Half time refreshments

[broomhillblade]

One of my favourite moments at Bramall Lane was a few years ago when the bloke in front of me in the South Stand went off to buy a pie at half-time. He returned, sat down, raised the pie to his mouth, and the entire contents slipped out through the side and on to his lap. Most people would have leapt to their feet and utter a few choice words. Not this guy. He sat there motionless for some time before trying to discreetly wipe the pie contents off his lap and on to the floor. Clearly didn't want to make a fuss, or look a fool. British stiff upper lip, and all that...

 

[Edgar Allan Poo]

One of my favourite moments at Bramall Lane was a few years ago when the bloke in front of me in the South Stand went off to buy a pie at half-time. He returned, sat down, raised the pie to his mouth, and the entire contents slipped out through the side and on to his lap. Most people would have leapt to their feet and utter a few choice words. Not this guy. He sat there motionless for some time before trying to discreetly wipe the pie contents off his lap and on to the floor. Clearly didn't want to make a fuss, or look a fool. British stiff upper lip, and all that...

 

[west_yorks_blade]

One of my favourite moments at Bramall Lane was a few years ago when the bloke in front of me in the South Stand went off to buy a pie at half-time. He returned, sat down, raised the pie to his mouth, and the entire contents slipped out through the side and on to his lap. Most people would have leapt to their feet and utter a few choice words. Not this guy. He sat there motionless for some time before trying to discreetly wipe the pie contents off his lap and on to the floor. Clearly didn't want to make a fuss, or look a fool. British stiff upper lip, and all that...

a fiver for soiled trousers and burnt gonads and no fuss - he's a better man than I

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

Absolute shite once again. How it can get worse week on week (or game on game for the pedants) is an absolute mystery.

34 minutes in and the gas goes. 44 minutes and the lass behind the bar who to be honest did her best, says "I'm not going to be professional anymore, the cellar is fucked" (she'd had enough of folk shouting at her for ale by this point).

Yes we can survive without an ale. No we don't need an ale. But the club offer and provide a service that is absolutely awful.

 

[Whiston Blade]

Absolute shite once again. How it can get worse week on week (or game on game for the pedants) is an absolute mystery.

34 minutes in and the gas goes. 44 minutes and the lass behind the bar who to be honest did her best, says "I'm not going to be professional anymore, the cellar is fucked" (she'd had enough of folk shouting at her for ale by this point).

Yes we can survive without an ale. No we don't need an ale. But the club offer and provide a service that is absolutely awful.

People should vote with their wallets and not buy anything from them. It’ll never happen as once you’re in your options are limited to their poor offerings.

 

[Mike325]

One of my favourite moments at Bramall Lane was a few years ago when the bloke in front of me in the South Stand went off to buy a pie at half-time. He returned, sat down, raised the pie to his mouth, and the entire contents slipped out through the side and on to his lap. Most people would have leapt to their feet and utter a few choice words. Not this guy. He sat there motionless for some time before trying to discreetly wipe the pie contents off his lap and on to the floor. Clearly didn't want to make a fuss, or look a fool. British stiff upper lip, and all that...

I could just imagine that I would of cried with laughter.

 

[jaybee]

Which helmet got the price signs printed with the typo on the kop? Beaverton Neck Oil apparently Muppets

 

[ZLB]

I could just imagine that I would of cried with laughter.

Would whaaat?

 

[Freddie]

Absolute shite once again. How it can get worse week on week (or game on game for the pedants) is an absolute mystery.

34 minutes in and the gas goes. 44 minutes and the lass behind the bar who to be honest did her best, says "I'm not going to be professional anymore, the cellar is fucked" (she'd had enough of folk shouting at her for ale by this point).

Yes we can survive without an ale. No we don't need an ale. But the club offer and provide a service that is absolutely awful.

Wasn’t there a game going on at the 34th and 44th minute?

 

[HD8 Blades]

I don’t work in a bar and have never pulled a pint. Cunning plan - if you expect to sell 500 pints of lager / bitter at half time, have 100 pints pulled and ready on 45 mins. If I ran a business where I could sell some cheap fizzy piss for a 300% mark up I would look to sell as much as possible

 

[TJB.]

