Any real benefit in shutting the chapel?

[Saint Fan CaM]

Was the Chapel closed? I hadn't noticed.

I experienced no traffic problems and no parking problems.

I arrived at SMS at 1.30pm, queued for about 5 minutes to buy my ticket, and got it for £10 and not £18.

No problems. I can't understand what everyone is whining about.

 

 

Perhaps thats because they had many more windows open for new ticket sales? The queue for new ticket sales was moving much quicker than that for collections only which makes pre-sales a complete joke (especially if there was no price difference). The customer service and ticket office management ****ed up big time for this game.

[Thedelldays]

football fans are the biggest whingers around...

 

if it not the ticket office, it is the taste of the beer, the colour of the burger, the hardness of the seat, the sun in their eye, the songs being sung

 

we are the biggest whingers around...all of us

[Saint Fan CaM]

football fans are the biggest whingers around...

 

if it not the ticket office, it is the taste of the beer, the colour of the burger, the hardness of the seat, the sun in their eye, the songs being sung

 

we are the biggest whingers around...all of us

 

 

And the worst ones are those that whinge about the complainers! :wink:

[Whitey Grandad]

when I go..I sit anywhere..the view is pretty much the same all around the bowl shaped stadium

Well that's patently not true. Why are tickets in the centre blocks more expensive than those in the corners? Why are all the director's seats in the centre of the Itchen?

[Block 5]

Perhaps thats because they had many more windows open for new ticket sales? The queue for new ticket sales was moving much quicker than that for collections only which makes pre-sales a complete joke (especially if there was no price difference). The customer service and ticket office management ****ed up big time for this game.

 

When I was queuing to buy my tickets there were very few people at the collections window.

The people that were collecting tickets were doing so far quicker than those buying.

 

There was no error on the part of the ticket office management people, but rather those fans who didn't arrive early enough.

[sotonjoe]

Is this TerryHurlock fella for real or is he on a wind-up?

 

I was actually laughing out loud reading his comments comparing a few people trying to get a half time beer to the Hillsborough tragedy. Have you ever attended a sold out football match? One word describes you sir, Moronic.

 

:smt038

 

Comparing a full Itchen concourse (one that is abiding its capacity safety limits etc) with the Hillsborough tragedy is certainly pretty ridiculous.

 

I didn't notice a significant difference between yesterday in the Kingsland councourse and the way it has been earlier in the season. Perhaps the Kingsland has usually been a lot emptier than the Kingsland and so supporters in the Itchen felt the increase a little more?

 

Either way, we should all be grown up enough to know how to deal with crowds. Yes, the queues are frustrating, but I really don't know what can realistically be done to appease the situation. Comparing it to a major disaster in which many lost their lives, is just going to make people look silly though.

[Polaroid Saint]

I sat next to an empty Chapel; which I felt was a very clever comment on our new secular society at Christmas time, was it not?

 

It also helped to make that end of the stadium about as exciting as the game itself.

[ringwood]

generally yesterday attendances were down in the FA Cup ties, so if the club were doing there research, its pretty safe to assume they got the trend right.

 

queuing yes, the reasons well quite a few people got to the window and then tried to change their seats to the Kingsland, the other was people purchasing tickets at the collection only windows, same happen when collecting half season tickets after the boxing day day, some people just can't read the signs stuck up.

 

queuing for the hatches, well quite a few more kids in the crowd that leads to greater desire for food and pester power.

 

closing the stand, means a lower capacity, then requires a lower level of policing which reduces match day costs which from my first comment on general attendances would indicate that the club is doing its research and given the fickle nature of fans and a couple of the latest results might of meant they erred on the side of caution.

 

the club is being run as a business, relax and enjoy the ride

[Saint Fan CaM]

When I was queuing to buy my tickets there were very few people at the collections window.

The people that were collecting tickets were doing so far quicker than those buying.

 

There was no error on the part of the ticket office management people, but rather those fans who didn't arrive early enough.

 

 

I don't believe you, sorry - you must have arrived 10 minutes before I did, however the queue for collections when we arrived trailed back to the Ted Bates statue...i.e. at least 30 minutes away from the windows.

