My apologies, I seem to be on one this morning!! I'm generally the sort of fan who turns up about 2 minutes before KO where the home queues are non-existent meaning I walk straight in, have a quick wee and in my seat while the teams are standing in their lines and the Prem music is just about fading out. I usually have this perfectly timed, though I did miss the first goal at home to Leicester. Anyway, I digress. What is it with a fair few hundred/1000 away fans still not being in the ground before kick off? Are the coaches always late? Are they all in the pubs too late so miss-time it? Are the turnstiles not working correctly? There must have been 1000+ Sunderland fans still waiting to get in at 2.58pm this week. The same with Everton a few weeks ago. I guess they could get there earlier but I wonder if the club send out a warning to turn up early as getting in will take longer than expected?
The club regularly send out that warning. I often see it on opposition fishal sites before we play teams. I think the issue is anyone who has ever been before knows we don't serve beer in the away end and the concourse is tiny so you're pretty much straight to your seat as soon as you're in. No wonder they all turn up with 5 minutes to go.
Looks like there are only two turnstiles too? Might be four, if there are two at each entrance point, not sure. Either way that is clearly not a enough. As UEA says, no alcohol in the away end coupled with a tiny concourse means people will want to spend as little time as possible in the ground. Add to that the security checks that go on which slows down the queues. I'm sure the club will put more turnstiles in place over the Summer.
Really? They've just completed that work this season as part of the club shop build. Can't imagine they'd want to waste more money on that stand.
I'd be surprised if they didn't add a couple more turnstiles at least. The queues are absolutely ridiculous and a few more really would't cost too much in the grand scheme of things, would it?
There are 4 actual entrance turnstiles. 2 sets of 2 which isn't really enough. What is it with the catering over there anyway? When we were the home support in that end we always had alcohol. Think of the money they'd make by fixing whatever legal issue it is to get alcohol served.
I think it's the size of the concourse that's the issue. There was a change in stadium legislation at some point which meant we had to reduce the capacity at that end and i believe the no alcohol serving rule came in at the same time.. to stop people congregating on the narrow concourse. Though why people wont congregate after buying cups of tea and coffee is anyone's guess.
It cant be done. The alcohol laws changed. You cant drink in sight of the pitch and the concourses there give you the view of the pitch.
