FA Cup - The Road To Wembley - We Made it to The Final

Firstly you should be banned for writing that word that burns my eyes as it's so offensive.

Secondly, the scummers last big showing at Wembley (for the Paint Pot/FLT?) was more to do with their fans' (sic.) protest at the FL's financial and points sanctions. My cousins (6), who are from Barton-le-Clay all went to protest with their kids, they managed to get tickets but I pretty certain none of them had ever been to a Scummers match in their lives.

 

I don’t think the base is diminishing at all. Comparing it to the amount of people who attended in ‘99 isn’t really a fair comparison. Back then we didn’t have the amount of ticket buying categories that we do now - the game isn’t as big, and the vast majority of tickets are more expensive.

The club are hamstrung by what they can do with VR as it’s on such a confined site. When you take that into account, along with the fact we got smaller crowds in the Championship, I don’t see how the fan base is diminishing? And you can’t have been to most of the grounds in the Championship because ours has far more facilities than most in the division below. Some are bigger - but that doesn’t mean they are better. Our ground is on the small side, but it’s certainly now worthy of the PL. Comparing it to the newer, bigger stadiums isn’t really fair. We’ve done a good job of updating VR to bring it up to standard.

I’d like to see it taken to 25,000 and see how that works. If that’s a success then I don’t see how we make it bigger without knocking down a stand and I think then the preference would be to relocate.

What realistic ‘massive improvements’ do you think the club should be looking at that will tempt the casual fans as you state?

Personally I think now we are in the PL, tempting new fans will only really be done by reasonable ticket prices and getting bigger name players in the team.

 

Dog track.

 

The Red Helmet.

 

The prices are a big factor. I've got mates who don't have season tickets at the moment and only go if I've got one of my kids' tickets going spare or maybe to another game or two a season, simply as it's so expensive.

 

If you look at our Premier League attendances over the last 4 years there is a small drop year on year. Even though the capacity has increased every year. So even without comparing Semi Final sales its down.
Yes VR is landlocked so difficult to expand and probably limited to 25,000. Yes, its improved a lot but has been left for dead by its rivals. BTW I've been to 140+ football league grounds following Watford so I think I qualify to comment on what is a Premier League ground or not. VR is definitely not and is no way in the top twenty stadiums in England.
Casual fans don't put up with mediocre facilities like die hard fans do. They will just go somewhere better.
VR looks better than at any time in my lifetime but the next step is to expand on all sides if were going to stay there and grow.

 

VR is one of the cheapest grounds to watch PL football. I would love to see a £30 cap for HOME fans tickets like the away fans cap. I'm sure it will come soon as TV is the main income for clubs in PL.

 

Seems like the 3 little clubs have each sold more than Man City. I know they have big games coming up and they are Northern but by the sound of things they have only sold 20k so far.

See we aren't so bad after all.

 

Huddersfield away tickets surprisingly easy to buy.

 

It's a 6 pointer too.

 

Great knowledge, would be great to see your list of grounds better than VR. Please post your list of the 140+ grounds and the ones better than VR in http://wfcforums.com/index.php?threads/stadium-expansion.48315

 

Jeez Okay, easier to list the ones I haven't been to. I'll do it on the other thread when I've got a bit of spare time.

 

License more half ‘n half vendors & they’ll come flooding in.

 

Excellent work getting the lad started so young.

 

It's definitely cheaper in comparison, but doesn't make it affordable, especially if taking a family.

£30 cap across the board would be excellent.

 

What are the facilities that are so poor when compared with other clubs our size that you deem ‘mediocre’?

I’m not sure I said that VR is one of the top 20 grounds in the country. But I’m still unsure why you say its Championship standard?

Of course you are entitled to your opinion - but I’m just not sure of the criteria you are basing it upon. ‘More seats’ isn’t really a facility that will bring in more fans so it has to be more than that surely?

 

A bit tough on Eastcoast there FD4 when he's actually making a valid point. The questions the club should be asking is to people who've held season tickets for many years who then gave them up, like myself. Going to the Vic towards the end of last season started to become an experience I simply didn't want to do every other Saturday afternoon, and the football was the least of it.

 

That's not right. It increased in the summer after promotion and has dropped steadily since as various adaptations have been made in disabled facilities.

 

Exactly.

And how many of our games are now shown live on tv?

Most of our home games.

Much easier experience for the ‘Watford curious’ floating fan.

 

Agreed. The quality of "football coverage" in real time via the Sky panel, live matches and the ability to watch matches back in full or 30 mins highlights on sky can't be underestimated. When I go I genuinely miss not seeing the Jeff Stelling show.

 

If we're not in the top 20, aren't we by definition "Championship standard" ?

 

Yeah that’s me... I’m really miffed!
Why not just release them all and then it’s first come first served according to cat privileges. If I hadn’t have rushed i could’ve ended up with a much better choice!

 

140? I wouldn't have said we've even played at 140 different grounds but fair play to you. What grounds are better than ours outside of the Premier League?

