[Albion] Covid requirements for Arsenal match?

[nicko31]

In the absence of clarity and leadership from the government I'll bring my pass along tomorrow just incase....

 

[Guinness Boy]

Shambolic? Inconsistent from your experience? Based on PL protocols and guidance?

Awful club

See reply to ChaileyJem

I've been totally supportive of the club on vaccine passports but the day or so after Boris's announcement that they wouldn't be mandatory (i.e. Leicester) it seemed to me we'd abandoned it.

Then against Swansea (and with my pedants hat on that is NOT a Premier League game) checks were tighter than a nun's nasty - meaning the queues were not socially distanced either to get in or at the bar.

 

[Deleted member 37369]

I usually get to the ground an hour or so before the game. Have been checked all games so far - apart from Leicester as I was away on holiday and I passed my ST to my son using the new excellent transfer system

It’s never been shambolic … I have no issues with it … it’s taken a couple of seconds each time.

Once you’ve been on holiday and gone through all the mask wearing, PLF forms, tests, certificates etc - which again I have no issue with at all - getting into the Amex is a breeze

 

[chaileyjem]

Yes. I was checked when the queue was enormous and nearly missed kick off v Swansea but breezed in unchallenged v Leicester at around 2pm. That doesn't fit the above does it?

If you mean , on the basis of an individual's experience its hard to discern a pattern of how the spot checks are employed then fair enough. For example i arrived very early for Leicester and i was checked but you weren't so not sure what this means other than the checks are as per policy - not universal. But its quite the leap to suggest its shambolic. Not sure we've had 1000s or even 100s stranded outside the ground missing kick off - due to the policy being applied without considering other factors. Thats more my definition of a shambles.

 

[Guinness Boy]

If you mean , on the basis of an individual's experience its hard to discern a pattern of how the spot checks are employed then fair enough. For example i arrived very early for Leicester and i was checked but you weren't so not sure what this means other than the checks are as per policy - not universal. But its quite the leap to suggest its shambolic. Not sure we've had 1000s or even 100s stranded outside the ground missing kick off - due to the policy being applied without considering other factors. Thats more my definition of a shambles.

I'm sorry but I doubt the "match day experience" has been anything like what the club would want.

Let's just take Leicester. I was staying with the friend I go with on the Saturday night and on Sunday morning got the game brief text. WE'd planned to drive from rural West Sussex where he lives to Brighton station and then park and get a train as there were no Coastway West services. The brief handily told us Southern were now providing free parking at Brighton Station. Great we thought! But it did say to get there early because it would now be in demand. Meanwhile his son had lost his phone with his ticket on. Drive to mine, charge a spare phone and re-download the lad's ticket.

Then off to Brighton to park but there is no way at Brighton Station to get the free parking. We have to pay or get a ticket. At least we get to the ground early having been prompted in the same text that we would be Covid pass checked - we weren't.

All in all we set off three hours before kick off and nothing that had been promised in a game brief sent that morning came to pass.

And that's before we go back to the original Vaccine Passport thread (where you'll see I have defended their checking and said PB is in an impossible position, because he is). Read the whole thing. First it was going to be mandatory for everyone, then random. We don't accept the EU version (God knows why not) and an LFT is needed for those people even though they will have taken a PCR to fly. Then Boris announces he will only be enforcing the vaccine pass in case of Plan B. Cue shortlived celebrations from anti-passport gang before we find out the Premier League are keeping it - out of line with other large venues in England (but in line with small nightclubs in Scotland).

Now, I appreciate that 90% of this is not the fault of the club. Once the stewards are out there they will check according to how they feel it is going. The club are not responsible for Southern welching on free parking, the Uni closing car parks, Mathew Bloody Bennet or Boris's continuous u-turns and vacillations.

But simple things like consistent application of policy, sensible rules for EU residents, not having mobile only tickets and clear and accurate communication would really help with a supporter base that are currently being treated absolutely royally on the pitch but facing a changing set of challenges arranging each trip to a home match.

Edit - I believe my earlier post said we arrived for Leicester at 2. It would have been 1pm as we got there an hour before the kick off which was two - having set off from Steyning at 11!

 

[Tony the Pony]

For the Leicester game in the SW corner the steward was counting us in using a clicker, and when asked he said he was told to spot check 1 in every 200 people, which is what he was doing. Luckily I wasn't the one picked.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

For the Leicester game in the SW corner the steward was counting us in using a clicker, and when asked he said he was told to spot check 1 in every 200 people, which is what he was doing. Luckily I wasn't the one picked.

So instead of using his clicker he could have been spot checking more people. That’s a bit silly to be fair.

