1901

[Icy Gull]

Some people have to be seen at the right places at any cost
regards
DR

1901 lounges can hardly be called the "right place", it's at a tier 2 football ground for a start.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

1901 lounges can hardly be called the "right place", it's at a tier 2 football ground for a start.

So what, some people think it's made in heaven
regards
DR

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Talking about the dress code, I've just had a google around and Chelsea, Man United, Arsenal and Tottenham's equivalent of the 1901 lounges have a more relaxed dress code that we do.

Most just say no football shirts, smart trainers, smart jeans, no away colours.

The directors lounges are more formal obviously, but I've never why we have such a heavy handed approach to bloody collar at our place. Makes no sense at all.

Personally I think after our 5th year, the prices will skyrocket and they'll find a way to move us ruffians to other parts of the ground.

That is my only bugbear. I never have been and never will be into expensive clothes but it is OK if I wear generic jeans from a supermarket and a polo shirt - as long as I wear shoes. Wearing shoes is the only difference from how I would dress going elsewhere in the ground/used to go to Withdean in etc. And I only wear shoes for work normally so I have to change despite the rest of me being in generic, cheap clothing. I can sort of understand the no colours and no ripped jeans but why can I go in in a £8 polo shirt but someone can't go in in a £100 T Shirt? And you can't wear £200 trainers but can wear any old shoes.

And don't get me started about Max from Max and Paddy on the door/

I also fear they may use the renewals to get rid of us - I suppose getting my £1000 back for selling it will pay for a ST for a while - if there are enough corporates queuing up to replace us that is otherwise there will be no-one to buy me out.

 

[Gully Forever]

Sorry to re bump this thread, but can anyone tell me!.

Is there a 1901 East member on here you be able to tell me more about it?.

Where are the seats located?. are they overlooking the halfway line!.
I'm a non 1901 in the central west lower, from what i can see of the 1901 in the east the seats would either be in the upper or lower.
or are they indoors or something

Also, Would you know if a single member gets access to a car parking place!. I realize that after reading
through the forum that a single member needs pay for parking, but is that in the uni car park?.

Would be grateful if you could shed some light on this!..
So its 99+vat per month for the seat and access to lounge!?.
plus the initial £300-500 payment.

And if you want to sit down to lunch, that's the extra £131 per match extra?..

Sorry if my questions are weird But information is sporadic at best!.

 

[Giraffe]

I'm in the West but know of the East. It's located in the lower tier, it's those central seats near the back. They have their own lounge. You only get a parking space if you buy four tickets, and yes they will be in the Uni.

And the food is still a total rip off. I watch someone being served a burger and six chips for £12.50 whilst another man complained about his cold curry the other day. Curious set up now.

 

[Superphil]

Sorry to re bump this thread, but can anyone tell me!.

Is there a 1901 East member on here you be able to tell me more about it?.

Where are the seats located?. are they overlooking the halfway line!.
I'm a non 1901 in the central west lower, from what i can see of the 1901 in the east the seats would either be in the upper or lower.
or are they indoors or something

Also, Would you know if a single member gets access to a car parking place!. I realize that after reading
through the forum that a single member needs pay for parking, but is that in the uni car park?.

Would be grateful if you could shed some light on this!..
So its 99+vat per month for the seat and access to lounge!?.
plus the initial £300-500 payment.

And if you want to sit down to lunch, that's the extra £131 per match extra?..

Sorry if my questions are weird But information is sporadic at best!.

Might be a good idea to contact the 1901 Club to get your answers, I'm pretty sure a number of your assumptions are wide of the mark. They have a website, are the answers not there? Or give them a call, the 1901 staff I've ever dealt with are all pretty helpful and knowledgable.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Sorry to re bump this thread, but can anyone tell me!.

Is there a 1901 East member on here you be able to tell me more about it?.

Where are the seats located?. are they overlooking the halfway line!.
I'm a non 1901 in the central west lower, from what i can see of the 1901 in the east the seats would either be in the upper or lower.
or are they indoors or something

Also, Would you know if a single member gets access to a car parking place!. I realize that after reading
through the forum that a single member needs pay for parking, but is that in the uni car park?.

Would be grateful if you could shed some light on this!..
So its 99+vat per month for the seat and access to lounge!?.
plus the initial £300-500 payment.

