The pa sound system is good, the Wi-Fi is good, the pitch is great, the perimeter boards look good at night and v professional on tv and are a revenue generator, the big screen is good and has started showing in game replays. There is actually a lot to be thankful for.
Agree with @eric_plant and @perfidious_albion that the flashy stuff is quite flashy and the ability to complain about things on social media has been enhanced. I am enjoying the football as well...even given the results and missing GMac.
I’ve mentioned this ad nauseam, I know, but since food has featured so prominently on this thread, I’d like to say, that I’ve been disappointed that a really good Italian Pizza purveyor - a former owner of a fine Italian restaurant in, I think, Woburn Green, tried hard to secure a pitch in the car park at Adams Park but to no avail and is now doing nicely at Reading’s Madejski Stadium.
Don’t suppose anyone at the meeting requested to stop playing Welcome To The Jungle 5mins before KO? Has anyone ever sung along to it? Ever? Just about the most opposite song to fit in with our picturesque stadium I could think of. Mind you, there are a few trees about I guess. Why the F they don’t play Our House at that moment is beyond me considering it’s started to catch on to the fans.
Oh and someone get them to change the answerphone for the club shop. Mrs keeps having a go at me!!! ‘It says it’s open on match days! Went down there at 11.30 on Saturday and it was shut! Voicemail said open until 5pm in the week, went down at 4pm and they said it shuts at 3!’. A bit Mickey Mouse really.
The essential problem WW have is that the supporters as a whole are getting pretty pissed off with the off-field offering. The upper tier car park cost has doubled & is “pre-book” only, the “Chairboys Village” is now a small hamlet with little choice (the vegan van & pizza van used to be great). “Cashless” is for the convenience of the club not supporters & the diehard supporters now seem to be more just “fans” or “customers”. The ditching of the matchday programme is disgraceful. Is this a football club or what?
While the team is doing well on the pitch the crowds will still come. If the results start going the other way they will stay away in droves. The warning signs were there v Hartlepool. If the club refuses to address supporters’ feelings there will be a backlash. We’ve already lost many older people who used to go in the Woodlands Bar which has been revamped as a corporate zone. The “we know what we’re doing” mantra doesn’t wash with me I’m afraid. I’ve been a diehard supporter (& season-ticket holder) for over 50 years but I don’t like what’s happening at the moment. In any business, if you refuse to supply what your core clients want & try to sell them something the don’t want you’ll end up in the same mess M & S & now John Lewis have got into.
Let's not go too overboard. The parking thing for example is an improvement and worth the money, you can actually get into the ground by car or bus without a long wait now.
The beers and external operators in the car park are an improvement over previous years as are WiFi, floodlights, pitch and screens around the place and general repairs. It's easy to forget we didn't have a pot to piss in a year or two ago and were being asked to chip in for players and general costs as the playing budget was cut and the media guys couldn't print more stuff as they owed money all over town.
Food has always been crap at AP. At least there is a focus now to improve it and I hope that continues.
We can all over exaggerate about cashless like paying with phone / card isn't easier and programmes that hardly anyone was buying for extra effect if we want but don't forget what has been done. Things like the apps for food and tickets obviously haven't worked out but once you sign up for these things it's not always easy to get out of contracts.
Still think the burger is a mess.
As for the programme, I don't think people understand how difficult it is to make money out of print media these days. It had become futile - and the increased ads will have been to try and offset the losses it was making. Sales were down into the low hundreds for the biggest crowd of the season - not worth it.
@StrongestTeam said:
Let's not go too overboard. The parking thing for example is an improvement and worth the money, you can actually get into the ground by car or bus without a long wait now.
The beers and external operators in the car park are an improvement over previous years as are WiFi, floodlights, pitch and screens around the place and general repairs. It's easy to forget we didn't have a pot to piss in a year or two ago and were being asked to chip in for players and general costs as the playing budget was cut and the media guys couldn't print more stuff as they owed money all over town.
Food has always been crap at AP. At least there is a focus now to improve it and I hope that continues.
We can all over exaggerate about cashless like paying with phone / card isn't easier and programmes that hardly anyone was buying for extra effect if we want but don't forget what has been done. Things like the apps for food and tickets obviously haven't worked out but once you sign up for these things it's not always easy to get out of contracts.
Still think the burger is a mess.
Spot on.
A lot of fans are always striving for perfection, so will always moan about stuff rather than applaud or reflect on the good things.
Personally I can't relate to a lot of this "matchday experience" stuff, as my single biggest consideration when I walk out of the game at the end is how the game went and the result.
Not whether I could have a lovely burger, park nicely, buy assorted stuff or be able to pee without seeing loads of rust in the troughs.
