I hope nobody was going last night to make a decision about a season ticket

The new owners mentioned improving the match day experience and it's not happened.

Ganaye mentioned having a list for whichever league we are in and we've signed nobody.

Season starts in just over a week and no replica shirts are available to buy.

Pre season fixtures were hardly exciting.

Only just heard from our new head coach.

Could go on and on. By mentioning stuff you hope it's picked up on and sorted. Things get ignored.

 

I agree with most of what your saying and the small things shouldn't take so long to sort out. They do add up though and impact the match day experience.

One thing Im curious about though is are you a season ticket holder and if so did knowing these things existed influence your renewal / buying one this season?

 

Yes and no however I think if I was a new or casual fan they would do.

 

It was a very good goal. Love team goals like that.

 

Its an interesting point. None of the things mentioned i really noticed last night so didn't bother me and wouldn't have affected my decision if i was looking to buy a ticket. However the late use of the floodlights did annoy me.I couldn't see who the subs were when they made changes. If i was shopping around for the best match day price, experience in the locality i don't know how we would rate.

 

Didn't you notice that the start of the game was delayed because we hadn't finished putting the bets up and that the ref gave up and started the game while they were still doing them? We even had a corner while a bloke was desperately tying the netting off.

The late use of floodlights was frankly farcical

 

It's funny because I don't really notice the things until I take someone new along and it's like I look around with new eyes. It first happened when I took my husband along to an Open Day a few years ago and I suddenly thought, 'my god, this is *****' but I'd always looked forward to it until then. Same with when I took along a few of my female friends from work, I realised how ugly the breezeblocks are after we went through the turnstyles, how scruffy the seats are as they went to sit on them and then I felt like apologising when we went to the toilets. I was incredibly embarrassed on the club's behalf at just how run down everything was. To be fair to my mates, they didn't say anything (except for a comment asking where our ball boys were and that they are slow) but they've not asked to come back either. They paid £25 each for that privilege which was a shock to them too, they mentioned us going before they realised what the prices were but decided to pay it as a one off. They've been to the Bradford matches a few times since though (and one of my mates became a season ticket holder there until having a baby) and now they go regularly to Bradford Bulls rugby matches. They genuinely couldn't give a monkeys about football or rugby but they like to go and have a nice day out somewhere together. They've even bought bloody shirts and scarves but I bet they couldn't tell you any of the rules or name enough players to fill one hand.

 

I hope your aim is better than Thiam's

 

All fair points. I didn't notice the nets were being attended to. I guess its the same when at away games, you become more aware of the non-football facilities and polarise to things being exceptionally bad or exceptionally good. I have to say though if i was running the club i would have a minimum acceptable standard, get the hygiene factors right and ensure every game aspires to be step by step better.

 

Self confidence was always a weakness for Robins , he did better than non league standard

 

I believe these issues can be resolved with a modicum of additional input. It wouldn't take much and it'll be interesting to see if these are still happening when the new season kicks off. Hopefully, they will be.

 

There’s something wrong if any of those points significantly influence your decision to buy a season ticket, one way or another.

It’s a pre-season friendly, for f*ck sake.

 

It's a dry run for them as well to get back into the swing, I doubt they had a full complement of staff last night. If they're putting the nets up at 2.55 a week in Sat then be worried. For what it's worth our ground looks like a palace compared to many teams in league one.

 

A pre-season friendly isn't just practice for the players, it's practice for the whole operation.

 

They've had about 8 weeks since they last did it. If they've forgotten how to do all of the things I raised in such a short space of time then God help us.

 

Hopefully they'll sort it because it really is a poor showing when we should be desperate to attract fans due to financial fair play

 

I know I'm thought of by some as being far too sensitive when it comes to my perception of criticism directed towards the club, I feel the issues you, my old mate, and others have raised in this thread are valid and shouldn't really occur. I believe they'll get sorted out easily & promptly. I still believe that although it's right to have these things sorted out, I don't believe they'll influence folk into not buying a season ticket.

 

I think I was wrong about season ticket (me over the top? Never) but I do think they could easily stop a new or casual fan from coming back. It's OK for us who have it in our blood, we look past these things because in essence we are addicted to the club but for someone who's has no real affiliation to the club but is considering getting into it it really isn't a good look and doesn't entice them to return especially when we have quite a few rivals so close by.

On a vaguely related subject anyone know how did the Ponty end paintwork looked in person?

 

That's quite possibly true. Until I read your thread, I hadn't given the issues anything more than a passing thought.
barnsley66 & I spent quite a bit of time going up and down the mural and thoroughly enjoyed it. There's no doubt it's brightened up the concourse and will definitely be a main topic of conversation for the fans. It's aesthetically pleasing, much better than the bare walls it's replaced and depicts the history of Barnsley Football Club. Unsurprisingly, I love it.

 

That's good to hear. This may be a bit of a daft question but how durable did it look? When I saw the photos I was a bit worried it would be leant on and ruined quite quickly. Never been in the Ponty end though so wasn't even sure how protected that wall is