Looking back - and looking forwards

Thankfully, the updating problems we've had in the last few weeks are now behind us and normal service should be resumed.

In the coming days, we'll bring you all the ticket and travel news, including latest flight and hotel information for the AC Milan trip.

And, all being well, at some time in January, www.redsaway.com will launch - a properly designed website taking over the baton of this blog, though we'll keep the blog up for reference purposes as long as needed.

The resumption of service gives us a chance to showcase a couple of photos from the Wolfsburg trip, courtesy of Cal Gildart.

If you would like us to display your United matchday photos, feel free to email them to redsaway@hotmail.co.uk

Hull travel and pub guide

Hull City
Sunday May 24, kick off 16:00
KC Stadium
Barclays Premier League

Tickets
Out of a capacity of 25,500, United fans have got 2,100 tickets in the North Stand. That's 350 fewer tickets than last season.

They cost £32 for adults, £20 for over 65s and £17 for under 16s. Last season, it was £24.50 for adults and £14.50 for over 65s and under 16s.

These have all been sold and posted out.

Weather
According to the BBC, Sunday will be one of the best days of the week, weatherwise.

For once, the temperature will climb above freezing, and will be about 3C/37F during the match.

The sun will be out and, all being well all the snow will have cleared. There is no danger of the match being off.

TV
The match will be shown live on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports HD1 with the show starting at 15:30 and ending at 18:30.

Travel

Car - £22
If you're driving to the game and using a satnav or an internet route planner like our favourite Greenflag one, use the destination postcode HU3 6HU.

Getting to the stadium really couldn't be simpler. It's basically 'straight for 90 minutes then three lefts'.

Join the M62 and follow it eastbound to its end. Then keep going down the A63 over the Humber Bridge (pictured above) into Hull City Centre.


After going over a flyover, you'll come to a diamond-shaped junction. Turn left onto Ferensway and drive past the train station (pictured left) on your left.

Then when you get to the junction where the Hull Daily Mail offices and the Campanile Hotel are in front of you, turn left onto Spring Bank West and then take a left onto Walton Street.

The journey takes roughly 100 minutes each way and will cost about £11 each way in petrol.

Parking - free

If you park on the stadium car parks, it can take anything up to an hour to get off it at the end of the game.

We recommend you park free nearer the town centre and take a 20-minute walk to the ground.

One good spot to park is the Netto car park. You can pretty much park there for free all day.

When you reach the Hull Daily Mail offices, keep going (onto Berveley Road) for about 500 yards and you'll see Netto on the left. Alternatively there are many free street parking places on that road.

The beauty of this spot is you can just drive straight back in the opposite direction to the way you arrived on the way home for quick access to the A63 ad M62.

Train - £32.40

Manchester Piccadilly to Hull

Direct trains take just over two hours.

But there aren't many services available. A £32.40 ticket will get you a return with the following times to choose from (direct services in bold):

Going:
Leave Manchester Piccadilly: 09:09
Arrive Hull: 11:18
Journey: 2:09

Leave Manchester Piccadilly: 10:42
Arrive Leeds: 11:37
Leave: 12:00
Arrive Doncaster: 12:28
Leave: 12:55
Arrive Hull: 13:48
Journey: 3:06


Leave Manchester Piccadilly: 10:11
Arrive Leeds: 11:03
Leave: 11:40
Arrive Doncaster: 12:09
Leave: 12:24
Arrive Hull: 13:23
Journey: 3:16

Leave Manchester Piccadilly: 11:57
Arrive Hull: 14:00
Journey: 2:05

Leave Manchester Piccadilly: 12:10
Arrive Leeds: 13:04
Leave: 13:40
Arrive Doncaster: 14:09
Leave: 14:21
Arrive Hull: 15:16
Journey: 3:10

Once you arrive at the station turn right, walk down for five minutes til you reach Spring Bank, turn left and turn left again at Walton Street.

The stadium is ahead of you in about 800 yards. The route is well signposted.

Coming back
Leave Hull: 18:58
Arrive Manchester Piccadilly: 20:54
Journey: 1:56

Leave Hull: 21:00
Arrive Leeds: 21:59
Leave: 22:40
Arrive Manchester Piccadilly: 23:36
Journey: 2:36

Coach
United are running coaches to this game but all tickets are sold out.

The Betty Bus is running to the game, all places have been taken. The bus leaves from Chorlton Street Coach Station at 10:30 and the Bishops Blaize pub in Chester Road at 10:45.

