Jump to content

New ICT Podcast


RiG

Recommended Posts

I was impressed with Gardiner. He seemed very passionate about the club and getting it back to the top league. He seems confident he has got the right people onto the board to move forward. 

Regarding fan experience, it shouldn't be too difficult but could be costly of course. I think a small beer tent beside the concourse. Have a DJ or at least a iPod playing songs which are linked to the club. Have a family area with beat the goalie for a quid, and little football skills games. Encourage away fans out. Have these things at from say 1pm. Have a bus from the centre. If there is enough stuff to keep us entertained then we will come. We will spend money etc. Even if you are not there. It would be nice to arrive at a ground where you hear fans singing or at least tunes playing and creates some sort of atmosphere

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Stirling Observer said:

I was impressed with Gardiner. He seemed very passionate about the club and getting it back to the top league. He seems confident he has got the right people onto the board to move forward. 

Regarding fan experience, it shouldn't be too difficult but could be costly of course. I think a small beer tent beside the concourse. Have a DJ or at least a iPod playing songs which are linked to the club. Have a family area with beat the goalie for a quid, and little football skills games. Encourage away fans out. Have these things at from say 1pm. Have a bus from the centre. If there is enough stuff to keep us entertained then we will come. We will spend money etc. Even if you are not there. It would be nice to arrive at a ground where you hear fans singing or at least tunes playing and creates some sort of atmosphere

Doing up the car park and clearing the brush around the ground would be a better start. Looks like they've just slapped it down wherever they could and didn't bother making the place look nice first. The shortcut from the north stand to the Kessock Bridge needs cleared, cos all that is covered in jaggy bushes, and maybe sorting out the turnstile at the far end of the north stand (not sure if there's one on the south stand or not) but it would be useful to have it fixed, because the queues for the big games against C*unty, The Dons and the Ugly Sisters are immense and if I remember right, I missed kick off at the cup replay because they had issues with the scanner, and were putting everyone through that one turnstile on the roadside. A LOT needs to be done to the stadium and its grounds before the topic of entertainment comes up. Another thing that would be useful (not right now, but in a few years or so, would be the development of the fourth stand. Even something the size of what the old north stand would be sufficient. Because, for a Premiership side (well, a side that's mainly been in the premiership), it looks a bit off that we've three fully developed stands, and one stand that was intended to be temporary, and something that definitely would've benefited us with a much higher gate reciept if we had a decent stand for the game vs Astra, and hell, we'd definitely have needed it if we went on to play West Ham. If we're looking to be a relatively decent Premiership side, building up the ground comes just before the pre-match entertainment, mainly down to the fact that the stands are barren for ages until about 45 minutes before kick-off, so there's not really anyone to entertain...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

37 minutes ago, Jack Waddington said:

Doing up the car park and clearing the brush around the ground would be a better start. Looks like they've just slapped it down wherever they could and didn't bother making the place look nice first. The shortcut from the north stand to the Kessock Bridge needs cleared, cos all that is covered in jaggy bushes, and maybe sorting out the turnstile at the far end of the north stand (not sure if there's one on the south stand or not) but it would be useful to have it fixed, because the queues for the big games against C*unty, The Dons and the Ugly Sisters are immense and if I remember right, I missed kick off at the cup replay because they had issues with the scanner, and were putting everyone through that one turnstile on the roadside. A LOT needs to be done to the stadium and its grounds before the topic of entertainment comes up. Another thing that would be useful (not right now, but in a few years or so, would be the development of the fourth stand. Even something the size of what the old north stand would be sufficient. Because, for a Premiership side (well, a side that's mainly been in the premiership), it looks a bit off that we've three fully developed stands, and one stand that was intended to be temporary, and something that definitely would've benefited us with a much higher gate reciept if we had a decent stand for the game vs Astra, and hell, we'd definitely have needed it if we went on to play West Ham. If we're looking to be a relatively decent Premiership side, building up the ground comes just before the pre-match entertainment, mainly down to the fact that the stands are barren for ages until about 45 minutes before kick-off, so there's not really anyone to entertain...

A west stand would be expensive at a time we have no money.

Even in the top league, how many times did we sell out totally?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I couldn't care less about the stadium aesthetics or bushes. That won't bring back fans. The match day experience will. At the moment its a souless experience for all involved with fans and sometimes players just going through the motions. Atmosphere doesn't just happen. Sometimes it needs a bit of a nudge.

