CFS - Half time early exodus

[NewClaret]

Must be at least 10-20% simply don’t bother due to queues .Prices are about par and cheap if you think of places like old Trafford CC / Arena / Wembley and almost ANY event catering .
The actual beer choice is passable Carlsberg ( decentish generic lager) Cider - fine / San Miguel ( reasonable euro choice )Guinness . Bearing in mind it’s 20 min of mayhem 5 mins gulp it . Craft beers etc are a nogo in draught “ pull it n swig “ operations though .

Agree & disagree here. The pricing is good, and I imagine but Carlsberg isn’t passable.

I think the club take for granted somewhat that they can just keep serving up a load of rubbish while tastes and expectations are changing. That’s why pubs are closing and craft ale bars are thriving - the pubs have failed to cotton on that tastes have changed.

On the craft ale front, I am as certain as I can be that the club could work with a local brewer, create a good IPA or similar (called “the longside” or similar) and share profits.

Or, get them to bottle it in plastic bottles & open small bottle bars where the betting booths used to be. There is a completely unused resource that we could use to improve the queues.

[4midable]

If we’re going into the “Matchday experience” can we raise again the use of the big screens showing the match we are already watching on a 5 second delay, and not the list of players on the pitch.

With the bookings that Swansea had, it would have been nice to keep track

If anyone goes on to take their eyes off the pitch to qqtch the big screen its pointless going on. Major distraction

The tvs in the concourse on the other hand could be bigger

[fidelcastro]

Having the minimum number of staff is purely to keep costs/wages down.

It's what happens in a capitalist society.

[The Hung Juror]

I suggest there’s a system like you get when you go to the theatre. You order and pay for your drinks for half time before kick off. You get a numbered ticket and they’re on a table waiting for you when you come down at the toot of the referees whistle for half time. No queuing necessary.

[Sean Dyche's Watch]

I suggest there’s a system like you get when you go to the theatre. You order and pay for your drinks for half time before kick off. You get a numbered ticket and they’re on a table waiting for you when you come down at the toot of the referees whistle for half time. No queuing necessary.

I don't think that a system like that would work at a football match!

[NewClaret]

I suggest there’s a system like you get when you go to the theatre. You order and pay for your drinks for half time before kick off. You get a numbered ticket and they’re on a table waiting for you when you come down at the toot of the referees whistle for half time. No queuing necessary.

Don’t think it can be too hard to implement something similar

[NewClaret]

Having the minimum number of staff is purely to keep costs/wages down.

It's what happens in a capitalist society.

They’d earn their wage in 1 minute of HT.

[fidelcastro]

They’d earn their wage in 1 minute of HT.

Eh?

[NewClaret]

Be careful mate, you’re being judged as an alcoholic coke head (yet again) by folk that don’t even sit in your stand, it really does get tedious

Yep, some disgusting stereotyping of the fans that actually make the atmosphere at Turf Moor.

[NewClaret]

Eh?

They’d earn their hourly rate in one minute of HT. There’s more demand than supply and at £5.50 a pint and £2.50 a bene they’d earn the club back their cost within one minute of work at HT.

[fidelcastro]

They’d earn their hourly rate in one minute of HT. There’s more demand than supply and at £5.50 a pint and £2.50 a bene they’d earn the club back their cost within one minute of work at HT.

Oh I see. How long do footballers take to earn theirs?

[Awayfromburnley]

Checkout @footyscran on Twitter, and you will see we have a long, long way to go.

The refreshment are abysmal and it would be better to start afresh, rip it all out and havea blank canvas for 22/23

I mean, which other multi million pound organisation would use a Church Hall style hot water urn (incidentally I have seen being tipped and is an accident waiting to happen) to serve hot drinks? Install an instant boiling water system..... Not hard

[taio]

Oh I see. How long do footballers take to earn theirs?

What's that got to do with his point? All he's saying is the additional revenue will more than cover the cost of extra staff.

[NewClaret]

Checkout @footyscran on Twitter, and you will see we have a long, long way to go.

The refreshment are abysmal and it would be better to start afresh, rip it all out and havea blank canvas for 22/23

I mean, which other multi million pound organisation would use a Church Hall style hot water urn (incidentally I have seen being tipped and is an accident waiting to happen) to serve hot drinks? Install an instant boiling water system..... Not hard

Will have a look at that, but agree, we’re miles off where we should be in terms of offering.

