Leeds United fans involved in dangerous incident ahead of win v Blackburn as ‘real victims’ detailed by Graham Smyth
Graham Smyth has detailed an incident that happened involving Leeds United fans on their way to the game against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday (9 December).
Writing on the Yorkshire Evening Post website on Sunday (10 December), the journalist said hundreds of Whites fans were trying to get on Northern Rail’s delayed train to the Lancashire town at 08:57am, with the platform feeling “dangerously packed”.
He added that the “real victims” were the people who couldn’t get on the train at New Pudsey and would have to wait in the hope that the next train would be able to accommodate them.
“Northern Rail: Who could have predicted that there would be hundreds upon hundreds of Leeds fans trying to get on the delayed 8:57 to Blackburn?,” asked Smyth.
“Uncomfortable at best, it felt dangerously packed at times. The real victims were those at stops like New Pudsey who couldn’t even get on and had to hope the next train could accommodate them.”
Far from ideal
It sounds as though the situation was far from ideal as hundreds of Leeds fans tried to get on the same train for the lunchtime kick-off.
It wouldn’t have been as bad had the fixture been in the regular 3pm timeslot, but the early kick-offs often mean there is very little margin for error when travelling by public transport to the games.
Travelling by train at the moment seems to be a fairly unreliable way of getting to matches at the moment in time following the recent issues.
But it’s fortunate that no one was harmed in the incident on Saturday, even though it can’t have been a nice experience for those involved in it.
The Whites fans’ moods will have well and truly picked up by the time they were on their way home, though, after seeing their side pick up an excellent 2-0 victory at Ewood Park.
In other Leeds United news, a Whites player has reacted after being told what Marcelo Bielsa recently asked about him.