Where are they

[51/84]

Firstly I will take 50 points as safe well done Wade and the club
Now lets take a step or two forward and keep the run going
Over 5000 home fans - where are they every home game
I dont believe an extra 1000 turned up for bragging rights so how do the club keep them now they have been entertained

[Ihearye]

Firstly I will take 50 points as safe well done Wade and the club
Now lets take a step or two forward and keep the run going
Over 5000 home fans - where are they every home game
I dont believe an extra 1000 turned up for bragging rights so how do the club keep them now they have been entertained

Was thinking the same myself. OK the CF is usually well populated (up to an extent). Also, there seems to have been a growing number of younger folk gathering in the corner of the IT Opt terrace over the last few weeks. However, to see so many on the terraces yesterday makes me wonder. For once (?) on a big day, the team put a display in , that you would think would have them coming back. Pity it is so late in the season to take any possible advantage. With a bit of luck it may still be in their minds when the ST come back on sale.
When talking about ST holders, was just thinking last night that they / we have been a good bunch over the last years. Not asking for reclaims on match tickets, not asking for refunds during covid etc. Days like yesterday make a ST all the more worthwhile.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

We were wondering the same.

Someone said to me the PRE had a bit of ‘an old school’ crowd element to it…ie returning fans who haven’t been for years coming back. Combined with the new younger fans.

In the CF there some first timers as well - parent with kids. And everyone who sometimes misses games in B4 (me included) was there.

Regarding retention, the game helped. But was also key was that we had the whole CF… so both sets of toilets and canteens. Barely any queue for a soft drink pre match or for the loo at half time and the whole concourse experience is much better when we don’t give away fans half of it.

As for the PRE….I can’t speak for that. I guess people weigh up price and quality of the view when deciding whether to come back?

[CS85]

If you look at the fixtures between us and fgr at Whaddon Road you'll see a big change in the home crowd compared to normal league fixtures.
No matter what people say about it being a fake rivalry etc it still gets the locals out.i wasnt quite expecting 5,300 ctfc fans turn up more like 4,500.

The old school feeling is correct,I saw many there yesterday who don't really go anymore for whatever reason.
Also a hell of alot of the younger generation aswell which we need to keep coming.

[Robin]

A few factors in play I would say, firstly we had more seats than usual and we know these sell out for regularly in league one. Secondly, it was a derby fixture with some bad blood so a lot more fans made the effort than they do usually. I think it really is as simple as that.

Given the size of our catchment area we really ought to be getting 5000+ as an average attendance in this league and 6000+ for the larger games but the club needs to find innovative ways to make it happen.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

It is also the expectation of putting a local rival to the sword, adding to their humiliating season, and securing our own safety in the process.

Old faces might never have seen May score in person. And yesterday, May scoring was the biggest banker in football, so the opportunity to see that as well in case he leaves us soon.

A completely different mindset to being excited to see if we can defend for our lives and escape with a point whilst being outsung at home against an ex-Premier League side.

Most L1 games will be a struggle, slog, and a battle and fair enough if people don’t want to watch that every week to be honest. I am just pleased the season has been successful enough that people wanted to turn out yesterday.

Now imagine if we play Gloucester in L2 or L1, or FA Cup 2nd Round. The crowd would be like yesterday on speed.

[Anteros]

Need to advertise season tickets asap. Home form has been good the last month or so and that was the icing on the cake yesterday.

[Robin]

Yes a lot of clubs have had season tickets for sale for a few weeks now, the club is behind the curve and important we get the prices out very soon.

[Fuller]

Yes a lot of clubs have had season tickets for sale for a few weeks now, the club is behind the curve and important we get the prices out very soon.

Think the board were waiting to see which division we’d be in.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a small increase in the cost but it won’t be welcomed by everyone. Tough times financially for many.
But I’d like to see them go on sale this week.

