Where has this "making up the loss" thing come from from letting them in free ?? What do we lose exactly ??

Yes, letting people in free in the olden days was sensible as we'd make £2-3 quid per child from them buying sweets and drinks, but we can't even do that now.

Let all under 11's in free.
Sack off the burger bar and do it in house, or double their rent. Either way, they are raking it in currently and we are losing a chance to make money.
Sort the bloody bar out. Why are there no fridges in the bar, or any beer in them, and why does it take ages to get served.
£12 entry, £7 if you arrive before 2pm. Fiver cheaper, but they will spend that with two drinks in the bar in the waiting hour. What else is there to do ?? Helps create an atmosphere when you then go out on the terraces, but can only be done if the bar isn't run like a circus.

None of the above cost any money, and minimal time/common sense. To not do them is nothing short of stupid and/or lazy.

It's not a criticism of the bar staff guys, blimey. Everyone on here recently seems to want to take things so personally. I assist for free as well lets remember. If two people isnt enough, there should be more. How many 18-21 year olds are out of work and could be employed for three hours on match day for minimal outlay ?? At no point did I claim to be able to do it any quicker. But people have always walked into the bar, seen the queue, and walked out again. Its a wasted opportunity from the club's point of view, not a criticism in any way of the bar staff for being slow.

More a criticism of the size of the bar, the fact there are tables in the way of people wanting to spend money, the decor, etc. Even raising the price of a pint to £3 would mean less mucking about with change and speed the whole process up. I can't see anyone saying "Im not paying that" and walking out again.

-- Edited by Kevin on Tuesday 11th of December 2012 02:45:48 PM

Can you get more than two behind that bar? Could have 2 serving and 1 just taking money, and i don't belive that kev was criticising..just stating that with only 2 people at a busy time is hard work, especially if you need more stock or a barrel changing etc..if someone asks me i'll do it.

Kev As JGFC says above, we are waiting for Shepard Neame to come in with two new fridges which should help things. You moan that it takes a long time to get served, don't forget there is only two of us behind the bar (possibly three at half time) and when people take 10 mins to decide what they want or order a pint and then decide to order another 4/5 for friends that have just turned up, is it any wonder it takes us some time to serve everyone......

If you think you can do it faster I'm more than willing to show you one Saturday and then leave it your 'capable' hands

Also bear in mind that if more people come into the bar, as most seem to want, it could take even longer to get served!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately I miss more games than I attend due to shift work, but I come along whenever I can with my wife and sometimes 2 children, the cost of admission including a match programme is £40. Add on a coffees, hot chocolates and a few burgers and the cost rises to £50+, the recent 3 home games in under 2 weeks made it very expensive. How about the introduction of a parent and child gate for £15.

Bar suggestion:

Any chance of getting the queue off to one side a la Bromley with a rope barrier. The temptation is for people to get served and stand near the bar so you don't get a true idea of whether the wait is short or long and also makes for additional inattentive turning round and shouting to\from people if drinks are being added to the order adding delay. It also means the staff dont have to remember who is in theory next.

The ideas arent good then.

Get schools playing on the pitch at Half Time, same offer to parents you would get 50 people extra at a game every game.

And sorry, sending out vouchers? Try and have meetings with the schools rather than send vouchers thats just lazy, involve the schools on a match day and they will come.

You say they work hard Dan... what have they done for the club community wise or bringing in fans? Its a question not a criticsm because i dont see any improvement at all or any activity and i live in the area of the club, Theres no kids or community scheme news anywahere, none of the youth teams come to games, i see nothing in the press, ive never seen a flyer. Ive never seen the community section do anything.

At Danson they turned up on one day for a short while and to be honest it was laughable.

Just my opinion. Must try harder especially if they are paid as i believe they are.

What are the roles of the community duo?

If its to teach kids keepie uppie  and have the club known in the local youth leagues, then they are succeeding

If its to connect with the local community, promote the club in the local community, and bring the community to games and keep the community informed of news of the club, then they are failing.

Is the Community scheme outdated and basically just youth football in a hit or miss manner, now the club is CIC should the community scheme have more important aims?  I firmly believe they should.

Heres the website its been up a year or so http://wellingunitedcommunitytrust.com/ 

The last two News articles were in May and April of this year.

I applaud one of their aims on the site "

Match Day Fun Events

To invite local schools, to join in on/off pitch events on first team home matches. "

.. sadly they dont seem to be doing it, Working hard you say Dan? I think its just glorified youth football and not really a community scheme. The club dont really have ,much to do with it so its not a fault of theirs, i believe now we are CIC that the Community Scheme/Trust needs to shape up and really be a Community Scheme and to communicate.

No doubt the reaction to JGFC's well thought out criticism of the community scheme will just be to shrug their shoulders and say 'we try our best, you don't know what goes on behind the scenes'. Doubt we'll even get a comment on this thread...  

-- Edited by Chris on Thursday 13th of December 2012 04:17:18 PM

-- Edited by Chris on Thursday 13th of December 2012 04:17:35 PM

I have always thought the whole bar area would be better relocated in the snug but I realise that is a lot of work both logistically and financially.

The ground is nearly full up with adverts thanks to Eric last season and Paul this season. We also had a sponsor this season. I think commercially with businesses there have been a great improvement, I think you are a bit wide of the mark there. 

Im convinced get the schools or youth teams involved on a match day and hit the thousands of residents with flyers or brochures for 2 or 3 months and crowds will rise. I could name 50 or more of our fans that are not in Welling, Maybe we were but familys move, they have stayed loyal, we need to get the locals in, simples.

I do think you have some good ideas and its great to see fans want to get the crowds up as the players and management deserve it.

I see community and commercial as seperate things. Remember the commercial manager is out trying to get business money in. The community people could be engaging with the residents.

Things are improving but there are just a few people doing the work whether the paid club people or some volunteers or people delivering flyers.

What can the fans do? Like youve said use social networking , share website news and videos, Bring a friend to a game.  Mention the club to people. Place a flyer poster in your work staff room or business (there is a season fixture poster on the official site).

http://files.pitchero.com/clubs/10980/fixtures12-13.jpg

The Club have only recently started having board meetings so i expect things to continue to improve and some structure to develop over the coming months< we really are moving in the right direction and have come a fair way from a couple of seasons ago. Ive always been convinced we can get 4 figures a game in the ground even at this level with a little effort with the locals.

WingsTillIDie wrote:

Also being realistic, I don't know many U16s nowadays that buy tea....

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 No, but many like to stuff a burger into their face washed down with a can of 70% mark up coke!!

Squarevanman wrote:

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Millwall supporter couldn't get his head round having to pay extra quid to sit.

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Tell him it's a pound off to stand...