|
It has been over a month since the stadium opened with the visit of Fulham. In that month, we have played there five times, The Ospreys once and Wales hosted Slovenia there in a friendly international. Over 90,000 people have passed through the gates during that time at an average of almost 13,000 per game. There is yet to be a gate less than 10,000 inside the stadium. But trust me it is coming and will be coming faster than either you or I would like unless Stadco pull their fingers out.
But there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel. Well, if there was it would probably be switched off by a Stadco official for some unknown reason. That is the level of incompetence that I believe we are now dealing with.
It disturbs me greatly to read comments of people not being turned away from yesterday’s game but making their own decision to turn away. As the queue from the ticket office stretched the width of the South Stand and round towards the East Stand, people just simply gave up. Whether they ever return is open for debate but I would suggest that some of them definitely won’t. And can we blame them?
Several weeks back I wrote that the days had gone where you could turn up at quarter to three and expect to be guaranteed entry into the stadium for the 3pm start. I stand by that. However, I would expect that if you arrived at 2pm you would get in. But it seems that is not the case in Stadco land. Someone told me yesterday that a Stadco official informed the police that they could serve 720 people per hour from the ticket queue. Now if there are four positions and they are all open then that is 180 people per hour per position. Or three per minute. One every twenty seconds. Yeah right. It ain’t going to happen.
Mind you this could be the same Stadco spokesman (strangely who wanted not to be named) who said in tonight’s Evening Post that the ticketing problems were getting behind them and that the problems of the past month were almost a distant memory (words to that effect) – I assume the Stadco spokesman lives on the moon.
I hear one more example today of someone in the ticket queue yesterday as kick off was fast approaching. A bit of quick thinker he was so from the back of the queue he rung the ticket office, reserved two seats and walked to the front and picked them up. Clever. Very clever. But farcical.
I also hear stories of the Stadco stewards. Looking down their noses at the people in the queue and telling them that they had all week to get the tickets. Great customer service that is. We know how much the crowds down here fluctuate, some of the queue was the direct result of the win on Saturday. And of course those people couldn’t have queued on Sunday once they had made their mind up because the nice people at Stadco couldn’t be arsed to open the ticket office. Yes people could order online but many will resent paying the extra charge that it involves. Just the same as many people resent ringing the 0870 number and the extra cost that it involves. Not that these people see us as cash cows or anything you understand. Honestly.
So all in all it’s going pretty crap for Stadco at White Rock but how……
Ticketing – this has been pretty much a farce from start to finish. Although not directly responsible (i.e. provision of software etc) it was Stadco who gave the contract out and Stadco who have allowed these problems to continue when we have all experienced them. And of course through the council involvement do you think anyone now thinks it slightly short sighted to build a stadium for 20,000 people and give them 4 ticket windows?
Stadium Name – A real belter. We have now missed the four opening fixtures at the stadium (Swans friendly, Swans league, Ospreys friendly and international) with only the Ospreys opening league game to come. That will have passed in less than two weeks. The stadium is still called, “The Almost New Stadium, Swansea” It’s a bloody farce. So much so that even one of the tenants calls it ‘The Regional Rugby Stadium’ so on that basis surely it is time for the football club to adopt the name White Rock that the fans want? And although maybe you can laugh at the lack of a name, the failure to name the stadium will cost the ratepayers of Swansea £100,000 as that has been allocated into the budgets. Do you think Bastion have sold us down the river on this one with their advice – you can be rest assured that they are not working on a “no name, no fee” basis!
Food – Again it was Stadco that gave this tender out to FMC. Now can someone tell me why drinks are more expensive in some areas of the ground than others. Can someone also tell this imbeciles that Bovril is not black coffee, Sausage Rolls do not have to be cremated prior to being served and when you are expecting a five figure crowd, cater for it. And the top bod at Stadco wonders why the spend per fan is not as high as he expected. I wonder.
Smoking – I’m pretty non committal on this. I’m a smoker who has given up for 3 weeks. My view though is simple. If you are to make the stadium non smoking enforce it. If you don’t enforce it then don’t bother saying it is non smoking. From the ducking around corners and fags behind backs at the Fulham game it has now changed to just light up wherever nobody is bothered. Again no direction from Stadco.
The problem that we have here is very simple. We have bureaucrats running a sports stadia. People who have no idea how to run a sports stadia running a sports stadia. But its okay because they have a couple of corporate boxes in the stadium. You know in the areas where tickets don’t have to be queued for, where the food is cooked to order and where you can look down on the minnions queuing in the rain for their tickets and chuckle at a job well done in building the stadium. The stadium that has fast become the equivalent of the Leisure Centre for this new council. And maybe they should learn where that particular issue got their council predecessors.
And it is politics as well don’t forget that removed the name White Rock. Read all the PR crap that you want about clean stadium names but the name was dropped as soon as the council changed hands. Co-incidence? I don’t think so. It was a name from the previous leaders and had to go. The previous people may have started the wheels in motion but this bunch of grabbers was having the glory. Except the glory has gone wrong.
I will not advocate the boycotting or protesting at games as that harms us a football club but sadly there are too many out there that have made that decision. The Swans is no longer an option for them and all beacuse the politicians stuck their noses too far into our football club.
We now have 11 days before we play at White Rock again. One of the biggest games of the season against Bristol City. What can Stadco do to redeem themselves. They can’t afford the queues on matchday again. Swansea City cannot afford to see fans turning away, maybe never to return. Stadco want to see more money per head spent in the stadium – price things right, make them worthwhile and it may happen. Lets consider these things for a start
-
A minimum of one turnstile for each stand where tickets can be sold on the day and immediate entry to the ground.
-
A reduction in the prices. I am told that FMC set the prices for the stadium around those at other clubs they deal with – all predominantly nearer London. Surely you set prices with your nearest competition – not something 150+ miles away?
-
A public admittance that they have been unable to secure the naming rights of the stadium. And a frank explanation as to why Bastion have failed in this regard. And then an answer as to what is going to happen (when will White Rock be adopted) and where will the shortfall in the budget be made up
-
A loss of the 0870 number for the ticket line. Yes it’s a national rate but how much is the ticket company making from it and why have their been endless reports of the line going dead. Any explanation – no because the man from Stadco doesn’t have the balls to provide the explanation.
-
The loss of the extortionate charge for ordering online. Lose that and more people will order online. Simple.
-
A book on heating up food for FMC. Thirty seconds in a microwave is enough – not two hours!
It won’t surprise you to know that local radio have been trying to get Gerald Clement to answer some of the fans concerns. Guess what? He doesn’t want to. He’ll take the plaudits but not the criticism. Sad really.
Things have to change and although they had to change last month they haven’t. So they have to change NOW and if they don’t then the people who are making the decisions become accountable. So do something about it eh?
|
