Revenues.... The club need to increase their revenues. I would like to support the club however I can. I already have 2 season tickets, the boy has every kit possible, wollen hats, gloves etc. So with that in mind the only other avenue I have is via purchasing from the concourse concessions. Trying to buy a half time hot dog has proven more difficult than you cuold possibly expect... the last 3 home games (before Udders) I queued up with my 8 year old only to get to the forn of the queue and be told that they have ran out of hot dogs! With this in mind I changed tactic on Saturday... let's get Jack his hot-dog before kick-off.... Queued up.... Sorry they're not ready yet . 10 minutes into the game, I take a chance and go back to get said hot-dog.... Sorry we've run out of hot-dog rolls! I politely enquired with the manager to confirm that they were indeed aware that there was a game today to be met with a priceless explanation "We've already sold 48 hot-dogs.... that's what we normally sell on a normal match day!" Fancy that... people may actually be more inclined to buy food at a lunch-time kick-off.... who'd have thunk it! I apologies for the rant, but the club needs to understand, that when your 8, football is not enough. You need to be able to buy a half-time/pre-game hot-dog etc... Just as well the football's entertaining....
The problem is that the club does not run the food outlets. I cannot understand why at half time there are hardly any pies left. Its all part of running a business and the operators do not really seem to have a clue. Does the burger van outside ever run out I doubt it.
There are loads of food stalls though in the KC. 10 mins after kick off are you telling me there was so much of a queue at all of them that you couldn't go to the next one, or are you saying that all the stalls were out? Having said that, one running out is pretty bad. Surely they have refrigerated storage where they can store them between matches and just pull from at need.
I had the exact same problem in the South Stand concourse (near turnstiles 14-16) I queued up for 15 minutes through halftime, because the woman behind the counter was ****ing useless (and needed a box to stand on so she could reach the till). I got to the front and asked for a hot dog.... "Hot Dog please and a bottle of Tango" "Sorry love, we're out of hot dogs." "Oh, alright then, er... I'll take a burger." "Sorry, out of them too." "Right. So, a pie then? "Just a second.... *turns to woman at back of kiosk* MARRION?! ARE THERE ANY PIES LEFT?.....sorry love, no pies." *In true Alan Partridge style* "OH FORGET IT! YOU PEOPLE!" Seriously though, it just isn't good enough. The staff seem to be getting worse and all that takes is a little training to improve their customer service. To be fair, one of the lads was flying through it and his queue went straight down in no time. I can abide a bit of slowness and I understand it's busy and sometimes overwhelming, but to run out of food altogether is just ridiculous, especially when I didn't have time to have lunch before I got there. You can eat outside the ground, but you can't take it in with you which seems a bit silly. And the chip van seems to be pushing the sale of curry sauce on chips. **** off. It's not curry sauce. I don't think I've ever had a curry that tastes like curry sauce or vice versa. So it's not curry sauce. It's toxic spaff that shouldn't be a condiment. It's a fanny southern thing and shouldn't be allowed here. Gravy or death.
Isn't the catering contract up for renewal at the end of this season? I might have imagined it, but I'm sure I remember AP saying something about it.
I've taken food from that van into the stadium many times, you are allowed. Agree with you on the curry sauce from that van though. It's ****ing vile.
Oh some jobsworth told me I had to stand outside and finish it. In fact now that I recall, he wasn't even dressed like a steward. Or wearing any ID. He was just a guy, telling me to stand outside. Nuts.
The club should just get in touch with a local franchise of KFC or the like and have done with it, at least you know they'll be consistent and are more likely to sell. I had one of those hotdogs once and have never bought from the kiosk in the stadium since.
I think the rollover hot dogs are really good, the burgers are like cardboard and they stopped doing sausage rolls. They should also have a separate bar area for selling alcohol, because the time it takes to get a pint is ridiculous. Leicester have a really good system, two bars and two food vendors with a large concourse area in their West Stand. Most importantly, the Leicester stewards open the big gates to let you out for a cigarette at half time. Which is better than our current trend of chaining two on the walk between the bus stop and turnstile 14.
We really are rubbish at this stuff, Brighton theme the whole away end and have locally made pies and guest beers and was it Cardiff or Brizzle who had all their staff wearing our away kit while serving? Most other clubs manage to find enough English speaking staff with at least half a brain to work their concourse kiosks, it's a shame we can't.
