Matchday experience

[Saint86]

https://www.hampshirelive.news/sport/football/football-news/southampton-west-ham-matchday-experience-7140079?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

I enjoy the band myself... but outside of that we really do need to improve the matchday experience. The fan bond to the team (and associated songs/atmosphere) has been bad since Les and Co dismembered the promotion team (in summer 14?). After that it never really recovered with players always coming and going. Need to badly get some stability paired with success, and get some good / original fan chants on the go again for me. A proper home end would certainly help with this.

Goes without saying that the food and drink are bang average at best.

[disconnect]

I wouldnt read too much into this - Palace as number one?! The guy's blatently never tried to get a drink or go for a p*ss in the Arthur Wait stand (one of main sides) - facilities are probably better in League two!

[LuckyNumber7]

20 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

https://www.hampshirelive.news/sport/football/football-news/southampton-west-ham-matchday-experience-7140079?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

I enjoy the band myself... but outside of that we really do need to improve the matchday experience. The fan bond to the team (and associated songs/atmosphere) has been bad since Les and Co dismembered the promotion team (in summer 14?). After that it never really recovered with players always coming and going. Need to badly get some stability paired with success, and get some good / original fan chants on the go again for me. A proper home end would certainly help with this.

Goes without saying that the food and drink are bang average at best.

Yep spot on, it feels like there has been a disconnect between the fans and team for a long time now. It briefly improved when Ralph first arrived but clearly hasn't lasted. A terrible home record together with the high turnover of players over several years I feel has really affected the atmosphere and there is a significant feeling of apathy amongst the fanbase. I don't have a ST any more but it feels like a long time since I actually enjoyed going to games.

I don't know what the answer is but something needs to be done.

Edited 30 May, 2022 by LuckyNumber7

[Turkish]

And to think we all took part in that survey a year ago where they wanted to know how much we earned and what they could do to milk more cash out of us. 

[The Cat]

Most grounds seem to have a largely poor home support these days in my experience and the scores in that section are dependent on whatever happened in the game he went to. If it was a dull 0-0 against a random mid table team it's not going to be the same as an exciting 3-2 against a local rival or whatever.

Our food is poor, those hot dogs look particularly nasty. Our stadium is very dull as well. No surprise to see Leicester ranked alongside us although they should have been docked points for still dishing out those clackers.

It would require big investment to sort the concourses out. They've at least tried in the Family Stand which is now much better than it was pre-covid with a big screen and murals. 

[Alan Sugarfree]

28 minutes ago, The Cat said:

Most grounds seem to have a largely poor home support these days in my experience and the scores in that section are dependent on whatever happened in the game he went to. If it was a dull 0-0 against a random mid table team it's not going to be the same as an exciting 3-2 against a local rival or whatever.

Our food is poor, those hot dogs look particularly nasty. Our stadium is very dull as well. No surprise to see Leicester ranked alongside us although they should have been docked points for still dishing out those clackers.

It would require big investment to sort the concourses out. They've at least tried in the Family Stand which is now much better than it was pre-covid with a big screen and murals. 

The bloke next to me, at one game last season, had one of those hotdogs at the start of the game and went and got another at half time. It smelt like he was eating horse manure in a bun.

[Saint Keef]

28 minutes ago, Alan Sugarfree said:

The bloke next to me, at one game last season, had one of those hotdogs at the start of the game and went and got another at half time. It smelt like he was eating horse manure in a bun.

I'm guessing no one has seen him since.

[Alan Sugarfree]

1 minute ago, Saint Keef said:

I'm guessing no one has seen him since.

Neigh 

[ecuk268]

Not bothered about an "experience". 

I just want to turn up, watch the game and go home. Have a natter with the people around me and, if I want food, I get it before or after the match from one of the many vans in Melbourne St. They're there for every game so presumably they don't poison anyone.

 

[RobM]

Other than better food and drink, and some degree of soul or even design in the stadium, what else do we need from the match day experience?

You turn up, possibly buy food and drink, watch the game, leave wondering why you spend so much money on that drivel, and look forward to doing it all again soon. 

The club have tried ‘entertainment’ and it was terrible. The PA system is terrible. The music choice is terrible. The light and fire shows are terrible. And yet it doesn’t make a tiny bit of difference to the actual game and that’s what ultimately dictates how good your experience is. 