 

It is true to say that about 10 minutes after we joined the queue a steward walked along the line and asked people if they were there for sales or collection and at that point some people peeled off to join the sales queue. Now if that was repeated all the way to the windows, then that might explain part of the problem.

 

Fact is, there were far too many people waiting for collection (and for sales) when I arrived 15-20 before the match started for blame to be apportioned anywhere other than the ticket office. I expected a wait, but not one that lasted 35 minutes FFS.

[Block 5]

I don't believe you, sorry - you must have arrived 10 minutes before I did, however the queue for collections when we arrived trailed back to the Ted Bates statue...i.e. at least 30 minutes away from the windows.

 

It is true to say that about 10 minutes after we joined the queue a steward walked along the line and asked people if they were there for sales or collection and at that point some people peeled off to join the sales queue. Now if that was repeated all the way to the windows, then that might explain part of the problem.

 

Fact is, there were far too many people waiting for collection (and for sales) when I arrived 15-20 before the match started for blame to be apportioned anywhere other than the ticket office. I expected a wait, but not one that lasted 35 minutes FFS.

 

That's a bit unfair mate.

At 1.30pm when I arrived there were no problems.

[Block 5]

PS. I have heard that David Luker has additional responsibilities and a new manager is to be employed to run the ticket office.

David will still be running customer service operations (which he does very well IMO) but ticket office operation will be run by a new manager (possibly answerable to David).

HTH.

[Saint Fan CaM]

PS. I have heard that David Luker has additional responsibilities and a new manager is to be employed to run the ticket office.

David will still be running customer service operations (which he does very well IMO) but ticket office operation will be run by a new manager (possibly answerable to David).

HTH.

 

 

Apologies, did not mean to offend in previous post. Perhaps someone was trying out a new procedure yesterday then?

[Block 5]

Apologies, did not mean to offend in previous post. Perhaps someone was trying out a new procedure yesterday then?

 

None taken mate.

Possibly, but I don't think a new appointment has been made yet.

[St_Tel49]

I find it difficult to understand why some posters (DD and co) find it difficult to understand that the club has handled this situation badly. It was fairly self-evident that, being a SATURDAY cup tie we would have a normal Saturday attendance. In fact I predicted it on the previous thread on this. So why p!ss off a significant number of your loyal support (i.e. season ticket holders who wanted their own seats) by indulging in some petty penny pinching. How much money did they really save? And how many fans will in future wait to buy their tickets because they didn't like the seats they were allocated when they booked early this time round - I know a few. And, for what it is worth - one of the reasons that the Northam was so subdued yesterday (from where I was sitting the Luton fans were twice as loud) was that the normal Northamites were diluted by less vocal fans who had simply been allocated there rather than WANTING to be there. I hope that they learn from this and revert to normal practice next time.

[CB Fry]

Hilllsborough occured because people in authority did not recognising a potential problem, and at half time today there was a potential for a crush to occur, there was a log jam of people and it had the potential to turn into something quite nasty if someone had slipped or fallen..... I do put the safety of the customer at a very high level unlike yourself who after reading your response to my post I put you down as moron type, unable to think outside of the box and wanting a return to the old days where people urinated in each others pockets on the terraces - SMS is a European Class A stadium designed to cater for 32 500 odd spectators,unfortunately we have a Blue Square Conference Customer Service manager!!!

 

I will treat your finally comment that it deserves by simply ignoring it - MORON

 

 

 

This is an utterly dispicable post. Granted, to be expected from this particular forum member, but utterly dispicable all the same.

 

Comparing not getting your usual seat at a football match (which you have been boring us all with for a fortnight) with what people went through at Hillsborough in 1989 is absolutely shameful.

 

Go and have a chat to one of the Hillsborough Mums, Dads, Brothers and Sisters who lost children, husbands wives and parents that day because they went to a football match. I'm sure they'll share your pain of having to queue slightly longer than normal for a beer at half time.

[ooohTerryHurlock]

there were no more people in there yesterday than there was when we were getting full houses in the Prem, and no-one died then!.:smt102

Saints fans (me included) have gotten used to having space to roam/swap seats/get to the bar easily since our crowds have diminished, so i think yesterday was just a culture shock for some.