And if you want to sit down to lunch, that's the extra £131 per match extra?..

Sorry if my questions are weird But information is sporadic at best!.

I know it's expensive, but I don't think even the albion try to pitch the food at that high a price per meal.

 

[Mileoakman]

Just to add a bit, my monthly season in the 1901 in the West is £91.20 per month including VAT. Most of the casual dining meals are around the £12.50 mark with 10% back if you use your e-card. I think the pies and drinks are the same price as the rest of the ground. Don't forget the free programme and cup of tea at half time but you won't get any parking free unless you buy 4 tickets! I think the parking costs £270 a season at either the Uni or the Bridge although I've reverted to the buses this year so it may have gone up.

I think if you park at the Uni and are 1901 you get a free shuttle bus to and from the ground if you don't want to walk.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Just to add a bit, my monthly season in the 1901 in the West is £91.20 per month including VAT. Most of the casual dining meals are around the £12.50 mark with 10% back if you use your e-card. I think the pies and drinks are the same price as the rest of the ground. Don't forget the free programme and cup of tea at half time but you won't get any parking free unless you buy 4 tickets! I think the parking costs £270 a season at either the Uni or the Bridge although I've reverted to the buses this year so it may have gone up.

I think if you park at the Uni and are 1901 you get a free shuttle bus to and from the ground if you don't want to walk.

I'd rather seat in a normal seat and have a curry later in the evening
regards
DR

 

[Mileoakman]

I'd rather seat in a normal seat and have a curry later in the evening
regards
DR

Its not compulsory to eat, in fact in my lounge I would guess less than 10% have anything except a pie and most nothing at all. You can still have your curry in the evening if you want!

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Its not compulsory to eat, in fact in my lounge I would guess less than 10% have anything except a pie and most nothing at all. You can still have your curry in the evening if you want!

That's interesting, im sure the club would find those figures disturbing
regards
DR

 

[Superphil]

That's interesting, im sure the club would find those figures disturbing
regards
DR

Sadly those figures are all because of the club failing to put together an appropriate offer. The 'full' dining option is reasonably well patronised in the Overline and BUPA lounges, thought it's well down in numbers last season and this. As for the casual dining offer, it just looks such poor value for money, actually, it just looks poor (IMO), most people give it a miss, I suspect this is the same in the Gold lounges too.

Quite why such a large establishment with huge kitchens and a massive captive audience can't do a passable meal for under £70 or a burger and fries for a tenner I don't know. Apparently we're supposed to expect it to be dearer as it's a football ground.

I know there are bundles of place, serving really decent lunches, only a few minutes train ride from the Amex, that suit me and the missus when we come to town on match days.

I expect there to be a big shake up in the 1901 when the first 5 years are up. They'll need to be careful though, if a large percentage of a couple of thousand STH paying £1200 a year each decide to ditch it they'll be losing a few quid.

 

[Marshy]

I have a mate with 3 bang on half way in the East Stand that are available due to a change in personal circumstances

 

[Icy Gull]

I know there are bundles of place, serving really decent lunches, only a few minutes train ride from the Amex, that suit me and the missus when we come to town on match days.

.

Same as, I used to eat there but now we meet up in Lewes or Brighton, have a decent reasonably priced meal and then go to the ground. By putting in the extra tables in the BUPA lounge that virtually nobody uses for eating means that there is nearly always somewhere to sit as well. It used to be a few tables with chairs, a few stand at tables and that was it. It was almost worth eating to be able to sit down at half and full time. Now there is always somewhere to sit as so many people arrive late and leave early. Beggars belief that they haven't handed the running of the BUPA lounge over to somebody who understands catering and is able to make it work. For a club forever blowing their own trumpet about being so professional and cutting edge, it's frankly a shambles.

Oh and whilst I'm having a rant "turn the fecking microphone volume of the announcer down!"

 

[Mileoakman]

Interestingly I was chatting to a fellow 1901 member at the Cardiff game about the catering. He mentioned that he knew some people who had put a bid in for the original contract. During their presentation to the club it apparently became pretty obvious that the most important thing was how much the caterers were going to pay the club up front.

