I suppose cost & (in)covenience are dependent on match day routine. I prefer to park at the ground because it has, until now at least, enabled us to arrive about 2:15pm just as the early birds are leaving the Vere Suite/Chairboys Village and pop in for a pre-match pint.
Similarly we go back into the Vere Suite after the match for a slow pint and dissection of the game. Watch first half of whatever football match is on then walk back to the car to exit the car park, usually without queuing as most people have left by then.
Evening games we usually don't rock up after 7:15pm, so knowing we have somewhere to park is useful too.
Each to their own preference I guess.
@HCblue said:
As someone who has found a lovely spot to park a pleasant fifteen minute walk away, I regret the price increase only for the fact that others may now be motivated to find the same spot and I will find competition for spots where there has been none before.
Likewise @HCblue Though I do tend to get to the ground rather early to ensure that I get 1 of the 2 spots where I do. I have noticed though, that others were casting a green eye and had the feeling that my creative/unique parking may have been "duplicated" before long. The pandemic arrived and it was no longer an issue. No doubt, battle will recommence in August?
I’m sure I have read in previous years that the income from the top car park did not cover the renting of the field from the Dashwood Estate. Hopefully this increase balances the books.
However £10 is quite steep for an afternoons parking. Eden is £5 for 5 hours, whereas the Oracle in Reading is £8 for five hours and Westgate, Oxford is £9.
This increase will inevitably push up the prices on the industrial estate to £8’ish and make free parking even more difficult to find unless you arrive before 1pm and are happy to walk for 15 minutes plus.
Paying top dollar for your season ticket, parking and food in League 1 is inevitable when we live in a wealthy area of the country and it’s more palatable while the club is doing so well on the pitch. The real problem will occur when we are not doing so well.
As a wider point the Cohigs have always said they want to make match day a bigger experience. They want to do away with turning up at 2.55 and leaving at 5:09 when the final whistle goes. Food trucks, better bars, entertainment etc will hopefully make pre and post match far better and tempt people to hang around.
@username123 Hillbottom is double yellow lined. The council agreed to implement this on match days / evenings as a compromise to club requests for a one way system on match days.
They have failed to do this. An artic lorry trailer left on the road causing a pinch point when the fans leave and walk out compounded by cars trying to leave industrial park parking and ‘mums’ coming up the road to pick up family members is ‘an accident waiting to happen’ god forbid if an emergency vehicle needs to get up to the ground at the same time.
-No parking at the ground
Or
-Dashwood giving permission for a temp service road over his land
Are the only real solutions. In this case money is a distraction.
That's very true but it's also the case that that option isn't available to a lot of fans for all sorts of reasons
The trick is to put on an event that people want to arrive early for and stay on afterwards whilst not putting off fans who need to arrive later and leave at the final whistle or who might not even know if they can make it until not long before kick off
I suppose if that's not possible then there's a trade off between the two
Dashwood is never going to give permission for a temporary service road. I'm told there was agreement in principle for a new access road across the Dashwood estate BUT only if the council would give planning for a number of high value residential properties to off set the cost.
It's no surprise that the council refused to grant such permission, hence no new access road.
I understand why people think that a tenner to park is rather steep, but the seasonal pass works out at £6.50 per game for 23 league games and less if you include cup ties etc and from my experience of parking at grounds around the country that is actually very reasonable.
@eric_plant Some time back I did suggest a ‘speedy boarding’ system whereby ‘select’ bottom car park spaces could be opened up after 15 for cars to leave, once foot traffic had decline, at a premium price. Think it was too difficult to implement and seem as divisive.
@ReturnToSenda said:
I swear the car park price went up to a tenner before Covid?
Yes, I thought it was already a tenner. Sadly as I am not from round here...my knowledge of the area's parking delights beyond the industrial estate is limited.
I think there might be a whole lot of points being missed here so a view from the coal-face so to speak.
The ordinary supporter who has a reasonably well-paid job and goes to football with his 2.4 children is not likely to be the one to suffer. He can afford the £10 or if he can’t he is fit enough to park some distance away and walk in but there are two distinct groups who are likely to be most problematic.