People should vote with their wallets and not buy anything from them. It’ll never happen as once you’re in your options are limited to their poor offerings.

They did in a way.

I've never seen so many fans drinking beers they'd snuck in as I have today. And I've seen people doing that for a very long time.

Lads having pint cans of Stella at the bottom of the Kop steps. Blokes on Gangway D supping cans of Carlsberg Export. Lads in front of me making their way through a bottle of vodka. The works.

The money for those drinks could quite easily be going into the pockets of the club if things were different. But here we are.

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

Wasn’t there a game going on at the 34th and 44th minute?

Yes there was. But if you read through this thread from the start you may just realise that if you want a beer at half time, the 34th minute is when you need to start queuing.

As it transpired, I missed 10 minutes and still didn't get a beer. Or any other refreshment I may or may not have wanted.

I know you're trying to be clever for the sake of it, but imagine I've got one of my children with me. I go down at 33 minutes. She wants a sausage roll. I'm still stood there at 44 minutes having not being served. Do you think this is acceptable?

The catering company running it are a joke. Don't try and excuse it with some sarcy arsed shit.

 

[ShorehamRevolution]

How difficult can the club make it to order a pint? Last time we were allowed in the bottom kop had a dedicated beer kiosk. That's gone. So the queues take longer. We used to have beer vouchers. They've now gone so the queues take longer.

No, a pint isn't the bee-all-and-end-all so some might suggest it's moaning for nowt. But the queues tell a different story. And the computer system went down at one point, and because there's no cash any more, the card machines weren't working (though I accept this isn't the fault of any individual).

It's just poor organisation. Does anyone on here have any input with the club to pass the message on? I've also noticed the ticket office standards have slipped this season and seems understaffed on the occasions I've been in.

Just thought I'd mention it that's all.

Always had a league 2 ticket office and half time bar no matter what league we’re in.

 

[JackSUFC]

I don’t work in a bar and have never pulled a pint. Cunning plan - if you expect to sell 500 pints of lager / bitter at half time, have 100 pints pulled and ready on 45 mins. If I ran a business where I could sell some cheap fizzy piss for a 300% mark up I would look to sell as much as possible

This. It’s not rocket science. I’ve been at festivals and gigs where the bars had staff designated to constantly pouring pints at the back, others doing the tills and others handing the pints out. It runs like clockwork. I’m sure there’s scope to do something similar at the Lane as there always seems to be one or two staff stood behind the bar doing nowt.

I don’t think the bars in the Kop are fit for purpose anyway but it’s definitely got worse since we’ve been allowed back to games.

I got in the ground around half 2 yesterday and thought we’d have time for a quick pint. Got to about 10 to 3 and we were still about 5-6 people from the front so thought fuck it and went up to our seats. I’ve stopped bothering at half-time as like others have said, you’d have to start queuing around 30 minutes into the match and would probably miss 5-10 minutes of the second half too.

 

[More Bladier than thou]

This has to be addressed now by the club, but how do we tell them ? Fans forum ?

 

[Foxy]

This has to be addressed now by the club, but how do we tell them ? Fans forum ?

They know.

 

[Inter_blade83]

Yes there was. But if you read through this thread from the start you may just realise that if you want a beer at half time, the 34th minute is when you need to start queuing.

As it transpired, I missed 10 minutes and still didn't get a beer. Or any other refreshment I may or may not have wanted.

I know you're trying to be clever for the sake of it, but imagine I've got one of my children with me. I go down at 33 minutes. She wants a sausage roll. I'm still stood there at 44 minutes having not being served. Do you think this is acceptable?

The catering company running it are a joke. Don't try and excuse it with some sarcy arsed shit.

I take my 5 yr old and have a bag of snacks with me which are cheaper and not surprisingly, better than what's on offer.

A few years ago a German girl I befriended accompanied me to an evening game. At half time she produced a bottle of wine out of her coat, much to the amusement of the back of the kop.

Maybe smuggle stuff in?

 

[Dkc]

I take my 5 yr old and have a bag of snacks with me which are cheaper and not surprisingly, better than what's on offer.

A few years ago a German girl I befriended accompanied me to an evening game. At half time she produced a bottle of wine out of her coat, much to the amusement of the back of the kop.

