Coach hire appeal as fans head for women’s soccer

The Confederation of Passenger Transport appealed for vehicles to help organisers get women’s football fans to New York Stadium in Rotherham for the Iceland France match.

The match on Monday 19 July had an estimated 1,500 Icelandic fans needing transport from Rotherham to hotels in Manchester following the game (approximately after 10 pm). But there were significant concerns about the capacity of available trains, particularly in light of the ‘red’ level 4 heatwave alert, its consequences in respect of rail service resilience, and the welfare implications of supporters being on crowded trains following a long day of extreme heat.

“To mitigate this, we would like to supply the Icelandic authorities details of coach companies that would be able to provide transport back to Manchester following the game, to enable them to make additional provisions to mitigate for the challenging circumstances,” said Karen Tiley, Regional Manager for CPT, London and South East and East Midlands. “It would be helpful if in your response you could advise in respect of what provisions or limitations would exist in respect of wheelchair accessibility.”

The organisers managed to fulfill their requirement for transport.