1) The supporters who I would describe as sub-disabled, mostly the elderly and others with health problems but not sufficient to be blue badge holders. It is also the group which is least likely to be tech savvy and therefore booking online is likely to be beyond them. We have one nice old guy who has been supporting the club since the thirties and we usually try to find him a parking space near the bottom for easy access to the ground. Faced with the double whammy of price increase and book online, I suspect he will stop coming which to me is very sad. Unfortunately, he will not be the only one.
2) The second group, and you may argue we don’t have any remit to look after their interests, are away supporters. They don’t know the town, wouldn’t know where to park and often rely on the car park as being their only option. The majority of them I suspect would not bother to book online but they do have the capability to completely upset the apple cart. Say, several car loads of away supporters turn up at 2.45, see a half empty car park and wave their £10 notes at the nearest attendant who immediately tells them that despite the fact that they have the money, they can’t park there. An argument ensues which results in some very irate football supporters roaring through the town trying to find a parking space. The local constabulary get involved and the club are dragged through the mud. Over-dramatic perhaps but it is perfectly feasible.
In addition, there are a number of misconceptions that the club are working on with regard to numbers, wet weather arrangements etc. We have tried to put our views to the club but so far they have fallen on stony ground.
On another point, I am not 100% certain but I believe that Dashwood is paid for the use of the field based on the number of cars parked there. Frequently we see his bailiff(?) turn up to count the numbers. Given volunteer labour that would indicate that the car park should inevitably make a profit.
One thing that might help many people is a car share system, whereby people with spare space in their vehicle offer to pick up and then share the cost of parking at the ground.
@CarParkPete, the points you make are valid and well put - it's a shame that the club can't be accomodating to those groups. Presumably WWFC will be informing visiting clubs that away fans need to book parking online @AlanCecil?
However could I suggest that someone positioned near to the parking marshal armed with an iPad connected to the new super-duper WiFi might be possible to book parking online for those away fans you mention as they arrive?
Subsidised parking for the "sub-disabled" might also be an option for the club or trust to consider but I can see it being both open to abuse and difficult to administer.
If you're one of those volunteers who would normally man the car park please pass on thanks to the team, who do a great job without much appreciation.
Having been absent from Adams Park since last March, excepting the 2 test events, it'll be a joy to finally park up on the slope and look down onto the ground in anticipation of watching a match.
Can't wait ...
I'll pass your message on but I'm sure they're reading it anyway! There is plenty of opportunity for the whole thing to become an utter shambles come the new season but we will do our utmost to prevent that happening.
Whatever I think about the state of the car park and the rip off new £10 charge, I can honestly say that our car park team do a fantastic job.
They are a great bunch and we have enjoyed a bit of banter with them on our arrival. They are a great team and I will miss them as we intend to park further down the road.
@arnos_grove said:
Surprises me that there’s no official bicycle parking at AP (unless I’ve just never noticed). Bearing in mind it’s a complete bottleneck, even 100 odd people cycling would make a big difference to the traffic at the end of a game.
I can confirm that, as @floyd has said, there is parking for about 10 bikes underneath the away stand. I've used it a few times and it is rare for there to be more than 3 or 4 bikes there. I agree with you that it's surprising that more people don't cycle, because it's a brilliant way to get to the ground, particularly for those who live raher nearer than I do.
The cycle parking is right by the away fans entrance and I have to confess I'm a little nervous about leaving my lockdown treat to myself, my rather beautiful Bianchi Impulso, there. But it seems to me that it's quite unlikely that even the most moronic away fans, being the latest to suffer defeat at Fortress Adams Park, would want to take their anger out on a bike.
@OakwoodExile@floyd that’s good to hear. As I never head into the ground that way, I wouldn’t have seen it. I can’t remember any encouragement or publicity about cycling to AP.
I’m not sure I’d let that Bianchi out of my site! Looking forward to seeing it soon.
@arnos_grove I'm planning on cycling on Wednesday, so if you're coming to the Leicester game you could take a look at it then.
