portlock seagull
Well-known member
- Jul 28, 2003
- 17,793
Another moan here at stewards, but one I think they rightly deserve. I really do think some of them are a complete waste of space and rude.
For the Mansfield game, my brother and I requested tickets for the South Stand where we usually sit. But because we were taking two kids who don’t normally come we couldn’t get our usual STH seats. Once we’d gone through the gates we checked to see the different block/seats we’d be in and then realised the club had actually sent us tickets for the L&G family stand (even though my brother made it clear we didn’t want to go there when ordering over the phone). I know we could have probably sat anywhere in the south stand that day but we thought, hell, lets go and sit in the L&G for a different view, the kids would like it and we’ve actually got tickets for there. But trying to move from the South Stand to the L&G was like asking to go to the moon it seemed. Anyway 1st steward completely and utterly unable to “handle our request”. So we were kept waiting at the gate between stands whilst a “code one” was obviously issued and back-up arrived shortly afterwards in the form of a “supervisor” (loose term). Having explained the situation again, said supervisor was also unable to deal with request also. It really perplexed him, he mumbled a bit but because we’d been originally let in to another part of the ground, even though we had tickets for the L&G, he’d have to check first with his supervisor. I pointed out that the L&G stand was, like elsewhere, far from sold out. Indeed I pointed out that the adjacent stand (V block?) seats 1000 and I could see at 2.45pm that it only had approximately 30 people in it. But no, this wasn’t the point (I was using too much common sense probably) and the clock slowly ticked towards kick-off whilst supervisor issued a “code 2” and tried to contact a “super supervisor”. I was now getting very agitated at the farce that was unfolding and the fact we were about to miss kick-off. So I decided to have my own kick-off away from the kids. I got said supervisor’s attention, ramped-up my tone of voice and pointed out we had waited far too long already, were about to miss kick-off because nobody seemed empowered enough to solve a ridiculously simple issue without speaking to Dick Knight. Without recourse to any expletives, I left him in no uncertain terms that I was unhappy and our party of 4 were getting pissed off. I was then told to ‘calm down’ and “we’re doing our best but you’re getting all funny with us”!!! 12 minutes had passed by then and we were in no mans land behind the east stands with Sussex by the Sea blaring out as the teams came on! And this joker tells me to continue waiting basically! At this point I’d had enough and really started to ask him why he was a supervisor etc and it descended into an argument. Predictably it wasn’t long before he resorted to “I’ll have you thrown out”. This incensed me even more and I was past caring by then, so I gave it back with both barrels: “how dare you threaten me for just disagreeing with you and all because you can’t make a simple decision” “we’ve paid MONEY to this club and you’re treating us like this” “I’m a gold member / STH” etc etc etc. He buckled at this point and we were finally allowed through, albeit exchanging angry words as we went through, my final words being along the lines of “why do fans have to lose their tempers before you do your job yer waste of space”. Ironically, as soon as we got into the L&G stand, another 2 stewards said “sit where you like, it’s no where near full” (!!!) I burst out laughing at this ironic statement so explained the episode at the gates to him. Both stewards raised their eyes to sky when I told them the supervisor’s name. “So he’s a bit of prat then, a complete jobsworth?” I said. Smiling the both replied “we couldn’t possibly comment” but they didn’t have to. When the game finished the same steward, and I didn’t get his name, saw me on my way out and said he was sorry about the earlier incident and could only apologise on the club’s behalf. If it hadn’t been for that, I’d have written to the club. I told him that he had nothing to apologise for, that his supervisor should be sacked and him put in charge but thanked him all the same.
My point is... that this sort of experience, coupled with the eventual result and a downpour in the 2nd half really..... doesn’t really make you want to come back does it? I’ve witnessed 2 other similar incidents where stewarding has been “less than customer friendly” when fans were being totally reasonable having paid TWENTY-FIVE quid. Undoubtedly stewards often get an unfair bad press but some of them seem to have had little training, use no common sense and can’t handle confrontation; you either get a gorilla or a court-jester. Seems few occupy the middle-ground.
