Sunderland away

[Suffolk Canary]

I see tickets are only £19 (lots of clubs are now doing 20 quid away tickets, take note McNally....but I'll save that rant for another time)  so i'm considering the trek. Thought I'd look for some experienced travellers on here. 

Has anyone on here ever dared go that far north before?  Is it better to go by coach or train?  I have no idea what the train route to sunderland would be, but being on the cabbage coach for 6 hours doesn't sound very appealing :lol:     

 

[morty]

My lad is getting me tickets for a group of us ( I am working in Nigeria just now) we'll be going on club cabbage. It is much maligned, but it remains the easiest and cheapest way to get to away matches.

Cabbage is fine, my lads sit with their mates and mess about, I take my ipad and watch a film, headphones in, so avoiding engaging in conversation with any of the more "eccentric" cabbage users!

Theres always a stop or two for food / drinks, and you don't have any hassle parking.

Biggest thing for me though is that its always far, far cheaper than any other option, also you get to the ground in plenty of time so can have a few beers pre match, because you aren't driving.

I do use the train sometimes for the closer, mostly London, games.

Its costing me £119 for myself, a 15 year old and a 17 year old, for coach and tickets. I doubt very much I could do it any cheaper by train.

 

[dj161]

also going by train you'd have to change at Peterborough and Newcastle before getting to Sunderland, a lot easier to go by club bus, especially if you want a few drinks, you could drive up but that would almost certainly mean an overnight stay up there

 

[Beauseant]

I'm driving up and back on the day, its under 4 hours from Lynn. I agree that the train isn't an option, its ridiculously expensive and not direct, but I get the impression that the coaches are much better than popular mythology would suggest.

I hope you don't get vertigo, though. The away section at the Stadium of Light is up in the gods (very much like at St James's Park) with very steep rows!

 

[Personal Trainer]

Remember driving back from Sunderland from the rearranged evening match where we lost but got promoted. Was back in bed in NR2 by 3 am. "promotion gives you wiings".

 

[morty]

I'm driving up and back on the day, its under 4 hours from Lynn. I agree that the train isn't an option, its ridiculously expensive and not direct, but I get the impression that the coaches are much better than popular mythology would suggest.

I hope you don't get vertigo, though. The away section at the Stadium of Light is up in the gods (very much like at St James's Park) with very steep rows!

The coaches are fine, to be honest. I wouldn't keep using them if they were as bad as people imply. They take any travel hassle out of the equation, and just leave you to enjoy your away day. And, obviously where I live, they are an extremely convenient option for me.

 

[Suffolk Canary]

The coaches are fine, to be honest. I wouldn't keep using them if they were as bad as people imply. They take any travel hassle out of the equation, and just leave you to enjoy your away day. And, obviously where I live, they are an extremely convenient option for me.

The main problem i have with coaches is that they drop you right outside the ground with 2 hours to kill, and as most modern grounds are in quite remote places (Stoke being the worst I've experienced so far) there's often extremely little to do other than watch the goalies warm up for an hour. At least in cars or trains you get to wonder around the place for a bit, going past numerous pubs. Coach always wins for practicality, but no one has ever started a story with "you wont believe what happened on the coach.." unless its followed by someone throwing up or wetting themselves  :lol:

 

[Beauseant]

The Stadium of Light is in a grotty industrial estate so there's not much going on unless you trek over the river, but even then its a decent walk to anywhere you'd dare go into!

 

[Canary World]

Did cabbage previously a long old slog. Driving it this time as will have a new 350 bhp engine to unleash

 

[morty]

The main problem i have with coaches is that they drop you right outside the ground with 2 hours to kill, and as most modern grounds are in quite remote places (Stoke being the worst I've experienced so far) there's often extremely little to do other than watch the goalies warm up for an hour. At least in cars or trains you get to wonder around the place for a bit, going past numerous pubs. Coach always wins for practicality, but no one has ever started a story with "you wont believe what happened on the coach.." unless its followed by someone throwing up or wetting themselves  :lol:

Well, actually, this one time on the coach......

I'm happy to just have a few beers and something to eat at the stadium, and actually this last season the atmosphere in the concourses, in the few hours running up to the game, has been brilliant. Brighton away being a good example.

 

[GazzaTCC]

It's £98.00 return from London. Cheaper to drive, or catch the Cabbage