Jameson
Active member
Agreed; it seemed an odd ratio with only two wash hand basins to many urinals and cubicles?
Constructive thoughts on the first match day experience
- Thread starter trueblue
- Start date
Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊
Agreed; it seemed an odd ratio with only two wash hand basins to many urinals and cubicles?
I went specifically early to try out Dick's Bar and was told, by the minders on the door that I believe leads up to it, that the bar was closed and would not be opening at all yesterday, the first game it would be open for was the Spurs game so I'm amazed that they had any customers at all.
ATFC Seagull
Aberystwyth Town FC
Bit late probably, but perhaps a designated drinks queue separate from food in the concourse bars would be a good idea...Completely trivial as well but whilst having Harveys available is fantastic, have a few boxes lined up behind the bars? Not really ideal plonking a fresh box down from out the back and pouring from it straight away.
My thoughts from yesterday:
Can we be told the time the gates will be opening? I went early as the club had suggested to find that Dick's Bar wasn't open and I had to stand in the pouring rain until 13.40 when the gates finally opened.
Didn't think the queues for food in the North Stand were that bad considering and the staff were very helpful and polite. Delighted that there's even a choice of food for veggies (and it was tasty!).
Need more areas in the North Stand concourse to put food/drinks down whilst eating and not enough bins, the bin was also fairly awkward to squish the pie box in the opening.
Thought the roving beer/drink seller was a magnificent idea but there would need to be more of them, and some way of seeing them from afar, for a proper game.
Ladies loos very nice but only two hand dryers, not sure that would be enough normally?
More signage needed outside so you can tell what entrances you're heading towards.
Liked being able to stay after for food/drink, I intend taking advantage of this for sure.
I prepaid for parking at Sussex Uni - I went on a recce the day before as wasn't certain where to go, was very suprised to see no signage at all seeing yesterday was the first time going there. Assume this may be to deter those that haven't prepaid but might be handy to have something out for the first game or two. The parking was great though, drove straight in, choice of spaces and drove straight out, no queue at all - brilliant!
Overall it was a fantastic experience, can't wait to go again!
Can we be told the time the gates will be opening? I went early as the club had suggested to find that Dick's Bar wasn't open and I had to stand in the pouring rain until 13.40 when the gates finally opened.
Didn't think the queues for food in the North Stand were that bad considering and the staff were very helpful and polite. Delighted that there's even a choice of food for veggies (and it was tasty!).
Need more areas in the North Stand concourse to put food/drinks down whilst eating and not enough bins, the bin was also fairly awkward to squish the pie box in the opening.
Thought the roving beer/drink seller was a magnificent idea but there would need to be more of them, and some way of seeing them from afar, for a proper game.
Ladies loos very nice but only two hand dryers, not sure that would be enough normally?
More signage needed outside so you can tell what entrances you're heading towards.
Liked being able to stay after for food/drink, I intend taking advantage of this for sure.
I prepaid for parking at Sussex Uni - I went on a recce the day before as wasn't certain where to go, was very suprised to see no signage at all seeing yesterday was the first time going there. Assume this may be to deter those that haven't prepaid but might be handy to have something out for the first game or two. The parking was great though, drove straight in, choice of spaces and drove straight out, no queue at all - brilliant!
Overall it was a fantastic experience, can't wait to go again!
tonytowner
New member
- Apr 12, 2010
- 41
The stadium will be excellent but sadly the club has a lot to learn about customer service. I know that this was a ramp up event but surely the idea was to test the thing not to train the staff on the day.
My day started with a visit to the Queens Rd shop to get a paper ticket as my season ticket has not arrived. Only one ticket till open with a queue of 8 people whilst 4 assistants stand behind the shop till chatting with no one to serve.
As mentioned by many people the food outlets were very poor. Arrived at 2pm & queued for 30 minutes to order food & drink, then queued another 10 minutes to be served it only to then be told that the pies had run out. The staff hadn't even been trained how to change a till roll. There were no managers present for the first 30 minutes I queued - surely they should have observing to identify potential problems. There is a huge amount of goodwill to the club after everything we have been through & then to have such a fantastic stadium but they could blow it. I will give the catering a few weeks, then try it again. A repeat performance will mean I will eat & drink elsewhere beforehand.
