ST HOLDERS DESERVE STATEMENT FROM THE CLUB

[ravenrover]

Good grief, if the figure of 800 STH is correct, we have what half a dozen people on here spouting off about how they are annoyed, Not really representative of the 800 is it. It's happened get over it.

Sorry but you are assuming that all 800 STH in the SS visit this site.
As some other posters have said, many will be unaware of the change until, they get their renewal notice. Even then they may not realise the change until they go to renew.

Erm no I'm not, and I've had my renewal notification so I am assuming many others have so will know, I'm making the point that a half a dozen people on here are taking the usual mountain out of a molehill approach. Nothing is going to change the decision least of all half a dozen moaning on this forum

[wilts rover]

I was one of the ST holders affected a couple of seasons ago when the East Stand was opened to away fans. I was contacted personally by the club about it, about a week after I had read people moaning on here. The choice of seat I had was fine, there was plenty of room.

I disagree with your first point Alick, in fact I think it is the opposite to what has happened. A particular group of fans has been moaning for years about the 'atmosphere' and what the club are going to do about it. The fans forums were attended by people who wanted a particular outcome. Is it any suprise that outcome happened?

Personally I can't foresee any change in the 'atmosphere'? Suddenly people who are not singing are going to because they can sit/stand where they like? Really? The ones in the NW have said they are not moving over and I cant suddenly see hundreds of new fans suddenly appearing. There will be plenty of room.

I cant see why the club should have contacted everyone in the SS before they implemented the change. You either agree with it or you dont. If you dont and you dont renew you will probably get a phone call so that would be your chance to moan.

[Dagenham Rover]

Well said Ian N  and Wilts R

[silent majority]

In every survey we've carried out in the last 3 years the atmosphere at the Keepmoat has been criticised heavily. The very last survey put the atmosphere as the number 1 reason why certain supporters were no longer attending.

In the past we've made some attempts to alter the match day atmosphere and the VSC held informal meetings to see if there was some common ground on what could be agreed and implemented. Some minor changes took place, the change of music and the role of the announcer being a couple of the easily identifiable changes. That in itself would always be limited in what it could do.

Over the last 12 months or so certain supporters took it upon themselves to enforce changes which didn't work. However because of that we've arrived at where we are today. The club have taken all that information on board, and true to the ideals of IRWT have done something about it.

[Dagenham Rover]

and not  had the common courtesy to inform people affected prior to the official announcement.

its not hard, its basic customer care at a major change in direction

[silent majority]

Yes we know John, you must have told us about 30 times.

[acko]

in my experiance with football,atmosphere is not a man made thing,success of the team something to fight for(promotion)the crowd get behind the team hence atmosphere

[besty]

in my experiance with football,atmosphere is not a man made thing,success of the team something to fight for(promotion)the crowd get behind the team hence atmosphere

I agree,if have a good season it will be deemed a success as good games,goals generate a better atmosphere.
Have another poor season at home and theres nothing to sing about it wont make a jot of difference.

Saying that I applaud them for having a go and i hope it does work!!

[acko]

fair enough give it a try,but i dont think its been handled very well,if it goes pear shaped could have lost supporters,then where do we go from there

[besty]

Cant be proper supporters if they wont come to watch us play again just for swapping a couple of seats left,right or back surely?

[silent majority]

Acko,

Did you miss the bit where I said were already losing supporters?

[acko]

have you thought sm the reason we are losing support is our home performances ,might not have read your post you refer to  but i cant see how the changes will encourage people to go to matches,could be wrong just dont see it.

[The Red Baron]

Although I think the SS and NW corner business could have been handled better, I do think the marketing campaign for the ST launch has been superb. Whoever thought of the penalty kick idea deserves a huge pat on the back.

For me the thing that should have been done differently was a letter to those affected STHs telling them what was happening and what their options were. Everything else has been done really well.

[Dagenham Rover]

Yes we know John, you must have told us about 30 times.

So please as the Vsc kindly take it to the club at your next meeting.
 
That  most are in agreement that its a good idea, However the clubs implementation of it was very poor  and lacked basic customer care at a major change in direction

there you go 31 times   

[silent majority]

have you thought sm the reason we are losing support is our home performances ,might not have read your post you refer to  but i cant see how the changes will encourage people to go to matches,could be wrong just dont see it.