Maybe smuggle stuff in?

Has anyone on here ever been caught with booze in the ground? I'm just wondering what they do.

 

[Nesh Blade]

Has anyone on here ever been caught with booze in the ground? I'm just wondering what they do.

Not really the same but I’d taken a can of lemonade to the women’s game last week and when the stewards spotted it he just came over and said no cans and took it away . Can’t see them kicking off as long as you surrender the goods politely if spotted

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

I take my 5 yr old and have a bag of snacks with me which are cheaper and not surprisingly, better than what's on offer.

A few years ago a German girl I befriended accompanied me to an evening game. At half time she produced a bottle of wine out of her coat, much to the amusement of the back of the kop.

Maybe smuggle stuff in?

There aren't a couple of males near me who don't have 2 bottles of vodka and 2 bottles of coke with them at the game. Thay definitely doesn't happen. I can't blame them for not doing it.

The service is that bad down there you honestly get the impression that they wake up on a Saturday morning - late - and say "oh United are playing today, best get sorted"

It's that bad.

You miss 10 minutes of first half to beat the queues and get nowt anyway. Wank.

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

Has anyone on here ever been caught with booze in the ground? I'm just wondering what they do.

Depends on where in the ground it is. Family stand I imagine a hands up I'm guilty attitude. Back of kop I imagine a get ya sen fucked off yer prick attitude. And the steward isn't going to argue is he?

 

[More Bladier than thou]

See many people every week on the kop smoking a spliff at half time and openly snorting coke, stewards aint gonna argue, they dont get paid enough to wade in so i have no issue with taking my own drink into the stadium. I go to actually watch the game, not queue up for ages for a pint

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

See many people every week on the kop smoking a spliff at half time and openly snorting coke, stewards aint gonna argue, they dont get paid enough to wade in so i have no issue with taking my own drink into the stadium. I go to actually watch the game, not queue up for ages for a pint

I go to watch the game as well, we all do. Again, nobody "needs" a pint. But again, the club offer a service - that being refreshments. So that service is open to the criticism it rightly receives. I'm not a mystery shopper. Just a fan who wants a half-time pint. If they can't do it they may as well keep the shutters down.

As for the drugs - there's plenty of coppers outside doing nowt during game-time. Get them dragged in. We aren't Hungarians, coppers come and we behave. Generally.

 

[More Bladier than thou]

I go to watch the game as well, we all do. Again, nobody "needs" a pint. But again, the club offer a service - that being refreshments. So that service is open to the criticism it rightly receives. I'm not a mystery shopper. Just a fan who wants a half-time pint. If they can't do it they may as well keep the shutters down.

As for the drugs - there's plenty of coppers outside doing nowt during game-time. Get them dragged in. We aren't Hungarians, coppers come and we behave. Generally.

I completely agree, my point is that you can't blame people for doing their own thing. Its a absolute shambles and seems like the club dont give a shit. The catering manger for matchdays needs to do their job, tell the bar staff to pre pour, be pro active, not re active. They literally all work at a snails pace and are losing the club money by not serving people fast enough, if at all. This is down to the catering manager to manage their staff

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

I completely agree, my point is that you can't blame people for doing their own thing. Its a absolute shambles and seems like the club dont give a shit. The catering manger for matchdays needs to do their job, tell the bar staff to pre pour, be pro active, not re active. They literally all work at a snails pace and are losing the club money by not serving people fast enough, if at all. This is down to the catering manager to manage their staff

I've e-mailed the catering manager and though hard to interpret tone, he came across as arrogant. This was proved, to an extent, with his "voucher system won't work" comment, followed by keeping the bar shut at half time where the voucher queue was. Absolute bell end if you ask me (and yes, that event happened). At one point yesterday there were 4 people huddled around a tap pouring the froth out into a bucket. Sorry, but that's not a 4 man job (or, in times of intense wokery "person"). Its incompetence of the highest order. Will anything change? No. Every game it gets worse. I did say I was finished and won't buy anything else. Because of their incompetence - I didn't.

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

They know.

