Lower Mayflower seat "evictions"

[Green Flash]

People will pay it mate, a few of my friends are. Despite what people think, there is a fair bit of money around in Plymouth and it is affordable for lots of people.

Daz its not so much the affordability (I can see lots of people would spend £80 a match if the experience was right) as the value I am questioning. In my experience even relatively wealthy people require value for what they spend. But I guess if they are being sold....

 

[IJN]

Think that will be the GT’s building

That's going to be called the Far Post Club.

 

[greenpizzapie]

That's going to be called the Far Post Club.

Might be mistaken but is the far post club upstairs and the thatchers bar downstairs?

 

[oldage]

Thanks everyone for the comments and feedback.

Just to absolutely clarify the process we’ve been through and give some context from club:

We have seen a period of rapid growth, both in GA season ticket holders (including demand) and in Hospitality. The club is trying to ensure it can grow in line with demand, in order to generate more income which in turn get’s put into the football budget so we can compete in the Championship. We recently published our 5 year mission to become a sustainable Championship Club with Premier League aspirations. With this in mind, we have to be innovative in generating income but also maximise our existing streams.

While there is appetite to build more seats, this takes time and planning and in the meantime we are ensuring that we can continue to compete financially in this league.
All of the above being said, we do understand that this is an emotive subject and also that for those it impacts it’s an unwelcome change.

My team started working on this a month ago, and one of the important considerations was to ensure that whatever we did, we made sure the least amount of people were impacted. We reviewed a number of options and looked at the specific type of ticket holders in each area. The option we have adopted will mean some season ticket holders are displaced, but also Commercial season ticket holders are too.

The team are absolutely committed to making sure that every person impacted is found the best possible solution, hence the early engagement prior to season tickets going on sale and two dedicated members of staff have been allocated the role of speaking to everyone individually and talking through options. We also acknowledge that it would be shortsighted of us to view everyone through one lens. We therefore wanted the engagement via phone calls to capture any specific information we may not already be aware of so we can take this into consideration.

It’s fair to say that despite what many may think, lots of the Hospitality guests we have are regular guests that have been attending Home Park for a long time too. Some of these have been season ticket holders and traded up recently to Hospitality packages.
I want to assure everyone that while all of our decision making includes many aspects, one important consideration is keeping aligned with our community value. We, of course, have to weigh up the commercials, but even where a commercial decision is made we go through a process to ensure we mitigate any risks and also we do our best to offset any risks/concerns or at at least minimise them.

Thanks all.

CK

Seems to me that you are chipping away at your so called “community value”. Having already alienated home supporters who travel by coach you are now displacing regular supporters from their seats. IMO a lot of lifelong supporters and many season ticket holders are now being poorly treated but nobody seems to care.

 

[Argylegames]

Might be mistaken but is the far post club upstairs and the thatchers bar downstairs?

I thought Thatchers was in the grandstand.

 

[ArgyleOfficial]

Seems to me that you are chipping away at your so called “community value”. Having already alienated home supporters who travel by coach you are now displacing regular supporters from their seats. IMO a lot of lifelong supporters and many season ticket holders are now being poorly treated but nobody seems to care.

Thanks.

Think we’ve already been clear on the coaches and the reasons behind the changes this season. This is a safety based decision and one that allows many supporters to feel safe when in close proximity to the ground. We’ve received many emails thanking us for making the change after some near misses.

Equally, home supporter coaches have been allocated free of charge parking at Harpers Soccer centre which is very much in walking distance. I would argue that providing free coach parking to supporters using sustainable travel from further afield is very much in line with our values.

CK

 

[TBP]

I used to use the Roselyn coach on match days until this season. I stopped doing so because the leaving time from Lostwithiel was (unnecessarily in my view) moved 30 minutes earlier which meant I was getting to Home Park sometimes an hour or more before kick-off. I've been driving this season instead. However, when I was on the coach I always thought there was an accident waiting to happen regarding pedestrians. If I were to use the bus again, I don't see the problem with walking from the soccer centre. Can't be more than 5 minutes.

 

[ChepstowGreen]

Daz its not so much the affordability (I can see lots of people would spend £80 a match if the experience was right) as the value I am questioning. In my experience even relatively wealthy people require value for what they spend. But I guess if they are being sold....