[CTFC.Harry]

Firstly I will take 50 points as safe well done Wade and the club
Now lets take a step or two forward and keep the run going
Over 5000 home fans - where are they every home game
I dont believe an extra 1000 turned up for bragging rights so how do the club keep them now they have been entertained

it’s the one game of the season that the armchair Top 6 fans see as being attractive enough to leave behind their televisions for. I see from within my own circle of friends. Coupled with the fact that the game looked on paper like we were sure to win.

[London Exile]

Yesterday was the first time I’d been in the PRE since the Oxford game earlier this season and it was good too see they’d added another catering outlet and new cover for those having a drink. More of these types of improvements will help plus if they can do anything to reflect the sound

[Shade]

The sound was great yesterday. Can only imagine how good it would have sounded coming out of a decent stand.

[Fuller]

The sound was great yesterday. Can only imagine how good it would have sounded coming out of a decent stand.

Would be even better if everyone sang in unison.
At one time I could hear three different songs being sung at once!

[Haitch]

20 mins prior to kick off had me thinking very similar RE where are they coming from? it was stacked full of people on all the rails in the PRE when usually at this stage me and my o/h are wondering if we'll fill the gaps by kick off, not complaining the fact i couldn't move during the game was great its certainly the best time I've had in my time going to see the town. First half was a proper party and will live long in the memory, long may it continue (or not!)

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Yesterday was the first time I’d been in the PRE since the Oxford game earlier this season and it was good too see they’d added another catering outlet and new cover for those having a drink. More of these types of improvements will help plus if they can do anything to reflect the sound

Hopefully the bar was organised. The CF bar was a bit chaotic…not a good game to train new staff.

[Si Robin]

The CF bar was a disaster - running out of glasses and training new staff. In the end they let us just have the cans because people were getting frustrated.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

The CF bar was a disaster - running out of glasses and training new staff. In the end they let us just have the cans because people were getting frustrated.

Running out of glasses would be less likely if the club got with the times and had the £1 or £2 deposit reusable cups other sports venues use. Your pre-KO glass could be used again at HT, for example.

Hopefully the staff training was successful and ordering is less frustrating. Took far too long to agree with them what drinks I wanted!

[Anteros]

The CF bar was a disaster - running out of glasses and training new staff. In the end they let us just have the cans because people were getting frustrated.

Running out of glasses would be less likely if the club got with the times and had the £1 or £2 deposit reusable cups other sports venues use. Your pre-KO glass could be used again at HT, for example.

Hopefully the staff training was successful and ordering is less frustrating. Took far too long to agree with them what drinks I wanted!

Or why don't they stock plastic bottles like they do at most other grounds.
Just have a lager, cider and real ale. It would be so much quicker

[Ihearye]

The CF bar was a disaster - running out of glasses and training new staff. In the end they let us just have the cans because people were getting frustrated.

What a peculiar day to choose to train new staff. I did wonder when I saw folk coming back with cans, what a health and safety nightmare LOL

[CS85]

Went for a pint of cider in CF stand as I quite like the one they have on tap,it's £5 a pint.
I was told they had none on tap but they had thatchers......they grab a can straight out the fridge,not even a pint.....5 quid!.
Yes I chose to pay it but blimey,you can buy four of those cans for 5 quid in the shops,the profit they must make

[asl]

I was going to ask what price these cans were...ye gods... Anyone who *needs* a drink so badly that they're willing to pay those sort of prices on a regular basis, might want to take a bit of a look at themselves...

Sent from my SM-G9860 using Tapatalk

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Went for a pint of cider in CF stand as I quite like the one they have on tap,it's £5 a pint.
I was told they had none on tap but they had thatchers......they grab a can straight out the fridge,not even a pint.....5 quid!.
Yes I chose to pay it but blimey,you can buy four of those cans for 5 quid in the shops,the profit they must make

They offered Thatcher’s to me as well but I saw they had some bottles of SXOlie in the fridge so asked for that. Why they didn’t offer those when it was the draught SXOlie they had run out which I asked for I don’t know.