They have been told by the staff themselves. The girl I've mentioned who said "the cellars fucked" (fair play for that comment by the way. Honesty can go a long way) also happened to say "we've told the managers the problems we've got but they're not listening" (and she said it in a shouty and aggressive tone as well so again, fair play to her. She's clearly as pissed off as the rest of the people in the queue).

They've had weeks since the last home game. They've had ample time to find the problems and sort the problems. They haven't. Although, they did serve cans of carlsberg (i'd rather not drink than drink that but not the point). Why not just sell cans? Is there a legal issue? My local shop has plenty, as does Costco. Just buy 2000 cans of carling and pass them out (or pour them I to plastic cups if they're worries about people using them as projectiles).

Same as a poster above says, I haven't worked in a bar either. Yet I reckon with a degree of absolute certainty that I could do a better job.

 

[Sharrow Snuff Mill]

They have been told by the staff themselves. The girl I've mentioned who said "the cellars fucked" (fair play for that comment by the way. Honesty can go a long way) also happened to say "we've told the managers the problems we've got but they're not listening" (and she said it in a shouty and aggressive tone as well so again, fair play to her. She's clearly as pissed off as the rest of the people in the queue).

They've had weeks since the last home game. They've had ample time to find the problems and sort the problems. They haven't. Although, they did serve cans of carlsberg (i'd rather not drink than drink that but not the point). Why not just sell cans? Is there a legal issue? My local shop has plenty, as does Costco. Just buy 2000 cans of carling and pass them out (or pour them I to plastic cups if they're worries about people using them as projectiles).

Same as a poster above says, I haven't worked in a bar either. Yet I reckon with a degree of absolute certainty that I could do a better job.

The catering needs to be taken back in house rather than be out sourced.

There needs to be investment in a quick fill system for beer.

There should then be a bonus system which rewards the staff in the bar which takes the most money each match (pro rata seeing as bars may have different numbers of staff).

Then focus on the worst performing bars to see how they can be improved.

Finally don`t take the piss on pricing.

 

[Dkc]

Depends on where in the ground it is. Family stand I imagine a hands up I'm guilty attitude. Back of kop I imagine a get ya sen fucked off yer prick attitude. And the steward isn't going to argue is he?

Isn't it a criminal offence to bring alcohol into a football stadium? I agree the stewards aren't going to do anything, and they are the ones who do any bag searches before entry - but if you're caught trying to smuggle booze in and a copper happens to be in the vicinity I imagine you could risk being arrested.

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

Isn't it a criminal offence to bring alcohol into a football stadium? I agree the stewards aren't going to do anything, and they are the ones who do any bag searches before entry - but if you're caught trying to smuggle booze in and a copper happens to be in the vicinity I imagine you could risk being arrested.

Im not sure what laws surround it. It's not something I've personally ever done. The stewards can't search each and every bag but when I've seen them doing it they are pretty thorough. But when it gets closer to 3pm (or 745 for the pedants) there are more bags to search so the odd one will get in. Same with cans in coats and stuff. Can't search everyone.

 

[Rodders]

They have been told by the staff themselves. The girl I've mentioned who said "the cellars fucked" (fair play for that comment by the way. Honesty can go a long way) also happened to say "we've told the managers the problems we've got but they're not listening" (and she said it in a shouty and aggressive tone as well so again, fair play to her. She's clearly as pissed off as the rest of the people in the queue).

They've had weeks since the last home game. They've had ample time to find the problems and sort the problems. They haven't. Although, they did serve cans of carlsberg (i'd rather not drink than drink that but not the point). Why not just sell cans? Is there a legal issue? My local shop has plenty, as does Costco. Just buy 2000 cans of carling and pass them out (or pour them I to plastic cups if they're worries about people using them as projectiles).

Same as a poster above says, I haven't worked in a bar either. Yet I reckon with a degree of absolute certainty that I could do a better job.

While I agree with all your (and everyone else’s) points on this thread, I guess the simple question is:

Given they have a window of around 2-ish hours to cater for 23 or 19 times a year - how much ROI would Compass actually get if they invested in improving staffing/training and the products on offer?

I suppose a further question around the physical setup at the kiosks, can this be improved and who’s responsibility is it to invest and maintain this? Ie speed flow beer pumps etc I would hazard a guess United are responsible for the kiosk and equipment within and Compass just operate from the unit..?