New Stadium Details And Discussions

[worcestersauce]

South stand, the Tap Inns, hardly any of the bottoms up pumps working. Queued for over 1/2 hour and 1/2 hour before kick off they were telling everyone not to bother and go away and come back later. It’s happened before, it just start frothing and one by one the pumps stop working.

I'm in the South as well maybe I've been lucky.

 

[Yid121]

Can someone please spend the next 2 months sorting the beer out please. 30 minute queues, most of the pumps still not working properly

East lower had a very simular problem. 30 min wait. Half the beers out and those that are working dribbling out one tap with a queue of 5 staff trying to fill 4 glasses each.... And that was an hour before KO

 

[camspur65]

Same in the north at the Tap Inns. And staff aren’t organised. Everyone - and I mean everyone - is ordering beer - but not one staff member is there with the sole job of lining up pints ready as people order them. They keep taking individual orders and only then getting the drinks. So frustrating to watch staff trying to do their best but not working as a team with an obvious system.

 

[dagraham]

East lower had a very simular problem. 30 min wait. Half the beers out and those that are working dribbling out one tap with a queue of 5 staff trying to fill 4 glasses each.... And that was an hour before KO

Was about to say the same thing. Doesn’t help when people are told Amstel etc is out at the moment and just wait there for ages while they change the pumps/barrel/whatever the fuck it is. I mean just get a Heineken for Christ sake. I know people are entitled to wait to pay for whatever beer they want, but it’s still annoying.

The whole system is not working as intended. It’s supposed to speed things up, but isn’t. Either the machines aren’t up to speed, or the staff aren’t trained well enough or there aren’t enough of them. I don’t know why they can’t have a few pre pulled pints ready. I get that they will start to get flat, but the general football fan do not seem like a particular discerning clientele .

Whatever the reasons, the bars tend to resemble a pub on New Year’s Eve and are simply not worth the hassle imo apart from maybe 2 hours before kick off.

 

[Yid121]

Was about to say the same thing. Doesn’t help when people are told Amstel etc is out at the moment and just wait there for ages while they change the pumps/barrel/whatever the fuck it is. I mean just get a Heineken for Christ sake. I know people are entitled to wait to pay for whatever beer they want, but it’s still annoying.

The whole system is not working as intended. It’s supposed to speed things up, but isn’t. Either the machines aren’t up to speed, or the staff aren’t trained well enough or there aren’t enough of them. I don’t know why they can’t have a few pre pulled pints ready. I get that they will start to get flat, but the general football fan do not seem like a particular discerning clientele .

Whatever the reasons, the bars tend to resemble a pub on New Year’s Eve and are simply not worth the hassle imo apart from maybe 2 hours before kick off.

Yep guy in the queue said the same, bizarre why they didn't line the pints up during half time!?!

 

[therhinospeaks]

Same in the north at the Tap Inns. And staff aren’t organised. Everyone - and I mean everyone - is ordering beer - but not one staff member is there with the sole job of lining up pints ready as people order them. They keep taking individual orders and only then getting the drinks. So frustrating to watch staff trying to do their best but not working as a team with an obvious system.

Staff are absolutely brain-dead and the pint pouring system is hilarious. Other than that it's magnificent.

 

[BPR_U16]

West upper 523 same problem at Tapp Inns. Only one dispenser working - staff too raw to cope.
Yesterday had to give up waiting for beer pre-match, after 35 mins went away with 2 bottles Bulmers instead.

Season ticket is North 420 and have had similar issues

Needs to be resolved for next season or people will not fulfill Levys wish to make a day event

 

[vicbob]

West upper 523 same problem at Tapp Inns. Only one dispenser working - staff too raw to cope.
Yesterday had to give up waiting for beer pre-match, after 35 mins went away with 2 bottles Bulmers instead.

Season ticket is North 420 and have had similar issues

Needs to be resolved for next season or people will not fulfill Levys wish to make a day event

Yeah, we’ve already given up any thoughts of getting food in the stadium before matches, even though the pricing and quality is good, the wait is too long. Rapidly getting the same thoughts about drinks as well, was hoping for a few in the ground before the game last night, barely managed to get one.

