A football fan has been left "scared" and "upset" after claiming she was targeted by football fans shouting abuse and causing chaos on a train from Cardiff. The woman claimed the incident happened after Cardiff City's 1-0 loss to Millwall on Saturday January 21 and included Millwall supporters jumping on tables, smashing glass and making sexual comments at her and other passengers.
Speaking to WalesOnline the woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, described the "upsetting" incident which she said began just before she got on the 6.22pm Great Western Railway service from Cardiff Central to London Paddington after the match.
"I got on the train platform and immediately saw what a busy platform it was with so many Millwall fans and lots of police officers," she said. "I walked as far away as possible, waited for the train to arrive, and I got on the furthest-away carriage."
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The woman claimed that while on the platform, one person shouted "show us your t*ts" at her and said that when she got on the train a member of staff came to warn her that there were a lot of football fans on board, and that there were police officers on the train already. "They were doing all this stuff in the carriage, shouting 'MILL' every time," she said. "Two of them came looking for the toilet but couldn’t find one so were knocking on the manager’s door shouting ‘what the f***’ and that sort of stuff."
The woman, who had attended the match as a neutral football fan, claimed that on the journey she saw fans smashing glass against the windows and jumping on tables and that she believed many of them were visibly drunk and smelled of alcohol, with bottles and cans littered around the carriage.
The woman said she also spoke to another passenger who had walked to her end of the train crying and telling her she had been pressured into moving from her pre-booked seat and "harassed" by Millwall fans. She said the other woman claimed one fan had grabbed her and said "come sit on my lap" and had also told her she had been so intimidated by the fans that she had left her luggage where it was and had to get it back via a member of staff at Paddington station.
The woman claimed the train was "trashed" by the end of the journey to London, adding: "We were the last people to come off. As we were walking towards the Tube, you could see literally the entire train filled with bottles and rubbish everywhere.
"Obviously it makes you feel scared. It makes you feel not very protected, that even though they bring police on, there’s still that extent and that amount of violence and misogyny happening."
The woman said she was an avid football fan and had not had any issues with any supporters at the stadium earlier in the day, but that her experience was "much worse" than anything she had previously seen from football supporters on trains. She said she believed there "should be a limit to what state you’re allowed to be in to get on a train.
"As a football fan, it just makes me feel quite upset that these are people who can ruin the sport and become what’s associated with football fans. The violence around games… as a woman it makes it feel like it’s not an environment for me. I have friends who are like ‘ugh, why do you go to football if it’s like that?’ But it’s not just that. I’ve been on trains with football supporters when I’ve gone to away games and this was much worse.
"Had something happened when we were in the middle of the train track, if they had become violent, I don’t know what the police would have done. I really think there’s a health and safety issue beyond them being horrible and make people cry, which was an issue in itself."
A spokesperson for Great Western Railway said: "We are concerned about the reports of football fans' behaviour experienced by some of our customers on this train and have been in touch with the BTP to understand and assist them with any investigation. We would like to apologise to any customers who may have been caught up in this incident."
A British Transport Police spokesperson said: "There is absolutely no place for football related anti-social behaviour on the railway network, and we take a zero tolerance approach to sexual harassment. Officers are now investigating what happened, which will include viewing CCTV footage, to establish exactly what happened. We would always encourage anyone who witnesses this type of behaviour to report it to an officer on their train or text us discreetly on 61016. We will always take you seriously.”
WalesOnline has approached Millwall FC for comment.
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