Questions for those who have been to games

Discussion in 'World Cup 2010: Fans & Travel' started by lazyasian, Jun 13, 2010.

  1. lazyasian

    lazyasian New Member

    Aug 24, 2007
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    I have a couple of questions for those of you who have already attended a game or two, particularly a more popular game such as SA v. Mexico or Argentina v. Nigeria.

    How early did you leave for the park and rides? Were the park and rides/walks organized or were they messy and time consuming? Were the stadiums relatively full well before the games or did most people arrive just before kick off?

    Thanks!
     
  2. DrPepper239

    DrPepper239 New Member

    May 23, 2010
    Dublin
    Club:
    Aston Villa FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Another couple of questions for those who have already attended games:

    Are match programmes available, if so how much and are they easily available - couldn't get one anywhere at RWC final in Paris couple of years ago as think French only printed a handful in a fit of pique at not reaching the last game!

    Also can you buy beer in the stadium, what brand, price etc? :D

    Thanks!
     
  3. BoughtMyPoints

    BoughtMyPoints New Member

    Mar 27, 2009
    Club:
    Queens Park Rangers FC
    In Cape Town, we did not see 1 programme.

    Also, the stadium did not have a dedicated scoreboard (or 2). They did have 2 video monitors that 99.9% of the time relayed the television feed and did list the score. So bizarrely at home you could see how much injury time was added, but not in the stadium. And we had no idea who all the players were on the pitch and we are far from newbies.

    Budweiser in plastic bottles is sold, so is coke but not coke zero. Huge lines for concessions at all times. Hot dog R 25, coke R15 for 500ml which (pleasantly) surprised me.

    Getting to the matches seems relatively easy as South Africans generally arrive very early for rugby matches. There was a steady stream of people taking the stadium shuttle 4.5 hours before match time!

    However, I doubt if any of the park and rides can possible cope after the matches.

    I left the CT match 15 minutes early and already the stadium to civic centre was getting behind the curve. Huge numbers of waiting buses ... the problem was loading (1 bus at a time, rather than 2 or 3) and lack of synchronized traffic signals (inexcusable). But CT has the advantage of having bars/restaurants within 500m of the stadium.

    Tomorrow's night match in CT may be very, very tough for the fans as a nasty storm is forecast and the security check is in an uncovered, exposed area.

    But all in all, an awesome experience!
     
  4. kayoss

    kayoss Member

    May 6, 2009
    Club:
    Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv FC
    I was at the opening game. bud beer only at R30 a beer. They did go around selling programmes for R70 each. (they cover the whole world cup).

    I must say the park and ride system was brilliant to get there. Let my house at 10:15 and was at the stadium before 11. No traffic and no line for the busses. Getting back from the stadium however was a different story.. Everyone leaving at the same time mean standing in the line for a good hour to get onto the bus..
     
  5. krepunk

    krepunk New Member

    Apr 18, 2010
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    We went to the game at Ellis Park yesterday, we left at 1:30pm and arrived at Wits at about 2:10pm, there was no traffic to speak of, the queue for the shuttle bus was pretty long but moving steadily. Once we got to the stadium there was a lot more people but everything still went smooth and the waiting wasn't all that bad. We made a stop at the bathrooms and got something to drink and then made our way to our seats. We were in our seats at about 3:15 and waiting for the game to start.
    The stadium was pretty full by this time, but we could still spot empty seats, by the anthems, all the stands were packed.
    All in all the park and ride going to the stadium was a pleasant experience.

    We left right as the final whistle blew, but I noticed quite a few people started making their way at around the 85min mark. Getting out of the stadium was painless but once we arrived at the pick-up point it was pretty crazy. An entire street full of people had to squeeze into a 5 lane queue "system" which was one of two queue's for the busses. A number of busses parked and people got on, there was some control, but it wasn't very well organised, a large number of busses stopped and they would let the other queue get them, then another set of busses would come and they'd let the other queue have them as well. Our queue started to get pretty frustrated and started yelling at the marshals. Eventually we were allowed onto a bus, the bus ride took a bit longer as I assume there was a bit more traffic around the stadium but once we got to Wits traffic was great all the way home, and we got home at a very reasonable 7:30pm.