A great opportunity for the club to learn from yesterday by having feedback cards available to complete on the way out.
I so want them to get this right
My day started with a visit to the Queens Rd shop to get a paper ticket as my season ticket has not arrived. Only one ticket till open with a queue of 8 people whilst 4 assistants stand behind the shop till chatting with no one to serve.
As mentioned by many people the food outlets were very poor. Arrived at 2pm & queued for 30 minutes to order food & drink, then queued another 10 minutes to be served it only to then be told that the pies had run out. The staff hadn't even been trained how to change a till roll. There were no managers present for the first 30 minutes I queued - surely they should have observing to identify potential problems. There is a huge amount of goodwill to the club after everything we have been through & then to have such a fantastic stadium but they could blow it. I will give the catering a few weeks, then try it again. A repeat performance will mean I will eat & drink elsewhere beforehand.
A great opportunity for the club to learn from yesterday by having feedback cards available to complete on the way out.
I so want them to get this right
robindurant
Robin
A few shelves for the drinks would be nice, not easy drinking off the floor
grummitts gloves
New member
Park & Ride Mill Rd - Great, but can see it being full by about 1.30 on real matchdays. Bearing in mind most away fans will be driving south on the A23 will use it as well. Going to have to get used to going to the ground much earlier.
Giant TV's - Use them more, i.e. clock, scorers, times of goals, teams, replays etc etc.
East Stand expeience - Concourse seemed quite bland, turnstiles worked well. TV's were good, toilets good, although there seemed to be more womens loos than blokes? 2 out 3 food kiosks were open. Concourse desperately needs shelves or circular tables around pillars. Once you have got your hands full of pie and lager, there is nowhere to put it down again. Enough said already about queues, serving staff etc.
My seat is in Row M. View is bloody superb, still going to get wet on rainy days unfortunately. I was a bit surprised bearing in mind thats 13 rows from the front. Atmosphere will be top drawer. Full marks to the North Stand for the noise they made, bearing in mind there was so few of them. PA works well, shame they lashed up playing GOSBTS. Hairs on the back of me neck stood on end when the teams came out to 'Right Her, Right Now'. Love that track for football, hope we keep that going for match days. Someone told me today there are imminent plans for the big holes in the back of the South Stand. I hope so, because it looks shabby.
Overall, It will be a fantastic place to call home when all the teething issues are resolved.
Giant TV's - Use them more, i.e. clock, scorers, times of goals, teams, replays etc etc.
East Stand expeience - Concourse seemed quite bland, turnstiles worked well. TV's were good, toilets good, although there seemed to be more womens loos than blokes? 2 out 3 food kiosks were open. Concourse desperately needs shelves or circular tables around pillars. Once you have got your hands full of pie and lager, there is nowhere to put it down again. Enough said already about queues, serving staff etc.
My seat is in Row M. View is bloody superb, still going to get wet on rainy days unfortunately. I was a bit surprised bearing in mind thats 13 rows from the front. Atmosphere will be top drawer. Full marks to the North Stand for the noise they made, bearing in mind there was so few of them. PA works well, shame they lashed up playing GOSBTS. Hairs on the back of me neck stood on end when the teams came out to 'Right Her, Right Now'. Love that track for football, hope we keep that going for match days. Someone told me today there are imminent plans for the big holes in the back of the South Stand. I hope so, because it looks shabby.
Overall, It will be a fantastic place to call home when all the teething issues are resolved.
southstandandy
WEST STAND ANDY
- Jul 9, 2003
- 5,742
Food - good quality - don't mind paying a bit more if it's good and mine was.
Service - polite but shockingly slow - please please please can the club or azzure make sure this gets addressed and quickly.
Lack of shelving for food - could have done with somewhere to put my food and drink on like they have at Wembley with the sachets of salt/pepper, tea stirrers, napkins etc
Clock - I know we all have watches but it would be nice to have some form of time keeping visible within the pitch side area.
