THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS HAS DECIDED TO CHANGE THE ENTRY SYSTEM TO WINCHAM PARK FOR THE 2013/14 SEASON.
[size=5][color=#ff0000]THERE WILL BE NO ACCESS BETWEEN THE FOOTBALL GROUND AND THE SOCIAL CLUB BEFORE GAMES!!![/color][/size]
The main entrance to the Social Club will be open before games, for those supporters to purchase refreshments.
Therefore, if you require to use the Social Club before the games, please do so [size=4][color=#ff0000]BEFORE YOU GO THROUGH THE TURNSTYLES![/color][/size].
Access between the Football Ground and the Social Club will be restored at Half-Time, and after Full-Time
Does seem rather odd? how many fans esp away fans and groundhoppers are going to pay into the ground and then be told they cant get a drink?!
Even putting signs up at the turnstyles wont really work as most people just look at the price to get in and dont read anything else.
Has there been any discussion with fans before coming to this decision?
I know we did it previously when Jim Vince manager, and then returned rather quickly to the previous way of doing things - which would suggest that it didn’t really work.
It generally means congestion at the turnstiles at 3pm as everybody is trying to enter the ground at the same time.
Now that the Social Club is back in Club hands, it would surely make much more financial sense to have access from stadium to bar available for as much time as possible!
I believe the main reason for the change is the Health and Safety of people in the Social Club with regards fire doors.
At one point, the front door and the fire exits were being locked, so that the only access before games was from the ground.
This was changed last season for safety reasons, and the front door was left unlocked, but kept closed and marshaled by a club steward. This I believe was a temporary solution, and after further consideration during the summer, it was decided by Board Members to revert to how the Social Club was designed and used originally in the 1990’s.
Also, the Social Club can only currently be used once the turnstyles are open. I know on several occasions last season, away fans turning up on coaches early afternoon, could not gain access to the Social Club, even though Social Club staff were in attendance, because gate staff or the float was not available. These supporters therefore made there way down town or to the Salt Barge, loosing valuable revenue to the Social Club.
This method of access gets rid of that shortcoming, and should increase Social Club takings
[quote=“yorkshire red” post=51081]Does seem rather odd? how many fans esp away fans and groundhoppers are going to pay into the ground and then be told they cant get a drink?!
Even putting signs up at the turnstyles wont really work as most people just look at the price to get in and dont read anything else.[/quote]
This system has been used many times before when large attendances were expected (e.g. FCUM and Chester games and cup games) without any problems. It was also used in pre-season games against Blackpool and Macclesfield.
That is not to say there wont be some hic-ups along the way, but I am sure the Board and the people who run our Social Club will monitor the system, and adjust it accordingly.
Here is a copy of a letter I received from Ilkeston:-
[i]To whom it may concern,
First of all, happy new year to all at Witton Albion.
My name is Lee Francis and I organise the away travel for Ilkeston FC
fans through our Supporters Group.
This season is proving a challenge to fill the coaches we provide.
Despite a price freeze per seat on last season, (£10 Adults, £5 Kids)
with further distances to travel we are trying to find ways to
encourage Supporters to travel on the coach.
I write to you with a proposition. An idea the group have of
attracting supporters to travel away is the chance to win
complimentary tickets for the game.
Bearing in mind there will be up to 50 Supporters traveling on the
coach, would the club be prepared to give the IFCSG complimentary
tickets which we can offer as a prize on the coach.
For every supporter that travels on the coach, they will get a FREE
raffle ticket and one lucky winner will be drawn.
Ideally, we would like to offer 2 tickets which would admit 2 people
(whether they are Adult, Kid or OAP).
With the fixture scheduled for Saturday January 5th, we would really
like to promote this offer if you would be so kind as to provide us with these.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Lee
M: 07415036692
W: www.ifcsg.co.uk
Lee Francis
Graphic Designer
M: 07415036692
W: www.creativeblur.co.uk[/i]
Their coach arrived before 13:00, so they all went to the Salt Barge
Does this mean the Club will open early now? im all for it if the Clubs going to be open 12 30/1pm and i for one would definatly make use of the earlier opening time if it did, with all profit from the bar going back to the club im sure others would do the same.
