spyinthesky Posted 2 December, 2013 Share Posted 2 December, 2013 Have been invited to the occasional corporate but first time at Stamford Bridge yesterday. Went with someone who hadn't been there since the 1976 S Final win over Palace ad we were reflecting on the changes since the days when you approached a Chelsea away game with a frission of fear. Have never been 'wanded' prior to entry to a football game before. The Restaurant area was packed but it appeared a good 50% of the guests were speaking in a foreign tongue (a good percentage were Russian - understandable I guess) The food was excellent. However when we came in at Half time there were a surprising amount of people still eating their 3 course mains. Either they hadn't watched the first half or had arrived late and were making up for their lack of grub by tucking in during the break. There was no cut off time for the consumption of alcohol as is rigorously enforced in the Boxes at St Mary's There are large electric heaters in the roof space of the stand. Presumably the cost of power is sponsored by Gazprom or the like as the cost must be substantial. There were quite a few women and children around us, most either chatting away or looking at their phones/Ipads etc I expected to get some abuse when I involuntarily leapt up to celebrate our first goal but no one said a word (thankfully!!) Whilst the corporate experience was interesting (and enjoyable to a long standing Saints fan like me who was brought up generally wet and cold on the terraces), the disappointment of losing (especially after taking the lead) remains the same at whatever age Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 2 December, 2013 Share Posted 2 December, 2013 Like the game old codger at half time, John Paton, telling the home fans that the atmosphere was an embarrassment and to sing up. "Where's the famous Chelsea roar" which was met by a rendition of OWTS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangkoksaint Posted 2 December, 2013 Share Posted 2 December, 2013 I've been to a few corporates at SB but not for about 7 years. It was always with bankers and was clearly a case of them being seen with the right people and at the right place. Also who could quaff the most pink champagne was also high on the agenda. I enjoyed it but was there for the footy. That said though give me 'normal' supporters any day of the week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooney Posted 2 December, 2013 Share Posted 2 December, 2013 I was in the Corporates yesteday too for the first time and it was all that spyinthesky said it was. Excellent hospitality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted 2 December, 2013 Share Posted 2 December, 2013 (edited) I and two others did corporates yesterday as well, John Hollins Suite, with seats in the West Stand towards the Matthew Harding Stand end. Good food, but poor service. Could hear Saints fans loud & clear. Chelsea fans only got going after they scored. Quite a bit of arrogance shown by some of them. Bit like ManU fans, but without that club's pedigree. Edited 2 December, 2013 by Pugwash typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scummer Posted 2 December, 2013 Share Posted 2 December, 2013 I saw from twitter that Jeremy Clarkson was there with Tiff Needell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_Pedro Posted 2 December, 2013 Share Posted 2 December, 2013 I was there too - my second time since we drew there last season. Clarkson was on the next table to me as he has his own 4 seats (c. £250K per year). He was a scruffy looking old git. Tiff looked very old and wizzened. Our table had 6 Saints fans on it, and agree the food and drink were superb, as was the service. Most Chelsea fans were doubtful of a home win at half time, and all thought Wanyama was superb (better than Mikel they all said). I didn't find the home fans any worse at a game than our home fans - all wanting their team to win desperately, but having the decency to applaud Boruc off the pitch. Afterwards though, met some of the Saints players as they were boarding the coach - all were a great example of the perfect gentlemen - happy to talk, have photos taken and make my missus look like a tart posing with them I'd do it again, if for nothing other than a good day out at little personal expense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delboy Dave Posted 2 December, 2013 Share Posted 2 December, 2013 How do you chaps get invited to hospitality? Is it who you know not what you know, as the saying goes? The only decent suit I know is Cassandra's dad Alan Parry the printer! Boycie ain't no good, Marlene don't let him off the lead for long enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyinthesky Posted 2 December, 2013 Author Share Posted 2 December, 2013 How do you chaps get invited to hospitality? Is it who you know not what you know, as the saying goes? The only decent suit I know is Cassandra's dad Alan Parry the printer! Boycie ain't no good, Marlene don't let him off the lead for long enough! I went with Jevon and Micky Pearce Both made their way in the world Arthur Fowler was nearby. Has moved on from supporting Walford Town to bigger things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eurosaint Posted 2 December, 2013 Share Posted 2 December, 2013 Have been invited to the occasional corporate but first time at Stamford Bridge yesterday. Went with someone who hadn't been there since the 1976 S Final win over Palace ad we were reflecting on the changes since the days when you approached a Chelsea away game with a frission of fear. Have never been 'wanded' prior to entry to a football game before. The Restaurant area was packed but it appeared a good 50% of the guests were speaking in a foreign tongue (a good percentage were Russian - understandable I guess) The food was excellent. However when we came in at Half time there were a surprising amount of people still eating their 3 course mains. Either they hadn't watched the first half or had arrived late and were making up for their lack of grub by tucking in during the break. There was no cut off time for the consumption of alcohol as is rigorously enforced in the Boxes at St Mary's There are large electric heaters in the roof space of the stand. Presumably the cost of power is sponsored by Gazprom or the like as the cost must be substantial. There were quite a few women and children around us, most either chatting away or looking at their phones/Ipads etc I expected to get some abuse when I involuntarily leapt up to celebrate our first goal but no one said a word (thankfully!!) Whilst the corporate experience was interesting (and enjoyable to a long standing Saints fan like me who was brought up generally wet and cold on the terraces), the disappointment of losing (especially after taking the lead) remains the same at whatever age Reading this gives me a real feeling of déjà vue ! I was there with my daughter the day that Beattie scored in the first 12 seconds and we then lost (just like yesterday). We chatted to Kevin Davies and Brett Ormerod after the game in the players lounge, with me famously asking Brett how he enjoyed his time on the pitch, only for him to point out that he was an unused substitute ! Maybe I was starstruck (doh!) but being a good lad we had a laugh about it !! As hospitality goes it was probably as good as I've had in England (had much better in Holland, Germany and Italy though!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian lord Posted 2 December, 2013 Share Posted 2 December, 2013 Snap! Was at the Beattie early goal game too, high up in the Chelsea stand. Was dismayed by their fans' arrogance even then, and the sneering when Crouch came on as a sub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von Dwinger Posted 2 December, 2013 Share Posted 2 December, 2013 Yeah, I was there as well... a mate got 4 tickets from work so we had 3 saints fans and a QPR fan there... Free buffet for in the Under the Bridge restaurant was pretty decent as were the free beer.. The clientele did appear to be 50% foreign in there and quite a few neutrals and people just there for the free corporate jolly... Kept quiet when saints scored but found it hard to bite my tongue at some points during the game.. Gutted when the chelsea goals went in second half.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucks Saint Posted 2 December, 2013 Share Posted 2 December, 2013 Snap! Was at the Beattie early goal game too, high up in the Chelsea stand. Was dismayed by their fans' arrogance even then, and the sneering when Crouch came on as a sub. Ditto me. I knew Trevor Birch well so when he was appointed as MD, I managed to get fairly regular invites to sit with some of the board members like the FD, plus a few other guests. Food was excellent, the alcohol welcome and I used to see quite a few of their well known players, either injured or past players back for some games. The majority of people there were purely there to be seen, or glad hand, and barely watched the matches. After attending about 8 or 9 games, including v Barca when Ronaldino gave a master class, my invites dried up when they finally twigged that I was actively supporting whoever they were playing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graffito Posted 2 December, 2013 Share Posted 2 December, 2013 We'll I was quite happy with a bottle of London Pride in the Saints end, something you can't get at St Mary's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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