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Miles Away


everreddy

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whatever anyone says, I support Bristol City. I buy a pasty from Parsons, bring my own Bovril and have a laugh with my fellow fans who sit next to me. The 'match day experience' is marketing talk, create your own!

How do you get boiling hot Bovril in?

 

That could be used as a weapon, life ban surely?

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I had a very different experience and went to Hartlepool for their game against Bury yesterday - Although going in the away end, everyone I encountered was pleasant and helpful but highlighted the difference to coming to Ashton Gate or going to the Emirates.

 

For me it's about making the most of what you have at the club, going in a mixed bar at the ground and having pies carried into the away food kiosk (because the ovens f*cked, in a saucepan, through a gate from the home end) is something that works at Hartlepool, their operation would become a lot harder if they picked up a couple of back to back promotions.

 

 

 

Wouldn't it be better if the stewards were supporters of the club who understood football fans, rather than random Rentathug?

 

Stewards can be very hit and miss, I've seen stewards that don't even understand English at PL Grounds!

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I had a very different experience and went to Hartlepool for their game against Bury yesterday - Although going in the away end, everyone I encountered was pleasant and helpful but highlighted the difference to coming to Ashton Gate or going to the Emirates.

 

For me it's about making the most of what you have at the club, going in a mixed bar at the ground and having pies carried into the away food kiosk (because the ovens f*cked, in a saucepan, through a gate from the home end) is something that works at Hartlepool, their operation would become a lot harder if they picked up a couple of back to back promotions.

 

 

 

Stewards can be very hit and miss, I've seen stewards that don't even understand English at PL Grounds!

 

I think I'd prefer the ones that miss :fear:

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The man who restored Trebah Gardens to a major tourist attraction reckoned you needed:

 

1. A huge car park, well shaded by trees.

 

2. A good restaurant with plenty of sitting space.

 

3. More lavatories than you could possibly imagine to be necessary.

 

He reckoned that, if you got those right, some people wouldn't notice if there wasn't a garden at all.

 

I wouldn't argue with Major Tony Hibbert - he commanded a platoon of 2 Para at Arnhem!

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But wouldn't it be better if you could buy a decent pasty and a coffee devoid of cat's pee at the ground, with the proceeds going to the club?

 

Wouldn't it be better if the stewards were supporters of the club who understood football fans, rather than random Rentathug?

 

Wouldn't it be nice to be made welcome, rather than barely tolerated?

 

The phrase 'match day experience' may be marketing talk but, just this once, it refers to something real.

 

The Sags can do it - why don't we? Note that I don't say "why can't we" - we can, but we can't be arsed to.

 

Some gaseous friends of mine are frequently complaining about their stewards, so I don't think the grass is greener in their swamp.

 

The fact is, you can't compare what lower league clubs offer to PL.

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But wouldn't it be better if you could buy a decent pasty and a coffee devoid of cat's pee at the ground, with the proceeds going to the club?

 

Wouldn't it be better if the stewards were supporters of the club who understood football fans, rather than random Rentathug?

 

Wouldn't it be nice to be made welcome, rather than barely tolerated?

 

The phrase 'match day experience' may be marketing talk but, just this once, it refers to something real.

 

The Sags can do it - why don't we? Note that I don't say "why can't we" - we can, but we can't be arsed to.

Yes it would but I can't afford to do that at the moment. Best cup of tea I've had at footie was at Bloomfield Road from the little van at the end of the scaffolding seating we had. About 90p in a polystyrene cup, and proper milk! I'm not keen on the corporate/pre-packaged stuff. 

Too be honest, I've never had a problem with the stewards, they always smile and say hello. 

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Interesting point of view. As per a lot of replies I go to football for vastly differeing reasons. I'd recommend non-league football, of which I watch a reasonable ammount:-

 

The stadium was fantastic  Just needs to be fit for purpose

Transport there so easy   When only 200 people go to a game, you can turn up on public transport , or your own, at 2:55 for a 3:00 KO

Good food and drink at reasonable prices   Same

Fans of all ages, races, genders enjoying a match in an environment with little swearing or abuse    Same, but if you like a bit of swearing (I do) you can do it, as the nearest person >20metres from you :)

Club shop selling a wide range of quality merchandise     Not required at non-league.

Clear announcements and visible video footage of teams, highlights, club legends      There aren't any club videos (or legends for that matter)

Stewards who were helpful and friendly      Don't need them

 

I fully appreciate that modern football has changed dramatically since I started watching in the 1970's but non-league seems far more fun than Premier League plastic football. Obviously recent generations don't know any different.

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Some good points there, f_i_z, and I agree with many of them.

I started watching Western League football with my ol' man when I was knee high to a grasshopper. Good view of the match, leaning against cold, rusty rails behind the mud heap that was the home goal. After a disgusting tasting Bovril at half time,I then wandered to the opposite end with a dozen or so other fans, as the teams changed ends...

Travelled by train to see Bristol City when I started at grammar school - and that in itself seemed, in comparison, "miles away"!

The point I was trying to make, in the op, was that the gap between the current position of our club, and of many on here who dream of "the promised land", and the reality of Premier League football is ever widening, and I really despair that this gap will ever be closed.

Once, I had a dream: that I would sit among three generations of my family, in a state of the art new stadium, full to capacity, cheering on our team as we held our own against the likes of Arsenal....

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I went to London in August, had an hour to spare so thought we'd go and have a look around The Emirites. It was match day but Arsenal were away at Fulham (?) in an early kick off. Obviously I didn't get into the ground, just walked all the way round the outside and looked in the shop. The shop was huge and sold every possible Arsenal branded thing you could think of, for example there were a lot more things for girls, shopping bags, purses, cuddly toys etc. Every bit of kit possible, remember at this time we still hadn't had delivery of our shirts, and wouldn't for a couple of months.

As you walked into the shop you turned left for general stuff but if you turned right you went into an area at least 3 times the size of our Megastore just for shirt printing! There were about 10 tills just serving people (actually only about 5 were open, but remember this was during an away match). I was amazed by the turnover they must make from just shirt sales alone, I saw plenty being sold in the few minutes I was there. Yes some were being sold to tourists who were turning up for a look like I did.

It's a different world. I stood outside an promised the next time I'd be there it would be with Bristol City. So fingers crossed we will beat Watford and they beat Spurs tomorrow!

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Nothing worse than being a steward for BC when you support them as I found out, you're not really allowed to watch the game & should be keeping a eye on the crowd for trouble (was never a problem when I did it) but think the worse bit is not being able to celebrate when we scored or able to give the opposite team grief like you want to Grr but overall found our crowd well behaved compared to some other fans.

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