Also, i think the club have underestimated the interest in Saints games,and so go into these 'smaller' games under the assumption that we will only get 8-10,000, and the late take up of tickets shocks them a bit.all IMHO of course.

 

Hence my comment that some things in the set up stillneed to be looked at - We have a top notch stadium, a side that is now heading in the right direction and a event management team that maybe is as fresh and at the races as it needs to be

[Um Bongo]

Chapel made more noise then normal on Saturday, let's keep it like that.

[Whitey Grandad]

Hence my comment that some things in the set up stillneed to be looked at - We have a top notch stadium, a side that is now heading in the right direction and a event management team that maybe is as fresh and at the races as it needs to be

There were thousands of people, including a lot of youngsters, who were in an unfamiliar location and who were not acquainted with the facilities. I'm sure that a lot of people will have learnt lessons from the arrangements for this match and I trust that there will be improvements in the furture.

[ooohTerryHurlock]

:smt038

 

Comparing a full Itchen concourse (one that is abiding its capacity safety limits etc) with the Hillsborough tragedy is certainly pretty ridiculous.

 

I didn't notice a significant difference between yesterday in the Kingsland councourse and the way it has been earlier in the season. Perhaps the Kingsland has usually been a lot emptier than the Kingsland and so supporters in the Itchen felt the increase a little more?

 

Either way, we should all be grown up enough to know how to deal with crowds. Yes, the queues are frustrating, but I really don't know what can realistically be done to appease the situation. Comparing it to a major disaster in which many lost their lives, is just going to make people look silly though.

 

I think my point was that there is the potential for a hillsborough type incident, I was n't comparing it to the event. All seater stadia where meant to deal with the problems of ground swells of people moving in different direction.

 

I admit the mentioning of 'Hilsborough' maybe a slight over reaction, but I am happy that expressing a concern over the safety of families attending a football match does not make silly, a wind up or a moron! A bit of a drama queen granted but hey ho that goes with working in a health and safety obsessed industry. Obviously for those of you only concerned with Beer ,Football, Fighting, Songs and scratching your nuts - I'm sure that you will struggle with this concept and even with the concept of work in general!

 

I think the club did n't have the staff on hand to deal with ques or the people - The O/S said that they were expecting 15000 so with a crowd of 18/19k they had underestimated by almost a third.The situation was n't helped with everyone from the itchen/chapel corner having to use the itchen concourse which probably over stretches the catering facitlity.

 

By the way I am real and generally reside in the itchen block 10.

[Thedelldays]

terryH

 

have you ever been to SMS when it was full every week..?

[ooohTerryHurlock]

This is an utterly dispicable post. Granted, to be expected from this particular forum member, but utterly dispicable all the same.

 

Comparing not getting your usual seat at a football match (which you have been boring us all with for a fortnight) with what people went through at Hillsborough in 1989 is absolutely shameful.

 

Go and have a chat to one of the Hillsborough Mums, Dads, Brothers and Sisters who lost children, husbands wives and parents that day because they went to a football match. I'm sure they'll share your pain of having to queue slightly longer than normal for a beer at half time.

 

Happy to do so, I think if I spoke to one of them and explained that I had concerns that a hillsborough type incident could occur because of the congestion that occured at a football ground that they would actually thank me for taking the tome to raise it as a potential issue -

 

please leave your personal grudges against me to one side - we very seldom agree but i don't think raising a sensible health and safety point is, as you say, utterly dispicable ?, also can you point out where I have been rambling on about not getting my usual seat?Think as usual you have me confused with someone else or in fact that you just haven't read what I have written. Anyway I expect little more from you. Happy new year

[ooohTerryHurlock]

terryH

 

have you ever been to SMS when it was full every week..?

 

Don't be such a ****! - I am 37 years of age and have been a lifelong Saints Fan. Both Home and a way. ST holding for probably 20+ years. I started the thread because it was particularly bad yesterday and is something that needs to be looked at. All it takes is for one person queing on a flight of stairs to be knocked or fall and you have a POTENTIAL problem with that volume of people confined in such an area. - its called in the trade a RISK ASSESSMENT! Anyone looking at yesterday situation that I found myself in would say that there were some risks that could be looked at!