These points are all things that have already been mentioned so I'm sure the club will take note. None of us want to slam the club for trying their best to give us a whole new great match day experience as overall I thought it was a great start. Small teething problems are always going to crop up, and I just hope that the club can take on these small criticims in a positive manner and make the necessary adjustments over time. Well done TB, MP and everyone involved in giving us a craking new home - thanks again.
Service - polite but shockingly slow - please please please can the club or azzure make sure this gets addressed and quickly.
Lack of shelving for food - could have done with somewhere to put my food and drink on like they have at Wembley with the sachets of salt/pepper, tea stirrers, napkins etc
Clock - I know we all have watches but it would be nice to have some form of time keeping visible within the pitch side area.
These points are all things that have already been mentioned so I'm sure the club will take note. None of us want to slam the club for trying their best to give us a whole new great match day experience as overall I thought it was a great start. Small teething problems are always going to crop up, and I just hope that the club can take on these small criticims in a positive manner and make the necessary adjustments over time. Well done TB, MP and everyone involved in giving us a craking new home - thanks again.
S.T.U cgull
Well-known member
One thing i noticed was that there weren't any chips on the food menu,
aside from that it was good.
aside from that it was good.
Sussex Nomad
Well-known member
Don't forget that £6.50 will become £5.85 when we can start using our smart cards and the 10% off to buy a meal deal. That'll be VFM in my book.
thedonkeycentrehalf
Moved back to wear the gloves (again)
- Jul 7, 2003
- 8,754
Mill Road P&R - haven't used P&R since about the second game at Withdean so thought it best to try again. Others have said about how busy it might get. What I would say is that getting back seemed to work quite well as plenty of buses waiting and as soon as one went out, another appeared.
I wonder whether it might be better to run them down Coldean Lane on the way to the ground so that they can go up through Stanmer Park rather than join the queues on the A27 slip road - especially for evening games when the commuter traffic already leaves long queues. By having someone controlling traffic on the roundabout bus traffic could be given priority.
Catering - in the WSU, there was only one of the two main refreshment areas open and that only had three of seven tills in operation so that would not have helped queues and will no doubt be resolved for other matches. I also guess that many, like myself, wanted to try the new catering and as insider has indicated that 87% of people got refreshments I'd imagine this will drop as the novelty wears off. The Chicken & Ham pie was very, very good though but the burger my sone ate didn't seem anything special for such a high price.
Overall, seats etc were great, concrete dust should be gone by the Spurs game and after all those years in the South Stand at Withdean, it was nice to sit in a stand with a proper roof.
I wonder whether it might be better to run them down Coldean Lane on the way to the ground so that they can go up through Stanmer Park rather than join the queues on the A27 slip road - especially for evening games when the commuter traffic already leaves long queues. By having someone controlling traffic on the roundabout bus traffic could be given priority.
Catering - in the WSU, there was only one of the two main refreshment areas open and that only had three of seven tills in operation so that would not have helped queues and will no doubt be resolved for other matches. I also guess that many, like myself, wanted to try the new catering and as insider has indicated that 87% of people got refreshments I'd imagine this will drop as the novelty wears off. The Chicken & Ham pie was very, very good though but the burger my sone ate didn't seem anything special for such a high price.
Overall, seats etc were great, concrete dust should be gone by the Spurs game and after all those years in the South Stand at Withdean, it was nice to sit in a stand with a proper roof.
Sat in the east stand thought everything was really basic and just looked like it wasn't finished. Bought a pie which was very nice, also bought two cups of tea to then be told there was no milk or sugar. Obviously I'm sure these problems will all be sorted come donny game but defo glad I am not sitting in east stand for the season.
bognorandy
Member
I wasnt going to go to any games before Doncaster but decided to go early saturday morning, season ticket worked fine, very easy, have to say trains both ways much better than expected and sure they can still learn here so hopefully that wont be as bad as everyone feared. Cant wait to see ground with a bit more colour (advertising hoardings etc, it will be great). As stated the only downsides in my opinion was catering (have to say awful in west upper - queued for 45 minutes before game!). Stands need hose down to get rid of dust, as i felt covered, and a clock somewhere please. Also nice to get some better music before game as did feel quite often what was played at the withdean only played for a selective few! cant wait to go again, really do feel proud that I support the albion, just hate fact I live in bognor which is full of pompey supporters which to me isnt right as this is Sussex!!!
