Match day experience

[Lincoln Rover]

Phil Winterman from the shadow board has agreed to form a group to work with our club, in order to make the whole match day experience better. Its first meeting is just over a week away & ideas are already coming in.
What have you seen that other clubs do, that we could incorporate into your match day better?
Sensible answers please.
These will be collated & taken to the meeting.
Food/entertainment/videos/big screen/songs.
The club are fully supportive of this.
Thank you all in advance..

[TonySoprano]

A functioning sound system

[mushRTID]

A functioning sound system

Has to be a priority.

[Scooter]

Change the music that they run out to at the start of the second half

Enter Sandman (if that’s what it is) does not work. (I appreciate that there will be Metallica fans about to shoot me down).
I’m not saying boys are back in town is the answer but something livelier and to get the crowd hyped would be better

[knockers]

It’s Motörhead isn’t it.

[Padge_DRFC]

Happy hour, 241 cocktails, karaoke

[graingrover]

Get some profession musicien (s) to propose one or two Rovers anthems we can vote on .A good anthem would enhance the atmosphere .

[DRFCSouth]

Quieten the tannoy down, and let people have a conversation. Get rid of blaring music in the concourse.

[mushRTID]

Belle vue bar

Absolutely criminal the lack of seating in there.

In fact the far end from the entrance, you could easily make better use of that space.

Lick of paint, tables and chairs, a few more TV’s (and actually turn them on). You could probably make it into a bit of a sports bar area.

At the moment there’s a couple of rows of chairs packed in too close to each other, all looking at one tv. It’s so dull and boring.

You could easily spruce that area up and it wouldn’t cost the world.

[i_ateallthepies]

Get some profession musicien (s) to propose one or two Rovers anthems we can vote on .A good anthem would enhance the atmosphere .

Unlikely to work.  It needs to be a catchy tune/beat already established in people's memory to stand a chance of catching on.  I expect there'd be royalties to pay but that will probably apply for just about anything we already use.

[Bentley Bullet]

Amarillo should be our adopted song.

... But there's not much point in any music with the sound system we've got.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Belle vue bar

Absolutely criminal the lack of seating in there.

In fact the far end from the entrance, you could easily make better use of that space.

Lick of paint, tables and chairs, a few more TV’s (and actually turn them on). You could probably make it into a bit of a sports bar area.

At the moment there’s a couple of rows of chairs packed in too close to each other, all looking at one tv. It’s so dull and boring.

You could easily spruce that area up and it wouldn’t cost the world.

Generally agree there should be more seating and tables.

Whilst I generally support allowing away fans in, quite often as away coaches seem to arrive well before kick off, away fans seem to get the best choice of seats with tables because there isn't enough. Maybe if there's likely to be a larger number of away fans (say more than 500) contributing to a larger attendance overall, then limit the bar to home fans only. However, still think the main issue is not enough seating.

Appreciate the bar is not the sole use for Rovers and needs to be flexible but the match day set up should be looked at by fans, for fans.

Otherwise, I think the bar plus the outdoor seating, burger bar work quite well.

Good luck Phil in prioritising all the suggestions. 

[roversdude]

The bar would benefit from an overhaul it’s soulless and I agree re the tables.
We’ve had some great matchday initiatives that just seem to die off - used to think the pie one was quite good
Whatever happened to the bookies in the ground not really condoning it just a general question
The main thing is the sound though - the video they play is painful as it can’t be heard.
The historical videos we’ve had previously were brilliant and got you revved up for the game

[Usher wide.]

Belle vue bar

Absolutely criminal the lack of seating in there.

In fact the far end from the entrance, you could easily make better use of that space.

Lick of paint, tables and chairs, a few more TV’s (and actually turn them on). You could probably make it into a bit of a sports bar area.

At the moment there’s a couple of rows of chairs packed in too close to each other, all looking at one tv. It’s so dull and boring.

You could easily spruce that area up and it wouldn’t cost the world.

Absolutely, it’s certainly not best use of space.

The 2 or 3 rows of seats lined up facing a tiny TV, what’s that all about? As you say mush, get some tables that sit half a dozen people on in there.

[Monkcaster_Rover]

Can we have Stella back in the BVB?

[Chris Black come back]

It feels like people have stopped moaning about the food and service these days.

[graingrover]

The forum is not a place for brainstorming as one of the crucial success provisions of a brainstorming  session is that participants  try to enhance and amplify suggestions from others  not destroy them .Brainstorming is a good tool if used within the appropriate parameters .
So to try to enhance rather than destroy Lincoln’s request my suggestion is that the new group that has been formed to make up the Shadow Board  meet as a team to collate the various suggestions they have received and brainstorm them together into shape.
Organisational behaviour ( OB)should be a central concern in all business schools and practised in all organisations  .OB is  not a soft discipline but a vital set of management tools and behaviours .

