Coming to a place near you. Known as The Vic. The idea is to phase out the option to pay cash for beers at h.t. to help move the queues along. So buy the vouchers in advance. They'll work for any match. Contactless cards will still be accepted too. So let's give it a try. It is after all an initiative to address complaints about the long queues. Of course pre-poured pints would help too and I'll keep banging on about that as well.
In the Upper GT on Saturday the pumps weren't working, in the central bar anyway, why not? They've only had all summer to test them. So I didn't bother with half time tokens. Part of the reason for introducing them I guess is so they can cash up nice and early.
Not good. The catering can be so hit and miss. I thought it improved over last season but the frustration is the lack of consistency. And now there will be a whole load of new staff to get up to speed. But it's the club that's initiated the tokens idea. And it will only have an opportunity to work and improve efficiency if we buy into it and give it a chance. Assuming the beer pumps are working of course! They could simply have said it's the caterers responsibility, nothing to do with us guv, there are always big queues at h.t. at football matches, live with it. Instead, they're trying a new initiative to help improve the situation.
I think the catering is a joke at all public events. Needs to be revolutionised. Pre poured pints are so obvious! But my guess is that Carlsberg demand that the punter has to see the pint being poured. They could also hire staff that are just more on it. So bad on most of the bars around the ground.
Having had the misfortune of having to pay £5.50 for a 33oml plastic bottle of Heiniken at the athletics last week I tend to agree. It's about time football supporters were started to be treated as humans again rather than potential hooligans. I find the whole matchday experience these days unpleasant and hence haven't been for a couple of years now. I think things will only change when people vote with their feet.
They are so slow to serve anything. They obviously employ at a cheap rate. Seem to have loads of staff doing nothing much really. Separate alcohol. Hot drinks. (you old people wanting tea take forever) And food stands would be best I think.
They've been doing this at Warrington Wolves for a couple of seasons now - certainly has helped reduce the queues, particularly at half time.
Pre poured pints is exactly it. Even 2/3s full pints if they insist on seeing it poured. Or just buy one of those multi pint fillers that they have at festivals. Can't be that expensive.
Football fans have long since been ripped off.. well at any public event where there is a monopoly.. athletics for example. But are we not pretty much treated as humans these days? I know there's an ongoing thing with stewarding.. and at times it can be overbearing, but then again you still get a percentage of young males who feel the need to 'act up' cause its the football. So maybe in some cases i can understand stewards giving people short shrift. Anyway i digress.. what aspect of the matchday experience puts you off going?
Don't even need pre-poured pints. Just get some of those machines, that allow you fill cups rapidly from the bottom. Always been impressed with those, and speeds the whole process up no end.
Just the whole entry & exit rigmarole. Not being able to take a drink in. Not being able to have a beer in your seat. I'm old and respected enough to drop £30 quid plus but can;t be trusted with a bottle cap. That and I'm a lazy fecker.
Its worse than that when we get into Europe you wont be able to drink at all at any game. Bloody eurocrats, take that Brussels!
Missed first game as on holiday. Is the thing brewer pint still being served or was that just a pilot.
Last year was not an issue - the football was so poor that one of our group went down at 3.30 to order. Problem was we used to fight about who went as we all wanted to sit down in the bar rather than watch Queues should be bigger this year with the "hopefully" improved style of play
So beer tokens only for HT then? What happens before the game, is it all contactless?...and where can you get the tokens from?...and what happens if you buy one token but then fancy two pints? I'm confused
I've stopped drinking at half-time once they stopped doing Guinness. I know it usually does take a bit longer to pour, but pre-pour 3/4 up front and its done. Pity, thats my custom done for the year and theres 4 of us who used to enjoy a Guinness at half time.
Join the revolution comrades and don't buy anything from the ground ever. A totally stress free experience.
I've seen this system in the Netherlands and tbf it actually works. There's only two things that need to happen for this to work- a bloody huge lot of advertising to the fans to ensure they don't miss out on tokens (and therefore increase customer satisfaction) and improve the staff (which will never effing happen). Which is why it's much better to do this
Bought two bottles of Carlsberg and then I bought two tokens... Came back down at half time and spent 5 mins getting served at the bar, only to be told the tokens were for pints only. It would've been quicker to have paid for bottles (that I wanted) than to have exchanged my tokens for two pints and watch frustratingly as they slowly got poured. Good idea, but not convinced. Will give it another go next week.
To be fair in a rapid turn around situation like that it's better just to serve bottles. Generates the same mess much faster, less spillages, and no need for pump equipment. Much as I'm an avid supporter of a decent real ale in a proper glass glass, that just can't happen somewhere as busy as a football stadium.
Can you carry over tokens? Take em home with you for the next game? Also, there should be a token kiosk in the centre of town, OR sell tokens at other pubs too pre match and give say 30p of each sale of a token to that pub. It literally is so simple. I wish someone with a head on their shoulders would address all this!
Yes you can carry them over. It's a new initiative. Warrington has told us it's worked well at the rugby league. So bear with it. Your extra ideas may very well work. But the point is that the club are taking an inititiative to address the h.t. congestion problem rather than simply saying it's all down to the caterers and every club has an h.t. problem so suck it up. I agree entirely with other posters re. pre-poured pints. And with the getting in some of those 'from the bottom up' thingummies. Obviously the scheme will be subject to fine tuning as we go along and we all get used to it. But it isn't 'literally so simple' from the off and those that are driving it certainly have a' head on their shoulders'. History is littered with those that weren't involved in a process but made it out to be more simplistic than it is. All I want is to be able to nip out at h.t., get a pint and be back in my seat for the second half. Not an unreasonable expectation and one I bet others share. I think this is a reasonable inititiative in moving to achieving that.
This was a very very good idea. Worked well first game of the season, didn't have to queue up at all.
Agree. Bought a pint and a token before the game then at half time wandered up to the kiosk and was handed a pint straight away. The only suggestion I have is to have a separate area away from the kiosks to buy tokens.
Yeah maybe just through the turnstiles in that little area outside as you're coming in (in the Rookery anyway). Would stop people forgetting to do it too.
Yes. I agree with the majority of this. and I agree that history is littered with people that weren't involved in a process thinking it's more simple. But modern history is littered with people who weren't involved in a process making it more simple (Uber/AirBnb as two examples). The fat cats are happy to have us nipping out to get one pint. Keeps us quiet etc. But if I'm being honest. I spend a fair whack of my humble graduate wage on following the boys in yellow up and down this country. And I, like you and the other 20,000 in vicarage road (and many more up and down the country) keep this game alive. So I say I want better service. I want to get two theee four pints hassle free. I want a decent hot dog. This is a club. It's somewhere I feel like I'm part of a community. So let me hang around a bit more. Let me! And I think that's a fair request. And i think it's a manageable request.
Just make the bars contactless payment only. No need to spend time and money generating a system or another area to queue.
First time back at the ground since this was introduced tonight - how does it work? Do I buy the tokens for half time before the game or can I use my contactless card at half time anyway?