 

I put to you - have you attended a sporting event at a major american stadium or and NHL match? Do you notice the way they handle situation?? There were lessons to be learned from yesterday thats all.

Edited 3 January, 2010 by ooohTerryHurlock

[Thedelldays]

Happy to do so, I think if I spoke to one of them and explained that I had concerns that a hillsborough type incident could occur because of the congestion that occured at a football ground that they would actually thank me for taking the tome to raise it as a potential issue -

 

please leave your personal grudges against me to one side - we very seldom agree but i don't think raising a sensible health and safety point is, as you say, utterly dispicable ?, also can you point out where I have been rambling on about not getting my usual seat?Think as usual you have me confused with someone else or in fact that you just haven't read what I have written. Anyway I expect little more from you. Happy new year

 

how can it be a health and safety issue when parts of the ground are designed for a maximum number of people and being such a design, that number of people cannot be breached..?

[sotonjoe]

I think my point was that there is the potential for a hillsborough type incident, I was n't comparing it to the event. All seater stadia where meant to deal with the problems of ground swells of people moving in different direction.

 

I admit the mentioning of 'Hilsborough' maybe a slight over reaction, but I am happy that expressing a concern over the safety of families attending a football match does not make silly, a wind up or a moron! A bit of a drama queen granted but hey ho that goes with working in a health and safety obsessed industry. Obviously for those of you only concerned with Beer ,Football, Fighting, Songs and scratching your nuts - I'm sure that you will struggle with this concept and even with the concept of work in general!

 

I think the club did n't have the staff on hand to deal with ques or the people - The O/S said that they were expecting 15000 so with a crowd of 18/19k they had underestimated by almost a third.The situation was n't helped with everyone from the itchen/chapel corner having to use the itchen concourse which probably over stretches the catering facitlity.

 

By the way I am real and generally reside in the itchen block 10.

 

 

I didn't bother looking, but it would have been rather stupid if the club hadn't bothered to open all tills etc at the kiosks. That's one thing they should come in for criticism on.

 

I'm not saying the whole situation was handled well by the club by any means, I just thought you were losing perspective somewhat. SOme stands were at capacity, that doesn't mean they were unsafe. As others have said, we used to get attendances which meant full stands week in week out. Still, let's just move on from the Hillsbrorough reference as an ill chosen comparison shall we?

 

I fully support your moan about season ticket holders getting ousted out of their seats sue to the staggered way in which the stands were opened though. Whilst I had st owning friends turfed out of their usual centre Kingsland seats, I managed to make the move from the back of block 32 (which is always empty anyway) tto the back of block 31 for today. So, a good move for me, but I still think the club fouled up.

[Whitey Grandad]

how can it be a health and safety issue when parts of the ground are designed for a maximum number of people and being such a design, that number of people cannot be breached..?

The ground is designed for that number and has previously been used for that number for a couple of seasons, but that was with people who had regularly attended the ground, who had sat in the same places and who were familiar with the exit routes. Of course, the stadium has been used successfully for other events with crowds who were also unfamiliar with the stadium, but I'm sure that we could all agree that it would be safer if the supporters were more spread out.

 

The original question concerned how much had been saved by closing the Chapel end. There is also the question of how much was lost through the long queues at the catering outlets. In my opinion, initially closing so many blocks and then releasing them gradually encouraged supporters to wait until the last moment before buying tickets causing long queues at the Ticket Office on match day. The failure of the ticketing systems on Thursday also meant that matchday sales were at the discounted price leading to further loss of income.

[ooohTerryHurlock]

I didn't bother looking, but it would have been rather stupid if the club hadn't bothered to open all tills etc at the kiosks. That's one thing they should come in for criticism on.

 

I'm not saying the whole situation was handled well by the club by any means, I just thought you were losing perspective somewhat. SOme stands were at capacity, that doesn't mean they were unsafe. As others have said, we used to get attendances which meant full stands week in week out. Still, let's just move on from the Hillsbrorough reference as an ill chosen comparison shall we?