    My girlfriends parents went to Rustenburg for the Eng v USA game and left from Ellis Park at half time, they were stuck in traffic about 15km's away from the stadium and only just made it to their seats for the national anthems. They also only got home at 3:30am this morning. So I'd suggest if you have any games in Rustenburg, get there early and prepare to get home late.
     
  6. tullyite

    tullyite Member

    Apr 28, 2009
    Crowd marshalling at Rustenburg was also pretty shite. Took me over two hours to get back to the car park after the final whistle. Doesn't anyone in SA know the value of crash barriers and a megaphone? It is possible to load up more than one shuttle bus simultaneously with a bit of proper organisation and it avoids frustrated lines of people missing out when a shuttle bus constantly fails to stop in their vicinity.
     
  7. almac123

    almac123 New Member

    Feb 7, 2010
    Hi

    What about id checks when arriving at the stadium, are they expecting foreign fans to have passports or other id available when displaying their match tickets? I don't really fancy walking about with my passport on me on match days.
     
  8. krepunk

    krepunk New Member

    Apr 18, 2010
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    I didn't see any ID checks at all.
     
  9. macdonak

    macdonak Member

    May 15, 2006
    London
    Hi Kayoss, did you go to Wits for the Park n Ride?

    re a couple of the other questions asked - No ID checks whatsoever (I've only once seen one at any major tournament). Beer was full-strength (albeit Bud), not non-alocholic or weaker, as at many tournaments.

    Back to transport - I got dropped off by bus organised by a friend's office for the opening game. Traffic around the ground was very bad before the game (hardly surprising) but not so bad after. It was a privilege to be at Soccer City, a truly great stadium.

    For other games there and at Ellis Park, I'm still undecided how to get tehre from Sandton. We have a car and I was thinking of using the Wits Park n Ride. Sounds like it's not too bad. Anybody else got any experiences to share about any of the Jozy transport options please?

    Rustenburg was ridiculous. The chaos after the match as thousands of people tried to get on totally random, disorganised shuttles was seriously dangerous, as buses tried to drive through crowds in their way on the road. We kept walking away from the stadium and the carnage and got lucky blagging a lift to the car park with a cab driver that was waiting for somebody else. Consequently we got back to that car park sooner than almost anybody else judging by the thousands of cars still parked up. we got back to Jozy by 2am. I'm sure some poor folks wouldn't have made it by 4.

    There was no sense in having so few car parks and no sense in the main car park (the R104) being 8km from the stadium, when it was just a rocky field on a hillside anyway. Come to that, I couldn't see much sense in having a game between two relatively well-supported teams in Rustenburg anyway. This was a game where the infrastructure really couldn't cope, sadly. I'm not looking forward to returning there. If anybody has any suggestions how to make it less painless (better parking or transport tricks? Staying in Sun City?) I'd really appreciate them.
     
  10. mso9

    mso9 New Member

    Dec 4, 2009
    Cambridge MA
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Was at England USA - arrived in Rustenburg fairly late, an hour before kickoff, signage to get to the park n ride was not great and some wrong turns ensued. Organization of the park n ride generally was poor. Just barely made it in time for kickoff. No ID checks. Does that R30 Bud have any alcohol in it? It says 5% but I'm dubious. Not trying to buy into conspiracy theories here or anything but it tasted like tap water. Maybe I just havent drank Bud in a long while.

    We got really lucky after the game, a bunch of us decided to try to walk from Royal Bafokeng to our park n ride. When the organizers realized this they sent taxis to pick up the walkers, so we ended up out ahead of the waiters. Some waited an hour or more, but we started walking immediately, and five minutes later a minibus pulled over, 20 or so of us crammed in and we got to the parking lot and got out of dodge.

    All said tho it was a GREAT game and I'm glad I made it. Go USA!
     
  11. Pule

    Pule New Member

    Aug 3, 2006
    We complained about Rustenburg during the Confed Cup but I expected little to change and I'm not suprised.
     
  12. tullyite

    tullyite Member

    Apr 28, 2009
    Sun City are offering matchday transfers but it costs ZAR600 and only takes you to the chaos of the nearest P&R rather than the stadium. I would pay otherwise.
     