For the Mansfield game, my brother and I requested tickets for the South Stand where we usually sit. But because we were taking two kids who don’t normally come we couldn’t get our usual STH seats. Once we’d gone through the gates we checked to see the different block/seats we’d be in and then realised the club had actually sent us tickets for the L&G family stand (even though my brother made it clear we didn’t want to go there when ordering over the phone). I know we could have probably sat anywhere in the south stand that day but we thought, hell, lets go and sit in the L&G for a different view, the kids would like it and we’ve actually got tickets for there. But trying to move from the South Stand to the L&G was like asking to go to the moon it seemed. Anyway 1st steward completely and utterly unable to “handle our request”. So we were kept waiting at the gate between stands whilst a “code one” was obviously issued and back-up arrived shortly afterwards in the form of a “supervisor” (loose term). Having explained the situation again, said supervisor was also unable to deal with request also. It really perplexed him, he mumbled a bit but because we’d been originally let in to another part of the ground, even though we had tickets for the L&G, he’d have to check first with his supervisor. I pointed out that the L&G stand was, like elsewhere, far from sold out. Indeed I pointed out that the adjacent stand (V block?) seats 1000 and I could see at 2.45pm that it only had approximately 30 people in it. But no, this wasn’t the point (I was using too much common sense probably) and the clock slowly ticked towards kick-off whilst supervisor issued a “code 2” and tried to contact a “super supervisor”. I was now getting very agitated at the farce that was unfolding and the fact we were about to miss kick-off. So I decided to have my own kick-off away from the kids. I got said supervisor’s attention, ramped-up my tone of voice and pointed out we had waited far too long already, were about to miss kick-off because nobody seemed empowered enough to solve a ridiculously simple issue without speaking to Dick Knight. Without recourse to any expletives, I left him in no uncertain terms that I was unhappy and our party of 4 were getting pissed off. I was then told to ‘calm down’ and “we’re doing our best but you’re getting all funny with us”!!! 12 minutes had passed by then and we were in no mans land behind the east stands with Sussex by the Sea blaring out as the teams came on! And this joker tells me to continue waiting basically! At this point I’d had enough and really started to ask him why he was a supervisor etc and it descended into an argument. Predictably it wasn’t long before he resorted to “I’ll have you thrown out”. This incensed me even more and I was past caring by then, so I gave it back with both barrels: “how dare you threaten me for just disagreeing with you and all because you can’t make a simple decision” “we’ve paid MONEY to this club and you’re treating us like this” “I’m a gold member / STH” etc etc etc. He buckled at this point and we were finally allowed through, albeit exchanging angry words as we went through, my final words being along the lines of “why do fans have to lose their tempers before you do your job yer waste of space”. Ironically, as soon as we got into the L&G stand, another 2 stewards said “sit where you like, it’s no where near full” (!!!) I burst out laughing at this ironic statement so explained the episode at the gates to him. Both stewards raised their eyes to sky when I told them the supervisor’s name. “So he’s a bit of prat then, a complete jobsworth?” I said. Smiling the both replied “we couldn’t possibly comment” but they didn’t have to. When the game finished the same steward, and I didn’t get his name, saw me on my way out and said he was sorry about the earlier incident and could only apologise on the club’s behalf. If it hadn’t been for that, I’d have written to the club. I told him that he had nothing to apologise for, that his supervisor should be sacked and him put in charge but thanked him all the same.
My point is... that this sort of experience, coupled with the eventual result and a downpour in the 2nd half really..... doesn’t really make you want to come back does it? I’ve witnessed 2 other similar incidents where stewarding has been “less than customer friendly” when fans were being totally reasonable having paid TWENTY-FIVE quid. Undoubtedly stewards often get an unfair bad press but some of them seem to have had little training, use no common sense and can’t handle confrontation; you either get a gorilla or a court-jester. Seems few occupy the middle-ground.
