Pies

Northernsoul,
If my memory serves me right, the criticism from the CUFC fans last year was because one of their fans had posted on their forum along the lines that they were in for a treat at the Wham, as you could buy a pie & a pint for a fiver - football cordon bleu! :D
Unfortunately, he was unaware that this deal was limited to the home fanzone. :o
Needless to say he was tarred & feathered after the starving Cumbrians discovered that the only treat awaiting them were tins of beer & overpriced burgers. :mad:
Can't comment on the catering at Brunton Park, but assume that even away fans can at least buy a pie????
 
A little disingenuous there Cashy if I may say so. I made two unrelated points:
1. That I don't think £2.50 is not expensive for a pie (but Chris thinks it is)
2. I have no views on Away catering because I've never been there, know very little about the situation, so find myself unable to comment. (I know that ignorance doesn't stop some people voicing off). Whatever the situation is, allowing Away fans into the fanzone seems a nice idea to me. Obviously the laid back bar staff would need to pull their socks up to deal with the additional demand but since it's only for 15 mins I'm sure they could if they tried.
 
Lord Didsbury said:
A little disingenuous there Cashy if I may say so. I made two unrelated points:
1. That I don't think £2.50 is not expensive for a pie (but Chris thinks it is)
2. I have no views on Away catering because I've never been there, know very little about the situation, so find myself unable to comment. (I know that ignorance doesn't stop some people voicing off). Whatever the situation is, allowing Away fans into the fanzone seems a nice idea to me. Obviously the laid back bar staff would need to pull their socks up to deal with the additional demand but since it's only for 15 mins I'm sure they could if they tried.
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Why disingenuous? its obvious that some fans enjoy a pie and a pint as a ritual at football matches, away fans we live off cos our homers certainly dont,so the fact they cant have a pie when we can may well put some off returning,?
 
as a club who really do not have enough home fans we have to make the wham a better experiance for away fans as we need em more than a lot of clubs do. with the position and geography of our ground plus most of the teams being southern based i imagine they turn up thirsty and hungry. a lot of home fans i imagine live say 10 mins. up the road so drink and food will be less of an importance. an open terrace or a bus shelter to sit in hardly puts us on top of the list to visit and poor catering facilities especially in winter could be the last straw.
 
monkey hanger said:
as a club who really do not have enough home fans we have to make the wham a better experiance for away fans as we need em more than a lot of clubs do. with the position and geography of our ground plus most of the teams being southern based i imagine they turn up thirsty and hungry. a lot of home fans i imagine live say 10 mins. up the road so drink and food will be less of an importance. an open terrace or a bus shelter to sit in hardly puts us on top of the list to visit and poor catering facilities especially in winter could be the last straw.
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Spot on my Simian friend!
 
Half decent food at the Crown ground would certainly be a USP that very few other clubs could compete with.
Morecambe has (not quite literally) been dining out on having (allegedly) the best pie in the league for some time.
Mrs Exile and I mainly attend away games, and do not buy the c**p on offer at many other grounds a second time around.
As far as I can judge, the quality on offer has nothing to do with the size of the crowd or stadium. Big venues also sell inedible food and tepid tea, usually at even higher prices. FGR, for all the ranting about veganism, and Morecambe show it's got nothing to do with the number of customers, just the will to offer something slightly better than the worst possible food that a captive and hungry punter will eat.
 
We all know the club have had only limited success in attracting more home fans to the Wham.
However, the potential of attracting more away supporters has largely been ignored.
Feedback from visiting fans regarding their visits to the Wham have not been exactly glowing.
As far as I am aware, there have been no real improvements at the Coppice end for many years - and it shows!
I know these cost money, but perhaps the club should consider this as a matter of priority.
Surely we want visiting fans to feel welcome & to make their visit an enjoyable experience.
This would quickly pay dividends if future posts on away fans forums were unanimous in their praise of visiting the Wham;
'Always an enjoyable experience to visit Accy. Warm, friendly welcome and the best value beer & pies in League 2!'
At the moment, I wouldn't repeat some of the comments I've read on what away fans think of their recent visits.
 
Summer 2016 should have seen The Whinney Hill stand go up - it didnt
Summer 2017 should have seen the Main Stand redevelopment - it hasnt

I think Andy has downed tools :)
 
I hope so Exile.