[rincon]

this inept, rude and bloody aweful service at the turf has been going on for years and sees no sign f improving. there is no excuse for poor customer service and bad management. other clubs do it far better than we do, including the likes of Barnsley, where there are no half time queues due to the per pulling pints and having a good work ethic amongst their staff.
I know for a fact that un eaten hot dogs are used again for the next home game.
not good enough.
I was in the CFS yesterday and can't blame people for getting down stairs early to attempt to get a pie, good luck to them.

[fidelcastro]

What's that got to do with his point? All he's saying is the additional revenue will more than cover the cost of extra staff.

The club obviously don't care if that's true. It's pure greed.

[taio]

The club obviously don't care if that's true. It's pure greed.

It's basic business sense. That's all.

[NewClaret]

this inept, rude and bloody aweful service at the turf has been going on for years and sees no sign f improving. there is no excuse for poor customer service and bad management. other clubs do it far better than we do, including the likes of Barnsley, where there are no half time queues due to the per pulling pints and having a good work ethic amongst their staff.
I know for a fact that un eaten hot dogs are used again for the next home game.
not good enough.
I was in the CFS yesterday and can't blame people for getting down stairs early to attempt to get a pie, good luck to them.

I don’t wish anyone to lose their job but when the offering and service consistently remains so poor, with so few ideas, technology or new solutions (see my bottle bar idea in the old betting booths) brought to the table, you have to wonder. They need to up their game & Alan should take some direct control of the situation.

[4midable]

this inept, rude and bloody aweful service at the turf has been going on for years and sees no sign f improving. there is no excuse for poor customer service and bad management. other clubs do it far better than we do, including the likes of Barnsley, where there are no half time queues due to the per pulling pints and having a good work ethic amongst their staff.
I know for a fact that un eaten hot dogs are used again for the next home game.
not good enough.
I was in the CFS yesterday and can't blame people for getting down stairs early to attempt to get a pie, good luck to them.

I second that. I know of warmed up hot dogs being a week later. Wont touch them for my son
They store them back in the fridges

[fidelcastro]

It's basic business sense. That's all.

No it isn't. The club don't want to employ more staff. That's all.

[taio]

No it isn't. The club don't want to employ more staff. That's all.

That wasn't the point. The point the other poster was making was that the club should employ more staff because it will more than pay for itself. That's all.

[fidelcastro]

That wasn't the point. The point the other poster was making was that the club should employ more staff because it will more than pay for itself. That's all.

Which means the club are either greedy or stupid.

[NewClaret]

Which means the club are either greedy or stupid.

FWIW - stupid imo. Makes no commercial sense whatsoever.

[AlargeClaret]

Agree & disagree here. The pricing is good, and I imagine but Carlsberg isn’t passable.

I think the club take for granted somewhat that they can just keep serving up a load of rubbish while tastes and expectations are changing. That’s why pubs are closing and craft ale bars are thriving - the pubs have failed to cotton on that tastes have changed.

On the craft ale front, I am as certain as I can be that the club could work with a local brewer, create a good IPA or similar (called “the longside” or similar) and share profits.

Or, get them to bottle it in plastic bottles & open small bottle bars where the betting booths used to be. There is a completely unused resource that we could use to improve the queues.

Good point re: betting booths , have they been boarded up ? Super fast small bottle bars would certainly ease things . The real ale thing , too long to pull on draft and volumes wouldn’t be quite enough , though be a good thing for a local brewer getting their name out .

[mybloodisclaret]

Be careful mate, you’re being judged as an alcoholic coke head (yet again) by folk that don’t even sit in your stand, it really does get tedious

Yes it is unfortunate that, I have posted before about this but I certainly do not take any drugs at all. Not that it makes any difference, but I get drug tested at work. It is tedious how the CFS get constant jibes about drug abuse and yet if the stand didn't have Clarets in the whole ground would be dominated by away fans and as home support would seem quieter than Blackburn's. Strange old world. I enjoy a pint, but certainly do not take drugs, neither do any of the blokes I go with.

[wilks_bfc]

If anyone goes on to take their eyes off the pitch to qqtch the big screen its pointless going on. Major distraction

The tvs in the concourse on the other hand could be bigger

I’m not looking at the screens whilst the match in in play, but a quick glance up when there’s a break in play to see who the opposition player involved is helps

[2 Bee Holed]

Which means the club are either greedy or stupid.

Is it not possible to be both?

[chipbutty]

They only started taking card payments about 18 months ago didn’t they? I wouldn’t hold your breath whilst you wait for the rest of the operation to move into the 21st century.

