Quote: Mash Tun "As Smithers suggests, it cannot be overstated that use of Plough Lane’s fan-friendly facilities to create an event culture is key.
Making people feel like they’ve had a decent day out regardless of the actual rugby will be very important.'"
Your last sentence is so well put (so is the first sentence as well). Three months ago I would have paid no attention to it. My perspective is so changed. I thought we'd go to a football match, now we are going to an event. We get there early to eat and drink having checked which food vans are arriving for the particular game.
Post match there is the (Wimbledon) Man of the Match interview in the Pub Area. Subtle but I promise you it increases the beer sales and also forces you to leave via the Club Shop as more merchandise flows.
Then there is the Kid's Area. The opportunity to take penalties or for the smaller kids drawing type activities. I saw Haydon (the mascot) was goalkeeper yesterday.
The only concern I have is how the Broncos use the Fans Zone. The East and South Stands were closed for the Papa John's match v Portsmouth reducing capacity to around 5,800 with no access to the Fan Zones. I'm not sure how the Broncos will utilise the ground with a presumably smaller crowd.
Here's a story of the Street Food Van's. Nobody (supporters) knew about them before the first match. So most supporters ate and drunk locally arriving late at the ground to see a variety of food options in addition to the stadium concessions. So the six vans did a poor trade. But the fans noticed, so for the midweek match three days later many changed their plans. Only three vans came this time, two doing chips. The queues were massive, even if you could even work out what was a queue.
I spoke to the guy at the local Fish & Chip shop. At the first match they sold very little and only came again as they signed up as a sponsor of the Family Zone section in the East Stand. On the Tuesday they were overwhelmed and ran out of food. The club also listened in their Thursday (for Saturday matches) Stadium Guide articles they now list the names of the vans attending the next match enabling supporters to make an informed choice of whether to eat at the ground.
The food vans, pub and beer stands remain open post match.
The food varieties include Fish & Chips, Pasta, Pizza, Jamaican, Vegan, Toasties, Indian plus some others I forget for now. The club stands sell burgers, hot dogs, pies etc. A variety of Beers and Ciders on tap at Beer only outlets. Basic Wine options (and beer) at the main concession outlets.