Question So how was your match day experience?

[defender05]

Even if the toilets were a priority, they’d never have had them done in 3 weeks. It’s not like doing up your own bathroom at home. There would be a huge amount of planning required as the plumbing and electrics will all be outdated and soon as touched it will need to be brought up to modern standards. You can’t refit the toilets before there is a plan for the rest of the stand, otherwise you end up ripping out what you fixed in 12 months. Things need to be done right first time around, and that will take time. Even the most simple jobs in public entertainment venues are very complex.

I don't think people were after a complete refit but it is very easy to order some soap dispensers, liquid soap and a new toilet door. All could have been fitted by a general handy man in less than a day.

In regards to the catering has that been contracted out? If so then the club can't do a lot until that has run out.

 

[Richard Hearn]

No doubt in December I'll be moaning that the water in the loo is too hot, and I scolded my hands!!.

Naughty hands!

 

[RHB]

Bit of an over 60’s thread this - never seen so much complaining before

Don't let @Smiffy or young @Cricko hear you saying that Mr Ageist!

 

[veryoldman]

It was a great day, one I sincereley feared we would never see at a few points in the last couple of years.
My only disappointment was the number of people who started to leave before the final whistle.
Apart from obscuring the view of the other supporters, to not clap the players off the field after all they have done for us in the last few years seems a bit, I don't know, ....ungrateful?

 

[Swiss Tony]

The tifo cards were, imho, a waste of time. Didn't look particularly impressive from my vantage point in the South Upper. Plus I think it dampened the noise when the teams came out as people struggled to clap and hold the cards.

Good to try things out, but wouldn't want it to become too regular, unless it can become an income stream for the club - one side is the coloured card to hold up and the other an advert.

Bit of an over 60’s thread this - never seen so much complaining before

Them 50 to 60 year olds are the troublesome ones, bloody kids.

 

[palexander]

South stand upper…..

Still plenty of pigeon **** everywhere - my seat was clean but others in our group we use were not. That whole stand needs a thorough jet wash.

Getting out from the upper tier was horrendous. We stood still for at least 5 mins going nowhere, not even a step forward .
Never ever taken that long to get out and quite worrying if you think about emergency evacuation scenarios.
I think the issue lies with the exit on that side, it’s very narrow with steps (by the side of the east in the corner) combined with people simply not keeping that area flowing (lots or people hanging around at the bottom of the stairs coming from the upper waiting for others).

I’d like to see the stewards keeping people moving and asking people hanging around to keep those parts of the exit clear.

But again it’s never been as bad as that, not sure what happened yesterday to cause it to be so slow?

Was absolutely my thought from that side of the stand. I just looked over the edge from the seating and just saw a massive crowd all "stuck" and thought any sort of emergency in this stand is going to be an absolute carnage site. Needs sorting somehow.

Still dont know why South Upper doesnt re-open the snack bars etc. When south upper was first built, was great to have all those open.

Dunno... great effort Friday, but hate to think the state it was in considering it still wasnt great Saturday (lots of poo everywhere, some seats were absolutely covered)

 

[Holy Joe]

Was absolutely my thought from that side of the stand. I just looked over the edge from the seating and just saw a massive crowd all "stuck" and thought any sort of emergency in this stand is going to be an absolute carnage site. Needs sorting somehow.

Still dont know why South Upper doesnt re-open the snack bars etc. When south upper was first built, was great to have all those open.

Dunno... great effort Friday, but hate to think the state it was in considering it still wasnt great Saturday (lots of poo everywhere, some seats were absolutely covered)

In an emergency not everyone will be leaving via the narrow gap between east and south - the emergency exits onto the pitch would also be used.

What might be useful is a small barrier to prevent south lower people crossing straight infront if the south upper stairwell, thus allowing south upper to exit at the same time. Also some stewarding of the steps to prevent holdups/blockages. Also some common sense from those with restricted mobility to either wait or go early to prevent them being a blockage!

 

[palexander]

In an emergency not everyone will be leaving via the narrow gap between east and south - the emergency exits onto the pitch would also be used.

What might be useful is a small barrier to prevent south lower people crossing straight infront if the south upper stairwell, thus allowing south upper to exit at the same time. Also some stewarding of the steps to prevent holdups/blockages. Also some common sense from those with restricted mobility to either wait or go early to prevent them being a blockage!