[ctay]

Motorhead has been replaced by the reytons now I think on the music. I dont mind Red Smoke. The sound system is expensive but it needs sorting, struggle to hear the interviews.. also too loud at times.

[drfchound]

With regards to the on pitch interviews, from the south stand, very often it is a bit like listening to someone underwater trying to speak.
A shame really because no doubt that some of the ex player interviews would be nice to hear.

[graingrover]

Example of a Brainstorming session on one single point .
Participant 1 A club anthem should be adopted by approaching a professional musician.
P2 Yeah we should go with Amarillo.
P3 We could ask Louis Tomlinson to help out or contact the Amarillo man for us .
P4 I will talk to the club to see if they can contact Louis .
Idea sorted !
This probably is teaching many posters involved in everyday management to ‘ suck eggs ’;but it is only attempting to be constructive .

[DRFC_AjA]

No sodding music at all when the players are coming out. Aside from a goal it's arguably the loudest fans are and they're drowned out

As a contradiction, bring back venga boys when we score 

[talksbollox]

A massive TV on the wall perpendicular to the concourse in the West Stand rather than the two piddly things at each end.

[colincramb]

Unfortunately anything that requires music/sound/speech isn’t worthwhile implementing until the PA system is replaced. Not being negative, just honest.

[Reg of the Rovers]

Change the music that they run out to at the start of the second half

Enter Sandman (if that’s what it is) does not work. (I appreciate that there will be Metallica fans about to shoot me down).
I’m not saying boys are back in town is the answer but something livelier and to get the crowd hyped would be better

It's been the Reytons this season which is much better as walkout music, and does get the crowd lifted I think.

There's a fine balancing act between encouraging an atmosphere and crowd noise, and then drowning it out or creating something sterile (like Port Vale's clap prompts).

We don't have a natural anthem to sing - Liverpool singing You'll Never Walk Alone or the Sheff U Greasy Chip Butty song can't be added by a committee - it's long standing local / cultural identity.

I don't think the matchday offer is half bad, you can get decent grub, a half decent pint, stadium for the most part is tidy enough, the outdoor chat and music by Belle Vue Bar is decent and pre-match / half time chat is pretty standard for clubs this size.

The harsh reality is that the main overriding factor in match day experience is the team - what happens on the pitch. And for a while recently that's been dreadful. McCann gave us a shot in the arm last year, and again we need to kick on and move in the right direction to get fans in and keep them happy. After a good win or a great performance the crowd will all stay behind and clap the team, walking out you'll hear positivity and satisfied customers.

[GazLaz]

A functioning sound system

Is there no safety concerns from having a PA system that can’t be used to communicate messages?

[Bessie Red]

The large banners of Rovers legends (Copps, Dougie, Sir Francis etc) need replacing or updating. The sun has faded them over the years and it is getting more & more difficult to see whos who. Can this be brought up please.

[Lincoln Rover]

Hi everyone.
Some excellent suggestions on here, with the first meeting this Saturday. Could I please ask is there anything else you’d like to be considered?
This will be the catalyst, we hope, for making things even  better.
Like the shadow board, this group will be round for some time to come & we will update the progress.
Thank you as always.

[Donnywolf]

The bar would benefit from an overhaul it’s soulless and I agree re the tables.
We’ve had some great matchday initiatives that just seem to die off - used to think the pie one was quite good
Whatever happened to the bookies in the ground not really condoning it just a general question
The main thing is the sound though - the video they play is painful as it can’t be heard.
The historical videos we’ve had previously were brilliant and got you revved up for the game

With regards to the on pitch interviews, from the south stand, very often it is a bit like listening to someone underwater trying to speak.
A shame really because no doubt that some of the ex player interviews would be nice to hear.

Excellent point. We invite Legends of the Club to induct them into a Hall of Fame type set up and then fail them totally by letting their answers get lost using the (never really been any good) PA set up

Only Mascots fare a bit better as they tend to "speak up" a bit and give shorter answers when asked for a score for the game or a favourite player

Contrast that with asking an old player for something from the past which requires a lengthy sentence and it's chalk and cheese

[Ian Nimmo]

One subject I have raised with GB in the past is the unreserved seating in the south stand.
Many who go early, go straight to seats and thus do not spend money at the concourse bars. Also some again don’t go back to the concourse at half time because the seat they were sitting will be occupied by others. One possible suggestion I put to GB was possibly some blocks to be reserved, with rest unreserved.

[colfromdonny]

How about some outdoor lighting for the dark nights, father in law has said for a while that it is needed.