@Gordon_Ottershaw I realise you're joking, but I'll give you a serious answer. I do have lycra, but I'm too old to pull off the full MAMIL look so the lycra is discreetly hidden under mountain biking shorts. Similarly I have mountain bike pedals and cleats so my cycling shoes don't look that different from ordinary trainers and you can walk in them without looking like some kind of weird giant chicken. Obviously at work I shower and get changed, but Block S of the Frank Adams just has to put up with it!
Next time you're down at AP with your Bianchi, let me know @OakwoodExile I cycle plenty but having a wife and son that come to the games, cycling isn't an option. I to have the same dress code as yourself given that the veranda protrudes over the toy shop too far to pull off the Linford Christie look. I ride a Dolan full carbon bike and would be as nervous as Fred West watching groundforce leaving it at AP to be honest. I had my first Dolan stolen and rarely let it out of my sight away from home.
Where does one change out / in of ones Lycra cycling kit ?> @OakwoodExile said:
@arnos_grove I'm planning on cycling on Wednesday, so if you're coming to the Leicester game you could take a look at it then.
@Gordon_Ottershaw I realise you're joking, but I'll give you a serious answer. I do have lycra, but I'm too old to pull off the full MAMIL look so the lycra is discreetly hidden under mountain biking shorts. Similarly I have mountain bike pedals and cleats so my cycling shoes don't look that different from ordinary trainers and you can walk in them without looking like some kind of weird giant chicken. Obviously at work I shower and get changed, but Block S of the Frank Adams just has to put up with it!
Actually I wasn’t totally joking, being a mountain biker myself I normally ride in baggy shorts with a padded Lycra inner ( obviously I don’t wear any underpants), I would generally wear a Lycra cycling jersey, but I guess on a ride to the ground a quartered footie shirt would be ideal.
Likewise I wear Shimano mountain bike shoes with cleats and clipless pedals.
I also ride a CX bike on-road which would be a better option for a ride from Flackwell Heath and back. I think I might give it a try.
@OakwoodExile said: @arnos_grove I'm planning on cycling on Wednesday, so if you're coming to the Leicester game you could take a look at it then.
I won’t be there sadly. I actually live in Nottingham and while it’s an ambition to one day try and cycle to a match from there, that won’t be Wednesday.
But I do tend to park at either my brother or mum’s house in Downley and aim to stay for a cycle on Sundays this season with mates. So when I have the bike, I will give the shed a try. Mine’ll either be a BMC Team Machine or a Ribble CGR.
Comments
I suppose cost & (in)covenience are dependent on match day routine. I prefer to park at the ground because it has, until now at least, enabled us to arrive about 2:15pm just as the early birds are leaving the Vere Suite/Chairboys Village and pop in for a pre-match pint.
Similarly we go back into the Vere Suite after the match for a slow pint and dissection of the game. Watch first half of whatever football match is on then walk back to the car to exit the car park, usually without queuing as most people have left by then.
Evening games we usually don't rock up after 7:15pm, so knowing we have somewhere to park is useful too.
Each to their own preference I guess.
*or whatever its called now.
No clues.
Likewise @HCblue Though I do tend to get to the ground rather early to ensure that I get 1 of the 2 spots where I do. I have noticed though, that others were casting a green eye and had the feeling that my creative/unique parking may have been "duplicated" before long. The pandemic arrived and it was no longer an issue. No doubt, battle will recommence in August?
I’m sure I have read in previous years that the income from the top car park did not cover the renting of the field from the Dashwood Estate. Hopefully this increase balances the books.
However £10 is quite steep for an afternoons parking. Eden is £5 for 5 hours, whereas the Oracle in Reading is £8 for five hours and Westgate, Oxford is £9.
This increase will inevitably push up the prices on the industrial estate to £8’ish and make free parking even more difficult to find unless you arrive before 1pm and are happy to walk for 15 minutes plus.
Paying top dollar for your season ticket, parking and food in League 1 is inevitable when we live in a wealthy area of the country and it’s more palatable while the club is doing so well on the pitch. The real problem will occur when we are not doing so well.
As a wider point the Cohigs have always said they want to make match day a bigger experience. They want to do away with turning up at 2.55 and leaving at 5:09 when the final whistle goes. Food trucks, better bars, entertainment etc will hopefully make pre and post match far better and tempt people to hang around.