The woman doing the training also firmly reminded the new staff to only charge £3.50 for cans and bottles, not £5.

Seems like you were a victim of their over charging.

[Jerry St Clair]

I was going to ask what price these cans were...ye gods... Anyone who *needs* a drink so badly that they're willing to pay those sort of prices on a regular basis, might want to take a bit of a look at themselves...

That's one argument. Another is that having a pre-match drink with your mates is as much a part of the day for many people as the game itself.

On top of that it makes simple, good business sense. We are constantly told that the club is run on a shoestring, yet there are people desperate to hand money over every Saturday but are kiboshed by queues/lack of availability/terrible quality.

I went to get a pint and a bottle of coke at the CF bar at half time, but turned back when I saw the chaos. I then took my son to get a hot dog. After queuing for 10 minutes we got to to the front to find they'd run out. Nearly £15 that stayed in my pocket that I was willing to hand over to the club.

[asl]

I thought the catering and bars were provided by a third party? In which case, the only ones who missed out on your money was them - the club are no better nor worse off. Can anyone confirm that?

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[Fuller]

Sounds a right mess. Not that I ever buy any food or drink at the ground and haven’t done for over 30 years. Decent lunchtime meal at home and few pints of quality real ale in the pub after.
The problems with the catering has been going on for far too long. I see the Robins Trust are looking into it and anyone can contact the fan elected director or the supporters liaison officer with their concerns.
Oh and I was reading the FGR forum and it appears things were considerably worse for them on that front.
Let’s face it an absolute disgrace and someone at the club needs to take full responsibility. Rant over.
P.S. for info Glos CCC have recently taken the on ground catering back in house.

[Anteros]

I was going to ask what price these cans were...ye gods... Anyone who *needs* a drink so badly that they're willing to pay those sort of prices on a regular basis, might want to take a bit of a look at themselves...

That's one argument. Another is that having a pre-match drink with your mates is as much a part of the day for many people as the game itself.

On top of that it makes simple, good business sense. We are constantly told that the club is run on a shoestring, yet there are people desperate to hand money over every Saturday but are kiboshed by queues/lack of availability/terrible quality.

I went to get a pint and a bottle of coke at the CF bar at half time, but turned back when I saw the chaos. I then took my son to get a hot dog. After queuing for 10 minutes we got to to the front to find they'd run out. Nearly £15 that stayed in my pocket that I was willing to hand over to the club.

That's a absolute joke. Personally food and drink is a major part of my match day experience. Me and my family are trying to decide where in the ground we will get STs next season and hearing stuff like this makes me think twice about the CF stand

[SOFT MACHINE]

This posting has morphed into Catering Chaos and that's not a bad thing as it's a real issue and is symptomatic and emblamatic of "Little Cheltenham". It's off the pitch we need to get a grip of and stop running the club like we're still in the Beazer Homes League! A giant and, indeed, effective step forward would be the appointment of a CEO. I can't see a case for delaying that.
EVERYONE except the board saw the FGR game as likely to pull the biggest number and it's just plain business common sense to make sure ALL elements of the "matchday experience" would be in place and functioning.
THE CATERING KIOSK IN THE PADDOCK AREA DID NOT OPEN AT ALL AT HALF-TIME SATURDAY.
The director tasked with sorting out the catering mess is one DAVE BEESLEY who is, sadly, the same as many of them; enthusiastic amateurs with no experience of running a business.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

I thought the catering and bars were provided by a third party? In which case, the only ones who missed out on your money was them - the club are no better nor worse off. Can anyone confirm that?