They have taken card payments for years, they just went completely cashless 18 months ago.
Much to the annoyance of the conspiracy theory dinosaurs

[Rileybobs]

They have taken card payments for years, they just went completely cashless 18 months ago.
Much to the annoyance of the conspiracy theory dinosaurs

I don’t think that’s the case. Certainly not in the JMU where you had to pay by cash up until 2-3 years ago.

[Sutton-Claret]

If you leave bag on halftime you queue for 15 minutes and have no time to drink your beer..... leave at 42 minutes you get a beer and pie, and have 10ish minutes to enjoy both without missing the start of the 2nd half. I'm sure there's many ways of speeding up the process they just don't seem to want to help us...

[Loyalclaret]

When we scored before half time it was sparse around us in the cricketfield as the players celebrated infront of the stand.

I went down as the whilst blew, queued at the first kiosk for a bene, they nonlonger do hot drinks, so had to queue at the kiosk closest to the turnstile for a coffee. It was surprisingly slow compared to normal at the non-alcohol kiosk.

As I walked away the teams were out for the 2nd half

[NewClaret]

If you leave bag on halftime you queue for 15 minutes and have no time to drink your beer..... leave at 42 minutes you get a beer and pie, and have 10ish minutes to enjoy both without missing the start of the 2nd half. I'm sure there's many ways of speeding up the process they just don't seem to want to help us...

There’s probably 4:

1. Pre-pour pints (not everyone’s preference to have a pint sat for 15 minutes but I’d take it over a long wait)

2. Get the technology in the form of the multi pint pourers or bottom fill glasses. Would pay itself back in a handful of games.

3. Bring back bottles.

4. Get twice as many staff.

For optimum service they likely need all of the above in some form or other.

[chipbutty]

I don’t think that’s the case. Certainly not in the JMU where you had to pay by cash up until 2-3 years ago.

So, you're saying that BFC went straight from not taking card at all to only taking card payments?
They've taken card payments for years.

[NewClaret]

Good point re: betting booths , have they been boarded up ? Super fast small bottle bars would certainly ease things . The real ale thing , too long to pull on draft and volumes wouldn’t be quite enough , though be a good thing for a local brewer getting their name out .

No, betting booths stand empty. I’m pretty sure there’s two empty spaces next to each other that could be opened up in to something. Bottle bar selling a locally brewed beer (not lager ideally) in partnership with BFC would do great.

By craft beer I mean normal IPA’s like Brewdog or Beavertown (they had that at Spurs, was wonderful), not cask ales you need to pull. Crikey, I dread to think

[pureclaret]

Don't shoot the messenger

shoot him shoot him

[Rileybobs]

So, you're saying that BFC went straight from not taking card at all to only taking card payments?
They've taken card payments for years.

No, there was a season or two of card payments before they went cashless. You couldn’t pay by card in the JMU until very recently. I think it was the Olympiakos game where I remember having to find a cash machine near the ground (not easy) so that we could buy a drink.

[ClaretSam]

Hi, I am one of those CFS chaps who from time to time go down around 34th minute. I am not an alcoholic, and only drink at weekends. I do enjoy a pint at half time, and if you are to be succesful waiting until half time leaves you zero chance of getting served, and impossible to get the entrance / exit such is the squeeze. Loads of big screens to watch the match on so not the end of the world. Just part of the routine.

Don’t have to justify yourself mate, some fans love to tar everyone in the CFS with being a “cokehead” because they try beat the rush. I sit in the family upper with my old man and he sometimes goes for a bovril at 40 mins wonder if he’s sniffing in toilets? Pathetic excuse from some fans thinking there better than others because they like a beer or other things. If people want to take drugs (in a completely different stand to them) let them. People old enough to make their own decisions. Some folk need to get off there high horse

[Rileybobs]

Don’t have to justify yourself mate, some fans love to tar everyone in the CFS with being a “cokehead” because they try beat the rush. I sit in the family upper with my old man and he sometimes goes for a bovril at 40 mins wonder if he’s sniffing in toilets? Pathetic excuse from some fans thinking there better than others because they like a beer or other things. If people want to take drugs (in a completely different stand to them) let them. People old enough to make their own decisions. Some folk need to get off there high horse

Mmm, not really sure we should be letting people take drugs in a football stadium.

[wilks_bfc]

Don’t have to justify yourself mate, some fans love to tar everyone in the CFS with being a “cokehead” because they try beat the rush. I sit in the family upper with my old man and he sometimes goes for a bovril at 40 mins wonder if he’s sniffing in toilets? Pathetic excuse from some fans thinking there better than others because they like a beer or other things. If people want to take drugs (in a completely different stand to them) let them. People old enough to make their own decisions. Some folk need to get off there high horse

Are the horses at it in the CFS too?