You need to read what I wrote. The surveys the club have been doing over the last 3 years have cited the lack of atmosphere as a major reason for not attending the Keepmoat. I don't think anybody ever commented that it was the lack of success that was keeping them away. Surely season 2012/13 was a success which didn't manage to increase attendance?

[Alickismyhero]

Although I think the SS and NW corner business could have been handled better, I do think the marketing campaign for the ST launch has been superb. Whoever thought of the penalty kick idea deserves a huge pat on the back.

For me the thing that should have been done differently was a letter to those affected STHs telling them what was happening and what their options were. Everything else has been done really well.

RB,
That's exactly how I see it.

[JBRover]

I contacted the club reference the unreserved seating and I have received a nice reply from Charlie Swan.

I don't disapprove of what they have done, we just prefer reserved seats and that is the point I made and that there is no reason whatsoever that they couldn't have allocated a section somewhere in the south stand for people like me. 

[acko]

i must admit SM that is a new one to me,not going to football because no atmosphere and no one saying its the teams performances that effects them.cant say ive gone to matches just because of atmosphere i go to watch the game,cheer my team on and hope the result goes our way and i think thats what the majority goes for.all i have said regarding the changes is i dont think it was handled properly,its you thats reading more into it

[The Red Baron]

I have seen comments from younger fans who say they stay away because of a lack of atmosphere. It does strike me as a bit of a chicken-and-egg thing. If the team is winning games and playing attractive football then crowds will generally improve and so will the atmosphere.

That said, the SS experiment is probably worth a try. A point accepted  even by many of those who think the comms have been handled poorly.

[acko]

agreed baron,today should be no shortage of atmosphere local derby a decent gate, but irrespective of what show me atmosphere winters night match gillingham say at home,not easy is it

[IDM]

have you thought sm the reason we are losing support is our home performances ,might not have read your post you refer to  but i cant see how the changes will encourage people to go to matches,could be wrong just dont see it.

You need to read what I wrote. The surveys the club have been doing over the last 3 years have cited the lack of atmosphere as a major reason for not attending the Keepmoat. I don't think anybody ever commented that it was the lack of success that was keeping them away. Surely season 2012/13 was a success which didn't manage to increase attendance?

2012/13 was indeed a success, but all too often the entertainment at home was lacking.  And this form a glass half full person!

[DonnyBazR0ver]

As partof trhe group involved in this I firmly believe for the long term we have made the right decision however one of the other high priortites on the is list was the way this would be communicated in anticipation of those who may feel aggrieved. 

I have to agree this could have should have been done much better and we are meeting with the club again on Monday. 

On the whole,  we have skirted around the idea of this for far too long since the building of the KM and it's was time to make the bold decision to make this move.

People are creatures of habit and the likelihood is they will sit in the same part of the South Stand if not in the very same seat, then in one very close to it. Just as folk used to do at Belle Vue you find your own favourite area to sit and it gives us that flexibility that will allow more mates, family, friends to sit together.

We believe all this will help to generate that 'away' atmosphere in our home ground and really help us get behind the lads. If we can get this thing going and unite the splinter groups, plus with performances on the pitch improving, we're sure it will improve the overall atmosphere.     

 

[hoolahoop]

Yes we know John, you must have told us about 30 times.

So please as the Vsc kindly take it to the club at your next meeting.
 
That  most are in agreement that its a good idea, However the clubs implementation of it was very poor  and lacked basic customer care at a major change in direction

there you go 31 times   

Come on then John , just how would you have approached this from the club's perspective then ?
Say 20 didn't want to move in your consultation process then would it have ground to a halt ? Say 20 had STs high up/low down etc etc. In the stand , again would it not happen ?
Jeez I know you and we're mates but why are you so intransigent/uncompromising ?
You and others of your mind set could see how 2/300 Barnsley fans could at times out sing the whole ground......surely surely this should have demonstrated to both the Polypipe disaffected and those in the NW that this HAS to be the way to go ????
I don't get it . everywhere in the stadium can accommodate those that need legroom (end of aisle) and can give full unrestricted viewing of the game .