Jimbo.GRFC
Banned
- Apr 2, 2010
- 1,378
ATFC, this is a very good point you've made. As I have said previously this is not a criticism of anyone involved yesterday, but a moment to reflect "how could we do this better with 3 times as many fans" Two key introductions can easily ease the 30 minute beer wait. Firstly do as teams like Arsenal, the French National Stadium - St Denis) amongst others have done and have beer only selling stalls around the Stadium. Works brilliantly !! Beer can still be purchased at the main kiosks
I would also suggest one dedicated tea/coffee only counter at each kiosk, for some reason I'm always guaranteed to be behind someone who orders half a dozen cups of coffee/tea then the sugar or milk debate begins !!
I've seen this at other Stadia, but above all else it works
thedonkeycentrehalf
Moved back to wear the gloves (again)
- Jul 7, 2003
- 8,754
In the WSU there appear to be two other retail locations that were not marked up but had shutters at the front. Maybe these will be designated for selling drinks only when the stadium is fully operational.
Horsham Gull
H Block Offender
why not make these betting points into bars so people that just want a pint can get one without having to join the riffraff in the food que
Pogue Mahone
Well-known member
- Apr 30, 2011
- 10,762
Someone mentioned those backpack beer dispensers, with sales-people wandering through the crowds. Great idea.
A water fountain would have been good. My son has a broken leg. After struggling up the stairs to the WSU he was very thirsty...the only option was very hot water from the wash basins or a 45 minute wait (at least - we waited for 30 minutes, but were still not near the front). Thankfully the stewards are a huge improvement from Withdean, friendly and helpful. One of them gave my son his own personal water bottle.
Replace Leon Knight with Gary Hart. Now. Somebody has not thought this through.
Park and Ride from the race course was brilliant. Just a shame the last bus back is at 6.00pm (or will this change when there are more people there?)
I wish I'd worn my Withdean poncho. I got soaked!
Overall, it was surreal. What a ground, I can't believe it's ours.
A water fountain would have been good. My son has a broken leg. After struggling up the stairs to the WSU he was very thirsty...the only option was very hot water from the wash basins or a 45 minute wait (at least - we waited for 30 minutes, but were still not near the front). Thankfully the stewards are a huge improvement from Withdean, friendly and helpful. One of them gave my son his own personal water bottle.
Replace Leon Knight with Gary Hart. Now. Somebody has not thought this through.
Park and Ride from the race course was brilliant. Just a shame the last bus back is at 6.00pm (or will this change when there are more people there?)
I wish I'd worn my Withdean poncho. I got soaked!
Overall, it was surreal. What a ground, I can't believe it's ours.
Green Cross Code Man
Wunt be druv
Yes.
Voice of Reason
New member
The view from the east of Brighton
1 Trains from Eastbourne were full - very full!
2 How about a P&R from Lewes - suggest Sackville House car park.
3 Seat was good, but surprised front 12 rows got wet - I counted them.
4 If we are not going to show a clock, then at least show the teams! We all knew the score.
5 Overall, fantastic!
6 Didn't bother to eat or drink, but queues looked long.........
7 Loo's were good. Hot water as well.
8 Why do stewards stand in the way all the time? Is that a steward thing?
9 The stewards we spoke to to were all very friendly and took a photo of us. Thanks.
10 Tony Bloom. Thank you.
1 Trains from Eastbourne were full - very full!
2 How about a P&R from Lewes - suggest Sackville House car park.
3 Seat was good, but surprised front 12 rows got wet - I counted them.
4 If we are not going to show a clock, then at least show the teams! We all knew the score.
5 Overall, fantastic!
6 Didn't bother to eat or drink, but queues looked long.........
7 Loo's were good. Hot water as well.
8 Why do stewards stand in the way all the time? Is that a steward thing?
9 The stewards we spoke to to were all very friendly and took a photo of us. Thanks.
10 Tony Bloom. Thank you.
Dorset Seagull
Once Dolphin, Now Seagull
Interesting about the amount of people that didn't have a place to put their food and drink as in WSU there was a breakfast bar type affair running along the window. Was there no such thing in the other stands??