Sent from my SM-G9860 using Tapatalk

I thought it had been taken in-house but maybe it was just the third party who changed and I was confusing with Glos CCC newsletter updates as referenced above.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

This posting has morphed into Catering Chaos and that's not a bad thing as it's a real issue and is symptomatic and emblamatic of "Little Cheltenham". It's off the pitch we need to get a grip of and stop running the club like we're still in the Beazer Homes League! A giant and, indeed, effective step forward would be the appointment of a CEO. I can't see a case for delaying that.
EVERYONE except the board saw the FGR game as likely to pull the biggest number and it's just plain business common sense to make sure ALL elements of the "matchday experience" would be in place and functioning.
THE CATERING KIOSK IN THE PADDOCK AREA DID NOT OPEN AT ALL AT HALF-TIME SATURDAY.
The director tasked with sorting out the catering mess is one DAVE BEESLEY who is, sadly, the same as many of them; enthusiastic amateurs with no experience of running a business.

Not opening at all is very very poor.

The only factor in defence of the club is the (labour market) supply side constraints on the economy.

The main issue where I live is that none of the trendy oat mil flat white/avocado on toast places can open more than four days a week as they don’t have the staff available.

For a catering outlet which only opens for three hours every two weeks it will be even harder.

If the Club took it in house they would have to bite the bullet and hire agency staff to run it. Based on others I know who did agency gigs years ago it wouldn’t be a bad job.

I think the current operator is using an agency already. The new staff being trained were Indian, and judging by language barriers not UK-born. The hospitality sector is one where ‘skills shortage visas’ have been used to recruit people from India to do the jobs all the Italians/Poles/Lithuanians did. I have spoken to a few Indian people in different (not Indian) restaurants around the country who moved to the UK for the first time to do the job.

I can’t imagine people are being hired internationally just to work three hours at WR every two weeks so they must be hospitality agency staff. This does mean the Club should be able to take catering in-house (if not already) and keep the same agency staff in place, so it wouldn’t be much of an overhaul.

[Ihearye]

This posting has morphed into Catering Chaos and that's not a bad thing as it's a real issue and is symptomatic and emblamatic of "Little Cheltenham". It's off the pitch we need to get a grip of and stop running the club like we're still in the Beazer Homes League! A giant and, indeed, effective step forward would be the appointment of a CEO. I can't see a case for delaying that.
EVERYONE except the board saw the FGR game as likely to pull the biggest number and it's just plain business common sense to make sure ALL elements of the "matchday experience" would be in place and functioning.
THE CATERING KIOSK IN THE PADDOCK AREA DID NOT OPEN AT ALL AT HALF-TIME SATURDAY.
The director tasked with sorting out the catering mess is one DAVE BEESLEY who is, sadly, the same as many of them; enthusiastic amateurs with no experience of running a business.

Not opening at all is very very poor.

The only factor in defence of the club is the (labour market) supply side constraints on the economy.

The main issue where I live is that none of the trendy oat mil flat white/avocado on toast places can open more than four days a week as they don’t have the staff available.

For a catering outlet which only opens for three hours every two weeks it will be even harder.

If the Club took it in house they would have to bite the bullet and hire agency staff to run it. Based on others I know who did agency gigs years ago it wouldn’t be a bad job.

I think the current operator is using an agency already. The new staff being trained were Indian, and judging by language barriers not UK-born. The hospitality sector is one where ‘skills shortage visas’ have been used to recruit people from India to do the jobs all the Italians/Poles/Lithuanians did. I have spoken to a few Indian people in different (not Indian) restaurants around the country who moved to the UK for the first time to do the job.

I can’t imagine people are being hired internationally just to work three hours at WR every two weeks so they must be hospitality agency staff. This does mean the Club should be able to take catering in-house (if not already) and keep the same agency staff in place, so it wouldn’t be much of an overhaul.