Well, anything major then I'm jumping from the upper tier :D

But yea, escaping on pitch not an option from upper, but think see what you mean - if the lower can spill onto the pitch, then should leave more space for the uppers to escape.

 

[Holy Joe]

Well, anything major then I'm jumping from the upper tier :D

But yea, escaping on pitch not an option from upper, but think see what you mean - if the lower can spill onto the pitch, then should leave more space for the uppers to escape.

Yes the emergency exit for both lower and south isn't the exit between east and south stand but onto the pitch, thus you won't, or shouldn't, get the exiting lower fans blocking the exits from the upper stairwell

 

[mattytheshrimper]

Firstly, it was good walking into Roots Hall with a fresh positive outlook on things and knowing Ron had nothing to do with the club and the fact we actually still had a club. So that for me improved my matchday experience times a million.

Fine getting in, queue's moved quickly. Was surprised not to see a programme seller at the other side of the turnstiles of the west, I was adamant of wanting to put more money into the club now Rons gone but no one was there. Managed to get one pitch side at halftime though.

Was surprised to see the queue's to the bar starting at the west stand entrances, never seen that before and needless to say, I wasn't going to be joining that.

Was brilliant having a display happening and thought the placards looked very professional from solopress.

I didn't use the toilets, I try to avoid using them as much as I possible can but I had hoped some work had been done on them. Based on what I've read in this thread it doesn't seem so. The toilets were one of the main reasons I worry about bringing my kids to the football with me.

Queue's for food and drink were the same as normal, just too long for me to bother.

Scoreboard, yes there were a few teething problems but I really liked it. Just felt so much more professional.

Security in the west, where the blue voice is, the security can be over the top and a lot of the time for no reason, so it was good to not see that this time.

It was my youngest daughters first game and she enjoyed it, as did my eldest daughter. So that was all that mattered to me and the biggest plus of the day.

Was I hoping for a few more changes, yes I was. Is it understandable that not much has changed yet, yes of course. I would have probably spent another £20 in the ground if I could of but it just wasn't possible. That's not me complaining, that's me saying there's plenty of money to be made, we just need to make it possible for people to spend it. It's of course difficult given the limited room, hopefully COSU know this (course they do) and have a few ideas in the pipeline.

Overall I can't say anything was really much different but we still have our club and that all that matters, further positive changes will come I'm sure.

 

[Piledriver]

This place is rapidly becoming a place where you cant say anything honest without being seen as a 'moaner' or against the 'feel good factor'.

Nowones saying sack the board or maher out (yet ).

Nowone is denying the great work cosu have done in a limited time.

People are commenting on the football or in this thread the match day experience.

Should we all say:
"Matchday experience was perfect, no changes needed".

"The football was sublime, the players are super fit and we dont need any more signings".

its a discussion forum, the perfect place to bring things up that need addressing. Lets keep it that way.

Agree with you 100% my matchday was mixed great to be back , got in early had a beer and a hot pie, couldn't get a second beer as a very long queue bar closed or run out at half time and no guest ale in the west is only lost revenue for the club isn't it and that's what seems to matter to most on here, sorry if that upsets some people.

 

[palexander]

Firstly, it was good walking into Roots Hall with a fresh positive outlook on things and knowing Ron had nothing to do with the club and the fact we actually still had a club. So that for me improved my matchday experience times a million.

Fine getting in, queue's moved quickly. Was surprised not to see a programme seller at the other side of the turnstiles of the west, I was adamant of wanting to put more money into the club now Rons gone but no one was there. Managed to get one pitch side at halftime though.

Was surprised to see the queue's to the bar starting at the west stand entrances, never seen that before and needless to say, I wasn't going to be joining that.

Was brilliant having a display happening and thought the placards looked very professional from solopress.

I didn't use the toilets, I try to avoid using them as much as I possible can but I had hoped some work had been done on them. Based on what I've read in this thread it doesn't seem so. The toilets were one of the main reasons I worry about bringing my kids to the football with me.

Queue's for food and drink were the same as normal, just too long for me to bother.

Scoreboard, yes there were a few teething problems but I really liked it. Just felt so much more professional.

Security in the west, where the blue voice is, the security can be over the top and a lot of the time for no reason, so it was good to not see that this time.