Red Army Travel is running a coach to this game, with places costing £20 per person. It leaves the Bishops Blaiza at 11:30. For departure times and booking details, go here. At the time of writing, there are ten spaces left.

Pubs
Avoid: The Silver Cod and the Linnet and Lark, as these are home fans' only pubs where reds won't get the best welcome.

With this being one of the newer grounds, there aren't many pubs to write home about near it - and the ones that are tend to be old and not very welcoming of away fans.


So we recommend you stick to either near the train statiom or near the Beverley Road/Spring Bank area, where the best parking spots are to be had.

There are two decent Wetherspoons pubs worth a mention.
The Three John Scotts, at Alfred Gelder Street, Lowgate, in the city centre (the second pub down pictured), which has a good atmosphere though it tries to be a bit too upmarket.

It's open from 9am and does a good breakfast.



To get there from the train station, walk straight up onto Paragon Street or Carr Lane and follow the road round til to the right, then turn left onto Lowgate.

Nearer the best (free) parking spots, there is another Wetherspoons bar, the Zachariah Pearson, at 386 Beverley Road (the first pub down pictured), near Netto. It's open from 9am.

Remember, Wetherspoons don't let you in with team colours on matchdays.

Further down Beverley Road towards Ferensway and towards the stadium is Lamp (the third pub down pictured) tucked in next to the Campanile Hotel.

It's a perfect bar if you want somewhere out of the way to enjoy a quiet pint minus the crowds.

Nearer still to the ground is the Spring Bank Tavern at 29 Spring Bank (pictured right), just off Ferensway. Home fans do drink here, but are generally tolerant of away supporters.

Wherever you drink in the city, it's a fairly cheap pint compared to Manchester. Expect to pay about £2.50 for a pint of lager.

United in the news

Sir Alex Ferguson leads tributes to Albert Scanlon (Rory Smith, Daily Telegraph)

"It is easy for me to conjure up the ghosts," said Albert Scanlon, Busby Babe, on the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster last year. More.

Ferguson rules out January transfers (The Independent)

Sir Alex Ferguson has ruled out making new signings to ease his defensive injury crisis. More.

Villa alerts top Prem Clubs (The Sun)

David Villa has alerted Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool by revealing he would welcome a move to the Premier League. More.

Diouf gets United green light (The Sun)

Mame Biram Diouf is set to feature for Manchester United next year after he was granted a work permit. More.

Star pleads for January move to Newcastle (Simon Bird, The Mirror)

Danny Simpson has urged Newcastle to sign him permanently from Manchester United. More.

Updating problems

Here at Reds Away Towers, we're encountering a few technological hiccups which will make it hard to update the blog in the coming days.

That will probably mean all the hard work put in researching next week's Wolfsburg trip will be going to waste.

But if you've got any specific queries about your trip to Germany, feel free to email redsaway@hotmail.co.uk

In the meantime, you might want to access some fantastic city guides from the Ryanair website here.

There are separate guides to Bremen, Berlin and Hamburg and they come in the form of a printable PDF file.

Finally, if you're spending time in Hamburg on Monday, the meeting point we suggest is Finnegan's Wake Irish bar, which is right in the centre a stone's throw away from Rathaus Metro Station. Here is a map and here is the pub website.

Tube system in good shape for West Ham trip

None of the London Underground lines that we advise reds use on the way to West Ham will be hit by engineering works on Saturday.

The Waterloo and City Line will be fully closed and the Metropolitan and Jubilee Lines will be partly closed, but none of the routes United supports will take will be disrupted.

For a full travel guide to the match, go here.
We'll publish a pub guide tomorrow.

Betty bus full for West Ham

The Betty Bus going to United's match with West Ham on Saturday is now fully booked.

It will leaves from Chorlton Street Coach Station at 06:30 and from the Bishops Blaize pub in Chester Road at 06:45.

If you are still looking to book a place on a coach to the game, try United.

The club is running coaches to the game. Places cost £35 per person and the coaches will leave from the Old Trafford N2 car park at 08:30.The estimated return time is 21:30. To reserve your place, call the ticket office on 0161 868 8000.

Otherwise, try Red Army Travel, which is running a coach.

Places cost £30 per person and it leaves from the Spread Eagle Pub in Royal Green Rd, Northenden. Times to be confirmed. To book, call 0161 998 4455 or 07545 39 1999 or email prem@redarmytravel.com

Heavy rain forecast for West Ham game

Reds travelling down to East London to see United take on West Ham on Saturday should prepare for rain.

According to the BBC, there will be heavy rain throughout the day across the capital.

However, it will be a pretty decent 9C/48F during the game.