Please please drop this .....we DON'T need anymore divisiveness in the fan base and remember that we support the club and its team.
Let's be as one just for once ffs . Rant over

[Dagenham Rover]

Steve, Yet again I don't think anybody thinks its a bad idea, its how it was communicated as soon as the final decision was made letters should should have gone out to those affected explaining the decision and giving the options, after some of the conversations I had and heard yesterday its a bit more than the vocal few that posts on here that are angered not by the fact that its become unreserved but how, with no consideration for the season ticket holders,
Plus the fact its been going on a week now and still no real statement from the club they must know there's a certain amount of anger, but they have chose to ignore that and just put a statement extolling the virtues of unreserved
As I say Steve basic customer care at a major policy shift

There you go SM 32 

[JBRover]

In every survey we've carried out in the last 3 years the atmosphere at the Keepmoat has been criticised heavily. The very last survey put the atmosphere as the number 1 reason why certain supporters were no longer attending.

In the past we've made some attempts to alter the match day atmosphere and the VSC held informal meetings to see if there was some common ground on what could be agreed and implemented. Some minor changes took place, the change of music and the role of the announcer being a couple of the easily identifiable changes. That in itself would always be limited in what it could do.

Over the last 12 months or so certain supporters took it upon themselves to enforce changes which didn't work. However because of that we've arrived at where we are today. The club have taken all that information on board, and true to the ideals of IRWT have done something about it.

Most of the noise yesterday was coming from the West Stand and not the south!

[Bentley Bullet]

The West stand North did provide more noise yesterday, and probably always have done, generally speaking. That section though is to be shut off, presumably to get the singers all together in the south, but using the official line of 'safety reasons', because they are deemed too close to the away fans.

What makes me cynical about this though, and the situation yesterday was a prime example, was why were the Barnsley fans housed from the centre of the North stand towards the West stand, where the home fans were, instead of towards the east stand, where there were no home fans? Why wasn't a security decision made to further separate the rival fans by doing this?

It looks to me and my cynical mind like a creation of overkill to condone the excessive security presence.

[knockers]

It was a little strange that the East stand wasn't used rather than housing them close to the west

[Dagenham Rover]

As partof trhe group involved in this I firmly believe for the long term we have made the right decision however one of the other high priortites on the is list was the way this would be communicated in anticipation of those who may feel aggrieved. 

I have to agree this could have should have been done much better and we are meeting with the club again on Monday. 

On the whole,  we have skirted around the idea of this for far too long since the building of the KM and it's was time to make the bold decision to make this move.

People are creatures of habit and the likelihood is they will sit in the same part of the South Stand if not in the very same seat, then in one very close to it. Just as folk used to do at Belle Vue you find your own favourite area to sit and it gives us that flexibility that will allow more mates, family, friends to sit together.

We believe all this will help to generate that 'away' atmosphere in our home ground and really help us get behind the lads. If we can get this thing going and unite the splinter groups, plus with performances on the pitch improving, we're sure it will improve the overall atmosphere.     

 

DBR I basically agree with you but your first two paragraphs sum it up the club could and should have  communicated it better, and as I said earlier its not just the vocal few on here that were complaining there were quite a few non internet users, and the complaints were not particularly the fact that its going to become unreserved but  how it was implemented.
A week down the line and there has been one statement from the club extolling the virtues of the unreserved area, with Ryan commenting about similar concerns when the same thing happened at Leicester, so why using his experience at Leicester weren't these similar concerns addressed prior to the Official announcement a simple letter giving the reasons why and the options available would have sufficed.

In fact  the first some even knew about it was yesterday!

DBR I hope you will pass this on tomorrow

[Ian Nimmo]

In my view a simple change could be a simple option which could rectify this total farce

Make the two centre blocks UNRESRVED and the other blocks RESERVED

This would allow people like us to be confident that we will have seats in an area where we want to sit, irrespective of what time we get to the ground.

All the STH who want to sit together can do so.

There would be no need to place partitions between South/ East and West corners.

The reserved STH can benefit from the 'increased atmosphere' which is why most of us chose to sit in the SS when KM opened.

Last but not least, the club can have my money tomorrow!


Surely there is no one who would object to the above.

[Dagenham Rover]

Exactly.  However SM says evidence in other grounds says this causes problems..................