It was my youngest daughters first game and she enjoyed it, as did my eldest daughter. So that was all that mattered to me and the biggest plus of the day.

Was I hoping for a few more changes, yes I was. Is it understandable that not much has changed yet, yes of course. I would have probably spent another £20 in the ground if I could of but it just wasn't possible. That's not me complaining, that's me saying there's plenty of money to be made, we just need to make it possible for people to spend it. It's of course difficult given the limited room, hopefully COSU know this (course they do) and have a few ideas in the pipeline.

Overall I can't say anything was really much different but we still have our club and that all that matters, further positive changes will come I'm sure.

Totally agree with most of this.

For "reasons", I got to the ground ridiculously early from near Colchester - before 12. Wanted to get my shirt swap sorted without massive queues and pick up mates season tickets.

So had a lot of spare time - and I know the club have spoken about this - but man is it calling out for a Fan Zone now. Was baking hot and thought a fan zone, with some ice cream vans, a bar, food etc would do absolute gangbusters. We really need to look at that asap.

I ended up going into the Spread Eagle for the first time and found that to be great. Had a pint and burger and chips out in the garden. Lovely atmosphere etc - but would rather given that £10-£15 to the clubs coffers.

 

[Stan33]

Was absolutely my thought from that side of the stand. I just looked over the edge from the seating and just saw a massive crowd all "stuck" and thought any sort of emergency in this stand is going to be an absolute carnage site. Needs sorting somehow.

Still dont know why South Upper doesnt re-open the snack bars etc. When south upper was first built, was great to have all those open.

Dunno... great effort Friday, but hate to think the state it was in considering it still wasnt great Saturday (lots of poo everywhere, some seats were absolutely covered)

May I suggest a replica Kestral is put on the roof of the stand ?

 

[Piledriver]

May I suggest a replica Kestral is put on the roof of the stand ?

And a wolf to deter foxes.

 

[Uncle_Rons_Teapot]

Only gripe I have is that someone needs to replace the lightbulb in the east stand concourse

 

[* ORM *]

Frankly it was sh!t. I couldn’t get a free stream working this time!

 

[fatshrimp2]

My views on this are that the changes will happen gradually and in the right way. Softly, softly, catchy monkey. The pre-game experience for me was the same as any other... meet in the Railway to see mates from a variety of stands. That's the beauty of an outside space, people can congregate rather than being stuck in the one stand. That said, the Far Post bar was much better at half-time with the addition of the Air Con, however, they were still limiting numbers. Buying a pre-order for a few mates doesn't guarantee entry to said mates if the numbers inside are edging up. A simple fix by us each buying our own beers, rather than a round. There was a sensible suggestion of directing the overflow down to The Shrimpers Bar. The "simple" addition of an outside fanzone can't come quick enough for me if the club want to capitalise on the pre-match spending for the reason above. Not sure how long the licensing element for that would take but I'd say that long-term it would be a great addition to the match day experience. Other than that, no negative points. The major positive for me was sitting next to guys away from my immediate group of mates that I only ever see on match days and was legitmately concerned I would never see again. Loved the scoreboard, but would like to see the time left in the 2nd half...

 

[JD]

What might be useful is a small barrier to prevent south lower people crossing straight infront if the south upper stairwell, thus allowing south upper to exit at the same time. Also some stewarding of the steps to prevent holdups/blockages. Also some common sense from those with restricted mobility to either wait or go early to prevent them being a blockage!

Maybe it was a one off, as I said it has never taken that long to get out.

If it keeps happening then it will definitely need better crowd management moving forward
Also, not sure if they still do this, but i think they let west-standers use that exit too, not sure if the timing of it, if they do though.

 

[JAL]

None different to last season, although can the time of the game be moved to the bottom of the new scoreboard? Can't see it because the West stand roof blocks it.

 

[Blue Streak]

................That said, the Far Post bar was much better at half-time with the addition of the Air Con, however, they were still limiting numbers. Buying a pre-order for a few mates doesn't guarantee entry to said mates if the numbers inside are edging up. A simple fix by us each buying our own beers, rather than a round. There was a sensible suggestion of directing the overflow down to The Shrimpers Bar.............

I chatted with mates about this last season. Is it logistically possible to get down there without leaving the ground ? seems a waste of a bar once the game has started. Even if the money goes into the Trusts pocket as opposed to the club it still eventually benefits the club in some way.