Facilities At The Vic

I attended the recent QPR game. I have picked the Elton John stand (Rookery End) for our last number of trips as this is the best place to get seats together for myself and my three boys (now all adults). We said that we would take a look at the bunker before the game, but the queue was so long, that it resulted in a short alcohol free stint in there and we said that we would get a pint in the stadium. Once in the stadium, we were tasked with trying to order 4 beers from a machine, with only 1 of the four dispensers working (there was another 2 dispensers, but they were serving something called Ale). It would not inspire me to use this service again. I am not a regular drinker, but it is nice to have a couple of pints before and after a match, but this service was not good. I am not sure if the same machines have replaced regular bars in other areas of the ground, and, if so, it seems to me that the only way to enjoy a comfortable drink at a game, served by a human, would be to go corporate. That is not within everyone's budget, particularly when you add on flights and accommodation. Despite that and the 0-0, we has a very enjoyable trip.

 

There's still plenty of kiosks to get a beer from, though I'm not convinced the staff manning them always meet the high standard of 'human' in their customer service and drink pouring skills. The machines are just a new-fangled idea to try and deflect some of the crowds.

I dunno about the EJ stand but if you're in the Rookery you can walk around to the Upper GT concourse, where there are plenty of places to get served. Albeit with the queues to go with them!

 

I'm sure the kiosk staff go as slow as they possibly can. I very rarely buy anything in the ground but on the rare occasion I do it usually serves as a reminder to not bother again any time soon.

 

I was in the SEJ stand on Saturday with my Son and a newcomer to the Vic. Trying to get a beer beforehand was an utter joke. Trying to get one at halftime is an utter joke.
It will never change until someone has the b*lls and energy to do something about it.

My solutions if I had such a job:
Get rid of the Budweiser, it's a childs fizzy drink, (imagine the h*ll if they actually sold a decent beer)?
Have entirely separate queues for food and for alcohol, (maybe just an SEJ thing)
Open another 2 serving areas, (there is plenty of room to do so)
Train staff to serve rather than chat and faff about, (IE get competent people behind there)
Give out beer in plastic bottles rather than pour into the plastic glass, (same with the cider)
Get people to pay WHILST serving not before or afterwards

How much money are the club losing due to ridiculously slow queues? To be fair the away end at the Wednesday game was even worse but then the staff they had serving simply didn't give a flying ****.

 

That's just far too sensible of an idea.

 

I've been twice this season and on both visits it was like it was every member of bar staffs first time pouring a pint. Wasn't isolated to just my server either, I looked at them and all were absolutely atrocious. I don't get why they don't start filling up pints (at least halfway) a few mins before the end of the first half? You're gonna sell them, then can just top them up and that'll go a long way to eliminating queues.

 

In the bar by the Vic Road home turnstiles they serve Camden Hells lager and Pale Ale

 

I've no experience of this at the VIc but - you don't go to bars much, do you?

 

I sit in the Graham Taylor Stand and always head in early to the little bar up the top close to the family stand, always easy to get a beer in there and early kick off in the championship and premier league is usually on. Think it's quite unique to have a facility like this within the premis of the stadium.

 

I’ve been twice as well and my experience was exactly the same, in the GT. Against Boro trying to get a drink before the match we joined a queue at one of the kiosks that seemed a bit shorter than a larger snaking one, but still had about 10 people in it and moved a glacial pace. As we got about three from the front, one of the staff said oh this isn’t actually a queue, this till is shut, despite either serving everyone up that point, or just taking it in turns to serve both queues closet to the till that was open.

The people in front kicked off and said well can’t someone come and open this till as we’ve queued all this time, which they grudgingly did, however they still took an absolute age to serve everyone to the point a bloke further back in the queue started shouting for them to hurry up.

Now obviously that was wrong of him, but someone who I assume was some sort of supervisor came over, scowled at him and told him not to speak to the staff like that.

Then I saw her actively tell all the staff to slow down even more on purpose because of this guy, which they did so it took even longer.

They seem to actively go out of their way to delight in taking as long as possible, which as a business to me is mind boggling. You get big queues at festival bars but they’re generally well oiled, with drinks pre-poured, people taking orders and separate people running the tills, the aim of the game is to shift drinks quickly and you’d assume at a football match with a finite window to do this it would be even more efficient.

It’s mind boggling that they don’t at the very least incentivise one supervisor per kiosk to get the staff actively shifting as many drinks as quickly as possible.

