In 2014, Malaysian Ric Wee travelled 7,000 miles from Kuala Lumpur to watch his team of 30 years, Everton, live for the first time in a match against Crystal Palace, only to find the match was postponed 15 minutes before kick-off due to bad weather.
Last August, two football fans visited all 92 football league ground in 92 hours, travelling 2,222 miles.
The longest distance between any two league clubs is that between Plymouth Argyle and Newcastle United (409 miles).
is important. “For around eight to ten games a season we will charter an aircraft, and that will be done almost a season in advance to ensure we get the availability and so we can negotiate a season-long loan deal. “For our hotel bookings, once the fixture
lists are released we will secure all our ac- commodation for the season, but put in caveats for final number of rooms required. Strong relationships with suppliers are key, so we don’t incur extra costs when cancel- ling rooms at short notice due to things such as player injuries. But from a hotel perspective, it’s a very lucrative business, so we know there will be good working relationships on both sides.” He adds: “Some suppliers see a Premier League club and think they can afford
anything; but that’s not true – we have to count every cost”.
SECURITY ISSUES In 2010, before an African Cup of Nations game in Angola, gunmen fired on a bus carrying Togo’s football team to the match. Rebels who had been fighting for the re- gion’s independence admitted responsibil- ity for the attack, which wounded several players and killed the driver. Situations like this are extremely rare, but highlight the fact that the high-profile nature of the players means they can be a target wherever they travel, something buyers must be aware of. ATPI’s Suddards explains: “Having a strong working relationship with the security staff at the clubs, as well as the police, is an
important part of the planning and fulfil- ment of team travel. Each trip is planned in great detail in advance: this includes a pre-site inspection, together with security personnel, of the airports, transport move- ments, hotels and stadium. This level of planning is paramount to any fixture. “A breach of security at any point could not only pose a problem to the individu- als but also have a detrimental impact on the focus of the team and distract or cause delays, which could influence the prepara- tion of the game,” she adds. Our Premier League travel buyer says: “The club doesn’t currently have a duty- of-care policy in place, but that will change and is something being worked on for the 2015/16 season. Our security team liaise with local police and security teams at the away venue, either with a recce or with historical knowledge. The team always travels with three close protection officers, who stay over at the hotels with them.”
REVOLVING DOORS In most sectors, a travel buyer’s usual point of contact will be the procurement team, and can rely on a degree of stabil- ity. A lot of companies pride themselves on low staff turnover – something that is unfortunately rare now at the highest echelons of football. Football fans are notoriously fickle, and a couple of bad results can see fans calling for the manager’s head, so no surprise that during the 2012/13 season across the 92 teams in the top
When Eyjafjallajökull kicked off...
TMG’s Guy Dunwoody explains how the 2010 ash cloud crisis had an effect on Fulham FC’s important semi-final Europa League tie in Germany...
THE ERUPTION OF THE ICELANDIC VOLCANO in 2010 coincided with the planning of our ninth overseas trip of the season managing Europa League travel for Fulham FC, and had a significant impact on travel
46 BBT MAY/JUNE 2015
planning for their semi-final match in Hamburg. Unlike many overseas business meetings or events due to take place in mid- April 2010, which could be rearranged or cancelled, it was clear from the outset that the match would not be postponed. Initially, the planning was as per the previous 400 or so overseas fixtures for which we’ve managed travel; but, less than one week ahead of the
outbound travel date, the shutters went down over UK airspace and contingency planning commenced. Our key responsibility on any football trip is to ensure that the players arrive at the match rested, refreshed and ready for kick off. It became clear quite quickly that the only feasible way of getting the team to the match would be by coach – far from ideal, but needs must. Utilising the team coach over such a long journey was a
first. We took instruction from Fulham as to what was needed to minimise disruption to the playing staff, and we planned the itinerary accordingly. In short, this involved coach travel via Eurotunnel, a meal stop at a specified time en route to an overnight stay in Münster, before the onward journey to Hamburg, where the team were to arrive in time to ensure they were able to complete their press and training commitments.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
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