True, and that’s a contingent point - having the products available and attracting consumers.
My point is that, I see a queue and weigh up whether to wait in it or not based on overall need and inconvenience of the wait. There comes a point when acquiring the product is more of a hassle than doing without.
This is all very well for Uncle Jeff, however he needs to consider that England have played matches here at various levels. I do wonder if the FA has an observation on this matter.
Well they’ve managed without a licence at Lower Loxley…thanks to that young whippersnapper Freddie…
But that’s my whole point. For better or for worse,attending a football match has become a leisure experience rather than just something you do because you love the team. People all over the country are attending matches who wouldn’t have been seen near a ground on matchdays 30 40 years ago. They now expect some basic standard of hospitality at least.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Walsall have almost singularly failed to exploit this new demographic.
I agree with that side of the point, ie the services provided are poor and should be improved in order to benefit the club financially and improve the quality of the experience for fans.
My side of the point is that consumers presented with the poor quality services have the option not to participate in buying the products being sold. In that regard, making the conscious decision to forego the products rather than some compulsion to inconveniently wait for stuff that isn’t that good anyway.
That’s not for everyone of course, but my original point was - why place yourself in this inconvenient position if you can avoid it?
Again, that’s my point. These people will look for leisure elsewhere ,rather than put up with a bad experience.
Ultimately, you pays your money and takes your choice. Obviously I agree that Walsall has made it less than perfect for fans to attend and enjoy the experience as much as they might (football not withstanding).
That’s a good point actually - both the England ladies and youth team matches we attended last season were an object lesson in how not to cater for a large crowd.
Agree with this , it’s like trying to get a pint in the lounge prior to kick off. Can I bothered to que half way round the room to get a drink? Probably not.
Something that should be a given when you go to the Football.
“My side of the point is that consumers presented with the poor quality services have the option not to participate in buying the products being sold. In that regard, making the conscious decision to forego the products rather than some compulsion to inconveniently wait for stuff that isn’t that good anyway.”
I don’t disagree with that. But my point is that people who are dissatisfied with this aspect of service,are now more likely to withdraw their patronage altogether. They have alternatives they didn’t have in the 80s, even if it’s only Ikea.
Walsall. The DFS of football…
Wonder if DFS will have a sale on sometime 
Have never bought anything from the kiosks at Bescot, or any other football ground, except once at the Bucks Head (disgusting, horrible soup) but I do notice that there is often a foul smell emanating from the one in the corner of the lower tier. Not appetising.
I also notice that whenever we have a Family Fun Day there are mossive, mossive queues for food/drink in the fambly stand, as if they have been taken by surprise that so many turned up, even though that is presumably the point. Happens every time. Amateurish and embarrassing.
Isn’t there a McDonald’s at Port Fail?
I wonder how that works just being open on match day?
As per my comments on pre-match drinking on a thread a few weeks back. My recommendation would be to eat pre-match at one of the fine establishments in town.
To accompany the fine ale (at reasonable prices and hardly ever a wait exceeding a minute or two) at the Black Country Arms I also regularly enjoy a pre-match lunch. Mossive hot pork baguette with chips and salad for £4.95??? Bonser can stick his overpriced, questionable quality, usually unavailable food up his Cypriot Villa.
I was hungry on Saturday and so thought i’d grab a quick Balti pie.
The speed at which the queue moved was ridiculous. People behind the counter wandering around completely clueless, and the one on the till had difficulty counting out my 30p change without adding each coin up in their head as they took it out the till.
Not gonna bother anymore. I’ll grab something elsewhere I think and then go to ground.
There is such an opportunity for the kiosks to be given a major overhaul and enhance what food and drink gets served inside the ground. The kiosks we have look tired, unappealing and seem to have changed little in 20+ years.
Even on gates of around one third stadium capacity, there are queues at “peak” times and aside from the “famous” chicken balti pie, what you can actually purchase is limited and pretty average fare on the hot food, snacks and drinks front.
These could be transformed with just some basic creative thinking and tapping into local culinary skills. In terms of basic traditional football club hot food (sausage rolls, pies, hot dogs etc.), how about upgrading the quality and variety, e.g. bacon and proper sausages cooked for rolls, freshly made pizza slices, pork and stuffing cobs, good quality hot dogs with onions. Then a couple of “street food” options each match - chicken curry or chilli con carne and rice maybe. Even a basic jacket potato with a filling.
In terms of snacks, how about home-made cake / biscuit options. Doesn’t need to be fancy, just a simple shortbread or chocolate brownie, for example.
The kiosks themselves are not even that functional - the staff looked cramped in them and the opening where you order is so small that queues build up behind. I would replace them with something much more inviting and where the “hatch” is much wider - whilst you wait there would be room for the person behind to place their order and hand over the cash, rather than the one person at the kiosk squeeze we currently have. There must be some portable/pod-style designs out there that could be bought to replace the current ones.
Also, put one server on drinks only duties and another on hot food. This will reduce the queues building up and reduce the frustration for those who simply want a drink or a chocolate bar.
I don’t know what the management and operational arrangements are for our current kiosk catering but how about consideration of a social enterprise or profit-share type business model, whereby the club markets the opportunity for a local caterer to put forward a proposal to transform the catering offer. The caterer pays a levy (in effect a rent) but the onus is on them to come up with better and wider quality food and drinks options and it’s in their interest to provide good quality service as they can take a share of profits and an agree % of profit gets invested into local football-in-the-community activities. Existing staff could be transferred into the new business but may need some re-training in customer service and the new supplier would provide training and supervision and get feedback from us to help ensure quality of food/drink and service is maintained.
Finally, how about a radical option of having a touch screen based ordering system - place your order from your seat (on a phone app) or on a touchscreen in the queue. Someone makes up your order, you go and collect. This would presumably also help to manage stock, as an integrated system would alert the overall supervisor as to what stock was running low at any one kiosk at any time and supplies could then be replenished quickly.
Kiosk Manifesto:
In summary:
The food and service at the stadium kiosks are a disgrace. You’re usually served by a complete halfwit who has absolutely no people skills, usually to be told your item has ran out. The quality of food is also ■■■■ too. Whoever runs the catering at the ground needs sacking.
I always eat before or just wait. It’s not hard to wait a couple of hours for food.
On a side note, where the ■■■■ do they get their drinks from? The orange Fanta looks like something you’d find on a door ■■■■ in Salisbury and it tastes out of date.
Presumably we have actual catering staff working as part of the hospitality section. Could they not knock home made options up that could then be kept warm and sold at kiosks?
Contact Steve Davies of the Trust on [email protected] he will pass on all complaints to Stef at the next meeting.