Concourse Service

InglebyUTB said:
Yeah even Barnsley are investing in their facilities to try and improve the match day experience for their fans.

Apparently these pour 9 times faster than the good old fashioned way.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1686812193092681744
Click to expand...
We had those for a bit, but presumably it cost more than your bog standard pouring system.

Its generally not too bad in the GRFZ, and we’ve found that if you give it 5 mins after the half time whistle has gone the queues have pretty much gone.

The whole Riverside match day experience is pretty poor though. Its a really dated stadium now and it’s looking tired and run down. Lots of upgrades are needed but the club don’t have the money until we get promoted. Even then I don’t think we’d invest on the stadium, other than the stuff we will have to.
 
Why not a few pop up bars outside around the ground for half time, like the big one near the gates. Could that be opened at half time as well as before the match? Or is there a problem with licencing?
 
The rugby grounds have people walking round with beer/lager packs on their back. As long as you have a card (which most people do) it really helps to meet the demand.
 
Aside from the frustration of the long wait to be served which is just ridiculous in itself, for me the most important part of this is the dangerous situation that the queues cause in terms of bottlenecks and crushes.
The concourses are what they are in terms of size so this makes it even more important that the club manage the flow.
In the NW corner as people enter the ground through the turnstiles there is often no way to access the relevant block gangway without walking through the kiosk queues as they can stretch to the back wall. Yesterday the kiosk queue was all but into the toilet. For elderly supporters and young kids, negotiating the wall of people caused by these bottlenecks can be difficult and sometimes frightening.
If an emergency happened and a section needed to be cleared quickly it could potentially be quite dangerous.
This has been going on for years. When crowds are lower its less of an issue so it can be swept under the carpet but with more frequent bigger crowds it needs addressing.
However whenever I've spoken to stewards or club officials about it they just shrug their shoulders.
I just happened to be at Ashton Gate last season (separate to the Boro game.) I was in the stand opposite their Main stand and it was noticeably more efficient compared to Boro. Pre-poured pints, plenty of choice, food available at the same kiosk as drink. Admittedly its a newer stand with a wider concourse and perhaps Bristolians don't have the same pre-match thirst as us Teessiders :) but arrived 25 / 30 mins before kick-off and within a minute of walking through the turnstile I had a pie and a pint in my hand.
The Riverside is certainly looking in need of some all round TLC but appreciate on the pitch is the priority.
 
Lots of people wanting/expecting the club to invest in new players, new facilities and more staff, whilst at the same time wanting to pay less to watch.

The club runs at a loss already, and that's not SG fault, despite some claims, the vast majority of clubs run at a loss, so who do people expect to pay for all these improvements alongside subsidising your trip to the match?
 
Corco65 said:
Lots of people wanting/expecting the club to invest in new players, new facilities and more staff, whilst at the same time wanting to pay less to watch.

The club runs at a loss already, and that's not SG fault, despite some claims, the vast majority of clubs run at a loss, so who do people expect to pay for all these improvements alongside subsidising your trip to the match?
Click to expand...
If the club added 10p to a pint and made it clear it was to pay for the quick bottom filling pumps, nobody would complain. They would sell more beer and need less staff to pour the drinks so the increase might not even be needed to cover the costs. It would be worth a trial even at just one bar with one drink option. I noticed the little gambling booth in the south stand had been converted to a Budweiser bar yesterday. That would be an ideal location for it.

I’m sure the manufacturers would let the club have a free trial on the promise of a full installation around the stadium if it proves successful. The beer suppliers might even be prepared to contribute towards the cost if they’re going to get more sales out of it.
 
It’s just frustrating that all we ever hear from the club on this are excuses and barring a brief period when they had a Heineken mini bar in the North Stand I’ve not seen them do anything to try and resolve this.

Some of it doesn’t have to cost money. You could have an express lane at one side of the bar and all you can buy is a pint and you must pay by contactless. Have your pre-poured pints ready, tap and collect.

