Notts County fans hope to beat rail strike travel chaos with coaches

Thousands of Notts County fans are hoping to beat a weekend of travel chaos to watch their team play a crucial play-off final at Wembley on Saturday afternoon.

Notts County won a stunning victory against Boreham Wood last weekend to book their place in the National League play-off final, the winner of which will be promoted to the Football League.

They will face fellow East Midlands promotion contenders Chesterfield in one of the biggest matches in both clubs’ recent histories.

But while Chesterfield appears to have secured coaches for thousands of their own fans, County has so far only managed to arrange 1,000 seats, all of which have been snapped up.

The club says that it has been “working tirelessly” with its travel partners to find solutions to a series of logistical problems, including rail strikes timed to cause maximum disruption over a busy weekend of events throughout the country.

Rail networks across the country will be hit by severe delays and reduced services, due to nationwide strikes called by the rail workers union the RMT. The action has been timed to disrupt several popular events around the country, including the Eurovision Grand Final being held in Liverpool on Saturday night.

The problem has also been exacerbated by the fact that Nottingham Forest is also playing in London on Saturday, away at Chelsea, and because fans from both Notts County and Chesterfield are trying to book places with the same local coach services.

In a statement put out on social media on Tuesday, Notts County said that it was hoping to book more coaches to take fans to Wembley, having already sold out the 14 it had laid on. Those coaches will take around 1,000 fans, with many more hoping to reach the ground.

The club has admitted that “demand will still far outweigh supply”. In the statement posted to Facebook and Twitter, club management added that “we will therefore sadly be unable to accommodate everyone who joined the waiting list”.

Fans have taken to social media to express their concerns about a lack of available coaches, with many people both offering and searching for lifts in cars and private mini-buses.

Some social media users have criticised the club for failing to secure more coaches, with one describing the situation as a “shambles”. Another said that “It doesn’t look hopeful”.

Others expressed their frustration at the rail unions for choosing this weekend to strike, with one fan posting that “Train strikers should be ashamed of themselves”.

However, others have been sympathetic to the club, which has had a very short window between

Saturday’s semi-final victory and the final this weekend. One user said: “Must be a nightmare with so little time and a bank holiday in the way”.

Notts County fans living in London will have a much easier job getting to the match, which could also attract lots of neutrals. One Magpies fan said: “Well done on your hard graft to try and make this work. This is one of the very few times I feel lucky to be a Notts fan who lives in London”.