 

Can anyone go in there? Never been quite sure what the deal is with that place.

 

Don't buy anything. I thought the club outsource all the catering units for an upfront agreed price so it makes no difference to Watford FC.

 

Yup. Though I suppose the club gets a cut?

To be honest a lot of areas are looking a bit tired now. There's tvs in the top bar of the Rookery that have been on the blink for over a year. The club can't be that skint they can't afford a few hundred quid for a replacement, so I figure they just don't care.

 

Yeah anyone can, but unless you go way before half time you won't get in. Word seems to have got round and it's rammed.

 

My experience is largely based at the kiosks in the Rookery, and the service has been dire for a long time. The staff there are probably paid a pittance, but they slope around like zombies and can’t pour a drink (or decant a can into a plastic glass) to save their lives.

The whole system needs a complete overhaul.

 

Yes anyone can access it, I have never tried to go in at half time, not sure it stays open after kick off but it is easy enough to get a drink in there before kick off. I find it very convenient to have a quick pint or two catch the end of the earlier games and walk round to my seat before the game.

 

Yes anybody can go in although the queue at half time is very long. If they had more people serving it would be so much better. There are plenty of taps to allow at least four people serving at one time

 

Not in the EJ, one kiosk in the side he was in and some automated machines that rarely function. You are stuck in that one half of the stand. Can't move to the bit other side of the tunnel or access the horse shoe facilities, like you can from the other 3 stands.

 

Didn't they change the supplier for this season, from my experience up until last season the service was passable, now it's simply abysmal.

As Saturday was early, I only fancied a half at HT, so did my mate. He ordered half a Budweiser and half a pale ale, the stupid clown behind the bar poured the Bud up to halfway and then continued to pour the pale ale into the same glass!

 

Have you never heard of a 'half and half'?

 

An interesting discussion for sure - and can certainly be tagged on to debates about finances and a new owner/new stadium etc.

Very often we discuss a new stadium not being required because of the size of the club/fan base etc, but we do often overlook the benefits a new stadium would bring. Larger concourses, better catering and hosting spaces etc.

 

Yeah, there was an email sent by the club about it quite recently:

https://latest.watfordfc.com/cr/AQjH0xUQuJwUGMPk1Qh4p_P71gSo92RxydpQJ2n23na1Sx57IPWERxLKovRUvg

Apparently there's "more to come" from them and they acknowledge "teething problems".

 

That should really always be the reason for looking to build a new stadium, far easier to get existing fans to spend more in a nicer environment than attract brand new fans to fill more seats. That’s before you get into the income from making it available for other income sources outside of the few hours a week it’s used for football.

 

Still only one half wit **** serving though !!

 

As TuT also pointed out, there are obviously many facets to the customer experience, and it doesn't just apply to the Vic but anywhere. An experience will only be as good as the lowest common denominator.

 

The Indians at Hunton Bridge, no thanks.

 

No f**king way That is comical!

 

The catering at the stadium has been s**t for as long as I can remember, but this season is exceptionally bad.

In the lower concourse of the Rookery you have to queue facing away from the catering outlets to order food and drink, before queuing the other way to collect it. When I last tried there was only one machine that was working, so ordering was a nightmare. There were multiple staff standing around doing nothing as a result.

In the SEJ stand they have one person serving per till, meaning they take the order, then the payment, then pour the drinks / grab the food. You won't get served until the 2nd half has begun. It's mind blowing how incompetent multiple caterers have been at serving at the stadium, it's so simple to resolve. Have 2 people on each till (like there used to be) and create an alcohol only kiosk and a food & drinks kiosk. That would immediately filter out a large percentage of fans who just want to grab a pint into a different queue, whilst anyone who wants a pie and a drink can queue separately.

They would easily make the money back on increased staff costs if they were actually able to serve people efficiently.

 

As you say, applies to probably 90% of clubs, especially those with dated infrastructure. I doubt the young people just off job-seekers and the other staff are particularly enthused by the conditions they work in and probably put in the effort and concentration to match.

Not defending it but I dare say I’d struggle to motivate myself in such surroundings, with the conditions likely attached in a job I know I won’t stay in long.

You get the same staff in most matchday environments across all sports - but it’s always better when the conditions and infrastructure is better.

 

I'd have thought they're nearly all agency staff. Same as most of the stewards on a matchday too. Bussed in, listen to a short induction, work a shift, almost certainly 50% of them have never set foot in a stadium before, go home and never come back.