Hell Fire BBQ
Major digital sponsor around the pitch. Expensive rig parked in a corner of the car park. Part owned by Pete Couhig. Not operating the last few games.
What gives with that? I wasn’t a fan, prices were eye watering, but it was a THING for a while.
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I've noticed they haven't been about the last few games as well, wasn't a fan either but surprised not to see seeing as such a big thing was made of it
Spending £20K on a rig like that to grill burgers should be an arrestable offence
Seems consistent with the decisions that a Chief Financial Officer would make that would leave a club overspending by £3m in a season.
At the start of the regime it was an array of vans offering fancy foods. Is it now just a massive beer tent and that grill?
Wonder what the change was? Difficulty attracting the van lot in regularly?
@Malone I suspect the "van lot" reached a point where they were failing to cover their pitch rent & decided to cut their losses; that is the most common reason this type of hospitality offering disappears.
Funky Elephant is outstanding
The Indian (is it called Bombayish?) is excellent
The fish and chips guys do a good trade.
Premium prices for premium products. No problem with that.
Eight quid for a pie. Holy Christ.
Do these 3 turn out every game?
Shows what I notice, as being honest I wander through every week and can't say I notice them!
The only two I see every game are the fish/chip stall and the sausage one near the entrance.
Haven’t seen Hell Fire BBQ for ages, seems to be very little variety now.
Surely it can't be that difficult? I reckon I could arrange better entertainment/food.
What would you do differently then? Genuinely interested to know.
I'd get one of those giant ball pits but fill it with crisps instead
Maybe they need to stop being so greedy and charge a reasonable rate for food companies to come.
There’s only one reason these companies disappear from an event where thousands of people pass by and that’s they don’t make enough money to make it worthwhile vs going elsewhere.
I would visit 91 other grounds around the country and ask how they make a profit on selling pies at less than 8 quid. That would be my start. I would then ask how they manage to not run out of stock prior to kick off on a typical match day leading to lost revenue.
I wouldn't have stood up before supporters before I'd even taken control of the club and said "I don't know anything about tactics but I do know all about delivering world class catering and bathroom facilities"
If you make a pitch like that you have to expect fans to make a judgment as to whether you're delivered on it or not
Isn't the current catering/kiosk contract up for renewal? If so then let's hope whoever gets appointed is an improvement & takes on board all the fan feedback. Seriously, a variety of half decent pies, chips, sandwiches & a range of snacks & hot/cold drinks should not be that difficult to organise & make a decent return on...
As for the "fan zone" outlets, as I said earlier they will only stop coming if they stop covering their pitch rent & running costs; therefore the club needs to think seriously about how much it is asking them for.
I think most balanced supporters now tend to "cock a deaf un" to half of what the Couhigs spout these days.
Everything looks geared to them buying, flipping and selling on for a healthy profit, if they can find a buyer.
Everything about owning an EFL club is proving harder than anticipated. That will include selling.
Classic owner managed business behaviour (sprinkled with wide eyed American naïveté) they don’t like being told what they don’t want to hear. Advisors from Mark Palmer through to Phil Alexander, and others in between, have tried to educate but, they seemingly know better. As I mentioned pre sale* (no badge of honour being worn here) it is the Couhig way or the high way.
*Harman’s Close Quarters p85
*freeway
😂or even beltway
There's no conspiracy is there?
Didn't Rob basically say the MO was to come in, improve things then disappear with us in a better place?
That was always the gameplan.
You’re facts and rationality simply aren’t welcome here @malone.
We all love a bit of conspiracy though I know 🤣
Like what's the deal with this road and more importantly how many people would that actually have any influence on anyway?
Or is a 2nd road simply a way to get the capacity certificate increased?
But then we don't get near capacity more than about twice a season anyway.
It's a never ending set of questions that ping off from every line.
Limber up, it’s going to be a Gasroom summer for the ages.
It shouldn't surprise me, I know, but it still does that so many Wycombe fans seem entirely sanguine with what's happening with the ownership and the way the Couhigs just completely bullshit the Trust who then simply roll over for their bellies to be tickled.
Shouldn't alarm bells have been ringing like mad when the Couhigs ask to borrow £100k from the Trust to tide over cashflow rather than sticking their hands into their own savings? It leads to only two conclusions: they haven't got a pot to piss in themselves or they're so cynical they'll get the Trust to stump up to save the club from collapsing rather than risk their own money. Either way, not good.
They then blackmail the Trust into sacrificing the majority of their ownership of the club, giving away most of their rights in the process, with the promise of big improvements: a new stand, a new access road, a new pitch and new toilets.
The moment the deal goes through all that melts away. There's no longer mention of a road or a stand in their 'ambitions'. The new pitch is suddenly downgraded to a new surface layer. Oh and the toilets? Well they'll be coming but they'll be paid for by the Trust instead of the Couhigs returning that £100k loan.
They have conned the Trust into sacrificing so much with just bluster, bullshit and basic blackmail. And once again they've got away with it. I genuinely thought others had started to see through their huckster ways. I guess I was wrong.
The problem is we’re left with almost no alternative. Trust ownership was great while it lasted. Those who invested their time into plugging the holes left by Steve Hayes are still not given their due by most. But, it has taken us as far as it was going to. We were out of money. And I’d love to imagine a future where a trust owned Wycombe Wanderers can compete in the football league, but we simply don’t have enough (willing) fans to make it happen.
Are the Couhigs perfect? Of course not. Have they made mistakes, both cultural and sporting? Of course. But in a world where more and more clubs are facing missed payrolls and points deductions for financial high jinks we can be sure they’re better than some, if not most.
I’ve never really understood where they get their money from. Rob is a very successful businessman, but wealthy lawyers are orders of magnitude away from being able to bankroll football league clubs. They could have ‘old money.’
The Trust still own AP, which is a good thing, but it can’t come without financial responsibility. I think it’s fair enough that we’re being asked to pay for the improvements to our own property. and improvements to the terrace were mentioned in the Couhigs last statement.
https://media.tenor.com/rXxQXRXB0pkAAAAM/elmo-fire.gif
Oh, GIFs don't work on here
Aloysius will be telling us next that paying £10 a year doesn't give us a share in owning the club.
@AlanCecil has said we can ask questions to the trust and they will be answered. So instead of any speculation that is unfair or unjust …
What’s deal with the £100k? Why was us lent? Why wasn’t it repaid if it was short term finance? Was interest charged or requested? Has it now been repaid? Was it part of any negotiation regarding the recent dilution?
Clarity will stop any unfair speculation.
This doesn't answer all of the questions above but there was some mention of the £100k in the Trust email that came over yest:
"The outstanding Trust loan to the Club of £100k will be repaid and then donated back to the Club to be spent on agreed projects that will deliver benefits to the fans."
Not sure I completely understand the point of that but there we go.