@username123 Hillbottom is double yellow lined. The council agreed to implement this on match days / evenings as a compromise to club requests for a one way system on match days.
They have failed to do this. An artic lorry trailer left on the road causing a pinch point when the fans leave and walk out compounded by cars trying to leave industrial park parking and ‘mums’ coming up the road to pick up family members is ‘an accident waiting to happen’ god forbid if an emergency vehicle needs to get up to the ground at the same time.
-No parking at the ground
Or
-Dashwood giving permission for a temp service road over his land
Are the only real solutions. In this case money is a distraction.
That's very true but it's also the case that that option isn't available to a lot of fans for all sorts of reasons
The trick is to put on an event that people want to arrive early for and stay on afterwards whilst not putting off fans who need to arrive later and leave at the final whistle or who might not even know if they can make it until not long before kick off
I suppose if that's not possible then there's a trade off between the two
Dashwood is never going to give permission for a temporary service road. I'm told there was agreement in principle for a new access road across the Dashwood estate BUT only if the council would give planning for a number of high value residential properties to off set the cost.
It's no surprise that the council refused to grant such permission, hence no new access road.
I swear the car park price went up to a tenner before Covid?
I understand why people think that a tenner to park is rather steep, but the seasonal pass works out at £6.50 per game for 23 league games and less if you include cup ties etc and from my experience of parking at grounds around the country that is actually very reasonable.
@eric_plant Some time back I did suggest a ‘speedy boarding’ system whereby ‘select’ bottom car park spaces could be opened up after 15 for cars to leave, once foot traffic had decline, at a premium price. Think it was too difficult to implement and seem as divisive.
Yes, I thought it was already a tenner. Sadly as I am not from round here...my knowledge of the area's parking delights beyond the industrial estate is limited.
I think there might be a whole lot of points being missed here so a view from the coal-face so to speak.
The ordinary supporter who has a reasonably well-paid job and goes to football with his 2.4 children is not likely to be the one to suffer. He can afford the £10 or if he can’t he is fit enough to park some distance away and walk in but there are two distinct groups who are likely to be most problematic.
1) The supporters who I would describe as sub-disabled, mostly the elderly and others with health problems but not sufficient to be blue badge holders. It is also the group which is least likely to be tech savvy and therefore booking online is likely to be beyond them. We have one nice old guy who has been supporting the club since the thirties and we usually try to find him a parking space near the bottom for easy access to the ground. Faced with the double whammy of price increase and book online, I suspect he will stop coming which to me is very sad. Unfortunately, he will not be the only one.
2) The second group, and you may argue we don’t have any remit to look after their interests, are away supporters. They don’t know the town, wouldn’t know where to park and often rely on the car park as being their only option. The majority of them I suspect would not bother to book online but they do have the capability to completely upset the apple cart. Say, several car loads of away supporters turn up at 2.45, see a half empty car park and wave their £10 notes at the nearest attendant who immediately tells them that despite the fact that they have the money, they can’t park there. An argument ensues which results in some very irate football supporters roaring through the town trying to find a parking space. The local constabulary get involved and the club are dragged through the mud. Over-dramatic perhaps but it is perfectly feasible.
In addition, there are a number of misconceptions that the club are working on with regard to numbers, wet weather arrangements etc. We have tried to put our views to the club but so far they have fallen on stony ground.
On another point, I am not 100% certain but I believe that Dashwood is paid for the use of the field based on the number of cars parked there. Frequently we see his bailiff(?) turn up to count the numbers. Given volunteer labour that would indicate that the car park should inevitably make a profit.
Username checks out.
One thing that might help many people is a car share system, whereby people with spare space in their vehicle offer to pick up and then share the cost of parking at the ground.
Maybe the gas room could help set something up.
There is actually a Carpooling thread already but it doesn't get a lot of use.
@CarParkPete, the points you make are valid and well put - it's a shame that the club can't be accomodating to those groups. Presumably WWFC will be informing visiting clubs that away fans need to book parking online @AlanCecil?
