Car parking and stewarding.

[Herr Tubthumper]

I emailed him earlier, be interesting to see what he has to say.

Please post his reply on here.

 

[CheeseRolls]

Please post his reply on here.

HT What is your interest here ? I have an interest, in that I had a bit of a crap experience last night using the Uni car parks, as a one off. Many people just went to the game via train or park & ride and had a good experience, despite the weather conditions. Do you just enjoy a good witch hunt ?

 

[spellfast]

The parking last night was a debacle and it wasn't much better in the previous game against Leeds. Still took nearly an hour to get out of the bridge car park. I think the club need to sort out the stewarding - once you actually get out of the car park its not too bad so it is the parking system that's to blame.

Please email the club to voice complaints - we need to show them that their customers/supporters are seriously unhappy!!

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

I have also emailed Paul Barber abut the chaos at the uni and will post his reply.

 

[happypig]

Please post his reply on here.

I have received a reply but it's not very satisfying so I have send another. I will post the final outcome.

 

[The Stout Yeoman]

To add to the mix the P & R buses (from Mithras House not sure about the others) are no longer allowed to queue on the A27 to get to the Amex - they have been instructed to go through the University Complex. The bus I was on left Mithras at 6:15 and arrived at the Amex just before 7:00 (a record !!) ... the hold up seemed to be the stewarding at the entrance to the site - they were checking all the cars entering the site .... only when the bus got to within about 4 car lengths from the barrier did they wave it through !

 

[Notters]

For those saying they'll get the train next time; the trains were FAR worse than normal last night too. There was still a big queue at 22:15, when usually you can just stroll onto a train.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

One word: SHAMBLES.

 

[Let's Have A Winner!]

I have received a reply but it's not very satisfying so I have send another. I will post the final outcome.

Well if the club wish to "increase revenue streams" and attract new supporters etc. then this is the sort of thing which should be investigated and hopefully improved, as I'm sure the experience will have put off people coming for the first time.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Is this a bad place to say that the P&R tonight was pretty efficient ? Took 20 minutes from Mill Road to the Amex (partly due to the driver cutting up most of the traffic on the slip road - bus lane is BADLY needed) and 40 minutes back to Mill Road, queuing included.

Mithras House P&R queue was cleared within 15 minutes too so clearly that wasnt full up. The club should have communicated that there was availability there.

Bennetts Field still looked pretty jammed up when i drove back past the Amex at 10.35 too.

If someone else hadn't done it, I was going to do exactly the same. We (four of us) even actually stayed to the final whistle, and so I was convinced we would be hanging around for ages at the end, but not a bit of it. It was the best P&R experience I have ever had,

 

[Seagull over Canaryland]

The complaints on here should be copied to Paul Barber.

The series of threads following recent home games bemoaning the chaos in the University and Bennets Field car parks, especially for evening games, is embarrassing to read and makes the Club look tinpot. It is all very well to have a state of the art stadium but then contrive a cock up of the parking for the paying punters, especially for those who make the effort to arrive in good time before kick offs. OK the layout of roads around Falmer and the Uni are not ideal but this is more reason to get a grip on ensuring it is effectively managed. There seems little excuse now we are in the third season at The Amex, any lessons should have been learned and problems ironed out to make the best of the situation.

Paul Barber should be very concerned that it is seriously annoying a number of its customers who are paying good money for the privilege of parking close by and despite arriving in plenty of time ahead of the kick off. Secondly they don't seem to be able to efficiently manage the post-match exodus. I have regularly defended the Club by pointing out there aren't many major sports venues that you can safely vacate and be on your way home in your final mode of transport within a sensible timescale so punters need to show some patience but for some reason we seem able to cock this up on a regular basis.

I hope Paul Barber recognises there is a basic customer service issue here and the Club seems to be failing at the very time it should be ensuring that we aren't putting off paying punters, especially with all the focus on the Club's finances.

Stewards should be well briefed, well supervised and have effective radio communications so they can establish control and then react as a team to any dynamic situations that might arise. I'm sure there are some punters who don't co-operate but equally there are some (but not all) stewards who don't seem to have either the energy, common sense or training to get a grip on situations. It seems some would rather turn a blind eye or wander away from a hotspot than get involved and deal with it before it escalates.

Apart from the inconvenience for punters this cannot help the tailbacks onto the A27 which in turn creates a real safety issue and I would be surprised if the Police do not insist the Club gets a better grip before there is a serious (but avoidable) mishap.

 

[Algernon]

Incidentally, if I got back to my house more than 120 miles away at 0050 from an event attended by 20000+ that was always going to end around ten o'clock, I'd think that was pretty reasonable.

I don't have a problem with getting home at 00:50 really as a late return is what I expect. I was happy to get home at that time considering the Handcross Hill closure as well.

 

[stadiumboy]

I have been a parking sth for the uni for the last 3 years. Normally I have time for a pint before the game. I left home ten minutes early last night and arrived in my seat at 35mins. After queing to get into the uni car park I was told it was full and directed to the Brighton uni car park. After seeing the chaos of the traffic getting into the ground we decided to leave on 85 mins to get away early as we rely on babysitters. So I have been to a game of football that was a1 -1 draw and saw neither of the goals. A great evening out!

 

[Creaky]

The complaints on here should be copied to Paul Barber.

