@sunny I emailed the council and the club last year sunny over the same thing and the reply from council was visiting fans need to be in section A this year 2 games in it's been worse than ever and the stewards are so out of touch I'm afraid saying openly sit anywhere which when Geoff w gets to the ground someone is in his seat so in one game our club has alienated both sides of it's supporters which takes some doing !! Hats off to the hierarchy
@sunny Thanks . I have contacted the club by email which I was going to do anyway & await the outcome. Hopefully it will be a positive outcome as it is not rocket science. In the past it has not got ugly & I usually have had some good chats & banter with away fans because a few always have strayed into section C but because stewards had told away fans to sit anywhere they flooded in & were obviously emboldened & until I approached a steward to verify this I was telling them they should be in blocks A & B.
Then can I again suggest you contact both Hamilton and the club chairman personally, tell them they are breaching the season ticket contract and ask for your money back for Friday's game, and ask what action they are taking for the future.
Such a simple situation to solve - you and I know that - Hamilton has to do the job for which he is paid. Whoever the Stewards work for has to tell them clearly what action they have to take about allocated seats.
Also, the Swinton so-called "fans" don't come out of this at all well. They know what "allocated seats" means.
Maybe a return to labelling each allocated seat accordingly is required. Probably not, though, if the stewards (and the head stewards Wife!) were briefed on what to do under these circumstances and Hamilton did the job for which he is paid.
Just read your post - we both were typing at the same time.
Hamilton's the man, and the club chairman who employs him, to get this sorted.
Good luck with a positive response to your email to the club.
If it’s the same set up in the North Stand for the Halifax game then I’ll find something else to do.
Trying to look at things rationally the Council/club are trying to reduce costs as far as possible or the rent will have to rise. It is likely that the stewarding numbers must match an established criteria which the Council is obliged to meet. Or maybe they could be revised?
But surely the major number in the North Stand group around the centre line so, trying to make it work, how is this for an option.
On Friday there were the equivalent of 3 sections open. (Section A is narrow but part of D was off limits).
If the relatively small group in section A were left apart from the centre line sections (D,E & F) there would be a slightly larger capacity available with an easy option of allowing use of parts of C and F sections if attendance grew.
Access would be as it should be, mainly via the central gates.
Exit would be easy and safe and the larger bar area could be in use. If the large bar area doesn't cover itself on profits made it could be reduced in size at the expense of slower service.
As someone said, it is a social event as well as a sporting one for many people.
Can't speak for the veracity of this but read on social media it costs around £2.5k extra to fully open the stand.
Over the course of 13 home games that would be £32.5k. So if that is true can see why this is being done.
However, it has significantly damaged the matchday experience.
Just a thought, that alleged £2.5k could be covered each matchday by an extra 150 or so supporters turning up- maybe the club need to be thinking more in depth about why so many have decided not to come this season (Friday apart which was a reasonable turnout).
Totally agree regarding trimming costs if we can, its in all our interests, but there must be a happy medium where savings can be made without disrupting everyone.
My thoughts;
The Stadium is to big for our needs.
There is ample room in the South Stand to hold all fans. Fact.
Opening the North Stand for <800 speccies is ridiculous, as it costs money for Stewards, Catering Staff, Catering, Cleaners. IIRC a minimum of 15 Stewards are required.
All STs should have an allocated seat number, move everyone to the South Stand until the Club grows it's audience(If it ever does) Then maybe have a think about opening another stand. Away Club Fans could be housed in either end block of S.S. If they are likely to bring a large allocation of speccies with them, then maybe think about opening the East Stand (or half of it) to accomodate them.
There's too many anally retentive folk in this Town who won't move because they've always sat here "Since Nat Silcock played".
Times have moved on, it appears Friday's game was a case of 10/12 Viking Ultras, wagging the Dog.
Just my two penn'orth worth.
Paulie xx
I'd agree. It might be annoying but it's not our stadium. It's not our say. I can fully understand why seating arrangements are organised to be as cost effective as possible. If we want otherwise, the club would have to cover the cost of that and, they probably can't.
I understand its not our stadium anymore, but the 1500 or so season ticket holders should be able to sit in the two stands that are open, without interference.
If we are that 'broke' perhaps a shift to the Wids ground? Or even Canal Street Runcorn if its still there!
Minimal stewarding worries there !
If either stand is to close then It should be the south stand which is always less populated.
get Chris Hamilton to buy some prawn sandwiches from Morrisons and dish them out at the turnstiles.
If either stand is to close then It should be the south stand which is always less populated.
get Chris Hamilton to buy some prawn sandwiches from Morrisons and dish them out at the turnstiles.
it's a shame that a good start to the season is being overshadowed by this nonsense as to who sits where. There was an increase of +900 at the last game and the club should be looking at ways of increasing that further for the next home fixture against Halifax in a couple of weeks, one of the more attractive fixtures in this division. The kids will just be back at school, mid month and families may be looking for a cheap day out after the Easter holidays. Get into schools and give some vouchers/free tickets out.
A s Paulie points out attendance is, for many, a family habit. Surely that is a habit that we want to encourage ? The increase on Friday should be encouraging and indicates potential!!!!
For many supporters the fact that ST holders had a load of 'pre-season games' this year requiring additional expenditure was a problem caused by the RFL rather than our club but it did undermine the ST sales (not helped by our poor performances last year!).
Many obviously are waiting for the team on the field to produce before they spend their cash, but they need encouragement .