Why is it so difficult....

[NellyTheValiant]

9 minutes ago, andy jones said:

Totally agree ALL turnstiles should have been open from an hour before kick off.

Club to Action

The police vehicles need shifting from back of Hamil so that the fanzone can be sited nearer to Hamil Road itself leaving clear access to turnstiles.

Club & Police to Action

Create additional turnstiles it's physically impossible to get 4,000 people through even 8 turnstiles in less than 40 minutes.

Club to Action

Majority of fans still need to realise that with the current situation they will miss kick off if arriving within 30 minutes of kick off.

Fans Decision

But you got there at 7.30.  Had they not bothered opening the additional turnstiles or opening the gates, I dare say that you would've missed the majority of the 1st half.

The club were almost certainly to blame and not the majority of fans.

[Santa]

1 hour ago, andy jones said:

Santa you say there's 8 turnstiles I didn't see the other 2 

There are 4 pairs of 2 turnstiles. 1&2 are behind Tommys. 7&8 are nearest the gym. usually only 1-6 are open but some bright spark only opened 3-6 last night. 

[Mister B]

I wasn't at the game last night, however the pictures and reports from the Hamil end don't paint the club in a good light. Unfortunately, as others have pointed out, this keeps happening.

Whilst I applaud the club for the FanZone, and I have utilised it many times in it's previous area, and before the Reading game this season, I feel it's current placing exacerbates the issues around the turnstiles.

There are no clearly defined queues. People waiting for a beer, snaking horizontally across the patch are then crossed by people waiting to enter the ground.

In my opinion, it would be better to move the FanZone to outside Tommy's, with stalls backing onto the Hamil Road wall, as they were for the Robbie concert, and then have properly defined barriers entering the turnstiles to manage the queues more effectively. They could even do way with turnstiles completely by having scanners out in the queue and the gate opened.

It just takes a bit of logical thinking.

Well that's my two penneth anyway.

Have a grand day.

[jjvale_03]

Certainly seems like they've thought 'Vale fans will put up with anything as long as they're watching a winning team, so let's concentrate on that'.

*apart from if you're in corporate seats, then everything is perfect.

[Rory]

We know that somebody at Port Vale will read this. 

Explain yourselves Port Vale!

[Doha]

🤣🤣

 

[rob1983]

Health and safety won't be having this if we have to keep opening the gates to let everyone in every match. Stand/ground closures or reduced capacity incoming.

[NorthwoodValiant]

2 minutes ago, rob1983 said:

Health and safety won't be having this if we have to keep opening the gates to let everyone in every match. Stand/ground closures or reduced capacity incoming.

We already have a 25% reduced capacity

[rob1983]

We already have a 25% reduced capacity

Yeah, they'll probably reduce it further. Can't just open the gates anyone without tickets just strolling in. Might just wait for them open the gates from now on..

[NorthwoodValiant]

3 minutes ago, rob1983 said:

6 minutes ago, NorthwoodValiant said:

We already have a 25% reduced capacity

Yeah, they'll probably reduce it further. Can't just open the gates anyone without tickets just strolling in. Might just wait for them open the gates from now on..

You can stroll in after half time every game when they open the gates then......

[CAVALIER]

I think it’s Clare Halkett’s role? Anyway whomever, we sold nearly all the tickets , the club know exactly how many and where they’re going so surely a rocket scientist wasn’t needed?

Hasnt this been an issue every game so far? Surely time for action?

[NorthwoodValiant]

Has anyone actually come up with a decent solution yet?

[JoeB2]

What has continually baffle me is the club is alright at tricky/complicated things but still, 5 years into this ownership, struggles to get the very nuts and bolts of it correct.

I can order a can of wine, pringles, and hot dog from my seat on my phone and waltz around to pick it up with no queue, but I have to be at a cup game 45 minutes in advance to guarantee expeditious entry and a seat which isn't overcrowded with lads stood in the aisles having a scrap.

1. The entire issue of 'the queue for the Hamil vs the fanzone' issue is solved by a few fences, some signs, and a steward with a megaphone. Cost about £100 all in and problem solved for good. Open every turnstile you can. 
2. The issue last night with how crowded the Hamil was would be to simply open half of the Railway Paddock. Might cost a few extra quid but is it worth putting casual fans off by making entry some form of trial to undergo? (on a separate note isolating the Crewe fans absolutely killed the atmosphere last night). If you're selling out having closed your biggest stand, you've perhaps misjudged demand.
3. The issues around queues in the ticket office is solved by keeping the ticket section open, having more staff on (including a couple to specifically answer phones) and very clearly put signs up for where to go for STs, match tickets, bus tickets. Sack off making people go into the shop.
4. Synectics car parking seems like a fiasco with folk getting charged and then not getting a space. Get the abacus out. Not tricky. Count the cars in. Don't oversell.
5. Bring back postage for tickets, whack a few quid charge on, and save several hundred from going up to the ground to get tickets. You then reduce matchday queues as folks needing to get away tickets have them posted and don't build up the queue, ensuring walk ups can get to the front quickly. 

None of these are tricky or expensive. I'm not asking anyone to spend money they haven't got. I stand by the point I've made for years that the club are happy to spend hundred of thousands on hospitality but run a Smurthwaite operation for the average fan. 

[jjvale_03]

34 minutes ago, NorthwoodValiant said:

Has anyone actually come up with a decent solution yet?

I'd expect one of the highly paid execs at VP to do so. 

[jjvale_03]

32 minutes ago, JoeB2 said:

I stand by the point I've made for years that the club are happy to spend hundred of thousands on hospitality but run a Smurthwaite operation for the average fan. 

Spot on.