 

Apparently we've sold tickets 28,350 to date.

 

The best seats (bar corporate) are Upper GT. To get a drink at half time you need to wait 5 mins for the corporate lot to walk past. Then wait in a long queue for a drink and likewise to use the toilets.
The concourse is freezing cold in winter and windy because its open at the rear. There are little or no seats so the whole prematch/halftime thing is not as good as it could/should be in the most expensive seats. This is just one example.
Another is that the VR stand concourse is not fit for purpose.
IMO the best twenty stadiums would be classed as Premier standard, IMO we are half way down the Championship, there are 3 or 4 grounds in the 3rd/4th divisions that are better.(MK,Cov,Sunderland maybe Charlton).
I agree with you that 'More Seats' doesn't mean better but it does help when you start winning. I'm basing it upon personal impressions like aesthetics, atmosphere, the whole experience of going to a match at that stadium.

 

I Blame Brexit. Or Bassett.

 

The guy on my photography course who couldn’t afford a wide angle lens for module 3.

 

I'd say VR is better than PL: Bournemouth,Burnley,C Palace.
I 'd say VR isn't as good as :Norwich,Sheffield Utd,Leeds,WBA,Boro,Villa,Derby,Bristol C,Sheff W,Forest,Hull,Swansea,Stoke,Birmingham,Reading,Bolton,Ipswich add Sundland,Cov,and MK.

 

Source? (Not disputing, just interested!)

 

Well I guess it’s all in the eye of the beholder....

Sunderland’s atmosphere is very reliant on them doing well - otherwise the ground is empty and soulless.
Coventry is so far out of the city centre and there is no buzz around the ground at all - literally just a bunch of people filing in and out.
The above goes for Derby as well.
MK Dons have comfy seats and some fast food outlets outside but is that really why people go to the football? To get a beer there is worse than any ground I’ve been to as they have penned-in bar areas that are both small and crowded.

The complaints you have about VR hold some weight but I’ve yet to go to a ground yet where it’s as simple as rising to your feet when the H/T whistle goes and sauntering straight to the front of the queue for a beer or food. Certainly not in a ground that is 80%ish full like VR.

While some of your arguments are true, I do think they set an unrealistic argument to what you can expect from a game of football. Aesthetically, I think VR is now a very attractive ground - and looks far better than a lot of the modern ‘bowl’ stadiums - the one benefit they have is better concourses I agree. I think we realise that we can’t affect that given the ground limitations - perhaps why they are opening more restaurants/bars in the ground, to draw fans in there instead. Sadly, I think the criteria for getting access to these newer areas is a drawback to what they are trying to achieve.

Are there stadiums better than ours outside the PL? Of course. But I do think ours is PL-worthy, if on the small side. But I think the club are being prudent and sensible with the improvements. I cannot agree we have mediocre facilities or that it’s Championship quality.

 

Just checked on the extremely nerdy footballgroundmap.com and its 144 but that includes friendlies abroad, I haven't updated it for a few years either.

 

Looking at the Interactive Seat Map thingy, blocks 549-552 are open for sale and hardly any tickets sold in there, so that's about 2,700 unsold.
Then the blocks 545-549 have quite a few still available, so I'd reckon 4k are still unsold...not sure if/how the club will try to sell them.

 

Well you did ask.

Getting there. Some days it would be quicker to walk. The new Met line extension would have been outstanding but sadly that now affects the whole club. Nowhere to park nearby means if I can't walk I need to get the missus to give me a lift or walk from Watford tube. Coming in from the town side is great, pubs, food outlets, atmosphere etc, but coming in from the other direction is a souless & dire experience.
The Red Lion, an utter sh*thole.
Stewards barking orders before you even get in like we're children. Stewards searching bags, (yes I know but I'm probably the polar opposite of a "profile").
TVs not working in the SEJ, kids unable to serve basic drinks in the SEJ, prices, toilet queues.
Playing music and entertainment so loud pre match that I can't even chat to my mates &kids.
I hate to say this one, but some of my fellow Watford fans who sat around me last year didn't fill me with joy. Especially the **** shouting racist abuse behind me a couple of times. Maybe I need to be back in my spiritual home, (Rookery).
Half time shootouts where the club do their absolute best to make sure you all think girls can't kick a football. My daughter plays to a very good standard so that annoys the absolute h*ll out of me.
Half time queues for everything, (though the beer token thing did work quite well the one time I tried it).

And the one thing that Watford do best that I've had no experience of at ANY other ground I've been to? The sardine tin that is Occupation Road after the game. They park the away bus at the top of the road like they're actually doing it on purpose. Then when you make it to the hospital they started letting cars out whilst there were still hundreds of people walking past.

All little things that add up to me not wanting to go anymore. All things that could easily be fixed, (or made better in the case of Occupation Road). Have the club ever asked why I didn't renew? No.

 

Sounds like the Meldrew enclosure Upper GT is beckoning for you?