Re: What went well and what didnt go well? : Sat Jan 21, 2012 7:55 am  

What went well

!st time visit and was very impressed with the stadium and immaculate playing surface
Turnstiles were super fast
Saints Gold Bitter is lovely (very strong)
Loved the walk inside around the concourse

Negatives

Not enough bar staff waited too long to get served in Founders Bar & under the West Stand
Can't wait for the Cladding to be put up as it was blowing a gale with the floor in the concourse soaking wet
West stand was over packed near me and people were standing in the isles and you could not get passed, later on they were moved to the north stand?
Will the West & East hold the 4500 allocated?????????
PA system was rubbish you could not hear it
Final hooter the same it needs to be louder

Re: What went well and what didnt go well? : Sat Jan 21, 2012 8:36 am  

Hopefully someone will forward the comments in this thread to someone at saints so they know the recurring themes

Re: What went well and what didnt go well? : Sat Jan 21, 2012 9:07 am  

FearTheVee wrote:

Hopefully someone will forward ask three comments in this thread to someone at saints so they know the reviewing themes

I expected teething problems with the bar staff, it's new to them and no matter how much training they have done its still tough for their first night with 12,000 fans and I'm pretty sure after few home games it will be right as rain. Don't forget, everyone wanted to test out the beer, saints gold, burgers etc, wgen the season kicks off most will be having pre match beers in the pub.

The PA system was utter rubbish but again, it's a easy problem to fix and found it strange as the PA on the open training event was very very loud.

The main problem for me and IMO is a huge health & saftey risk is the amounts of rain water on the floor in the bar areas, in some areas it was pretty deep and was very slippy. IMO that's the only thing that pests this great rugby stadium and and I think it's a huge problem that needs sorting ASAP!

Re: What went well and what didnt go well? : Sat Jan 21, 2012 9:28 am  

I expected to get through the turnstile quicker, might be better when majority use the swipe card.
Did notice one thing when leaving the concourse to take your seat, every entrance there where 2 stewards standing in front of the seating signs so that you can,t read them.
Those first 3 rows of the South Stand very wet, wouldn't,t like to be seated there.
On the positive side, it's a great stadium and have no doubt it's functionality will improve as we progress into the season.

Re: What went well and what didnt go well? : Sat Jan 21, 2012 9:38 am  

In general the ground is really good, views will be good everywhere, the concourses are big which allows good movement and there's a variety of bars and kiosks within the stadium. The walk over the bridge to Langtree Park is superb, it's the type of thing you'd expect at Wembley anmd when you hit the corner of the south stand it really is a beautiful arena to look at especially with KC's statue prominant too.

All 3 stands need to be cladded asap, the North Stand concourse was a disgrace last night and it takes away from what a fantastic stadium we have in the main. We're in England not Tenerife and our games are at 8pm on a Friday night, it will rain even in the summer months. I can't believe Saints aren't intending on cladding this, this decision needs to be revised asap, the stand is potentially dangerous. It only takes one person to slip (which was highly possible in a stand full of puddles last night) and the club will get sued. If we were living in a hot country I'd understand but we're not. The wind sweeping in from the sides makes for a cold night with the stadium being so open currently. For me it's the biggest let down and HAS to be sorted as a priorty. There was also a problem with leaving the ground as it bottlenecks near tesco and takes an age to get back into town. A minor problem as I didn't evene think myself how busy it'd be, but maybe Saints could look into ways of traffic flow from when fans leave the stadium to allow for it to be easier. Also the lack of lighting near tesco makes it dark and dangerous IMO.

Re: What went well and what didnt go well? : Sat Jan 21, 2012 10:18 am  

The Stadium itself is fantastic except for the concourses. I thought they were very dangerous last night and had every chance of an accident waiting to happen. Some of the water seemed to be coming from the inside area and flowing down the slopes of the 'tunnels' you walk through to go to your seat. Regarding the bars - there was a massive queue at the bar near us in North Stand so went to one 20 metres further up and no queue whatsoever. When we went passed the original queue on our way back to our seats they had only moved up about two places in the queue. It's worth a minute checking before you join a queue. The PA system was awful last night but I'm sure that can soon be fixed.