 

I fully support your moan about season ticket holders getting ousted out of their seats sue to the staggered way in which the stands were opened though. Whilst I had st owning friends turfed out of their usual centre Kingsland seats, I managed to make the move from the back of block 32 (which is always empty anyway) tto the back of block 31 for today. So, a good move for me, but I still think the club fouled up.

 

The main thing that was drawn from the Hillsborough tragedy was that the officials on the day, police, stewards everyone connected to the club fouled up - I stand by what I say - something was wrong yesterday with the volume of people trying to use the concourse - The club underestimated its staffing requirements or something, I am just using this forum to voice a concern. End of!

 

Apologies to anyone that mentioning 'Hillsborough' as an example of where things went tragically wrong causes offence to - it is not meant in anyway to be contentious. regards

[Thedelldays]

sorry, but people un unfamiliar surroundings..?

 

come on..

[Whitey Grandad]

sorry, but people un unfamiliar surroundings..?

 

come on..

I was blocked by quite a few who got to the top of the stairs and stood there open-mouthed, staring around in wonder. It also took a lot longer to empty the Kingsland on Saturday and if was no more full than usual. What was your experience on Saturday?

[ooohTerryHurlock]

sorry, but people un unfamiliar surroundings..?

 

come on..

 

Thereare a lot of people creeping back now that things are looking up,and there were a hell of a lot of families forced into the itchen yesterday as the 'family'cente was closed?

 

Was there a dealon for families yesterday?? So is it then not a queer decision to then close the family centre??

[Thedelldays]

I was blocked by quite a few who got to the top of the stairs and stood there open-mouthed, staring around in wonder. It also took a lot longer to empty the Kingsland on Saturday and if was no more full than usual. What was your experience on Saturday?

did not go, was working...(briefly)

 

is this the bit where you are getting annoyed and want to take some moral high ground and say "you did not even go"..

 

I have been to SMS countless times, have sat in all parts of the ground..not once could I say I stood there opened mouthed and got worried by unfamiliar surroundings..ffs, it is a modern bowl style stadium...the loos and facilities are pretty much identical all the way around

[ooohTerryHurlock]

did not go, was working...(briefly)

 

is this the bit where you are getting annoyed and want to take some moral high ground and say "you did not even go"..

 

I have been to SMS countless times, have sat in all parts of the ground..not once could I say I stood there opened mouthed and got worried by unfamiliar surroundings..ffs, it is a modern bowl style stadium...the loos and facilities are pretty much identical all the way around

 

lol - you could n't have gone to many games last season!!

[Thedelldays]

lol - you could n't have gone to many games last season!!

what d'you mean...we played some good shtuff with jan and the boy'sh

[Whitey Grandad]

did not go, was working...(briefly)

 

is this the bit where you are getting annoyed and want to take some moral high ground and say "you did not even go"..

 

I have been to SMS countless times, have sat in all parts of the ground..not once could I say I stood there opened mouthed and got worried by unfamiliar surroundings..ffs, it is a modern bowl style stadium...the loos and facilities are pretty much identical all the way around

Certainly not, but my experience was of the central Kingsland in block 31 where I only recognised one other person from the regular crowd, presumably because this was one of the last blocks to be opened, so I was wondering what conditons were like in other parts of the ground. In my experience it was noticeably more disorganised than usual.

[JackFrost]

Hilllsborough occured because people in authority did not recognising a potential problem, and at half time today there was a potential for a crush to occur, there was a log jam of people and it had the potential to turn into something quite nasty if someone had slipped or fallen..... I do put the safety of the customer at a very high level unlike yourself who after reading your response to my post I put you down as moron type, unable to think outside of the box and wanting a return to the old days where people urinated in each others pockets on the terraces - SMS is a European Class A stadium designed to cater for 32 500 odd spectators,unfortunately we have a Blue Square Conference Customer Service manager!!!

 

I will treat your finally comment that it deserves by simply ignoring it - MORON

 

What a ridiculous post.