It pretty much follows that to get the contract the winning bid had to screw costs way down for any hope of making a profit for themselves. So what do you get. You get inferior food at a premium price served by cheap and inexperienced labour. Its not surprising therefore that after giving the club the benefit of the doubt and giving each new caterer a chance to prove themselves, most of have decided enough is enough. I'll drink my pint and eat the occasional pie or packet of crisps but I'm not prepared to be ripped off on the catering side anymore.

Looking at the other people in my lounge, (Mayo Wynne Baxter), I don't think I'm the only one that thinks that.

 

[Superphil]

Interestingly I was chatting to a fellow 1901 member at the Cardiff game about the catering. He mentioned that he knew some people who had put a bid in for the original contract. During their presentation to the club it apparently became pretty obvious that the most important thing was how much the caterers were going to pay the club up front.

Sounds normal practice for me, you tender something, you take the most advantageous bid. The problem is, if you offer too much, you can't provide the service, and you end up cutting corners and/or losing out, which is what i think successive caterers have done at the Amex. They appear to have been desperate to win the contract, and have possibly ignored the clubs insistence that certain standards be met, i.e. Piglets and Harveys (amongst others). In the lounges they pay lip service to the ale, it's often rancid, and the pies are rotten most of the time, because they actually don't want to serve them, they want to sell sweatburgers for £12 a pop, and their own sourced eurofizz.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Sounds normal practice for me, you tender something, you take the most advantageous bid. The problem is, if you offer too much, you can't provide the service, and you end up cutting corners and/or losing out, which is what i think successive caterers have done at the Amex. They appear to have been desperate to win the contract, and have possibly ignored the clubs insistence that certain standards be met, i.e. Piglets and Harveys (amongst others). In the lounges they pay lip service to the ale, it's often rancid, and the pies are rotten most of the time, because they actually don't want to serve them, they want to sell sweatburgers for £12 a pop, and their own sourced eurofizz.

So what you're saying is Barber didn't undertake any meaningful due diligence on the offers?

 

[Vegas Seagull]

So what you're saying is Barber didn't undertake any meaningful due diligence on the offers?

Like the greedy house sellers who just go with the Estate Agent that says the highest number and then complain when it doesn't sell ?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Like the greedy house sellers who just go with the Estate Agent that says the highest number and then complain when it doesn't sell ?

Very funny.

 

[Superphil]

So what you're saying is Barber didn't undertake any meaningful due diligence on the offers?

Not necessarily. Look at another way, I lost a tender for a project earlier this year (value about £270k), to a firm that were a lot cheaper than us in their tender. They were awarded the contract, and after about three months I got a call, to find out the other firm had been chucked off the contract, and that we were to be awarded it after all.

The reason the client chose the other firm was becasue, after doing all their necessary reviews, and considerations, they thought this firm was going to be ok. However, after the contract got started they started asking for more money for this and that, turns out, they had gone in at a loss making price to win it, expecting to make up the numbers in variations and extras.

Now the point of mentioning this is that I sell a specialist product, very very rarely do my clients have a comprehensive understanding of what they are buying, from me or any other firm in our industry, therefore it is easy to confuse them, bamboozle them with jargon, or plain sell them something that isn't really right for them. In the case of the Albion, they've never had to place multi-million hospitality contracts, in the past it was a couple of portakabins from EZ-UP Kabins, a soup urn and a couple of stoves. Perhaps their inexperience lead to them taking the most favourable bid, without understanding the pitfalls of choosing that bid, it's come back to bite them once. The interim lot seemed an improvement, but then their offer wasn't good enough to secure the permanent deal, and the current shower are no better than the first lot, in fact I'd go as far as to say they are worse.

We all know in our heart of hearts that the cheapest (or in this case the biggest up front payment) isn't likely to be the best, but to difficult not to be tempted. Whether it's Barber who'se inexperienced, or generally the board who couldn't see past the monetary offer, we won't find out.

One thing for sure, they aren't selling as many beers and pies in the concourses, this is a fact, because the staff are so poorly equipped, they can't serve as much as people want to buy. Also, many have said, on here, and elsewhere, that they won't buy any more at the Amex becasue it's too dear, and/or the service is poor, and/or the product is poor. Nowhere more is this evident than in the 1901 Lounges where the decline in take up is palpable, combined with the abject inability of the staff to do the most basic of tasks. The queues at the bars are shorter than they were in previous seasons, but it takes longer to get served.

But yeah, why not? Barber out.

All IMO of course.