The Saints Brass band are often the best performance we see all day. 

I can’t wait to get back again next season. I renewed my ST straight away. Stupid game. 

[Saint Garrett]

2 hours ago, The Cat said:

Most grounds seem to have a largely poor home support these days in my experience and the scores in that section are dependent on whatever happened in the game he went to. If it was a dull 0-0 against a random mid table team it's not going to be the same as an exciting 3-2 against a local rival or whatever.

Our food is poor, those hot dogs look particularly nasty. Our stadium is very dull as well. No surprise to see Leicester ranked alongside us although they should have been docked points for still dishing out those clackers.

It would require big investment to sort the concourses out. They've at least tried in the Family Stand which is now much better than it was pre-covid with a big screen and murals. 

Sausage rolls are actually decent on the rare occasion I ever get food in the ground. Pies not bad either.

We definitely have the worse queues in the league though. 

[suewhistle]

My match day experience depends on which pub I go to beforehand, who I meet and whether the trains are on time. The performances and results I no longer rely on but a win always improves it, I seem to recall. Many clubs have decent screens and I often wonder when we'll get some.

 

RobM, I've renewed too.. Sigh..

 

[HarvSFC]

1 hour ago, Saint Garrett said:

Sausage rolls are actually decent on the rare occasion I ever get food in the ground. Pies not bad either.

We definitely have the worse queues in the league though. 

Yep, I discovered the sausage rolls a couple of months ago and now I get one pre-match as a ritual. Renewed today with the deadline fast approaching. Hopefully with the new leadership things start to change, and we bring back the half-time relay. The deal or no deal imitation to win a bitcoin was horrendous.

[Mr Saints]

Not sure we can expect an "experience" when we have a PA system that can't be heard by 95% of the stadium.

[Berkshire Saint]

Worth pointing out that the bloke who did these reviews is a Pompey fan, although he technically didn't do the St Mary's game as his Norwich supporting mate did (the game was our fairly routine win against them). Considering our record in recent seasons I don't think our home support is that bad, certainly no worse than other clubs of our size. These things tend to go in cycles, Villa and Leeds seem to have very good home support at the moment but they've had plenty of seasons with attendances way down in the not so distant past. Never really understood the fuss about Palace's home support, possibly because we have a decent record there. 

Not much you can draw from one game really (and in some games the reviewer was in amongst the main singing end which no doubt skews things) and including stuff like food is pretty pointless as most don't tend to bother with it. 

[Spitz]

12 hours ago, HarvSFC said:

Yep, I discovered the sausage rolls a couple of months ago and now I get one pre-match as a ritual. Renewed today with the deadline fast approaching. Hopefully with the new leadership things start to change, and we bring back the half-time relay. The deal or no deal imitation to win a bitcoin was horrendous.

Yep, half time relay backed by Motörhead way better than what we have now.

 

 

[saintwbu]

I remember watching this review a while back - as mentioned above it was Norwich at home. I actually remember being there that night thinking it was particularly flat, as this was a game it felt like the whole stadium expected us to win (which we did) as we were on a good run. I even felt myself that night I wasn’t particularly up for it as I knew we’d win.

Those were the days!! 😆

But definitely not a reflection of a normal home game at St Mary’s, not that it’s particularly great at the best of times. 

[Daft Kerplunk]

Well, plenty has been spent in improving hospitality but that’s what the board understands. The person responsible for improving this isn’t a football people so he don’t really know what to do about the rest of the ground. That’s why they need to carry out loads of surveys.  Zero instinct. 
 

But regardless, St. Mary’s is a very basic stadium, poor kiosks and set up for food and drink. But worst of all is just how quiet we as fans have become. In the chapel you get looked at strangely if you try and start a song, and few people join in. Is it because it’s tourist fans? Are we scared to show any enthusiasm now? Whatever it means, its boring going to games and with often unreliable football effort from the players, and a tactically stupid manager (will this change with better coaching staff advising him? Hopefully so) the football doesn’t help.

 

 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Am not bothered about food or drink at the game. Only thing that influences my experience is what happens on the pitch. Having said that, I do think the big screens should show the game as it happens, rather than just the teams and pointless adverts when there is a corner.