Did anyone come to the larger fan zone yesterday? We are looking for feedback. Would you want to see the club go all out with Fan Zone, food vendors etc even when the weather is bad? Obviously we had multiple food vendors offering a great selection yesterday and for the open day. We got away with it weather wise yesterday as the rain stopped at 12 and the sun came out and the Fan Zone was very busy after a slow start. We are having discussions about reintroducing the gazebos subject to the wind ratings checking out etc. Chairs and tables are being put out once more. Some good entertainment on the stages with players/ interviews/ music acts. Kayode was on stage earlier as well as two of the new signings and interviews with the women’s team as well as on stage discussions etc. Trying to be consistent. What else is missing? What was good? What needs to improve? (Short of a purpose built permanent fan zone with all year round cover obviously)
I didn't use it but did look at it as I always do so can only give limited feedback obviously but it LOOKED a lot better. Where was the stage yesterday? In the usual place? If so I've always thought it would be better somehow moving the stage to the back wall so it's more central in th fanzone. Basically swapping the brewdog stall with the stage. Is that even possible? I think that some sturdier gazebo's that are rated for worse weather are a must. The kind they use for weddings. They'd be able to be used for pretty much any game then And again it's cost but what would be absolutely fantastic would be a big screen put up somewhere. Not sure how doable that is though. But yes it LOOKED much better and seemed to be more of a family looking place than a cramped men's drinking place.
I arrived late so didn’t use it for food and drink but did pop in to have a look around. The first thing I noticed was the additional seating and tables which the fanzone had been crying out for so that straight away was a positive. I also like the idea of the street food vendors but yesterdays offerings did look a bit overpriced so that could possibly be looked at.
I liked that it had more seating. That’s pretty much the one main thing for me, I need somewhere to be able to at least rest my drink an a minimum (stupid Raynaud’s mean I can’t hold a cold drink, even in summer) and then somewhere I can rest myself second. It had a great buzz to the place and seemed like a friendly place to hang out, it’s seemed more sterile in the past, again, I think the seating helps with that.
It was great to see it full. Loads of seating, queues not too bad and the weather helped. Sat in the sun in t-shirt with a pint is deffo a good start to the afternoon. That's the key, though, innit? The weather. Had the forecasts been right, it would have been miserable. A more permanent/substantial/weatherproof marquee or gazebo thing would be the ticket, but is that feasible on the site? Thinking back to that thing they had at Accrington as a good example. Oh, the microphones on the stage are either knackered, or just $hite. Couldn't hear a thing.
The extra seating made a big difference, so well done for that. The problem it’s always gonna have, is cover. Weather held out on Saturday, but when the weather turns you just can’t have it uncovered. All the rest is all good. Usually can’t hear the stage from the back but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, for those who want to get away from the speakers. And if you ever need any help behind the bar, just gimme a shout
Hi mate, I don’t know what the situation is in the other areas of the fan zone but on the BFCST van no one is paid (same as Redfearn’s bar before it in the Ozone). Purely volunteers with profit to Trust projects or charity. We’ll be providing some profits to the Barnsley FC Community Trust this season to support the good work they do in the Barnsley Community. It you listen to some of the haters on social media, we all get executive car park passes and seats for being involved. Of course none of that is true. There aren’t any associated “perks” (not even a discount ). Although we did get some left over pulled pork from the stand next to us on Saturday. Very nice. Similarly there aren’t any perks for Loko in the fact we use Brewdog beer (as well as Acorn cask). Brewdog have probably spent more on fitting the bar out, providing coolers etc than they have made in profit out of us so far (they’ve done it twice as the Covid downtime wasn't good for the system). We do sometimes get a slightly better deal via Brewdog for buying a bulk (pallet) order than we might get from a local supplier but that isn’t always practical. We don’t really sell much beer to even register on the monster Brewdog sales ledger so there’s no brownie points to be had their for him either. Doesn’t stop crazy accusations though. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not moaning about doing it. It’s actually quite enjoyable. See the same faces, get to see your mates before the game. Made some new friends doing it. It’s actually a good laugh.
I think they should look seriously at a marquee when the weather turns (even) colder. I don't think I'd spend time sat in the open come January. The real pity is That it's outside the ground. I liked the fan zone at Burnley when we played there in the cup a few years back.
Agree with everyone's general sentiment. The extra seating is very welcome but the weather has got to register if it is to be a good long term thing. The problem is that the weather means (a) that it is just not as attractive come the colder weather and (b) people will not know for sure if it is even up and running so will make other plans. People won't want to walk up to the ground to find its not on and then have to walk back somewhere else. It's getting better, so very well done for everyone's efforts. I appreciate everyone does it for nowt so have to applaud how far its come. But it needs either an Accrington style marquee or a Bolton Wanderers style permanent covered gazebo structure that you could then site heaters in when the weather turns. I really like the Bolton setup. If it was like that, it would be rammed every week, as it was at Bolton. When we played there in the cup, I thought it was great. When we went back for the play off semi, we couldn't get near it, the queues were enormous just to get in.
You're all gentlemen. Barmy what you give up every other Saturday, and even more crackers that you don't get a free ticket or two out of it.
To be clear im only talking about the BFCST van. Obviously the club arrange all the other stuff like catering, music, guests, the other bar etc etc. Obviously, they have paid staff etc
We don’t get to many games each season but we got there yesterday with half an hour to spare. We had tickets in east upper so walked past the fanzone. We thought it looked good. I wasn’t sure if it was free to enter or we’d have definitely come in and had a walk around and maybe a drink - so maybe it would be worth putting up more signage to emphasise its freeness! There appeared to be two people in high vis either side of the entrance which made it feel a bit less welcoming - so more ‘welcome’ signage saying ‘it’s free’ would be my suggestion (and not too expensive) thanks to all those involved in setting up the fanzone!
I liked the Fanzone at Blackburn.Indoor bar,outdoor bar massive screen outside and a memorial garden for past Rovers fans.