Your matchday experience v Wycombe

[PL2 3DQ]

This is a non-football thread to discuss your matchday experience for tonight's game against Wycombe Wanderers.

An opportunity to give your thoughts, praise and criticism following your visit to Home Park today, giving overall marks out of 10 for Covid procedures, catering, stewarding, security, seating, PA system, club shop, turnstiles, programme, ticketing, fan zone, general facilities, etc, even use of Argyle TV - providing instant feedback to fellow fans and the club.

The club would also like to receive feedback by email ... feedback@pafc.co.uk.

 

[Superguy]

Get some lights behind the grandstand. £7 for some chips, a Mars bar and a tiny Bovril with no lid.

 

[Led green]

Think the catering underneath the devonport block one and two (bar far left) is getting embarrassing, shameful even. Last week (sheff weds) queued the whole half time to have to turn away with nothing, today left in stoppage time but still only got back to my seat with coffee in the nick of time.
There was only 5 members of staff, one of whom didnt know what she was doing so had to have 10 mins of assistance, meaning the queue on my right didnt move at all in that time.
Just pre-pour the pints, it's got to be possible (and cmon employ more staff). Plus you're losing business, my mate doesnt even bother going down at half time anymore, surely the same with others etc.
Sorry to whine

 

[Cobi Budge]

The deadest atmosphere at Home Park in some time. It was like a morgue.

 

[Wotton is God]

Low score from me. Stupid ticket checks between blocks 2 and 3 causing significant queuing / standing on the steps and in front of the front row at 5 to kickoff. No need.

 

[CornishPaul]

For a crowd so big, with so much riding on that match, the atmosphere was non existent. Argyle fans cannot get behind their side unless their winning. Home Park should have been bouncing last night.

 

[Kevin Gollop]

Queueing to get in to the Lyndhurst was much better tonight

 

[The Doctor]

I rushed home last night to watch the Bake Off Final on catch-up so this his my first chance to post here since the game. Having made some critical comments previously it is only right to acknowlege the steps that the club has taken to try to address things.

Queuing outside the Lyndhurst was much better last night. There were plenty of stewards actively managing people as they looked to join queues and suggesting they moved onwards towards the Barn Park End for shorter queues. The actual queues themselves were much more clearly defined also - I suspect that this was because stewards were there as they started to form and so were able to help shape/structure them - once the queues are in place, people can join them much more easily and the structure persists. I also think that simply having more visible presence from stewards there is a general improvement in orderliness.

As promised, the club had removed the ‘steward seats’ between blocks. This will stop people randomly sitting in them and getting in the way of a steward if they need to take up a position there. It also creates a little more space so the presence of a steward there does not create such a visual disturbance (it‘s surprising how distracting it is having someone in a bulky hi-vis jacket standing next to you is even when you are mostly looking forwards).

So, well done to the club.

I see some people have been complaining about people being made to sit in the right seats so as to avoid overcrowding in the Devonport End. Good on the club for doing this I say. Obviously I have no problem with people sitting in a different empty seat from the one their ticket shows (what difference does that really make) but sitting/standing in someone else’s seat or packing too many people into a row is just wrong and potentially dangerous.

 

[Ipplepen green]

Can we have more signage at the box office? Hard to tell which queue is for collection and which ones for sales.

 

[Alan Frost]

I always enter via turnstiles near the BP end of the Lyndy, no queues for entry, drinks or loos. Watch the away team warm up then head bacK along towards De'mport end of Lyndy.

 

[Lundan Cabbie]

I was watching on Argyle TV last night and found it interesting that a lot of people were being allowed into what was previously deemed to be the Red Zone for players and officials only. The Argyle TV presenter and Pilgrim Pete were both allowed pitch side yet in the Premier League, club mascots, on pitch entertainers and broadcast personnel are still not allowed access to those areas. Have the EFL reduced their standards despite Covid still likely to be an issue as we go through the winter?

 

[loyal1970]

Get some lights behind the grandstand. £7 for some chips, a Mars bar and a tiny Bovril with no lid.

don't buy it anybody who buys food and drink at a football ground is a bleedy idiot it's generally crap over priced rubbish.

 

[IJN]

 

[Superguy]

don't buy it anybody who buys food and drink at a football ground is a bleedy idiot it's generally crap over priced rubbish.

Well I wouldn't say I was a “bleedy idiot”, but thanks for your consumer advice Martin Lewis.

 

[ArgyleOfficial]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the feedback again. Shame it wasn’t the result we wanted.

In regards to the Red Zone, the protocol has not been relaxed, but we have a risk assessment that advises on our club requirements. This means that generally we COVID screen & provide accreditation based on that assessment. The government relaxation means we can do more than we could at the start of the season.

Pleased to hear that for the most part turnstiles & entrance times were quicker. We worked hard on this & we will keep up the urgency. I also appreciate the patience with the searching on entry. We hope to make this whole process more supporter friendly in the next year, which means improved signage, turnstiles and hopefully additional entrance points. This project is underway already.

Block 3 capacity remains an issue. We simply can’t have (for example) 35 people sitting in a row that seats 28, it’s unsafe. Therefore tickets checks have to remain in place until supporters stop doing this. These ticket checks also cost the club additional money in resource (stewarding) and over a period it’s a significant cost. We therefore recommend anyone wanting to move to block 3 speak with the ticket office and they can advise on availability. In addition to this, we still have some supporters causing an issue under block 3. This is making half time catering even more difficult for fans and the club to manage. Again, it also costs the club resource to manage & can be considered a safety issue. Ultimately no one is benefiting from the experience or cost.

We have seen an improvement this season with the catering in the ground in terms of wait times and service speed per order. That said, we’ve still go a long way to go & we are working hard behind scenes. The concourses are somewhat challenging with large attendances - especially in the Devonport end. The offer as a whole will be refreshed and in the last week we’ve had conversations with other clubs who do this well. (Also been sent that photo 20 times by Ian 😉)

As said on another thread, but for completeness:

As with every home league fixture since we implemented it against Bolton, at the request of supporters, we reduced the music with around 10 minutes until kick-off again last night.

However, last night the stadium was very quiet, and therefore, our technician reintroduced the music after a 3/4 minute period, as instructed.

We desperately want the supporters to be free to generate the pre-match atmosphere, but in instances like last night, where the stadium was quiet and there was little or no chanting, we will need to step in.

On Saturday the new rapid retail store opens for the first time outside the Devonport corner please do check it out!

It was also a pleasure to welcome the turnstile operator you all raised money for in Club Argyle last night for his Pioneer experience. Thanks to all who donated 🤝

Christian