Question The North Bank and your thoughts?

[Tommy2holes]

Was embarrassingly low numbers Saturday. Couldnt hear much apart from the drum.

Be better off to knock down the wall between w and x and make that whole section blue voice

 

[Supershrimper]

I've seen this mentioned a couple of times. Am.i correct in my understanding thst if you have a season ticket and wish to relocate to the north bank you have you request to be moved for every match?

And I presume the club was charging £6.50 per game (which they have now removed) to move?

No wonder the uptake is low. Might be ok for a casual supporter who buys tickets as and when but if your a season ticket holder that's a lot of hassle to go through to move each and every time.

 

[Supa Shrimpa]

I've seen this mentioned a couple of times. Am.i correct in my understanding thst if you have a season ticket and wish to relocate to the north bank you have you request to be moved for every match?

And I presume the club was charging £6.50 per game (which they have now removed) to move?

No wonder the uptake is low. Might be ok for a casual supporter who buys tickets as and when but if your a season ticket holder that's a lot of hassle to go through to move each and every time.

Exactly that. If those terms were on offer when the survey was done, I think they would have had a very different response

 

[leeblue]

Obviously people don't want to re locate over there. Or a coordinated effort is required to get TBV over there. Say for one game. See if it can become a thing again.

 

[LennySUFC]

Make it unreserved and open the back of the West so that people can walk around and use it on matchday.

The way it's setup at the moment doesn't encourage people to make the move.

 

[Tommy2holes]

Make it unreserved and open the back of the West so that people can walk around and use it on matchday.

The way it's setup at the moment doesn't encourage people to make the move.

Quite a few tries that on Saturday and had there ticket checked and were sent back. Madness when there looked to be only 50 or so fans

 

[HertfordshireBlue]

Make it unreserved and open the back of the West so that people can walk around and use it on matchday.

The way it's setup at the moment doesn't encourage people to make the move.

Completely agree, the setup doesn’t even allow the move let alone encourage it, stewards were on it sending people back to W block.

You could tell in the first half, basically of all W
Block tried going across at the same time to join the north bank but we’re sent back

 

[Cricko]

Quite a few tries that on Saturday and had there ticket checked and were sent back. Madness when there looked to be only 50 or so fans

The problem is because of HS the club cannot have people moving around the stadium from stand to stand. The correct thing would be to allow those fans that wanted to move to be able to relocate their season cards for the whole season and not have to do it game by game. You can guarantee though if that happened some would want to move back.

The whole set up is wrong and should of been thought through better and perhaps left until next season. IMO it is pointless the way it is and just splits up TBV.

 

[HertfordshireBlue]

The problem is because of HS the club cannot have people moving around the stadium from stand to stand.

Is this the same even at NL level? I know teams like Maidenhead swap seats behind the goals depending on which way they’re shooting and walk round?

 

[Holy Joe]

Is this the same even at NL level? I know teams like Maidenhead swap seats behind the goals depending on which way they’re shooting and walk round?

It's unlikely to be a league requirement - more likely police and/or council licencing conditions. Maybe the clubs own h&s assesment as well.

 

[North Banker]

The club are also very much not supposed to allow persistent standing, and yet they do.

Like I said before, if there was a coordinated effort to move TBV across and, say, a deadline to change season tickets, I reckon the club could absolutely get away with a grace period of a few games where they look the other way to ensure no one gets left behind during the transition. Otherwise it just makes it harder to convince people to move if others are having to stay.

Letting people drift between stands permanently, yeah I get why they wouldn't want or be allowed that. But it doesn't need to be permanent - it's their own decisions that are making it that way.

 

[Holy Joe]

When I sat in x block recently - there were police officers hanging around in the corner. So it maybe the club could turn a blind eye to a little bit of movement of fans between stands - but would that then get them into trouble with the authorities?

 

[GBJ]

The whole setup is wrong. The only way it works (and a number have said this) is if the away fans are tucked away in Y, Z (and X for 1000+ turnouts) using the Fairfax drive entrance.

Our fans then go in the whole North Bank (NA to NF) using the East car park entrance.

More works would need to be done of course before it could happen, but as the North Bank is now that’s the only way it would be semi-successful.