Re: What went well and what didnt go well? : Sat Jan 21, 2012 10:30 am  

Agent Mulder wrote:

The Stadium itself is fantastic except for the concourses. I thought they were very dangerous last night and had every chance of an accident waiting to happen. Some of the water seemed to be coming from the inside area and flowing down the slopes of the 'tunnels' you walk through to go to your seat. Regarding the bars - there was a massive queue at the bar near us in North Stand so went to one 20 metres further up and no queue whatsoever. When we went passed the original queue on our way back to our seats they had only moved up about two places in the queue. It's worth a minute checking before you join a queue. The PA system was awful last night but I'm sure that can soon be fixed.

A lot of the problems like PA and queues at the bars are easily fixed and no doubt be sorted but it's the concourses that's the big problem and pretty unsafe with all the puddles of rain water.

Standing in few inch puddles while in line to get food or drink is not acceptable!

Re: What went well and what didnt go well? : Sat Jan 21, 2012 1:06 pm  

What went well

Loved the walk to the stadium. I just can't get over how cool Saints Way bridge is and what a thrill it is to turn the corner at Tesco and face the South Stand. Amazing.

Loved being able to stroll around the concourse.

Loved my spec in the West Stand. At the training session I felt the action was too far away but I'm glad I went to that night because it helped me to adjust from the days at Widnes so that I could really enjoy the view from my chosen place last night.

I thought us in the West Stand did ok for a first hit out and considering it took most of the match for the team to get going (no surprise there given that it was this version of Saints' first game on the pitch this year).

Saints sell coffee in cups that I can hold for longer than 10 seconds. BONUS!!

Also, I was served very quickly before the match. I didn't attempt to get a drink at halftime; I never do. It's always a waste of my life no matter which stadium I am in! I felt sorry for the events staff. I know Saints have been recruiting to those positions so we have a lot of inexperienced young people serving. Hopefully they won't have been too put off by the comments of some of the more demanding and less considerate fans but instead will stick with it as I am sure they will grow in confidence and efficiency as time goes on.

I enjoyed listening to music while I was waiting to enter the stadium.

The special matchday programme was fabulous.

Although the volume needs raising, the PA connection had improved as not once did it cut out like it did on the training night.

I enjoyed reading all the legends boards. Those and the Robinsons signs really add a touch of something different to the concourses.

The toilet facilities are great! Loads of cubicles, plenty of wash basins and four hand dryers meant that there wasn't any delay to the ablutions.

The steps on the terracing were nice and deep. I never got the feeling I was going to fall when walking down, which I do sometimes at other grounds.

The stewards were very helpful and friendly. One held my coffee while I was taking pictures!

It only took me five minutes longer to get back into the town centre after the match than it did to get to the match (and I got to Langtree Park at 6.20). That's good going given the number of fans walking in the same direction.

I thought the whole ambience was one of friendly welcome rather than being all dictatorial, as seemed to be the case at Widnes. Very few lectures to be heard!

What didn't go so well

PA needs turning up in the West Stand.

I really wish no beer was allowed in the West Stand.

The obvious one about the 'water feature' as one fan wittily observed. Hopefully the cladding will at least minimise weather disruption once it is completed.

Saints need to block off the pathway alongside Tesco when people exit the stadium to encourage fans to use the much wider and better lit boulevard areas.

Re: What went well and what didnt go well? : Sat Jan 21, 2012 3:57 pm  

Not enough bar staff.
Couldnt be bothered getting a drink at half time in the south stand, the queue was never ending.

Be great when the cladding and advertising hoardings are up though.
The flood lights are very low, soon as the balls kicked high I was blinded by them

surprised there isnt a permanant screen in the corner.
Decent PA cost a lot of money so never expect anything special for that but would be a very nice bonus.

Toilets are no where near as good as knowsley road, There are these wierd white bowls that you can flush, and then people where using bowls to put water on there hands.
In fact they where inside.
Must be temperary until they bring the old ones to the new ground.

Re: What went well and what didnt go well? : Sat Jan 21, 2012 9:12 pm  

Saddened! wrote:

couldn't hear the post try music

Every cloud eh?