Having said that, the stadium itself is awesome, so no real complaints, but unless they sort it, the club will lose sales.

 

[Cornpattbuck]

Yeah, we’ve already given up any thoughts of getting food in the stadium before matches, even though the pricing and quality is good, the wait is too long. Rapidly getting the same thoughts about drinks as well, was hoping for a few in the ground before the game last night, barely managed to get one.

Having said that, the stadium itself is awesome, so no real complaints, but unless they sort it, the club will lose sales.

Weird, as my mates haven't had any issues at all. Unlucky timing?! No idea. Hopefully get a chance to see for myself next season.

 

[fridgemagnet]

The catering/drinks thing is being addressed, there's an article talking about it on SSC and the liaison with THST, of things they're going to address, what they're happy with what their not and why etc I'm surprised it's not been posted (unless you've scrolled past it), if I could get on SSC I'd get the link, otherwise try the trust.

A couple of wide eyed doberman sniffer dogs for the druggies and smokers in the loos sounds like a plan...

 

[LeSoupeKitchen]

Hopefully it will get much better when the staff get more experienced.

Yesterday I wanted a burger and there were about 60 burgers pre-prepared in front of my eyes. However, the person serving me had run out of pieces of paper which acted as burger vouchers.

No word of a lie, I waited about 5mins for them to get more vouchers and they spent another 30 seconds writing out in full "Beef burger with potatoes". I took the piece of paper and handed it to the person literally right next to them and they handed me a burger off the massive pile. Madness but I enjoyed the experience for the comedy value.

 

[kmk]

The catering/drinks thing is being addressed, there's an article talking about it on SSC and the liaison with THST, of things they're going to address, what they're happy with what their not and why etc I'm surprised it's not been posted (unless you've scrolled past it), if I could get on SSC I'd get the link, otherwise try the trust.

A couple of wide eyed doberman sniffer dogs for the druggies and smokers in the loos sounds like a plan...

This was posted by sonicyouth on SSC.

From thst newsletter -

CATERING MEETING AT LILYWHITE HOUSE WITH FEEDBACK ON CATERING PROVISION
We’d like to extend a heartfelt thanks to the huge numbers of supporters who responded to our two questionnaires on the catering provision at our new stadium. Your responses were overwhelmingly positive regarding the vision, quality and range of the offer, but individual responses gave us a very useful and insightful look at issues that arose around the ground at different times, as well as your particular tastes and requests.

This information meant that when THST’s catering lead, Rachel Martin, met with David Peskett and Ray Watson from the catering team at Spurs earlier this month, it was a useful two-way information sharing process – one which we intend to repeat at regular intervals throughout the coming seasons. Here’s a flavour of what was discussed.

Survey overviews: From the two surveys, it was evident that fans were impressed with the quality, choice, cost and portion sizes available, and that the percentage improved from the first to the second batch of games surveyed. The speed of service was an issue in the first batch of games but had improved by the second batch – as staff and supporters became more familiar with the way the stadium and the offers worked.

Similarly, regarding availability of desired foods, this percentage improved by the second survey. David and Ray were keen to improve this further. However, with busy concourses it is not possible to wheel large trolleys to the outlets to top up supplies, so this is necessarily restricted to when the game is on or before fans arrive. As games progress, they will have better ideas of numbers required at different areas and will be able to stock accordingly. They will also be exploring ways of storing more food and drink behind the public areas. Another improvement they hope to introduce very soon is for the menu displays to be instant, so that they are removed from displays if that item runs out. This should stop supporters from queuing needlessly or having to make decisions once they get to the front of the queue.

Fans asked why, in some instances, the bottoms up system was not fast enough to cope with pressure points like at half time. In theory this system can pour 62,000 pints in eight minutes! However, there are distribution issues so there are already plans afoot to extend the cellar areas. There have also been some issues with air fobbing, which are being rectified during the close season.

The cashless system is working very well within the stadium and is helping to speed up service.