Probably best that they went to town rather than turned up at Witton then!! :whistle:
But they wont be an issue this season.
On the isolated occasions where there will be an away following arriving earlier than the turnstile operators, it might be easier to arrange earlier turnstile opening? If the usual operators weren’t available at an earlier time, then I would be happy to man it until they were able to get down.
As I was one of the ones responsible for putting this forward - reasons as follows:
Due to H&S we have to have the club front door open and the fire door accessible which has caused no end of issues with smokers and people potentially coming through unchecked/unpaid. We have stewarded this as best we can but it is an issue.
The early coaches TT refers to are mainly team buses who have supporters on too, especially when coming from a distance. You can open the gates early but tbh it can get a bit daft asking the gate ppl to open up from 12.30 and stand in the freezing cold. On the contrast if gates permit and the rush becomes an issue we can look to open a 3rd gate if required. Typically as we have any rate through any gate this is less of an issue.
The idea is to increase social club sales so as not to loose any people who go in the ground get a pie and then dont go anywhere else.
The ground hopper etc scenario needs to be addressed - we have some new signs done and gate staff will warn early birds that they cant get a drink from inside the ground. Likewise any very early people will by default end up in the club IF the gates arent open until say 1.45pm now.
Whilst every decision wont please everyone/solve every problem - this has been decided in an attempt to solve a couple of issues which were arising last season - lets see how they go.
It was expecting a lot from a volunteer steward to stand inside the front door of the Social Club for 2 hours making sure that only people who had paid through the turnstyles got inside.
To expect somebody to stand outside the door to the stands, giving out and checking tickets, I think is too much to ask of a volunteer…unless you are volunteering??
My initial reaction was that this new policy was a bad idea but after some thought I have decided that it is a good idea
Assuming these two options
Option 1 - Allow people from ground to social club before games with No checks
Issue - Health and safety means that outside doors must be unlocked.
Risk- Therefore there is a risk that people will enter the ground without paying
Impact- Loss of gate money
Mitigation – Put people on outside doors for two hours before every game
Option 2 -Do not allow people from ground to social club before games
Issue – Bottleneck at turnstiles at 14.57
Risk – Pushing, frustration, anger
Impact – perception of club by visiting fans etc
Mitigation – Announcements in club at 14.50 and 14.55 to advise people to enter the ground
Issue – Notifying people at Turnstiles
Risk – Fans [especially away fans] will not realise despite notices that they cannot enter the social club before the game once in the ground
Impact – loss of revenue behind bar
Mitigation – Tell people at turnstile before they pay and/or have a stamp [like in a nightclub] so that on the odd occasion can stamp peoples hand who have paid and they can exit the ground, go to bar, have a drink and then return to the turnstile at 14.57 and present their stamped hand
Cost Analysis
What is the higher cost to the club per person:
a. Gate revenue lost per person who does not pay for Option 1= £9ish
b. Loss of revenue per person who does not get into bar before game =on average less than £5 revenue and have to take away the cost of the drink form that
Therefore, apart from on the odd occasion where there are hundreds of away fans Option 2 is the best financial option for WAFC.
When there are lots of away fans [e.g. FC Utd ], they usually make an effort to find out what the policy is before they turn up
Option 1 would be okay if we could police the main doors and all the fire doors for two hours before every game BUT if people are willing to give up this time then a whole new analysis would need to be done to determine whether the use of their time was of most benefit to WAFC standing doing very little at a door or doing something else……and my initial reaction would be that any available resource would e better allocated elsewhere.
Thanks Neil I was beginning to lose the will to live, Robbo please think and ask before posting, sometimes I think I might become
a WHS supporter !
Sorry WHS,