Openly admit that as far as CTFC catering arrangements are concerned, I am in the dark. However, |I would find it very hard to believe that the firm who do the catering are not staffed up for other 'events' during the week and as such fail to understand why they can not make a better fist of it than they currently do. I have friends who run street food pop ups alongside a fixed premises and know for sure they would give their eye teeth to have the captive audience and numbers that CTFC must provide. It beats standing for 8 hours in a street market and trying to tempt people to buy.
If it is identified that their issue is serving a large number of people in a short period of time. Then they either a) have to change their menu so that the offerings better suit the flow b) prepare the food in larger batches and c) be willing to accept that their will be some wastage. This attitude of practically cooking to order is madness. They have 45 mins, to get pies ready, pasties ready etc, Chips done and kept warm. Do they need to purchase better / faster ovens?
It is not rocket science and it is obvious it doesn't work as it is. Don't care if they had 15 people from the sub continent behind the counter. If they are cooking the food in such small batches that it is almost to order, then it will never improve.

As a last resort , put the left overs on the Too Good to go app (or similar) and have it available from end of half time until end of match.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

This posting has morphed into Catering Chaos and that's not a bad thing as it's a real issue and is symptomatic and emblamatic of "Little Cheltenham". It's off the pitch we need to get a grip of and stop running the club like we're still in the Beazer Homes League! A giant and, indeed, effective step forward would be the appointment of a CEO. I can't see a case for delaying that.
EVERYONE except the board saw the FGR game as likely to pull the biggest number and it's just plain business common sense to make sure ALL elements of the "matchday experience" would be in place and functioning.
THE CATERING KIOSK IN THE PADDOCK AREA DID NOT OPEN AT ALL AT HALF-TIME SATURDAY.
The director tasked with sorting out the catering mess is one DAVE BEESLEY who is, sadly, the same as many of them; enthusiastic amateurs with no experience of running a business.

Not opening at all is very very poor.

The only factor in defence of the club is the (labour market) supply side constraints on the economy.

The main issue where I live is that none of the trendy oat mil flat white/avocado on toast places can open more than four days a week as they don’t have the staff available.

For a catering outlet which only opens for three hours every two weeks it will be even harder.

If the Club took it in house they would have to bite the bullet and hire agency staff to run it. Based on others I know who did agency gigs years ago it wouldn’t be a bad job.

I think the current operator is using an agency already. The new staff being trained were Indian, and judging by language barriers not UK-born. The hospitality sector is one where ‘skills shortage visas’ have been used to recruit people from India to do the jobs all the Italians/Poles/Lithuanians did. I have spoken to a few Indian people in different (not Indian) restaurants around the country who moved to the UK for the first time to do the job.

I can’t imagine people are being hired internationally just to work three hours at WR every two weeks so they must be hospitality agency staff. This does mean the Club should be able to take catering in-house (if not already) and keep the same agency staff in place, so it wouldn’t be much of an overhaul.

Openly admit that as far as CTFC catering arrangements are concerned, I am in the dark. However, |I would find it very hard to believe that the firm who do the catering are not staffed up for other 'events' during the week and as such fail to understand why they can not make a better fist of it than they currently do. I have friends who run street food pop ups alongside a fixed premises and know for sure they would give their eye teeth to have the captive audience and numbers that CTFC must provide. It beats standing for 8 hours in a street market and trying to tempt people to buy.
If it is identified that their issue is serving a large number of people in a short period of time. Then they either a) have to change their menu so that the offerings better suit the flow b) prepare the food in larger batches and c) be willing to accept that their will be some wastage. This attitude of practically cooking to order is madness. They have 45 mins, to get pies ready, pasties ready etc, Chips done and kept warm. Do they need to purchase better / faster ovens?
It is not rocket science and it is obvious it doesn't work as it is. Don't care if they had 15 people from the sub continent behind the counter. If they are cooking the food in such small batches that it is almost to order, then it will never improve.

As a last resort , put the left overs on the Too Good to go app (or similar) and have it available from end of half time until end of match.

Great point. If ordered and collected at the end of the match then people could take it with them to the club bar and stay there longer as well.

Your friends with the food pop up would be a great addition to the fanzone stuff in the car park. The earliest I ever get to games is about 2pm giving enough time to chat to folk and have a drink or two. If there were different food options from popups and more seats I might get to the club at 1pm. The club don’t get money from my food (unless people pay to pitch) but they would get money from cider purchasing, occasional club shop visits, or programmes etc.