Some fans mentioned that the wonderful atmosphere in the Market Place, along with the rich variety of provision, should be replicated elsewhere in the stadium as not everyone can get into the Market Place at peak times. This idea was greeted with interest.

The South Stand Terrace, opened for the Everton game, was also considered a great success. It is planned that this will be opened for chosen matches and will be publicised widely.

Pricing: Generally it was felt that the pricing strategy was fair and the starting point for beers was excellent. The strategy is to hold prices where they are for next season. In fact, some prices have gone down e.g. crisps and chocolate; naan and noodles portion sizes have increased and gone down in price.

Beavertown sales have been high and have constituted a larger percentage of beer sales than anyone could have imagined, so again, supply issues will improve next season now that the initial trends have been established.

We talked about the desire for healthy sandwiches, bagels and wraps. This is something we receive regular requests for but which the team do not see replicated in the stadium. For example, for one match they sold 30,000 pies and sausage rolls but eight sandwiches. We would suggest that this is because fans don’t know where to buy them.

So, please download the Spurs Official App, use the function on it where you can identify what food and drink is sold at which outlet, and then make sure you locate and buy the healthy options. That way, we can argue for more of these items to be available in mobile retail points on the concourses. The app really is the answer, and the team are working on more publicity for its full functionality as well as improving its interactivity.

Now for the thorny issue of chips served on their own. David and Ray understood that there was considerable demand for this, and obviously it is in their interests to meet demand. However, the reason this is not currently possible is because of the way chips are cooked, i.e. deep fat fried (oven chips don’t taste as good and take up too much oven space for too long). The sheer numbers of deep fat fryers needed would present too much of a health and safety risk on this scale. However, they are looking at potato wedges as a standalone option.

We discussed the provision for 1882 members which was, agreed by all, not as it had been hoped. This will be a major priority for next season in terms of improving the range and quality of food on offer. There will be better controls on who is going in and out of these areas and, in turn, those that are there legitimately will have a much better experience. Feedback from members has been noted.

It was heartening to hear that all staff, regardless of age, and from the first test event, have been paid the London Living Wage, including cleaners and catering staff.

Of course, there are teething problems, but we think we can all agree that the vision is right and that a great start has been made. There is work to be done but the potential is clearly there for a world class provision and experience. As Ray and David said at our meeting, “We have put our souls into this. We hope we’ve considered everyone and that supporters feel we have done the right thing.”

David and Ray and, of course, all of us at the Trust are grateful for your response to our surveys. So please keep it coming.

 

[vicbob]

I certainly think Saturday wasn’t helped by a larger than normal amount of people experiencing the ground for the first time. With so many ST and members in Madrid there were al lot more people there who wouldn’t normally be

 

[Gareth88]

I got a survey about the screening this morning so the club are trying to figure out how we got on and will hopefully address the issues had.

 

[spursfan77]

From Coys:

I overheard from someone well placed within the staff that this past season concession revenues from the new stadium were £23 million just in the short time it was open. Based on that the stadium is likely to generate huge revenues next season and maybe we'll be able to pay it off without as much impact as was initially suspected.

 

[coys200]

£23m seems pretty optimistic I think we had 7 competitive games. That’s over £3m a game lol.

 

[absolute bobbins]

£23m seems pretty optimistic I think we had 7 competitive games. That’s over £3m a game lol.

Average of £55 per person per game (based on 58k). I could see 25-40 per game but not 55

 

[LeParisien]

£23m seems pretty optimistic I think we had 7 competitive games. That’s over £3m a game lol.

£50-60 a head. If that includes ticket price then obviously feasible. In fact that might be the profit you might expect per punter per game

 

[wiggo24]

Average of £55 per person per game (based on 58k). I could see 25-40 per game but not 55

Wouldn't surprise me if corporate attendees spend more than that though.

 

[absolute bobbins]

Wouldn't surprise me if corporate attendees spend more than that though.

Possibly but Isn’t corporate concessions usually including in the ticket/box price? Back in the good old days when I was a guest of Investec I don’t remember cash or cards being handed over