The series of threads following recent home games bemoaning the chaos in the University and Bennets Field car parks, especially for evening games, is embarrassing to read and makes the Club look tinpot. It is all very well to have a state of the art stadium but then contrive a cock up of the parking for the paying punters, especially for those who make the effort to arrive in good time before kick offs. OK the layout of roads around Falmer and the Uni are not ideal but this is more reason to get a grip on ensuring it is effectively managed. There seems little excuse now we are in the third season at The Amex, any lessons should have been learned and problems ironed out to make the best of the situation.

Paul Barber should be very concerned that it is seriously annoying a number of its customers who are paying good money for the privilege of parking close by and despite arriving in plenty of time ahead of the kick off. Secondly they don't seem to be able to efficiently manage the post-match exodus. I have regularly defended the Club by pointing out there aren't many major sports venues that you can safely vacate and be on your way home in your final mode of transport within a sensible timescale so punters need to show some patience but for some reason we seem able to cock this up on a regular basis.

I hope Paul Barber recognises there is a basic customer service issue here and the Club seems to be failing at the very time it should be ensuring that we aren't putting off paying punters, especially with all the focus on the Club's finances.

Stewards should be well briefed, well supervised and have effective radio communications so they can establish control and then react as a team to any dynamic situations that might arise. I'm sure there are some punters who don't co-operate but equally there are some (but not all) stewards who don't seem to have either the energy, common sense or training to get a grip on situations. It seems some would rather turn a blind eye or wander away from a hotspot than get involved and deal with it before it escalates.

Apart from the inconvenience for punters this cannot help the tailbacks onto the A27 which in turn creates a real safety issue and I would be surprised if the Police do not insist the Club gets a better grip before there is a serious (but avoidable) mishap.

Given the layout of the roads around Falmer, is it sensible to have so much parking available close to the stadium?

Much better in my opinion to have enough spaces for our disabled fans and for the rest of us to depend on public transport and 'Park and Ride' facilities. The only really sustainable option.

A small investment in covered walkways would dispel most of the complaints about the trains and buses.

 

[Regency Gull]

Alot of what has been written I could just rehash but won't. It was an utter shambles.

IF you want me to get a ticket for an evening game with my kids and their mates, then I won't train it as it is too late and busy to get back to Shoreham. I won't pay £4 an adult and £2 a child for Mithras House, I will pay £10 for Uni parking.

BUT if you can't be bothered to tell me where to go beforehand, and then give me wrong directions, force me to queue twice on a duel carriageway, send me back around to park near the top of the uni (where you wouldn't let me in earlier), almost miss kick off after running up to the Upper West and then abandon everyone with no stewards to help people get out AND charge me a tenner for the experience

THEN I won't come again - and you lose ticket money, parking money, pie money, programme money and beer money.

It wasn't fun, and as much as I want to watch the team at the ground, it was on TV and free.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

HT What is your interest here ? I have an interest, in that I had a bit of a crap experience last night using the Uni car parks, as a one off. Many people just went to the game via train or park & ride and had a good experience, despite the weather conditions. Do you just enjoy a good witch hunt ?

My interest is that I have a parking permit for the SU car park.

 

[Monsieur Le Plonk]

I have been a parking sth for the uni for the last 3 years. Normally I have time for a pint before the game. I left home ten minutes early last night and arrived in my seat at 35mins. After queing to get into the uni car park I was told it was full and directed to the Brighton uni car park. After seeing the chaos of the traffic getting into the ground we decided to leave on 85 mins to get away early as we rely on babysitters. So I have been to a game of football that was a1 -1 draw and saw neither of the goals. A great evening out!

You have had a proper shocker there.

 

[CheeseRolls]

My interest is that I have a parking permit for the SU car park.

Fair enough

 

[Thunder Bolt]

We were queueing an hour before kick off and I managed to miss the first 15 minutes and then stood queueing post-match as they let loads of people sneak around the back way, to get over the bridge. Last night was exceptional and I dare say shambolic, it will be back to the trains for me, from now on.

How can the situation be improved ?

How about handing out walkie talkies to the stewards ? Last night I queued through three full car parks, before looping back down into a queue for the fourth car park, where we mingled, with cars just arriving. Unless there is some means of coordination between the stewards, all they can really do, is wave their arms, or stick their hands in their pockets and shrug their shoulders.

I presume that the frame going up on the stadium side of the railway bridge, will eventually hold queueing instructions for football matches. It is quite frustrating, standing in the rain, queueing for an Eastbourne train, when your car is parked in Sussex University.

That frame is in use for when there are 'Special trains' ie non stop, for the likes of Millwall. The stewards at the bottom of the ramp were calling into a loudspeaker to keep to the left for trains & to the right to cross the bridge to the underpass.

 

[Gwylan]

Given the layout of the roads around Falmer, is it sensible to have so much parking available close to the stadium?

Much better in my opinion to have enough spaces for our disabled fans and for the rest of us to depend on public transport and 'Park and Ride' facilities. The only really sustainable option.

A small investment in covered walkways would dispel most of the complaints about the trains and buses.

It's a bit harsh on the people who travel a long distance though, there's only a limited amount of space in the P&Rs. I agree with something that someone said earlier: drivers who do travel some distance should have priority over others.

The club has everyone's address so it should be possible to have a sliding scale: if you live in B&H or Lewes you pay quadruple the current rate for Uni parking; if you live within 20 miles, you pay double the rate and if you live anywhere else you pay the same (or even half the current amount). That way, car parking close by is reserved for the people, like the fella from Newmarket, who are really making an effort.