However, I understand a huge amount of fans concentrate on this stuff and in a way it's those fans who need to be concentrated on as they'll bring more money in.
@ReturnToSenda said:
Going cashless was an excellent move. It's 2021...
For you maybe but many supporters born in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s do not have or want the technology to be cashless.
I can imagine many of our older supporters who are 60 plus feel like they are being squeezed out of the club with a large number of the changes affecting them the most.
I have a huge amount of respect for our owners but they are getting too many things wrong at present, plus many right. The attendance on Tuesday night is a huge warning as to what people think of the costs of coming to games now
Would genuinely love to know how many people at AP don’t have access to contactless payments - either their own on someone who attends with them.
There are hills to die on but I really don’t get this one. I know people don’t care about things that benefit the club, but all the spends straight into the account, no cashing up, no light-fingered issues - it’s not a surprise that they’re keen on electronic payments.
I love the tech improvements at the ground, the lights are ace, the pitch is great, the food from that smoker is very good too.
For some shade, the queues are too long, the third-party food offering provided better choice and the toilets are as grim as ever.
@Malone said:
My parents are in their 70s and don't ever use cards.
So I don't think it's anywhere near as odd a scenario as some try and depict it as.
Genuine question - Do they come to games, and if so would they do so independently?
I'd hope there is a method of supporting fans that are put out by the move but I can't see it affecting many. I think things like pensions and benefits require to be paid into an account mostly now too and cash in hand is mostly for tax dodging.
Seems a bit like classic bundling all arguments in when people are pissed at someone or something a bit like how our style of play is only really a problem when we lose.
Having to stop somewhere on route to find a cash machine as the bars and busses didn't accept cards and the one at the ground rarely worked didn't add anything to the experience for me. Or queuing longer whilst someone counts out their pennies or waits for their change.
This is classic management of change stuff in most respects though isn't it? And tempting though it is to see the pandemic as providing scope for significant change, for some coming out of the pandemic, it would be nice to have some normality not the constant change and not at this volume. There is a difference between being unable to operate in a cashless environment, and preferring just sometimes to deal in cash. I'm in my early fifties and prefer to have a choice. And you also need to ensure that the changes are for the better, clearly some of the changes haven't been well implemented.
Its not a hill I'm personally dying on at all, but I do think it is one of those small things that bug people, and often the small things add up over time.
@HolmerBlue said:
The chippy in Holmer Green doesn't do cards, cash only... and it's the busiest shop in the village and surrounding areas from what I see
I am quite cynical in general, but my immediate reaction to that is 'That's a bit dodgy'.
Maybe they just want to keep their revenue rather than have it skimmed off by the card companies.
I remember in my student days on a Friday night they’d be a huge queue at the campus chippy, not helped by the vast majority writing cheques for amounts as low as 50p.
I think we can all agree that cheques are best left behind.
A typical match day for me for the best part of 30 years is as follows:
Park-up 1300 on Industrial Estate - No change.
Prices not really gone up in value by Plumb Center for last few years.
Walk to ground and get lunch from Linda's or Vere Suite - big change.
If I was feeling a bit flush I used to stretch to pie & chips for my son and I in the Vere. Reasonably good value at £5-6 for that and portion of chips were large.
Now there is no food option in the Vere and the offering outside, whilst reasonable quality is expensive. I just go to Linda's now or eat at home first.
Purchase 50/50 - no longer possible.
Purchase programme 12-14 games a season - no longer possible.
Half-time - entertainment and waiting for 50/50 draw - big change, neither happen anymore.
Half-time (8-10 games a season, normally when we've been to Linda's) - son is hungry and wants some chips. Reasonable value and quality. - Big change. No chips anymore.
Half-time - cup of tea and chocolate bar - no change.
Full time - Vere Suite post-match interview - Massive, massive change.
No player interview, which was the highlight for so many after the game. The chap, who I forget his name, was excellent and had a brilliant rapport with the players and audience alike. It was a really fantastic experience and the children absolutely loved it. Especially getting a picture with the players.
Now, I appreciate due to covid this may not be possible as we do not want the players getting covid but surely something could be done? A live interview on the big screen?
I also have in the back of my mind, that the MOM will now go to the Woodlands and this was being stopped in the Vere - is that others recollection?
I do hope this will return once it is able to do post covid restrictions. If it doesn't that would be awful.
All in all, my matchday experience has dropped significantly.
Ticket prices are also ridiculous - £45 for an adult and teenager in Frank Adams on the day. I just don't feel I can ask people to splash that out for a day at the football, particularly with the prices for food on top. I would say ticket prices is a football wide issue.
@HolmerBlue said:
The chippy in Holmer Green doesn't do cards, cash only... and it's the busiest shop in the village and surrounding areas from what I see
I am quite cynical in general, but my immediate reaction to that is 'That's a bit dodgy'.
