The Matchday Experience

brucie · Post by **brucie** » 01 Sep 2013, 21:50

I attended the game yesterday with three other people. One is a season ticket holder and on arrival at the ground he went off to get a ticket for the JPT game. Myself and the two others I was with paid at the gate - noting previous problems with the ticketing arrangements in Bristow's Bench we made sure that we all entered the ground at the same time so that we could sit together.
Unbelievably when we went to find our seats we found that each of the three tickets were not consecutive and were all for different parts of the stand. This was probably about 2.25pm - the stand was pretty sparsley populated at this stage yet someone was already sat in one of our allocated seats.
I checked with two of the stewards but it seems that they were out on day release from the local numpty house so we just gave up and found three seats together.
The season ticket holder was late getting to his seat. I later found out that the tickets for the JPT match had not been printed out. He had spent half an hour in a queue where it seems that one lady was issuing both tickets for the Portsmouth game and also at the same time trying to issue seats in Bristows Bench for saturdays match.
It seems that she had to locate the seat number on her computer, then print it out and each transaction was taking over two minutes. So by my reckoning she could probably manage 15 transactions in half an hour - a fat lot of good if you wanted to catch the start of the match.
Anyway after a snooze inducing 45 minutes - the announcer gave out the half time scores but said that the games had not actually reached half time because he didn't have an internet connection! (obviously he didn't have a mobile phone either) - Further bad news - the PA was broke as well!
Could it have got any worse? well as it happens yes.
I could hardly contain myself as some bloke got on a step ladder and tied a tatty green net to the family stand end goal.
Two twerps dressed as Willy Wonka and Pennywise the Clown then tried to kick footballs through circular holes in the net.
This "entertainment" was greeted by a stunned silence by the crowd who clearly didn't have the first clue what was going on.
It was quite frankly an embarassment - had Eddie Waring not been dead, and Stuart Hall not been banged up for goosing minors I swear that both of them might have appeared and someone would have played their joker.
So if thats the best that the "new regime" can come up with then really someone needs to hang their head in shame.

AlexGulls · Post by **AlexGulls** » 01 Sep 2013, 22:04

Considering the PA System was broken they did what they could. But I guess whinging old farts like you will never be happy unless you have something to moan about.

brucie · Post by **brucie** » 01 Sep 2013, 22:09

Apart from fix it.

AlexGulls · Post by **AlexGulls** » 01 Sep 2013, 22:11

I'm pretty sure that is what they tried doing I highly doubt they just tried avoiding it. Sometimes there isn't always a quick fix.

brucie · Post by **brucie** » 01 Sep 2013, 22:16

brucie · Post by **brucie** » 01 Sep 2013, 22:17

Obviously not - if there was we wouldn't be shipping home points like they are going out of fashion

That must be match point

PlainmoorRoar · Post by **PlainmoorRoar** » 01 Sep 2013, 22:18

a huge part of why this forum is so annoying is brucie

you've got the problem with your asshole again, i can hear it talking

brucie · Post by **brucie** » 01 Sep 2013, 22:21

Tell your missus she has a problem with her arshole - he keeps posting messages on here.

Thats it 6-0 6-0. A victory in straight sets for me. =D :na:

chunkygull · Post by **chunkygull** » 01 Sep 2013, 22:23

by brucie
I could hardly contain myself as some bloke got on a step ladder and tied a tatty green net to the family stand end goal.
Two twerps dressed as Willy Wonka and Pennywise the Clown then tried to kick footballs through circular holes in the net.
This "entertainment" was greeted by a stunned silence by the crowd who clearly didn't have the first clue what was going on.
It was quite frankly an embarassment - had Eddie Waring not been dead, and Stuart Hall not been banged up for goosing minors I swear that both of them might have appeared and someone would have played their joker.

it was willy wonka and an oompa loompa

, there were about 8 of them there in total i think. :~D

brucie · Post by **brucie** » 01 Sep 2013, 22:25

I guessed right then on Willy Wonka - Damn I missed the oompa loompa though. WOuld have made the trip worthwhile.

PlainmoorRoar · Post by **PlainmoorRoar** » 01 Sep 2013, 22:25

no words, beyond retardation, but hey mods lets keep this thread going so bruice can get the attention that he craves

Jerry · Post by **Jerry** » 01 Sep 2013, 22:38

PlainmoorRoar wrote:a huge part of why this forum is so annoying is brucie

you've got the problem with your asshole again, i can hear it talking

Whereas this post contributes what exactly?