[turbo5]

I suspect some workplace time and motion and ergonomic placement of drinks and food might help.
Pouring beers, making up bene and hots etc take a lot longer than serving bottles or cans. The bars need splitting with a bottle only queue. with electronic payment this would be seconds per customer. Maybe machines for soft drinks and non hot food
They must know roughly how many pints and bene and hots they sell. they have 45 minutes from kick off to start pouring and preparing them. The server should just be serving and have staff bringing the drinks food to the counter.

[Loyalclaret]

Rightly or wrongly they are unlikely to allow the cricketfield stand to sell bottles. It's gone from no bottle tops to no bottles at all

[Cooclaret]

I suggest there’s a system like you get when you go to the theatre. You order and pay for your drinks for half time before kick off. You get a numbered ticket and they’re on a table waiting for you when you come down at the toot of the referees whistle for half time. No queuing necessary.

Different people, different environment. Great idea, don’t think it would work, more likely to result in arguments and chaos.

[Cooclaret]

No, betting booths stand empty. I’m pretty sure there’s two empty spaces next to each other that could be opened up in to something. Bottle bar selling a locally brewed beer (not lager ideally) in partnership with BFC would do great.

By craft beer I mean normal IPA’s like Brewdog or Beavertown (they had that at Spurs, was wonderful), not cask ales you need to pull. Crikey, I dread to think

Easy solution is to tender out 30-40% of the operation to external business. Allow those services to be bespoke but has to have a local link. Craft brewer, street food, or a sweet shop.

Retain the rest and really narrow the offer to a service that’s quick, simple, and efficient. I’d say, pies, hot and soft drinks and plastic bottled beer.

I’d extend the tendered services external pre game from 12pm for home games to help create the atmosphere parents can access with kids. Have carnival blow up 5 aside pitches where local or visiting youth teams can book and play games and then go on to the Turf to watch. I’d have a Fifa tournament setup that kids/adults can book onto and play to win. Each home game is a new tournament, with a champions day in the last home game of the season.

Both of these act as scouting operations for the clubs football and esports departments.

There’s so much potential for the ‘game day’ experience that’s limited currently by the clubs infrastructure/staffing. It’s further limited by the a cohort of fans who want to maintain the traditional experience they grew up with.

I’d love to see the data the club must be gathering around fan age engagement, attendance, etc. like this board, I think it’s an aging cohort that’s not got a sustainable feeder pathway.

We’re competing on a totally different platform today than we were 10, 15, 20 years ago.

Kids are locked into their individual ‘metaverse’ of choice and BFC don’t exist there.

[Down_Rover]

FFS we are top of the league and we still moan about the club

FWIW our bar service is better than almost all the away grounds I have been to

[bfcmik]

Rightly or wrongly they are unlikely to allow the cricketfield stand to sell bottles. It's gone from no bottle tops to no bottles at all

Yet you can still take bottles of Coke, Pepsi etc., into the Cricketfield Stand if you put them in a backpack, being searched doesn't mean you lose them - no alcohol though. Or a thermos full of hot liquid.

[Nori1958]

I don't have a problem, I can manage 2 hours without a pie or pint, and I get to watch the whole game and not miss any goals, such as our 3rd on Saturday.

[Zlatan]

In terms of the pie… always get mine before kickoff when there’s no queue, and it keeps my hands warm in colder months too. Usually eat it mid way through first half. If I want a pint, it’s before kickoff in the fan zone, so much better in there, and no rush to get it.

Only thing I May disappear for at half time is a comfort break

[Bosscat]

Yet you can still take wraps of Coke, Pep pills etc., into the Cricketfield Stand if you put them in a backpack, being searched doesn't mean you lose them - no alcohol though. Or a thermos full of hot liquid.

Have edited it for you

[Loyalclaret]

Yet you can still take bottles of Coke, Pepsi etc., into the Cricketfield Stand if you put them in a backpack, being searched doesn't mean you lose them - no alcohol though. Or a thermos full of hot liquid.

Don't doubt you but I've not taken a bottle in. Noticed they'd half heartly increased the searching on Saturday probably with the derby game coming up.

[jos]

Footy Scran:-

Hot dog at Manchester United (@ManUtd)

£4.80

https://twitter.com/footyscran/status/1 ... T83iRig5fg