Comments
The pa sound system is good, the Wi-Fi is good, the pitch is great, the perimeter boards look good at night and v professional on tv and are a revenue generator, the big screen is good and has started showing in game replays. There is actually a lot to be thankful for.
Yeah, all the 'techy' stuff is absolutely fantastic as far as I can tell
Agree with @eric_plant and @perfidious_albion that the flashy stuff is quite flashy and the ability to complain about things on social media has been enhanced. I am enjoying the football as well...even given the results and missing GMac.
I’ve mentioned this ad nauseam, I know, but since food has featured so prominently on this thread, I’d like to say, that I’ve been disappointed that a really good Italian Pizza purveyor - a former owner of a fine Italian restaurant in, I think, Woburn Green, tried hard to secure a pitch in the car park at Adams Park but to no avail and is now doing nicely at Reading’s Madejski Stadium.
Don’t suppose anyone at the meeting requested to stop playing Welcome To The Jungle 5mins before KO? Has anyone ever sung along to it? Ever? Just about the most opposite song to fit in with our picturesque stadium I could think of. Mind you, there are a few trees about I guess. Why the F they don’t play Our House at that moment is beyond me considering it’s started to catch on to the fans.
Oh and someone get them to change the answerphone for the club shop. Mrs keeps having a go at me!!! ‘It says it’s open on match days! Went down there at 11.30 on Saturday and it was shut! Voicemail said open until 5pm in the week, went down at 4pm and they said it shuts at 3!’. A bit Mickey Mouse really.
I have never seen programmes for any of the sports here, though maybe I have not looked hard enough.
The essential problem WW have is that the supporters as a whole are getting pretty pissed off with the off-field offering. The upper tier car park cost has doubled & is “pre-book” only, the “Chairboys Village” is now a small hamlet with little choice (the vegan van & pizza van used to be great). “Cashless” is for the convenience of the club not supporters & the diehard supporters now seem to be more just “fans” or “customers”. The ditching of the matchday programme is disgraceful. Is this a football club or what?
While the team is doing well on the pitch the crowds will still come. If the results start going the other way they will stay away in droves. The warning signs were there v Hartlepool. If the club refuses to address supporters’ feelings there will be a backlash. We’ve already lost many older people who used to go in the Woodlands Bar which has been revamped as a corporate zone. The “we know what we’re doing” mantra doesn’t wash with me I’m afraid. I’ve been a diehard supporter (& season-ticket holder) for over 50 years but I don’t like what’s happening at the moment. In any business, if you refuse to supply what your core clients want & try to sell them something the don’t want you’ll end up in the same mess M & S & now John Lewis have got into.
Thanks @Shev. I did wonder whether programmes were alien to the American match-day experience.
Still, this whole matchday experience these days is leaving me about £15 richer each game so I guess I shouldn’t complain
Let's not go too overboard. The parking thing for example is an improvement and worth the money, you can actually get into the ground by car or bus without a long wait now.
The beers and external operators in the car park are an improvement over previous years as are WiFi, floodlights, pitch and screens around the place and general repairs. It's easy to forget we didn't have a pot to piss in a year or two ago and were being asked to chip in for players and general costs as the playing budget was cut and the media guys couldn't print more stuff as they owed money all over town.
Food has always been crap at AP. At least there is a focus now to improve it and I hope that continues.
We can all over exaggerate about cashless like paying with phone / card isn't easier and programmes that hardly anyone was buying for extra effect if we want but don't forget what has been done. Things like the apps for food and tickets obviously haven't worked out but once you sign up for these things it's not always easy to get out of contracts.
Still think the burger is a mess.
Just out of interest can you still buy a ticket without an App at AP?
Going cashless was an excellent move. It's 2021...
As for the programme, I don't think people understand how difficult it is to make money out of print media these days. It had become futile - and the increased ads will have been to try and offset the losses it was making. Sales were down into the low hundreds for the biggest crowd of the season - not worth it.
Spot on.
A lot of fans are always striving for perfection, so will always moan about stuff rather than applaud or reflect on the good things.
Personally I can't relate to a lot of this "matchday experience" stuff, as my single biggest consideration when I walk out of the game at the end is how the game went and the result.
Not whether I could have a lovely burger, park nicely, buy assorted stuff or be able to pee without seeing loads of rust in the troughs.
However, I understand a huge amount of fans concentrate on this stuff and in a way it's those fans who need to be concentrated on as they'll bring more money in.
For you maybe but many supporters born in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s do not have or want the technology to be cashless.
I can imagine many of our older supporters who are 60 plus feel like they are being squeezed out of the club with a large number of the changes affecting them the most.
