Commercial failings

[pauliewalnuts]

Watching the Spurs match at the moment, and having seen the coverage the last few weeks of their new stadium and the food / drink / hospitality features, I can't help feel that we are woefully behind clubs like that in commercial terms and will never compete whilst we are commercially so under performing.

An example we'll all know. Last home match, I went down to try to get a couple of drinks in at half time, spent 15 minutes in a queue going absolutely nowhere, whilst a few minimum wage agency teenagers went through the motions of pretending to serve people, only to eventually give up. How many times, and for how long, have we moaned about that on here, in fan consultation groups or elsewhere on the internet?

Then there's the problem we seem to have year in, year out, in being able to buy replica shirts. They're always late in terms of availability and become nigh on impossible to get hold of during the season. I thought the Fanatics deal was supposed to be an 'innovative' way to solve this problem, but if anything it seems worse.

It is never a good thing to have people wanting to give you their money and unable to do so - people who can't get food and drink, people who can't get replica shirts, whether it's because there's no retail availability away from the ground or we just can't get the stock.

Why do we fail to address these obvious problems?

Didn't we manage to have flat commercial income, more or less, during our last decade or so in the top flight?

How on earth did we manage that in a league which has become more and more awash with money? If anything that should be impossible.

Do we need to look properly at the facilities at Villa Park and massively improve the stadium? Or move elsewhere?

What if we had the option of, for example, a new stadium with facilities like the new Spurs one, on the site of the wholesale markets in the city centre? What if we rebuilt Villa Park on the current location? The transport links to Aston are piss poor, what can be done to improve that?

I have always been firmly of the belief we should only ever play our games where we currently are, but now, if it becomes a question of competing or not, I am not too sure.

Appreciate the obvious answer to this is 'get it right on the pitch first' and that's obviously true, but we seem to remain pathetically non competitive off it, and these things go hand in hand.

*stream of consciousness ends*

[Sexual Ealing]

I read the title and for a moment thought it was an email from my manager.

I don't think we should countenance leaving VP, but you're right, improvements ought to be a priority.

[KRS]

The catering/refreshments and replica kit/merchandise are quite literally pathetic for a club like Villa. They have been issues for years and as you quite rightly point out, the club is losing money as a result of such poor customer service and supply issues. I've given up trying to get a drink at half time and just opt for a pint and a pie before the game, and a piss at half time once the queues have died down. How strongly are these issues raised and discussed at the fan consultations group meetings?

edit: whilst we're on the subject...sort that fuckin badge out! 

[UK Redsox]

That’s why baseball is a better sport, the beer is brought to you in your seat during the game.

[Avfcrich82]

Catering at half time is literally a joke. . The problem is the staff, half of them havent got a clue at what they are doing and look completely lost. You really have to question what training they receive if any! You can put measures in place like contact less paymenst etc to speed things up, but while the staff are as they are, nothing will change.   

[KRS]

Is the catering services outsourced to a third party or employed by the club? Whoever is responsible for the management of catering in the stands should be sacked for incompetence.

[pauliewalnuts]

Catering at half time is literally a joke. . The problem is the staff, half of them havent got a clue at what they are doing and look completely lost. You really have to question what training they receive if any! You can put measures in place like contact less paymenst etc to speed things up, but while the staff are as they are, nothing will change.   

if they overhauled that, and improved the environment (ie not just cold concrete concourses), they'd get people in there eating and drinking pre-match way earlier than they currently do.

For home matches we go into the city centre and spend money on pub food and beers and go to the ground at the very last moment. There must be so many people who do similar, but if there was some better option than standing - for there are no fucking seats, FFS - in what feels like a nuclear bunker having queued for 20 minutes to get a plastic bottle of warm Carlsberg and some half cooked chips, we'd spend that money at the ground.

I haven't been in the 'new' Holte, have a ST in the Trinity, but have used both the other stands in recent years, and let's be honest, the facilities are absolutely fucking awful - they're facilities you'd expect to find in a ground in the 1990s.

The game and the people attending have changed, but we're still barely trying to adapt.

EDIT and while we're on the subject, look at the state of the fucking toilets. Rancid, in line with facilities in the 1950s.

[pauliewalnuts]

Is the catering services outsourced to a third party or employed by the club? Whoever is responsible for the management of catering in the stands should be sacked for incompetence.

Even if it is outsourced, that does not mean it has to be fucking awful. The club just don't seem to be able to get this sorted, though, it's laughably poor.

[TaxDodger]

For home matches we go into the city centre and spend money on pub food and beers and go to the ground at the very last moment.

I thought we didn't do this because Blues fans police the city centre and we are too frightened?

[Jon Crofts]

That’s why baseball is a better sport, the beer is brought to you in your seat during the game.

Americans call it beer, everyone else calls it ice cold piss.

[pauliewalnuts]

That’s why baseball is a better sport, the beer is brought to you in your seat during the game.

Americans call it beer, everyone else calls it ice cold piss.

And rounders.

[Jon Crofts]

Is the catering services outsourced to a third party or employed by the club? Whoever is responsible for the management of catering in the stands should be sacked for incompetence.

Even if it is outsourced, that does not mean it has to be fucking awful. The club just don't seem to be able to get this sorted, though, it's laughably poor.

It's not just the produce & products of the catering provider it's the disinterested couldn't give a fuck attitude of the employees.

[XXVilla]

That’s why baseball is a better sport, the beer is brought to you in your seat during the game.

Americans call it beer, everyone else calls it ice cold piss.

As opposed to Carling/ Heineken/Carlsberg etc.

[pauliewalnuts]

That’s why baseball is a better sport, the beer is brought to you in your seat during the game.

Americans call it beer, everyone else calls it ice cold piss.

As opposed to Carling/ Heineken/Carlsberg etc.

Indeed, I guess, and I suppose their piss is at least cold.

[pauliewalnuts]

Is the catering services outsourced to a third party or employed by the club? Whoever is responsible for the management of catering in the stands should be sacked for incompetence.

Even if it is outsourced, that does not mean it has to be fucking awful. The club just don't seem to be able to get this sorted, though, it's laughably poor.

It's not just the produce & products of the catering provider it's the disinterested couldn't give a fuck attitude of the employees.

Indeed, it's a fucking shambles.

I bet the customer service experience is somewhat better at Milwaukee Fucks or whatever Wes's netball team is called.