It would be easy for Andy to get upset that his "build it and they will come" attitude is failing - but he needs to remember that fan retention is important too
 
Good points;

Don't think Andy has "downed tools" just think he he needs more proof that what he does (infrastructure wise) will increase HOME crowds and secondary revenues ;)

No point in paying out £1.5million for a stand that has 100 home fans using it.
 
Kinda chicken & the egg situation really - just worried that if we don't have the required no.of seats for the chickens (or the eggs) to sit in due to having removed them on the proviso that we were building the new stand, will we get into trouble?
 
Mr T said:
Good points;
No point in paying out £1.5million for a stand that has 100 home fans using it.
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Whilst we would all like to see a new stand at the Wham, it was only ever viable on the back of promotion.
I can understand Mr Holts reluctance to invest such a massive sum with current attendance levels + the fact the club don't own the ground.
AH has transformed facilities for home fans & created a playing pitch worthy of any in league 1, or even higher.
I'm sure that if we can get off to a good start this season, gates will increase. After all, nothing succeeds like success!
To be honest, I'd rather see a fanzone created at the away end, as I'm certain it would return vital revenue if catering was brought back in-house.
PS. In the meantime, please can I have some fried onions on me burger!
 
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Lord Stiffupperlip said:
Gentlemen,
Your fond memories of pie based consumables at other grounds only detracts from Katie's original problem.
Why can't away fans buy a bleedin pie at the Wham?????????????
It's time the club got rid of the outside caterers at the away end & brought catering in-house like the fanzone.
Surely this would put catering profits back into the club & stop away fans leaving the Wham with a bitter taste in their mouth.
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Not set up for in-house catering as yet, the out lay alone ie the cost of either building or even buying a burger van wipes any profit for a few seasons! Better having out side caterers in who pay a sizable up front fee for the privilege, they loose out if game is called off. I'm sure if asked they would provide a range of pies which complements there other offerings :)
 
mab said:
Not set up for in-house catering as yet, the out lay alone ie the cost of either building or even buying a burger van wipes any profit for a few seasons! Better having out side caterers in who pay a sizable up front fee for the privilege, they loose out if game is called off. I'm sure if asked they would provide a range of pies which complements there other offerings :)
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a glorified garden shed would do. many non league clubs catering outlets are no more than this. if a mobile burger van was purchased it could be moved around to other events on a non match day. i,m sure there,s a fan we have who,s got all the relative food hygene stuff who,d do it. outside caterers rerely offer a product most want. if we did our own i think people whould accept any shortcomings as well.
 
mab said:
Not set up for in-house catering as yet, the out lay alone ie the cost of either building or even buying a burger van wipes any profit for a few seasons!
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The Fanzone made clever use of the area underneath the Clayton end terrace.
The food kiosks themselves were just single wall breezeblock painted grey, with a power supply provided etc.
Yes, this cost money, but I'm sure AH doesn't expect to receive an instant return on his investment. It will probably take a few seasons before the fanzone sees any profit.
The big problem with burger vans is their need to be mobile. They usually consist of only a hotplate for frying burgers etc.
Few, if any, have ovens. Which is what you need for pastry based savouries.
This is the main reason away fans cannot buy a pie for love nor money.
Employing an outside caterer is the easy option for the club.
They get a fee & the caterer gets guaranteed business.
BUT! Because it's only a few hours on 1, or maybe 2 days a week, they tend to charge exorbitant prices to make up for it.
The loser is the customer - and away fans ARE customers; who get little choice at inflated prices.
The question is, do we want away fans to enjoy their visit to the Wham?
To feel that the club welcomes & appreciates their custom?
Or do we carry on offering them expensive burgers, tins of beer & Portaloos?
For the answer, visit any of the league 2 fans forums.
 
Mr T said:
Good points;

Don't think Andy has "downed tools" just think he he needs more proof that what he does (infrastructure wise) will increase HOME crowds and secondary revenues ;)

No point in paying out £1.5million for a stand that has 100 home fans using it.
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Well i would of thought if he wasnt doing the stand this summer a fanzone at the away end would of been a good idea 50k wasnt it for the Clayton one even less if the grant application had been done in time.

Away fans do like to come to Accy because its retro like it used to be but that doesnt mean you couldnt increase the numbers coming with a roof and decent catering and toilet facilities a la the Clayton End

Last year Carlisle took 3k to Blackpool yet brought only a third of that to Accy and AH and all at the Crown should be asking why and if they really did want to know i would be more than happy to tell them.

It seems to me it would be easier and probably more cost effective to increase the aggregate attendance by 12k in away fans than it would be with locals.
 
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