Other stuff costs money but isn’t mega expensive. Move all your bottled soft drinks, chocolate bars and pringles out of the bars into vending machines or to a kiosk. If it’s a kiosk take the pies there, have the bars just sell alcoholic drinks. Straight away you’ve removed a chunk of people who don’t need to be in the queue.

They let you outside at half time, is there not potential to have something there for people to queue at?

Then you start looking at the bottom filling pints which are much quicker and take away the issue that many of staff don’t know how to pour a pint properly which takes time.

The staff just don’t work effectively. One tends to stand by the till while the other is working in the background to fulfil the order, as oppose to both of them serving the customer.

The club always mention that they can’t get the staff to man the concourses sufficiently. I understand why, the pay is rubbish and it’s occasional work. So why not look at solutions that involve less or no staff. I see Fulham now have self service machines to pour your own pint.

I know the club are going to need Premier League money to carry out major structural changes to the concourses, but if Barnsley can afford to take steps in the right direction I don’t know why we have to constantly put up with this nonsense every season with few signs of it ever getting better.
 
I sometimes watch the staff pouring pints during the long wait. They have the tap on full speed, but full speed is painfully slow for lager - and not much faster than dripping for beer
They have tried occasionally having some pints half poured last season
In the main I don't think the staff can be pour the stuff any quicker than the slowwwwwwwwww speed of the taps
 
SilentProf said:
If the club added 10p to a pint and made it clear it was to pay for the quick bottom filling pumps, nobody would complain. They would sell more beer and need less staff to pour the drinks so the increase might not even be needed to cover the costs. It would be worth a trial even at just one bar with one drink option. I noticed the little gambling booth in the south stand had been converted to a Budweiser bar yesterday. That would be an ideal location for it.

I’m sure the manufacturers would let the club have a free trial on the promise of a full installation around the stadium if it proves successful. The beer suppliers might even be prepared to contribute towards the cost if they’re going to get more sales out of it.
Click to expand...
That might be worth looking at, but mine was a much wider point, rather then just selling pints.
 
I remember talking to a friend when the Riverside opened, he was expecting tables and chairs in the concourse and probably waiter service🤣
 
We had plastic bottles of Fosters at one point didnt we, only problem there is they probably wouldnt allow you the bottle, but you can have a plastic bottle of water, pop or wine given to you
 
HeineOtto said:
Aside from the frustration of the long wait to be served which is just ridiculous in itself, for me the most important part of this is the dangerous situation that the queues cause in terms of bottlenecks and crushes.
The concourses are what they are in terms of size so this makes it even more important that the club manage the flow.
In the NW corner as people enter the ground through the turnstiles there is often no way to access the relevant block gangway without walking through the kiosk queues as they can stretch to the back wall. Yesterday the kiosk queue was all but into the toilet. For elderly supporters and young kids, negotiating the wall of people caused by these bottlenecks can be difficult and sometimes frightening.
If an emergency happened and a section needed to be cleared quickly it could potentially be quite dangerous.
This has been going on for years. When crowds are lower its less of an issue so it can be swept under the carpet but with more frequent bigger crowds it needs addressing.
However whenever I've spoken to stewards or club officials about it they just shrug their shoulders.
I just happened to be at Ashton Gate last season (separate to the Boro game.) I was in the stand opposite their Main stand and it was noticeably more efficient compared to Boro. Pre-poured pints, plenty of choice, food available at the same kiosk as drink. Admittedly its a newer stand with a wider concourse and perhaps Bristolians don't have the same pre-match thirst as us Teessiders :) but arrived 25 / 30 mins before kick-off and within a minute of walking through the turnstile I had a pie and a pint in my hand.
The Riverside is certainly looking in need of some all round TLC but appreciate on the pitch is the priority.
Click to expand...
HO - Ref NW corner - what time did you arrive yesterday?

I was there around 2.20pm and the queue was 3 or 4 people in front of me - took about 5/6 minutes to get served.

I admit I would not attempt to get anything at half time yesterday because there were 400? more people in the corner than normal.
 
Too slow everywhere in the ground and packed like sardines in the concourses - also ridiculously priced. A miserable experience and definitely not worth the money.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top