Albion fans encouraged to plan ahead for Boxing Day game

The Albion travel north tomorrow (Saturday) to face Wolverhampton Wanderers but the club is asking fans to think a little further ahead and plan their travel for the Boxing Day home clash with Reading.

The Seagulls face the Royals the day after Christmas at the Amex with a 3pm kick-off but travel to and from the game is likely to be affected by seasonal reductions to public transport.

Brighton and Hove Albion have tried to minimise the impact on fans by working with the club's numerous travel partners to arrange alternatives and make sure supporters can get to the game and home again as quickly as possible.

Steve Reeves, the Albion's transport manager, warned: "Being Boxing Day there has always been limited services on bus and no rail services. Working with our travel partners at Brighton and Hove Buses and Southern Railways we have been able to provide a limited match day travel service.

'It is essential that fans make their travel plans in plenty of time.

'If you are opting for park and ride please arrive early as park and ride sites are expected to be busy and where possible consider Mithras House and the Racecourse where there is more space available.'

Fans had been encouraged to book on-site parking early and, where possible, try and share cars with other supporters.

And those who live near enough are being asked to consider walking or cycling to the ground.

The club says more and more fans are walking or cycling to games and the Albion provide an online journey planner at www.seagulls.co.uk for fans to see how long either option would likely take them.

On Boxing Day Brighton and Hove Buses are running services on most of their routes, with details of the services and the timetables published on their website here.

For some routes across the city (not direct to the stadium) there will be reduced services, and some will have no service. For those services direct to the stadium or nearby there will be a decent level of service, with four or six services per hour.

The club are also paying for two extra Football Special buses to run from the Old Steine to the stadium, which will maintain the standard match day service along Lewes Road.

As far as trains are concerned, the usual match day service between Brighton and Lewes will run from 12.30pm until 8pm but there are no train services east of Lewes or west of Brighton.