It's fashionable to slag off Brucie at the moment, but I think he has a fair point about the continuing lack of attention to the ticketing issues. Not exactly going to encourage much needed new fans if something as simple as ensuring they get adjacent seats is such a problem. If this happened on someone's first visit to Plainmoor, chances are they wouldn't rush back for a second visit.

wivelgull · Post by **wivelgull** » 02 Sep 2013, 08:35

Brucie is right. Admittedly I don't sit in Bristow's Bench but stand among other senile delinquents on the popside. It's the pre-match 'entertainment' that I'm particularly concerned about and especially - yes, you've guessed it - the 'performances' of the incumbent Gilbert. I wrote a couple of weeks ago about meeting One Can Lasher (the original and best Gilbert) and asked him if he would return. He said he would love to but work commitments prevented it - well, blond genug.
The point of this is, apart from backing Brucie, that all pre-match 'entertainment' issues could be solved in one fell swoop if we had a 'One Can Lasher' type Gilbert. When 'One Can Lasher' was Gilbert he kept the crowd amused, interested, entertained - AND ENTHUSIASTIC FOR TUFC - before, during and after the game - not for ten minutes beforehand.
The only way to solve this problem is for 'One Can Lasher' to be offered a permanent post as Gilbert. The crowd all loved him; they don't care at all about the current bird or other offerings of 'entertainment'.

gullintwoplaces · Post by **gullintwoplaces** » 02 Sep 2013, 10:04

Jerry wrote:It's fashionable to slag off Brucie at the moment, but I think he has a fair point about the continuing lack of attention to the ticketing issues. Not exactly going to encourage much needed new fans if something as simple as ensuring they get adjacent seats is such a problem. If this happened on someone's first visit to Plainmoor, chances are they wouldn't rush back for a second visit.

I agree with your main issue, ticketing does need sorting, but I guess the club are struggling with trying to find a solution that doesn't break the bank. And yes, it doesn't look good to a newcomer if they can't get a ticket quickly that gives them a right to sit in their numbered seat. Other clubs have ticketing issues too, just look at Northampton where visiting fans get in with difficulty. That doesn't excuse it though, Mr Candy needs to get his head around this as a priority.

With regard to the first point, the problem is that if somebody like Brucie complains about absolutely everything to do with the club and only talks about this failure, that failure, even more failures, then their valid comments disappear into assumptions about this somebody being a moaning whinger without a good word to say about anything. That's how I see it. For me Torquay United have always been a mixture of good and bad, cock ups and wonderful days, that is what makes the club what it is, a flawed treasure. So what if the PA didn't work, it does usually (in a crackly way). So what if there was a bloke dressed up as Wally Whanka on the pitch, and numerous Ooompah Loompahs, so what, it was funny. Like the boy that cried wolf, eventually nobody takes a serial whinger seriously.

AustrianAndyGull · Post by **AustrianAndyGull** » 02 Sep 2013, 10:25

Pretty much spot on post GITP.

I've been a voiciferous critic of the way the club operates in the past highlighting a number of failings but now I can see that it's not really that big a deal and we should cut them some slack. I viewed the club purely on a black and white basis - the club is providing a service and we as customers are paying them for it so if things go wrong then we have a right to complain and criticise. That was my view but not now.

I can now accept that we are a small club with little resources and operating with a skeleton staff who no doubt work very hard and so expecting a smooth and seamless service at all times is unfeasible. There will be frequent errors and mistakes and so long as these are rectified swiftly to the customers satisfaction when they DO occur then that's all we can ask. I recently bought a ticket online for the home game with Cheltenham to be posted out and it never arrived, I rang them and spoke to a really friendly bloke who said he'd send out another ticket. I've now got the ticket, problem solved and i'm happy.

I appreciate that a first timer visiting Plainmoor experiencing these errors may not be suitably impressed and I agree that the club need to analyse the ticketing / seat issuing systems that are in place to prevent any future mistakes or hold ups as best they can but overall, like GITP said, these little nuances make TUFC what it is.

On the subject of half time entertainment does anyone really care? REALLY? Most people nowadays are happy chatting or looking at their mobiles for scores and Russian ladies to care about what goes on out there on the pitch. At Northampton last week they had got some advice from Alan Partridge and had the idea of getting 3 random blokes to try and chip a football into the back of a Skoda. WHY?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scrap the half time entertainment altogether and if TUFC ever had cheerleaders then i'd have to take a sick bag with me.

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