Regarding the stands.It's the chicken and egg stuff the Gardiner was talking about. We need to attract fans first and foremost. Increasing the number of home fans provides a consistent increased revenue. Away fans are then a bonus, not a necessity. 

  • Agree 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My thoughts on the stadium and crowd have been vented before but it is outwith the clubs remit...kind of. A lot of grounds, including the big one's, lost a lot of atmosphere when all seater stadia was made law. Bring back the terraces so we can all mix together and jump up and down and sing thus creating an atmosphere :ponder: 

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

With the lack of football, it's giving time for fans to reflect on what it is we actually miss most. 

Is it the sense of belonging/community/family

Is it the social aspect, before and after the game included.

Is the watching the football

Out of the 3 I would presume that the football is probably bottom for a lot of people. Football is very much a social thing with friends or family. Hence why is important for the club to seize on 'fan experience' to increase revenue and attract more people to enjoy the experience before and after the 90mins and come back again and again and bring others with them. The current match day is very unattractive and hard to attract others to come along. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agree with everything SO says. 

when we spoke to Scot on the pod I wanted to stress the importance of a good pre match experience for fans to gather at the stadium to create a buzz before games because at at the moment it’s a very flat experience before KO

creating a mini fan zone will bring in extra revenue for the club and that can be used for any landscape or stadium upgrades

 

Edited by RedCard
  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know every pound is a prisoner but for all the talk of a 4th stand, I'd rather see a covered terracing there. That's where most of us used to stand in the good old Pele days. That would do wonders for the atmosphere. And somebody will correct me but aren't you allowed to use terracing in the Premiership nowadays?

Edited by TheMantis
  • Agree 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, TheMantis said:

I know every pound is a prisoner but for all the talk of a 4th stand, I'd rather see a covered terracing there. That's where most of us used to stand in the good old Pele days. That would do wonders for the atmosphere. And somebody will correct me but aren't you allowed to use terracing in the Premiership nowadays?

I think terracing as they were will never return to the top leagues in the UK but it maybe that the terrace could be reopened as rail seating but that will be costly. I don't know if the rules have changed but would be surprised to see terracing as it was allowed to be used in the premiership even though the ones that Caley would have wont be very big.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, gingerjaggy said:

I think terracing as they were will never return to the top leagues in the UK but it maybe that the terrace could be reopened as rail seating but that will be costly. I don't know if the rules have changed but would be surprised to see terracing as it was allowed to be used in the premiership even though the ones that Caley would have wont be very big.

Think for the Prem, it goes by capacity AND covered seating, same argument went round the other season when Ayr were in the playoffs, and it was said they'd be allowed in even though most of their stadium is terraced...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/20/2020 at 5:43 PM, Jack Waddington said:

Doing up the car park and clearing the brush around the ground would be a better start. Looks like they've just slapped it down wherever they could and didn't bother making the place look nice first. The shortcut from the north stand to the Kessock Bridge needs cleared, cos all that is covered in jaggy bushes, and maybe sorting out the turnstile at the far end of the north stand (not sure if there's one on the south stand or not) but it would be useful to have it fixed, because the queues for the big games against C*unty, The Dons and the Ugly Sisters are immense and if I remember right, I missed kick off at the cup replay because they had issues with the scanner, and were putting everyone through that one turnstile on the roadside. A LOT needs to be done to the stadium and its grounds before the topic of entertainment comes up. Another thing that would be useful (not right now, but in a few years or so, would be the development of the fourth stand. Even something the size of what the old north stand would be sufficient. Because, for a Premiership side (well, a side that's mainly been in the premiership), it looks a bit off that we've three fully developed stands, and one stand that was intended to be temporary, and something that definitely would've benefited us with a much higher gate reciept if we had a decent stand for the game vs Astra, and hell, we'd definitely have needed it if we went on to play West Ham. If we're looking to be a relatively decent Premiership side, building up the ground comes just before the pre-match entertainment, mainly down to the fact that the stands are barren for ages until about 45 minutes before kick-off, so there's not really anyone to entertain...

