsh football and rugby international on the same day for the first time – with more than 100,000 fans expected to attend the matches and tens of thousands more expected to fill the city’s bars and pubs.
Wales’ autumn rugby international against Argentina kicks off at 5.30pm at the Principality Stadium.
The crucial World Cup football qualifier between Wales and Serbia – taking place just a mile and a half from the rugby at the Cardiff City Stadium – begins at 7.45pm in Cardiff City Stadium.
With hotels either fully booked or charging hundreds of pounds on Saturday night, the majority of patriotic sports fans will be relying on buses, taxis and trains to get home, with many wanting to plan their journeys well in advance to help battle the huge crowds.
But with less than two weeks until Super Saturday fans are still waiting to hear:
What extra rail services will be put in place?
How ongoing building work around Cardiff train station will affect the station’s regular queueing system for major events.
Which city centre roads will be closed and how bus services and taxi ranks will be affected?
How safety of fans will be ensured on the streets, especially outside both stadiums.
Jim Strachan, of Cowbridge based company Strachan Sports, runs coach trips to rugby events.
He said: “Trains are a particular problem, I must admit.
“The question is, what on earth are Arriva going to do? Surely they’re going to put extra services on.
“I know fans who live in West Wales and North Wales who are planning on staying over – hotels aren’t going to be full of Argentinians and Serbians but Welsh fans.
“Accommodation is always a massive headache as it’s booked up so fast and some hotels won’t let you stay just the one night. But how are people supposed to get home?
“Another worry is the parking – Sophia Gardens is always rammed with coaches so I’m not sure how it will cope with the extra influx.
“I hope there aren’t any logistical problems. Cardiff is a very compact city but they’ve coped with crowds before.”
Rugby fan Bedwyr Morgan, from Anglesey, spoke of what can sometimes be a treacherous journey to the match:
“On game day I usually travel to Cardiff by car to watch the match.
“Following the A470 can be a long and tiring day for the family and obviously the driver.
“To enable us to get to Cardiff on time we start early at around 6.30 in the morning.
“Negotiating this dangerous and long route is stressful to say the least.”
He said expensive accommodation forces families to make the journey in a day, adding: “Costs of hotels in Cardiff force a family to do this in my view.
“And many people from the north do this more and more to watch their beloved Wales play.”
Welsh actor and football fan Jonny Owen hopes Cardiff can handle the strain.
He said: “Cardiff is an amazing city when it comes to sport and for decades now it has been used to hosting major events.
“With the Champions League final coming, its reputation is among the best in the world.”
He also hopes fans from all over Wales are able to make the match despite travel difficulty.
“I feel sometimes for our North Walian brethren when it comes to transport.
“I hope that they are able to come as they have been huge supporters of the Welsh football team especially.
“I’m hoping it will be a great day for fans of both sports on and off the pitch. One thing is for sure, they pubs will be happy!”
South Wales Police say they are ready for both events yet have so far failed to confirm if extra officer’s will be walking the streets of Cardiff.
Chief Inspector Stephen Jones said: “Cardiff is an established major venue for top international sporting and cultural events.
“Such occasions are great for the city, attracting many visitors to the capital.
“Together with our partners in Car- diff, South Wales Police is accustomed to policing large sporting events.
“Throughout the year, the capital welcomes thousands of visitors to top sporting occasions, with some rugby internationals pulling in upwards of 150,000 people into the city.
“This means that on occasions there are more than 70,000 fans in the Principality Stadium and in addition sometimes up to 100,000 people in licensed premises in the city centre.
“Our advice to anyone attending either match is to plan ahead to avoid any last-minute delays in coming into Cardiff as well as for your journey home.”
A spokesman for the force added: “It’s not the first time it’s happened and it won’t be the last.
“As a force we are used to dealing with this nature of event.
“There will be the normal stewarding in place and the matches are at different times of the day.
“We’ll have the appropriate number of officers in place but we would not disclose details of our operations.”
Arriva Trains have previously been criticised for failing to deal with the huge number of people using their trains and buses to get in and out of Cardiff.
Rugby World Cup organisers said transport arrangements were “unacceptable” on game days last year.
It said queues for trains outside Cardiff Central took between three and four hours to clear compared to waits of between 60 and 90 minutes at Wembley and between one and two hours at Twickenham.
A new queueing system was trialled at the Monster Jam event at the stadium earlier this year and Arriva Trains Wales insists it is working on making November 12 run as smoothly as possible for passengers.
But the c o mp a n y has so far refused to reveal details of its plans for November 12.
A spokesperson said: “Our events planning team are currently working on a plan for November 12 and will be issuing more detailed travel ad-