Police blame drivers for cup chaos

Some Birmingham fans missed the first half

Football fans are demanding improvements to Cardiff's transport links after the Worthington Cup final was marred by traffic delays.

Birmingham's City clash with Liverpool was the first major football match to be staged at the Millennium Stadium, which is being used for English football finals while Wembley is being rebuilt.

While the venue itself got a huge thumbs up from fans, many were less than happy with the transport organisation.

Some missed the first half due to heavy road traffic and were delayed for hours on their journey home.

Fans say the motorways were gridlocked

England manager Sven Goran Eriksson was among those caught in the congestion.

South Wales Police say lessons have been learned following the match and hope to have solutions in place by May.

In the space of two weeks the city will host the FA Cup final and the play-off finals for Division One, Two and Three.

Chief Superintendent Gerry Toms from South Wales Police says efforts are being made to improve what was a very unsatisfactory situation.

But he said too many people decided to drive.

"We were expecting 750 coaches but only 485 turned up which means too many people came by car," said the superintendent.

"Also, Cardiff Central station normally deals with 25,000 passengers on an event day but on Sunday it was only 10,000.

"Add the two together and it means there were too many cars and nowhere to put them, it's like trying to fit a quart in a pint pot."

The Millennium Stadium is perfect for football - its steep terraces means it is like an amphitheatre and unlike Wembley you feel very close to the action

BBC Sport Online's Stuart Roach

Blues fan Andrew Williams said his coach took almost eight hours to make the trip back to Birmingham.

"It was absolutely unbelievable. It took us four hours to drive 30 miles out of Cardiff.

"I was on the coach at 6.50pm and a journey which should have taken two to three hours took seven or eight. I got to bed at 2am.

"The roads were just grid-locked. The travel arrangements around Cardiff were a disgrace."

Mr Williams said he and "at least a couple of thousand other fans" missed the first half, despite a 15-minute delay to the scheduled 1500GMT kick off.

Les Lawson, secretary of the official Liverpool Supporters Club, made it inside the ground in time for the game but said many of his friends did not.

"When you are paying £49 for a tickets you expect to see the whole game.

"I think it was poor that, in these days of police helicopters when people could see there were so many fans were still stuck in traffic, kick off was not delayed longer."

Worthington, sponsors of the competition, were delighted with the final and the stadium, but admitted the traffic problems had been a concern.

"We regard the first Worthington Cup final to be staged in Cardiff to have been a great success," said a spokesman.

Cardiff's stadium got the seal of approval but the city's transport links did not

"The fans from both sides made it a memorable occasion and while there were problems form some fans getting to and from the ground, we realise it has been a learning experience for everyone involved.

"We are sure the problems will be ironed out for next year."

Fans travelling by train were not immune, although many had a relatively swift and comfortable trip to and from the stadium.

BBC Sport Online's Stuart Roach had a trouble free journey.

"The train from Reading, outside London, to Cardiff took less than two hours. The stadium is right by the station so once you're there it's just a two minute walk into the ground."

Roach said the atmosphere around the ground was less impressive than on the famous Wembley concourse, but once inside the stadium, the buzz was contagious.

Liverpool celebrate their penalty shoot-out win

"The Millennium Stadium is perfect for football. Its steep terraces means it is like an amphitheatre and you feel very close to the action.

"It's not like Wembley, where the running track meant you were always a bit far away.

"In fact at Wembley part of the attraction was that the atmosphere was a bit subdued until the teams came out and then there was this huge roar.

"In the Millennium Stadium, the tension was building for a good half an hour before kick-off though that might have partly been because of the delayed start."

'Better than France'

There had been concerns about the pitch before the game and some players appeared to have trouble keeping to their feet.

But Liverpool striker Fowler gave the surface his seal of approval, saying it was just like Anfield.

And for his manager Gerard Houllier to declare the atmosphere "better than the Stade de France", was praise indeed from a Frenchman