I have a huge amount of respect for our owners but they are getting too many things wrong at present, plus many right. The attendance on Tuesday night is a huge warning as to what people think of the costs of coming to games now
@wwfcblue Sorry if I'm being thick, but surely everyone at the game born in the 40s to 60s has a debit card with RFID? How does that affect them?
Some people struggle to open a bank account.
Would genuinely love to know how many people at AP don’t have access to contactless payments - either their own on someone who attends with them.
There are hills to die on but I really don’t get this one. I know people don’t care about things that benefit the club, but all the spends straight into the account, no cashing up, no light-fingered issues - it’s not a surprise that they’re keen on electronic payments.
I love the tech improvements at the ground, the lights are ace, the pitch is great, the food from that smoker is very good too.
For some shade, the queues are too long, the third-party food offering provided better choice and the toilets are as grim as ever.
My parents are in their 70s and don't ever use cards.
So I don't think it's anywhere near as odd a scenario as some try and depict it as.
I'm not sure how many unbanked we have at Adams Park, but I doubt it's many given how necessary a bank account is to not being homeless.
Genuine question - Do they come to games, and if so would they do so independently?
I'd hope there is a method of supporting fans that are put out by the move but I can't see it affecting many. I think things like pensions and benefits require to be paid into an account mostly now too and cash in hand is mostly for tax dodging.
Seems a bit like classic bundling all arguments in when people are pissed at someone or something a bit like how our style of play is only really a problem when we lose.
Having to stop somewhere on route to find a cash machine as the bars and busses didn't accept cards and the one at the ground rarely worked didn't add anything to the experience for me. Or queuing longer whilst someone counts out their pennies or waits for their change.
This is classic management of change stuff in most respects though isn't it? And tempting though it is to see the pandemic as providing scope for significant change, for some coming out of the pandemic, it would be nice to have some normality not the constant change and not at this volume. There is a difference between being unable to operate in a cashless environment, and preferring just sometimes to deal in cash. I'm in my early fifties and prefer to have a choice. And you also need to ensure that the changes are for the better, clearly some of the changes haven't been well implemented.
If WWFC was the only place going cashless, this might, just might, be a hill worth dying on.
But the fact is vast swathes of the country's business had gone cashless before COVID, even more during, and it will only continue.
Was going to say exactly this. Plenty of small businesses don't like cash either.
Its not a hill I'm personally dying on at all, but I do think it is one of those small things that bug people, and often the small things add up over time.
The chippy in Holmer Green doesn't do cards, cash only... and it's the busiest shop in the village and surrounding areas from what I see
I am quite cynical in general, but my immediate reaction to that is 'That's a bit dodgy'.
Maybe they just want to keep their revenue rather than have it skimmed off by the card companies.
I remember in my student days on a Friday night they’d be a huge queue at the campus chippy, not helped by the vast majority writing cheques for amounts as low as 50p.
I think we can all agree that cheques are best left behind.
A typical match day for me for the best part of 30 years is as follows:
Park-up 1300 on Industrial Estate - No change.
Prices not really gone up in value by Plumb Center for last few years.
Walk to ground and get lunch from Linda's or Vere Suite - big change.
If I was feeling a bit flush I used to stretch to pie & chips for my son and I in the Vere. Reasonably good value at £5-6 for that and portion of chips were large.
Now there is no food option in the Vere and the offering outside, whilst reasonable quality is expensive. I just go to Linda's now or eat at home first.
Purchase 50/50 - no longer possible.
Purchase programme 12-14 games a season - no longer possible.
Half-time - entertainment and waiting for 50/50 draw - big change, neither happen anymore.
Half-time (8-10 games a season, normally when we've been to Linda's) - son is hungry and wants some chips. Reasonable value and quality. - Big change. No chips anymore.
Half-time - cup of tea and chocolate bar - no change.
Full time - Vere Suite post-match interview - Massive, massive change.
No player interview, which was the highlight for so many after the game. The chap, who I forget his name, was excellent and had a brilliant rapport with the players and audience alike. It was a really fantastic experience and the children absolutely loved it. Especially getting a picture with the players.
Now, I appreciate due to covid this may not be possible as we do not want the players getting covid but surely something could be done? A live interview on the big screen?
I also have in the back of my mind, that the MOM will now go to the Woodlands and this was being stopped in the Vere - is that others recollection?
I do hope this will return once it is able to do post covid restrictions. If it doesn't that would be awful.
All in all, my matchday experience has dropped significantly.
Ticket prices are also ridiculous - £45 for an adult and teenager in Frank Adams on the day. I just don't feel I can ask people to splash that out for a day at the football, particularly with the prices for food on top. I would say ticket prices is a football wide issue.
Why's that?