Coventry City & Ipswich Town fans sent clear warning ahead of 6pm | OneFootball

Fans travelling to the CBS Arena for this evening's big Championship match by train have been sent a warning ahead of the 6pm kick-off time.

Coventry City and Ipswich Town fans travelling by train to The CBS Arena for this evening's Championship match between the two teams have been sent a clear warning by the local train company.

Coventry City take on Ipswich Town at The CBS Arena in a critical Championship match kicking off at the somewhat unusual time of 6pm. The match is crucial to both teams, with both Coventry and Ipswich among the favourites to get promotion to the Premier League come the end of this season.

But fans making the journey to this match have now been given a warning by West Midlands Railway ahead of the match, warning them to check their journey before they leave for the big match.

West Midlands Railway issue warning to travelling fans to check their journey

West Midlands Railway, the train company that covers the Coventry area, have issued a warning to fans via the social media platform X, warning fans travelling to the CBS Arena to check their journey before leaving for this evening's match at The CBS Arena.

The message advises that: "We expect services heading into Coventry to be busier than usual", and that, "there will be an additional calling pattern at Coventry Arena" ahead of the big match.

They warn those travelling to the match to "please check your journey before you travel".

A 6pm kick-off on a Monday evening was an unusual decision on the part of the EFL

Having such a high-profile match kick-off at 6pm on a Monday evening was an unusual choice on the part of the EFL, regardless of the Christmas period.

Having an early kick-off allows them to squeeze in two live matches on Sky Sports Football tonight, with the match between Birmingham City and Southampton kicking off at the slightly later than normal time of 8.15. A further six 7.45 kick-offs - two from each of the three divisions of the EFL - will also be available on Sky Sports+.

The 29th December is not a public holiday, meaning that some fans will be working on the day of the match, and this may make getting to the CBS Arena - which is not in Coventry City centre - a challenge for 6pm, whether they're supporting the home team or the visitors.

The first Monday after the Christmas break was always likely to be an extremely busy day in Coventry city centre, as the kick-off time also coincides with when both workers and shoppers may be heading home.

West Midlands Railway may have had one eye on the clubs' previous meeting at the CBS Arena in 2025 in issuing an announcement early.

When Coventry and Ipswich met in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup at the start of February, kick-off was delayed by ten minutes, but even with this some fans missed quite a lot of action. The opening goal of the game was scored when Ipswich were awarded a penalty kick inside the first minute, only for Coventry to equalise after eight minutes, with some still taking their seats. Ipswich went on to win the game 4-1.

With another bumper crowd expected for this match, the railway company have chosen to send a clear message to both home and away fans travelling to Coventry ahead of time tonight that they should allow a little extra time to get to this match in order to make sure that they don't miss out on any of the action from The CBS Arena.