Good gesture by the club,but i hope they get the fans to the game in time,we booked the coach to sheff wednesday saturday as originally a train strike was planned, surprised by leaving time which was not until 8.45/50 and we arrived outside hillsborough at 2.35 which i was hugely disappointed with by the time we got into the stadium we had no time to do anything shame they cut it this fine with the times, is it like this for every away game on the coach? i think they should aim to get to any ground at least an hour before the kick off and allow for any traffic with the times leaving. we were a bit puzzled and would not choose to go by coach again plus they do 3 pick up points which is a bit odd as well i thought,stopped for 45 mins on the way and only 15 on the way back.they need to have a rethink with their organised times :) charlton away by train :)

Anyone know any reason why the club is not showing the game on sky at the ground

I remember taking the coach from Lowestoft to the FA Cup semifinal at Villa against Man City. It was only when the chap was half way down the A12 that we pointed out that Birmingham was thataway. He was off to Wembley. We arrived at Villa Park with 10 minutes to spare and then the driver wanted us to stop so that he could take pictures !! We lost to a goal from a foul that was n't ! Beattie broke his arm and Whymark played at No 6 with Beattie a lone striker with his arm strapped up. Then the coach ran out of fuel on the way back just outside Oulton Broad and we had to walk 5 miles into Lowestoft. Not what you might call a good day

Absolutely ridiculous having the KO at 12:30pm on a Sunday considering the distance and how early fans need to set off. Moving from a Saturday afternoon has ruined a great away day for what is a massive L1 game.

If TV want to have a game like this so early on a Sunday, then TV should pay for the inconvenience!

I agree Europablue. Sky should foot the bill for the inconvenience caused. They make enough at the football fans' expense already!

Happybeingblue

Unfortunately things can be tricky with driving hours and working day!
A driver needs 45min rest every 4.5 hours of driving and can only be on duty for 15 hours.
Work time starts when they arrive at the depot they have to do a 15min work round check on vehicle before driving. 4.5 hours starts as they leave the depot.
The break on the way back should have been at least 30mins as long as they have another 15mins before the 4.5 hours is up.
A way around this is double driver but that puts another wage on the costs

While yes, it is a nice gesture from the club, what about the vast majority of fans who don't travel by coach? 90 fans out of over 1000 travelling get a refund, while the rest still have to pay for their travel? I'm not saying that for myself as I'm not going on Sunday. Just don't see why those travelling by coach should be treated any different than those driving or going by train. Some wholl also be paying for hotels. Yes, thats their choice. But its also a choice to go by coach. So once again, its those who choose to find their own way there, who are
penalised for doing so.

Well blues1, where to start.
If people have already paid for tickets top travel then they are out of pocket.
If someone chooses to drive to Plymouth for a match already cancelled and rearranged, then perhaps they would be better served if the club chose to pay for their for psychiatric evaluation.
Hotels generally have a 24 hr cancelation policy.

Easiest way is to cut back on Sky subscriptions. Total rip off, and you can get most games online for free these days with a VPN anyhow.

Nesspointrunner, i thought that Villa Park game was against Wet Spam. Unless i'm thinking of a different game altogether. Snowed like hell on the way home.

ronnyd.........!00% Man City

Nesspointeunner - don't think Beattie came back on at all and Whymark didn't play.

Beattie came back on with his arm in a sling and they moved Whymark to centre half where he played a good game. West Spam was in '75 at the "Neutral" ground of Stamford Bridge. Where we had two perfectly good goals disallowed by the Ref Taylor and Bobby Robson had a go at him afterwards in his book. We would have gone on to play 2nd div Fulham in the final.

west ham was at villa park and replay at stamford bridge. beattie went off against man city and terry butcher went to left back where beattie was playing that day

Regarding the 1975 and 1981 semi-finals at Villa Park, The Beat went off with his broken arm to be replaced by Steve McCall in 1981. Trevor Whymark left ITFC in 1979 but played in the 1975 semi-final.Allan Hunter went off injured in 1975 and was replaced by Roger Osborne so that was the game that Trevor Whymark switched to centre-half.

Now all they have to do is get rid of the iniquitous £1.50 surcharge on ticket sales and a lot more fans will get some tangible benefits from our success-------with crowds as they are even if this was a contract arranged before the new regime surely the club could now absorb this ridiculous charge?

Nesspointrunner

MAN CITY 1 IPSWICH TOWN 0
(after extra-time)

FA Cup Semi-Final
(At Villa Park)

11th April 1981

Attendance 46,537

Scorer Power(100)

ref Pat Partridge

City Corrigan, Ranson, McDonald, Reid, Power, Caton, Bennett, Gow, MacKenzie, Hutchison, Reeves — sub Booth(unused)

Ipswich Cooper, Mills, Butcher, Thijssen, Osman, Beattie, wark, Muhren, Mariner, Brazil, Gates — sub McCall(87)

not getting sky until my club are in top league. I didn't have it when we were there. So as guessed I have never had it :-)

Nice to see the club keep getting things right. Reminds me a bit of Lambert putting money behind the bar for fans.

I would go to this fixture but the 12:30 Sunday reschedule makes it too tempting to stay at home. Credit to those attending.

Nesspointrunner…ref in 75 semi was Clive Thomas

Ahh I was close with Taylor. Thanks Exeter. Not bad memory for 47 years ago. Also I remember as we went into Villa Park late my Dad was being crushed so much in the tunnel to the stand that he started to pass out with lack of breathing. If I had not put my hand on his collar and held him up he would have collapsed and been trampled underfoot. Liverpool were not the only ones suffering.

The issue of Ticket surcharge has been addressed by Ashton several times. It stems from a previous agreement under Evans and there's no way out for ITFC.
For me Sky TV are the biggest villain in all this, it's a shame the clubs can't decline the game being televised but I expect Plymouth will be happy to get the money.