  13. fantastic10

    fantastic10 New Member

    Jun 7, 2010
    Are they selling match-day-shirts at the stadiums like in Germany 2006 at each game?
    Can you pay with a credit card at the merchandise shops at the stadium or do you need Rand?
    Is it worth arriving early at a stadium...any activities, photos etc by sponsors around the stadiums?
     
  14. Pule

    Pule New Member

    Aug 3, 2006
    They were selling some shirts in Polokwane yesterday though I can't confirm that they are match-day-shirts. Yes, you can use your credit card.
     
  15. supaeagles

    supaeagles Member

    Feb 20, 2010
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    so two things I have learnt :-

    1. Rustenburg P&R is a pain-better to know now before i get pissed off waiting for the P&R shuttle to pick me up.
    2. Do not buy Budweiser
     
  16. lazyasian

    lazyasian New Member

    Aug 24, 2007
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    Thanks for all the responses guys. I ended up booking a park and walk at soccer city... hopefully that'll make it a bit easier to leave after the game.

    I booked with Computicket, but it seems like I can't print out a ticket myself. It says that I have to go to a computicket store to pick up the tickets. This seems like too much effort to put into something which should be quite easy. Can anyone who has booked their park and ride/walks with Computicket tell me if there is another way to get the tickets?
     
  17. MobileBama

    MobileBama Member

    Jun 13, 2010
    Mobile, AL
    Club:
    Charlton Athletic FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Why? Just curious. Thanks for your report
     
  18. Captain Splarg

    Apr 25, 1999
    Pacific Grove, CA
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I just went and picked mine up - i have a computicket at the mall near where I'm staying. I was at Holland-Denmark today and used the Randshow Park and Walk. GREAT idea. It's about 2.5k walking each way, but when i got to the car i got out right onto the highway - the highway is a block from the parking. I'm going to use it now every time.
     
  19. RichardL

    RichardL BigSoccer Supporter

    May 2, 2001
    Berkshire
    Club:
    Reading FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    a question for those who have attended, on a rather different theme - what has the atmosphere been like?

    All you hear on tv are the horns blowing. You don't hear any singing at all - I mean literally, none. Even when the goals go in, you barely hear anything from the fans, just the horns.

    My guess is the tv companies are more or less muting the crowd noise because of the horns. Is that the case or not?
     
  20. Eagle Winged

    Eagle Winged New Member

    Feb 22, 2003
    Pathway to Living
    I've only been to one match so far, Argentina vs Nigeria. The atmosphere was great and you could still hear fans singing and chanting etc. The vuvuzelas weren't just random noise either, they were played to tunes by different sections. Often call and response style.
     
  21. Pule

    Pule New Member

    Aug 3, 2006
    Vuvuzelas on TV do not sound the same as you on TV. I have to agree with those who said they sound like bees but one could still hear the sinigng and YES South Africans do not blow Vuvuzelas in randon in most occasion but still on TV you hear them differently. You have to be at the stadium to hear them properly.
     
  22. Chesco United

    Chesco United Member+

    DC United
    Jun 24, 2001
    Chester County, PA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    Unfortunately, they're causing lots of problems (and making people mute their TV's) in the US and in other countries.
     
  23. emmex

    emmex New Member

    Feb 23, 2009
    Club:
    --other--
    The vuvuzela sounded about three times less noisy at the stadium, but after watching the highlights, they definately sound louder. The crowd noise was for me by far louder at the game....
    I think sound equipments' placement just makes them pick them up easier than sounds of people's voices...
     
  24. RichardL

    RichardL BigSoccer Supporter

    May 2, 2001
    Berkshire
    Club:
    Reading FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    It reminds me of the Euro 88 tournament in Germany, where every goal was greeted by the blowing of thousands of air-horns - only it's a constant sound this time round.
     
  25. DLee

    DLee Member

    Apr 24, 2006
    Chicago
    Which mall are you staying at? Is it true to only way to get is Park & Ride tickets it to pick it up from a Computicket office? Was the walk generally safe and walking directions well marked? Thanks for the report!
     

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