 

In the 80s a lot of football stadiums were outdated (Hillsborough was considered to one of the most modern in those days) back then and needed a massive face lift due to the explosion of popularity of football and increasing attendances during the previous decade. The problem was exacerbated when the FA brought in ill-informed quick fix 'solutions' to deal with repeated pitch invasions, measures which were on-the-whole either unworkable in practise or in the case of Hillsborough, severely compromised the safety of the stadia.

 

It was a disgusting scandal and an utter tragedy that it took football fans being killed for the authorities to stop trying to use sticking plasters to fix a potential and as we know subsequent, preverbial nuclear meltdown. It was a nationwide debate in '85 when around 60 fans got killed at Valley Parade when a cigarette got dropped and not put out properly. The Hillsborough Disaster was the last of many straws.

 

The stadiums today like St Mary's are centuries ahead in terms of safety from when Hillsborough happened. As tragic as the Hillsborough disaster was, there's no doubt the measures taken because of it have avoided god knows how many deaths and injuries over the years when things have got hairy in a crowded stadium. Comparing totally non-important inconveniences i modern stadia with Hillsborough '89 is disgusting

Edited 3 January, 2010 by JackFrost

[ooohTerryHurlock]

What a ridiculous post.

 

In the 80s a lot of football stadiums were outdated (Hillsborough was considered to one of the most modern in those days) back then and needed a massive face lift due to the explosion of popularity of football and increasing attendances during the previous decade. The problem was exacerbated when the FA brought in ill-informed quick fix 'solutions' to deal with repeated pitch invasions, measures which were on-the-whole either unworkable in practise or in the case of Hillsborough, severely compromised the safety of the stadia.

 

It was a disgusting scandal and an utter tragedy that it took football fans being killed for the authorities to stop trying to use sticking plasters to fix a potential and as we know subsequent, preverbial nuclear meltdown. It was a nationwide debate in '85 when around 60 fans got killed at Valley Parade when a cigarette got dropped and not put out properly. The Hillsborough Disaster was the last of many straws.

 

The stadiums today like St Mary's are centuries ahead in terms of safety from when Hillsborough happened. As tragic as the Hillsborough disaster was, there's no doubt the measures taken because of it have avoided god knows how many deaths and injuries over the years when things have got hairy in a crowded stadium. Comparing totally non-important inconveniences i modern stadia with Hillsborough '89 is disgusting

 

I think you have missed my point - read all the posts. For the last time it had nothing to do with the innconvenience - it was to do with the risk. I have been a ST since SMS has been opened (and before) but yesterday something was not right so there fore it need to be pointed out. He you do not highlight a near miss or a risk then something is wrong. You obviously don't work in a profession that has anykind of understanding of Health and safety. I don't know it does n't get much better on here really.

[kpturner]

I was sitting with OoohTerryHurlock at the game and I can confirm that he is indeed being a complete drama queen. We were sitting at the back in one of the corners which, when full (as it always would have been in the PL days) takes a while to empty - especially when you are as far away from the only exit as we were. So it actually takes a while to get into the concourse area at half time or to leave the ground at the end. Normally we are sitting one block further up about 6 rows from the exit so we do not get stuck.

 

Anyway, when I eventually got to the beer hatch it had the shortest queue I have ever seen so no problemo!

 

I think he just likes a bit of attention - hence the thread - bless 'im. All this talk of Hillsborough and Health & Safety.....LMFAO :-D You should see him with a mini kango drill if you want to witness a Health and Safety hazard.

Edited 4 January, 2010 by kpturner

[Whitey Grandad]

The most unsafe that I have ever felt was behind the away section at Portman Road. One almighty crush to get to the toilets and the pie counter with only one narrow entrance/exit and grills over all the windows. I strongls advise anybone not to go there if they are ever at Portman Road. Compared to that, St. Mary's is a doddle.

[SNSUN]

Hang on - as I said originally, I paid for the tickets days before the match but chose to collect the tickets. In all the years going to SMS have I ever seen such a huge queue just to collect tickets - whatever system they employ seems to have changed and today it did not work - it was rubbish.

 

Apologies then - it has been known for people to complain about buying tickets on the day about 15 minutes before a game.