Baggies barge trips success
Baggies barge trips to Albion home games have proved so popular the scheme could be extended with boat services from Tipton and Oldbury.
The trips were the brainchild of West Brom fan Richard Healey, who takes fans from Birmingham's Brindleyplace to Smethwick junction on matchdays.
The voyages have been such a success that boats could soon run from either Oldbury or the Black Country History Museum, on the border of Tipton and Dudley.
The 52-year-old finance director from Stratford started the Baggies Barge in October 2007, with Albion taking over the administration of trips in-house last summer.
Mr Healey rents the boat and said that the main problem in setting up another service is finding a barge large enough, and available on matchdays to provide the service.
He said: "Availability is the only thing stopping us from introducing more services. Every time we run it, the barge is booked up right away.
"We can get about 40 people on the existing barge and would love to have a barge running from the opposite direction from Oldbury or Tipton.
"These are largely unused pieces of water, so why not?"
There have been around 16 barge trips to games since the service began.
The Baggies Barge will be running for the fifth time this season at Albion's game against Sunderland.
The cost is just £5 return, which includes a programme and Batham's Beer.
Anyone who knows of a barge for hire can email richard.healey2@ntlworld.com