This whole need to call or email the ticket office to swap for each game is a nonsense as well and puts the vast majority off doing so. Plus the original farce of charging to swap wasn’t a good look either. Chucking a load of comps etc from the East Blues in there as well is also counterproductive to what the NB is about.

We all appreciate the effort COSU have gone to getting it back operational again. Really. But this hybrid version just isn’t and won’t work, especially when fans wanting to improve the atmosphere can’t roam freely from the West. If we can’t have the whole NB, scrap the idea and wait until it’s rebuilt as a proper “home end” hopefully as terracing, or at least safe-standing.

And here endeth the debate.

If COSU want this to work properly, they need to acknowledge what fans are asking for, which has been laid out brilliantly above.

It’s their choice at the end of the day, but as it stands they are looking at a £100k white elephant.

 

[Cricko]

North Bank

The official website of Southend United FC

www.southendunited.co.uk

Recently the Solopress North Bank and north-west quadrant were reopened to home supporters for the first time since the mid-1990s.

It allowed us to host our biggest crowd in over five years against Charlton Athletic, and also meant more home fans could watch the Boxing Day win against Ebbsfleet United than would’ve been possible at the start of the season.

Opening additional capacity mid-season is a complex process and a lot of work was required to meet the Safety Advisory Group’s requirements. This included work to access and egress routes for home and away fans, which in turn has had a knock-on effect to the car park.

After two National League games since opening, we are constantly learning about fans’ experiences during what is a trial period until the end of this season, and gathering feedback after every game is at the heart of the process. We are actively engaging with supporters, including dedicated supporter groups and a sub-committee of the Fan Advisory Board, to assess the impact on the matchday atmosphere and improve the overall experience.

Based on early feedback, we’ve already implemented a couple of changes since the Ebbsfleet game. The blue gate between the west stand and north bank will now remain open so people can access the new toilets and use ‘Eat Street’s’ catering facilities, irrespective of sitting in the west or north, and have also removed the fee for moving seats to the North Bank. Thank you to everyone who has provided feedback so far.

We will continue to learn and understand more from the remaining home games in the trial phase and, with the input from the Blue Voice and key stakeholders, will come up with a strategic plan for what to do in the North Bank next season, which will be communicated prior to 2025/26 season tickets going on sale.

 

[BigCol]

So therefore now you can just go through the gate and if asked for a ticket say you are going to the catering outlet and sit in the north bank?

They whole way they have done this is terrible
Anyway. Should just be open and move if you want to. Health and safety can’t be an issue if everyone is already in the stadium?

 

[Lavender Blue]

What a joke, nothing about parking, as long as fans can access shining new toilets and have a nice burger, all is fine with the world.

 

[Shrimper83]

Think the big picture is next season with the north stand! People can't be arsed relocating half way through a season. The other thing is I don't think it should have been rushed like it was. That end should have been set up for safe standing! It seems there are people saying the atmosphere is better when the blues voice are in the west if we could pack that part of the North the noise that would make would make the blues voice in the west look stupid. The north bank generates a different sound! Me personally I'd put away fans in the south lower! With access only from the East!

 

[Supershrimper]

Think the big picture is next season with the north stand! People can't be arsed relocating half way through a season. The other thing is I don't think it should have been rushed like it was. That end should have been set up for safe standing! It seems there are people saying the atmosphere is better when the blues voice are in the west if we could pack that part of the North the noise that would make would make the blues voice in the west look stupid. The north bank generates a different sound! Me personally I'd put away fans in the south lower! With access only from the East!

Thats what i'd do as well. Seperate exit for Away fans via Roots Hall Avenue, clearing the rubbish etc first

 

[Tommy2holes]

So therefore now you can just go through the gate and if asked for a ticket say you are going to the catering outlet and sit in the north bank?

They whole way they have done this is terrible
Anyway. Should just be open and move if you want to. Health and safety can’t be an issue if everyone is already in the stadium?

No. At the last home game those in the W block went to walk around to the north bank and were sent back after stewards asked to see their tickets.

 

[E for B and Billy Best]

Now fans are back in the North Bank, being as only two players seem to be allowed in the penalty box at the same time, the lap of honour at the end of the match is going to take bloody ages.