 

[Guinness Boy]

For the Leicester game in the SW corner the steward was counting us in using a clicker, and when asked he said he was told to spot check 1 in every 200 people, which is what he was doing. Luckily I wasn't the one picked.

Against Swansea they were checking everyone. The West Lower didn't suddenly gain miraculous extra entrances.

 

[Stat Brother]

.

The drug dogs were also out in force at the away end for Swansea. I guess the message is "the lower key the game, the tighter the security"

For all the use they are

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Less challenging at the Leicester game although was raining which could be a factor to stop pissing people off.

It’s raining tomorrow so expect the spot check approach to continue at a maximum

 

[cjd]

I'm away for the Arsenal Game, but does anyone know if the stewards will accept my French double vaccine ( Pfizer) certificate. Up until now I have had to take a LFT before the game.

As I understand it , as from 4th October the UK will accept the "foreign" double vaccinated certificates to enter the uk , but don't know if it applies to going to the Amex....?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I'm away for the Arsenal Game, but does anyone know if the stewards will accept my French double vaccine ( Pfizer) certificate. Up until now I have had to take a LFT before the game.

As I understand it , as from 4th October the UK will accept the "foreign" double vaccinated certificates to enter the uk , but don't know if it applies to going to the Amex....?

I just had a look on the club website and cannot find anything about the Covid policy let alone EU Covid Passports. It must be on there somewhere, can anyone help?

 

[chaileyjem]

I'm sorry but I doubt the "match day experience" has been anything like what the club would want.

Agreed. Its been a tough 6 weeks or so. And you've described a whole bunch of mostly transport issues (train engineering works, park and ride, Bennetts field, Sussex university) which i'm not familiar with - but sound like a nightmare and as you say- mostly out of the clubs control. its been relatively normal coming in via Lewes thankfully.

I think the Covid checks have been about as good as they probably could be from a club point of view but yes they've been dealt a difficult hand by the Premier League and the change in approach from the govt. Its a really difficult and potentially divisive policy to communicate, has potential revenue issues if you put people off and its tough customer service challenge for all the edge cases, queries from fans who don't want to miss football or alternatively feel unsafe (eg: my passport is out of date what if my Dad has no mobile phone etc) which i think they've handled about as smoothly as they could have hoped. Certainly clearer (the comms, the messaging outside the stadium) than what i experienced as a ticket holder at Palace and Brentford.

Do you really think the club shouldn't have introduced mobile tickets btw ? I think they've been pretty good at managing alternatives for older phone resistant users, and the customer service around it has been pretty good. There's plenty of exceptions and effort to try and smooth over the bumps. I upgraded my phone in advance of Swansea and my iPhone wallet was playing up so they issued me a print at home ticket with little fuss.

 

[Pavilionaire]

As a contrast, I have been to 2 Guildford Flames ice hockey matches - so indoor - in the last couple of weeks and there has been zero Covid checking with virtually none of the 2,000-odd crowd wearing masks.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Agreed. Its been a tough 6 weeks or so. And you've described a whole bunch of mostly transport issues (train engineering works, park and ride, Bennetts field, Sussex university) which i'm not familiar with - but sound like a nightmare and as you say- mostly out of the clubs control. its been relatively normal coming in via Lewes thankfully.

I think the Covid checks have been about as good as they probably could be from a club point of view but yes they've been dealt a difficult hand by the Premier League and the change in approach from the govt. Its a really difficult and potentially divisive policy to communicate, has potential revenue issues if you put people off and its tough customer service challenge for all the edge cases, queries from fans who don't want to miss football or alternatively feel unsafe (eg: my passport is out of date what if my Dad has no mobile phone etc) which i think they've handled about as smoothly as they could have hoped. Certainly clearer (the comms, the messaging outside the stadium) than what i experienced as a ticket holder at Palace and Brentford.

Do you really think the club shouldn't have introduced mobile tickets btw ? I think they've been pretty good at managing alternatives for older phone resistant users, and the customer service around it has been pretty good. There's plenty of exceptions and effort to try and smooth over the bumps. I upgraded my phone in advance of Swansea and my iPhone wallet was playing up so they issued me a print at home ticket with little fuss.

I honestly don't know what was wrong with the season ticket cards, other than they were easy to pass on. For Man City last season, when we were still under government restrictions and tier level buying was in force the print at home were still seen as fine.

Mobile tickets are fine as a "happy path" but much more complex when things inevitably go wrong. West Ham and Southampton fans were very unhappy with theirs too.

 

[Gazwag]

Typical, no checks when it's fine weather, pissing down with rain 100% checks into the NS

 

[swindonseagull]

Typical, no checks when it's fine weather, pissing down with rain 100% checks into the NS

No checks when we went in ESU....