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Football specials are trains chartered for football fans to travel to away games.
Football specials had run as early as 1927, when the Great Western Railway ran 50 services from Wales to London for the 1927 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. [1]
During the peak of football hooliganism in the 1970s and 1980s, football specials were chartered to ferry fans to away games. However these were only popular during weekends. Many mid-week trains would have been cancelled. One famous example of this was in 1975 when Liverpool arranged for five 'specials' to be put on by railway services for a game against West Ham United; however only one left the station.
The Inter City Firm that follows West Ham United, was named after the InterCity trains they travelled on. [2] The firm following Leeds United, the Leeds Service Crew, named themselves after the regular services they travelled on due to them being less heavily policed than football specials.
When Wembley Stadium was closed for rebuilding from 2001 until 2006, and the FA Cup held at the Millennium Stadium, football specials ran. [3]
At a transport security conference in London on 14 February 2007, the deputy head of British Transport Police, Deputy Chief Constable, Andy Trotter, warned that fans were disrupting trains. Trotter said his resources were "being stretched by the pressure of herding growing numbers of fans around the country on match days. Even when services to match day hotspots such as London, Manchester and Liverpool pass off without arrests, non-football going passengers can be frightened or irritated by fans' behaviour". Adding that, "There is an argument for the football specials, the trains that take fans backwards and forwards, but that's a matter for the train operators." He said he would like to see fans taken off trains, "I would much prefer if there is something done not to have them coming on the system at all." [2]
British Transport Police welcome their return, a spokesperson saying "it gives us the chance to isolate the fans from other passengers". [4]
Virgin Trains West Coast, whose InterCity West Coast franchise service covered 16 clubs, said reviving charted trains was hampered by a lack of spare carriages, unlike in British Rail days when there was spare and redundant stock. Great North Eastern Railway (GNER), which carried fans between London, Leeds and North East England, used Middlesbrough stewards to help prevent trouble. GNER said that train timetables were specified by government and did not allow charters. [2]
The Football Supporters' Federation, said bringing back football specials was the right idea for the wrong reason. "If there was enough demand for a football special and it could be run at a certain time I think a lot of people would be happy with that. But we don't accept that a lot of football fans who go on trains are hooligans." [2]
Arsenal and Chelsea sometimes organise charter trains. [5] [6] [7] These are operated with hired in sets from spot hire companies Riviera Trains and West Coast Railways.
Football specials operate to Rugby League and Rugby Union matches at Wembley Stadium and the Millennium Stadium.
Great North Eastern Railway, often referred to as GNER, was a train operating company in the United Kingdom, owned by Sea Containers, that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, North East England and Scotland from April 1996 until December 2007.
Millwall Football Club is a professional football club in Bermondsey, South East London, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the Millwall area of the Isle of Dogs in 1910. From then until 1993, the club played at what is now called The Old Den in New Cross, before moving to its current home stadium nearby, called The Den. The traditional club crest is a rampant lion, referred to in the team's nickname The Lions. Millwall's traditional kit consists of dark blue shirts, white shorts, and blue socks.
Football is the most popular sport in England,. England is home to the world's first football league, the oldest national governing body, and the oldest national knockout competition. The first modern rules for the game were established in England in 1863. England is one of the oldest national football teams, having played in the first international match in 1872. England won the FIFA World Cup in 1966, and has qualified for the World Cup 16 times. England has more football clubs than any other country, including the world's first club, Sheffield F.C., and the world's oldest professional club, Notts County. England's top domestic league, the Premier League, is one of the most popular and richest leagues in the world. The British Empire's cultural power spread the rules of football to areas of British influence. England the home of football, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association football clubs, England has more clubs involved in the code than any other country. England hosts the world's first club, Sheffield F.C.; the world's oldest professional association football club, Notts County; the oldest national governing body, the Football Association; the joint-oldest national team; the oldest national knockout competition, the FA Cup; and the oldest national league, the English Football League. It also has 31% of the population interested in Football. Today England's top domestic league, the Premier League, is one of the most popular and richest sports leagues in the world, with five of the ten richest football clubs in the world as of 2022.
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The 1927 FA Cup final was an association football match between Cardiff City and Arsenal on 23 April 1927 at the Empire Stadium. The final was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, organised by the Football Association. Cardiff, one of the few Welsh teams taking part, won the match 1–0. Their victory remains the only occasion the trophy, which was previously widely referred to as the "English Cup", has been won by a team based outside England.
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