I agree - as a lower mayflower ST holder I have been absolutely soaked loads of times this season (or would have been without the proper weather proof clothes etc), and it doesn't really seem the ideal experience for corporate hospitality, padded seats, etc.

Maybe the extra income will help pay for a grandstand roof extension...! 🤔

 

[metroace]

Might be mistaken but is the far post club upstairs and the thatchers bar downstairs?

I believe the entire building will be known as The Far Post Club. Downstairs will be known as Thatchers Bar and upstairs will have another name that I forget.

 

[ChepstowGreen]

Thanks.

Think we’ve already been clear on the coaches and the reasons behind the changes this season. This is a safety based decision and one that allows many supporters to feel safe when in close proximity to the ground. We’ve received many emails thanking us for making the change after some near misses.

Equally, home supporter coaches have been allocated free of charge parking at Harpers Soccer centre which is very much in walking distance. I would argue that providing free coach parking to supporters using sustainable travel from further afield is very much in line with our values.

CK

Thanks CK - can I please ask why busses / away coaches are allowed to park up where the original supporter's coaches used to go?

Why are they safer / deemed more important than the ones which have been going for years?

Not trying to be difficult, just good to understand the thought process - sorry if I've missed this at some point before.

 

[IJN]

Yeah that's what happening but the upstairs is yet to be confirmed.

 

[oldage]

Thanks.

Think we’ve already been clear on the coaches and the reasons behind the changes this season. This is a safety based decision and one that allows many supporters to feel safe when in close proximity to the ground. We’ve received many emails thanking us for making the change after some near misses.

Equally, home supporter coaches have been allocated free of charge parking at Harpers Soccer centre which is very much in walking distance. I would argue that providing free coach parking to supporters using sustainable travel from further afield is very much in line with our values.

CK

I can assure you that by moving the coaches it has caused more safety issues. The coach enters the Harpers Soccer centre and pedestrians are having to lean up against the hedges to allow the coaches to pass. Moreover for the game against Leicester the home coaches were parked with the away coaches in and an Argyle supporter literally walked in front of our coach whilst texting on his phone! Away coaches are still allowed to offload despite your H&S concerns, and this was witnessed by myself and your official Assistant Safety Officer after the PNE game ,who could not understand why home coaches were no longer allowed in Jack Leslie Way. He said he would speak to the club .This situation has really got to home supporters who regularly use the coaches who are frustrated by what appears to be an illogical explanation from you.

 

[JannerinCardiff]

I wasn’t going to comment on the email I received yesterday, but that price is interesting as I’ve been offered the same, but for £100 more than that and I already pay for a padded seat (4 actually). It would cost me a cool £331 a game to have the seats that I have now next season. The only addition is I can go in to what is the GT’s now at half time.

I’ll stop there as I don’t like talking ill of the club.

In the most polite way .. I recommend cutting down on those carbs my friend...

 

[Age of reason]

This is one of those innovations that makes perfect sense is understandable and quite acceptable.....

.......until it's you that's affected.

Yes. I really didn’t like the way the long term supporter was almost who had to move seats was almost dismissed at the fans forum last year.
The club will need fans like him if/when we go back down the leagues.

 

[ArgyleOfficial]

Thanks CK - can I please ask why busses / away coaches are allowed to park up where the original supporter's coaches used to go?

Why are they safer / deemed more important than the ones which have been going for years?

Not trying to be difficult, just good to understand the thought process - sorry if I've missed this at some point before.

The ultimate goal is to keep all traffic clear from Jack Leslie way. That said, any traffic that is permitted past the road screening has been pre-approved and is in direct control of the football club safety officer or police.

For example, we have direct comms with city busses and they arrive and leave under the direction of the safety officer. They are also approved (by PCC) to park at that dedicated bus stop where a private hire vehicle is not. The busses organised by PAFC also provide us with timings, insurance, driver details etc so we can ensure in the event of any incident we have the right info.

Away coaches are brought in under police control with direct comms with the safety officer, police and all have stewards onboard. 90% of the time these will park at Harpers too unless we have any specific intel/risk to consider. I suspect next season all away coaches will be off-site.

The private hire coaches are not organised by the club and this means we cannot guarantee we can be in control therefore are provided free parking at Harpers as this is the closest we could accommodate a coach.

Unfortunately most of the near misses have been a result of coaches/cars privately organised wanting to drop passengers as close to the stadium as possible and close to kick off.

CK