Congestion at half time (Att. SLO / BFCST)

I'm not sure why but at half time in the ponty there was a lot of congestion getting to the concourse last night, it took a good 5mins longer to get from our seat to down below and for a few mins everyone was more or less stood still, unable to move. Not the most comfortable experience.

It could have been the extra people from the friend for a fiver deal or the fact it was freezing and everyone wanted to get away from the wind, but the stand should be able to cope with last nights attendance.

It seems that the queues for food/drink line up with tills and there were gaps of space to the left and right of each queue, when the queues are full it means everyone trying to get to the toiltes/outside are only able to move alongside the wall opposite the tills. Hope that makes sense. Seems to me the queues should be removed and it should go back to being a free for all, that way the extra space between queues would free up room for people to get about without risking being crushed/shoved about, either that or queues should zig zag like in the east stand.

I used gangway 3.

 

A better solution would be one like those at airports. One queue; get served by next available server.

 

Yep they need a barrier or two like they have in East stand

 

Probably because it was bloody freezing. I'd normally stay in my seat at half time and bugger about on mi phone, but last night I went to the concourse and hung about there trying to get warm.

 

Until a few games ago, you could buy a beer from the little hut on the right hand side just as you enter the enclosed area of The Ponty. They'd used it for this purpose ever since they'd renewed the licence for The Ponty End. We bought beers from there every week, along with many others. There was always a queue, but as they only served bottles of beer, the service was very quick and the queue moved rapidly. By half way through the interval they were serving people as and when they arrived.

They've stopped serving from there now, so everyone who used to queue up at that little hut is now adding to the queue at the other place. Well, not everyone.

The first game when the hut was shut our mate went down to get the beers just as the announcer stated there would be 7 minutes of first half stoppage time (I forget which game it was). He got back to us with the beers when over 10 minutes of half time had elapsed. The next match it was another 20 minute job. So that's it, we don't buy beers in the stadium any more. A system that worked well has been fixed until it doesn't. They're losing 20 odd quid from us every match and I would imagine it's contributed to the congestion you have described above.

 

Jay that's exactly one problem I've raised with Carlo a couple of times. He is meeting mansford tomorrow.

Separating the drinkers from the non drinkers caused no issues of congestion. The beer buggies sadly died an untimely death as servers were getting abuse from underage folk apparently.

 

One of the bigger stewards stood next to this would sort that out.

 

That's exactly what's causing it - folk queuing for beer at the food stands. Been getting worse by the match. You've got a load of people wanting to cross the concourse to the smoking area, and another load blocking the concourse waiting for beer. Pretty much everyone else is trying to get to the bogs. All of them are getting pretty ratty with each other, and I witnessed 4 different arguments between folk from one end of the concourse to the other last night.

Only bit you're wrong with Jay is that they were selling beer in the little hut last at the end of the concourse last night, only no-one had got that far.

Madness. Put it back to how it was before!

 

Hadn't realised. It's been shut for last few games so I thought it was a permanent thing. Could have had beer after all.

 

dont know why they dont put an extra set of steps up to the "smoke zone" in the corner. Would relieve a lot of the traffic form the concourse.

 

So that's why you didn't have a beer when I got to you at half time

 

mind you then you would get folk trying to go both ways

 

Another problem is the siting of the telly above the exit to the bogs (corner stand end). Folk tend to congregate beneath it blocking access to the bogs.

 

Aye it was ridonkulus last night. The suggestions above may alleviate it somewhat. I'd also like to add that it may be worth removing the tvs from above the food stand. You get large groups congregating to watch the tv, they are neither using the toilets or the food stand but get in the way of those that are.

 

Didn't anyone see the fcking pr1ck in the Range Rover on Grove Street about 7:40??

Queues from the Grove Street turnstyles out onto the Road and he just decided he wasn't going to wait/turn around and just ploughed through the crowds. He then drove into the grounds Car Park before doing a 360• and speeding off

 

You know the old saying about the difference between a range rover and a hedgehog.

 

That's how we do it in the east stand upper, obviously a better class of fan up there.