However could I suggest that someone positioned near to the parking marshal armed with an iPad connected to the new super-duper WiFi might be possible to book parking online for those away fans you mention as they arrive?
Subsidised parking for the "sub-disabled" might also be an option for the club or trust to consider but I can see it being both open to abuse and difficult to administer.
If you're one of those volunteers who would normally man the car park please pass on thanks to the team, who do a great job without much appreciation.
Having been absent from Adams Park since last March, excepting the 2 test events, it'll be a joy to finally park up on the slope and look down onto the ground in anticipation of watching a match.
Can't wait ...
I'll pass your message on but I'm sure they're reading it anyway! There is plenty of opportunity for the whole thing to become an utter shambles come the new season but we will do our utmost to prevent that happening.
Please feel free to ask a question about this at Thursday's Trust Board meeting - open to all Trust members
Whatever I think about the state of the car park and the rip off new £10 charge, I can honestly say that our car park team do a fantastic job.
They are a great bunch and we have enjoyed a bit of banter with them on our arrival. They are a great team and I will miss them as we intend to park further down the road.
Thanks Blue_since_1990. Great to know we're appreciated.
I can confirm that, as @floyd has said, there is parking for about 10 bikes underneath the away stand. I've used it a few times and it is rare for there to be more than 3 or 4 bikes there. I agree with you that it's surprising that more people don't cycle, because it's a brilliant way to get to the ground, particularly for those who live raher nearer than I do.
The cycle parking is right by the away fans entrance and I have to confess I'm a little nervous about leaving my lockdown treat to myself, my rather beautiful Bianchi Impulso, there. But it seems to me that it's quite unlikely that even the most moronic away fans, being the latest to suffer defeat at Fortress Adams Park, would want to take their anger out on a bike.
I didn't know we allowed away supporters to park at the ground (although I'm not sure how you'd distinguish).
@OakwoodExile @floyd that’s good to hear. As I never head into the ground that way, I wouldn’t have seen it. I can’t remember any encouragement or publicity about cycling to AP.
I’m not sure I’d let that Bianchi out of my site! Looking forward to seeing it soon.
Where does one change out / in of ones Lycra cycling kit ?
@arnos_grove I'm planning on cycling on Wednesday, so if you're coming to the Leicester game you could take a look at it then.
@Gordon_Ottershaw I realise you're joking, but I'll give you a serious answer. I do have lycra, but I'm too old to pull off the full MAMIL look so the lycra is discreetly hidden under mountain biking shorts. Similarly I have mountain bike pedals and cleats so my cycling shoes don't look that different from ordinary trainers and you can walk in them without looking like some kind of weird giant chicken. Obviously at work I shower and get changed, but Block S of the Frank Adams just has to put up with it!
Next time you're down at AP with your Bianchi, let me know @OakwoodExile I cycle plenty but having a wife and son that come to the games, cycling isn't an option. I to have the same dress code as yourself given that the veranda protrudes over the toy shop too far to pull off the Linford Christie look. I ride a Dolan full carbon bike and would be as nervous as Fred West watching groundforce leaving it at AP to be honest. I had my first Dolan stolen and rarely let it out of my sight away from home.
Where does one change out / in of ones Lycra cycling kit ?> @OakwoodExile said:
Actually I wasn’t totally joking, being a mountain biker myself I normally ride in baggy shorts with a padded Lycra inner ( obviously I don’t wear any underpants), I would generally wear a Lycra cycling jersey, but I guess on a ride to the ground a quartered footie shirt would be ideal.
Likewise I wear Shimano mountain bike shoes with cleats and clipless pedals.
I also ride a CX bike on-road which would be a better option for a ride from Flackwell Heath and back. I think I might give it a try.
Need to get a good lock though.
I won’t be there sadly. I actually live in Nottingham and while it’s an ambition to one day try and cycle to a match from there, that won’t be Wednesday.
But I do tend to park at either my brother or mum’s house in Downley and aim to stay for a cycle on Sundays this season with mates. So when I have the bike, I will give the shed a try. Mine’ll either be a BMC Team Machine or a Ribble CGR.