But it might also encourage more people to visit more often.

[Pie]

This posting has morphed into Catering Chaos and that's not a bad thing as it's a real issue and is symptomatic and emblamatic of "Little Cheltenham". It's off the pitch we need to get a grip of and stop running the club like we're still in the Beazer Homes League! A giant and, indeed, effective step forward would be the appointment of a CEO. I can't see a case for delaying that.
EVERYONE except the board saw the FGR game as likely to pull the biggest number and it's just plain business common sense to make sure ALL elements of the "matchday experience" would be in place and functioning.
THE CATERING KIOSK IN THE PADDOCK AREA DID NOT OPEN AT ALL AT HALF-TIME SATURDAY.
The director tasked with sorting out the catering mess is one DAVE BEESLEY who is, sadly, the same as many of them; enthusiastic amateurs with no experience of running a business.

I think you’ll find that Dave Beesley, the Fan Elected Director, took it upon himself to take charge of the catering issues because no one else was bothering.

Believe it or not, Dave actually wants the match day experience to be the best possible and is eager to make improvements, even though it is not his job.

I did notice that the kiosk in the paddock was shut all game and I’m sure Dave is on the case to find out why.

[Robin]

On the catering front, it's amazing how far standards have dropped since the start of the season, it's almost like Surf & Turf won the contract then immediately tried to cut all costs and run it as cheaply as possible without caring at all about customer feedback. I don't often buy food but was told by one of their staff that the usual food services were moved elsewhere and they were operating on a reduced menu until it came back.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

On the catering front, it's amazing how far standards have dropped since the start of the season, it's almost like Surf & Turf won the contract then immediately tried to cut all costs and run it as cheaply as possible without caring at all about customer feedback. I don't often buy food but was told by one of their staff that the usual food services were moved elsewhere and they were operating on a reduced menu until it came back.

That can be a risk with outsourcing (G4S the masters of bidding cheap then failing to deliver).

However with an experienced lawyer as Chairman one would have thought the Club had a contract which prevented the third party reducing the service without recourse.

[London Exile]

This posting has morphed into Catering Chaos and that's not a bad thing as it's a real issue and is symptomatic and emblamatic of "Little Cheltenham". It's off the pitch we need to get a grip of and stop running the club like we're still in the Beazer Homes League! A giant and, indeed, effective step forward would be the appointment of a CEO. I can't see a case for delaying that.
EVERYONE except the board saw the FGR game as likely to pull the biggest number and it's just plain business common sense to make sure ALL elements of the "matchday experience" would be in place and functioning.
THE CATERING KIOSK IN THE PADDOCK AREA DID NOT OPEN AT ALL AT HALF-TIME SATURDAY.
The director tasked with sorting out the catering mess is one DAVE BEESLEY who is, sadly, the same as many of them; enthusiastic amateurs with no experience of running a business.

I think you’ll find that Dave Beesley, the Fan Elected Director, took it upon himself to take charge of the catering issues because no one else was bothering.

Believe it or not, Dave actually wants the match day experience to be the best possible and is eager to make improvements, even though it is not his job.

I did notice that the kiosk in the paddock was shut all game and I’m sure Dave is on the case to find out why.

I’m probably in a minority of one but I’m of the thinking that the Trust should step away from the board so they can be more independent and hold the club more accountable. My own personal opinion is the Trust & Board responsibilities have become blurred and we don’t know who is responsible for what anymore and a separation would allow for the roles and areas of responsibility to be much clearer.
This catering farce being the perfect example, why has Dave taken it upon himself, what are the other directors thoughts on this issue? Do they even care?
I appreciate the Trust have invested a lot of money, perhaps if the club are turning a profit and the Trust efforts (and supporter views) aren’t appreciated or respected, the club can return the investment and have their little boys club how they wish