This argument comes up every so often ..... The car park is not fully paved because if it was the business rates would be higher and we can seldom afford more cost. The 'shortcut' to the bridge is just that, a shortcut created by fans, not an official road so dont expect the club to do anything they could beheld liable for later. its likely they also dont have any right to do anything on the side of the A9 as that would not be their land.

As for entertainment versus upgrade, we need both. If we can find economical ways to enhance the matchday experience and use revenue generated to make minor improvements to keep that experience moving forwards then thats great but we simply dont have the money to upgrade the ground first and hope that it brings in a few more bodies .... Its economies of scale but I get the same thing at TFC. Theres a bunch of gates (probably 20 or more) and all season tickets are now app based on your phone, no physical tickets or printouts .... yet queues are enormous (or were before COVID). This is because there are bottlenecks at the scanning area and also all bags must be searched on entry and supporters checked with a metal detector ... we know this but we still turn up 5 minutes before kick-off expecting to get in on time. From an ICT perspective, if there is something to encourage people to turn up earlier and enjoy added amenities or activities then there will be a fair portion of people who may enter the ground earlier but if people are just coming from the Innes or Caley Club then that last pint looks very inviting ...... 

 

4 hours ago, gingerjaggy said:

I think terracing as they were will never return to the top leagues in the UK but it maybe that the terrace could be reopened as rail seating but that will be costly. I don't know if the rules have changed but would be surprised to see terracing as it was allowed to be used in the premiership even though the ones that Caley would have wont be very big.

Its expensive to convert from existing seats to the safe standing model used in Germany and elsewhere but I think I am right in saying the actual seats themselves are about 50% more expensive so if we did plan something then that could surely be factored in. Another thing that could be suggested - maybe it has been, I dont know - is to have a 'beer garden' or perhaps a 'social distance section' to make it more current !! At TFC we also only have 3 stands !! You have your allocated seat, in my case in the South Stand, but you are free to move to the North End and mingle with other fans, stand to watch the game or have a beer in the beer garden...... guessing we could not get away with the beer garden, but an area with unallocated seating/terracing might be an option ? If the rules dont allow it then we work to change those rules ... while we are in the championship I believe we are allowed standing areas .... ? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, Scotty said:

 Another thing that could be suggested - maybe it has been, I dont know - is to have a 'beer garden' or perhaps a 'social distance section' to make it more current !! At TFC we also only have 3 stands !! You have your allocated seat, in my case in the South Stand, but you are free to move to the North End and mingle with other fans, stand to watch the game or have a beer in the beer garden...... guessing we could not get away with the beer garden, but an area with unallocated seating/terracing might be an option ? If the rules dont allow it then we work to change those rules ... while we are in the championship I believe we are allowed standing areas .... ? 

There is a very strong argument to move away from the current restrictive environment around alcohol for all but the high risk games (e.g. Old Firm, etc). Having a more social feel around this area is not the full answer but a more balanced approach to this will certainly assist.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Jack Waddington said:

Think for the Prem, it goes by capacity AND covered seating, same argument went round the other season when Ayr were in the playoffs, and it was said they'd be allowed in even though most of their stadium is terraced...

I heard the same about QoS I think, which is why I brought it up.

 

6 hours ago, gingerjaggy said:

I think terracing as they were will never return to the top leagues in the UK but it maybe that the terrace could be reopened as rail seating but that will be costly. I don't know if the rules have changed but would be surprised to see terracing as it was allowed to be used in the premiership even though the ones that Caley would have wont be very big.

The Taylor report doesn't apply to Scotland though. It was just the SPL getting above their station with the 10000 seat nonsense. Then with our help it was reduced to 6000.

But it's just that I thought I heard (see QoS above) that terracing was now allowed to be used in the Prem. Even if that's incorrect, if we got promoted we could just use the seats which still gives us about 7000 which is more than enough these days even if the ugly sisters visit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Moogthurso said:

Still not there gringo...

 

 

Ill go and watch grass grow.

It's coming out at 1 pm I believe. This time Ryan Christie runs through his Best XI of players he has played with in his career to date.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Won’t be out until next week but here’s a sneak peek at our latest best XI guest and it’s a belter!

Carl Tremarco’s best XI should be out this Friday to keep your ears entertained 

68E089E8-CBE5-4D0D-9D0B-09408CD07058.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. : Terms of Use : Guidelines : Privacy Policy