Stadium and pitch investment

[DA Baracus]

1 hour ago, 101 said:

Easier to keep fans than entice them back if we go on a poor run, but I agree a modest increase in capacity might see them bring more finals to Glasgow and bring in extra cash for gigs etc but from a domestic footballing POV the capacity is probably about right  

 But they've never had any issues other than times the national team has been shit, and even then most crowds have been fine save a couple. Improving the views and transport won't make a difference the next time the national team go on a sustained run of being rank.

[eez-eh]

2 hours ago, 101 said:

Easier to keep fans than entice them back if we go on a poor run, but I agree a modest increase in capacity might see them bring more finals to Glasgow and bring in extra cash for gigs etc but from a domestic footballing POV the capacity is probably about right  

How? Having a nice stadium isn’t going to make people want to watch us lose any more than they do now.

I’d like to see Hampden improved but do people really want the SFA to throw money at that instead of, for example, youth football?

[101]

1 hour ago, DA Baracus said:

 But they've never had any issues other than times the national team has been shit, and even then most crowds have been fine save a couple. Improving the views and transport won't make a difference the next time the national team go on a sustained run of being rank.

 

1 hour ago, eez-eh said:

How? Having a nice stadium isn’t going to make people want to watch us lose any more than they do now.

I’d like to see Hampden improved but do people really want the SFA to throw money at that instead of, for example, youth football?

No but making the ground more accessible will make it more likely for folk to pitch up, would also probably help shift more tickets for the women's games.

In terms of the investment/ benefit that would really depend on how long it would take to make the investment back and how much it would make in the long run.

[andyg83]

9 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said:

I know it is, and it's a great idea if a deal can be done somehow to do the same at no cost to the SFA / ticket buyer. But tickets are already expensive. I drive to games, trains are no use to me, why should I have a supplemental charge for those who do use a train? Should we add more to each ticket to pay for the parking of those who drive (I don't pay for parking either, I park on street, but the principle stands).

Look, folk are moaning about getting to and from hampden. we either do something about that. or we don't. 

Ticket prices are pretty fair right now for Scotland games. 

 

Give me your solution then. 

 

 

 

[Skyline Drifter]

5 hours ago, andyg83 said:

Look, folk are moaning about getting to and from hampden. we either do something about that. or we don't. 

Ticket prices are pretty fair right now for Scotland games. 

 

Give me your solution then. 

I've already said. You're looking for a solution we dont really need. People will always moan. Hampden isnt actually that bad. If it needs extra trains, put extra trains on. If there is a cost to that, charge the people using the trains, not the people not using them. It's not rocket science.

[Lurkst]

For me the poorest aspect of going to Hampden at the moment is getting admitted. Until that can be resolved they should revert to manual ticket scanning for games with a large crowd. Even if half the turnstiles were manned it would make a noticeable difference. 

 

 

 

[Molotov]

50 minutes ago, Lurkst said:

For me the poorest aspect of going to Hampden at the moment is getting admitted. Until that can be resolved they should revert to manual ticket scanning for games with a large crowd. Even if half the turnstiles were manned it would make a noticeable difference. 

 

 

 

That’s certainly an issue.

I now go into games and events at Hampden much earlier now as it’s clearly an issue for many supporters to present a valid QR code which invariably leads to delays. 

There are a number of reasons for that. 
 

I would like the SFA to bring back proper individual match tickets that are unique rather than have groups of TA supporters all having access to multiple tickets and perhaps using someone else’s in the group by mistake. 
 

It’s all about cost saving.

Don’t need to man the turnstiles.

Don’t need to produce secure match tickets.

The group buyer can receive hundreds of valid match tickets in one email and there is no security around the use of those tickets to any one individual. 
 

The group buyer may just distribute the whole email including all the pdf match tickets to his TA group. 

It would be an easy mistake to either turn up with someone else’s ticket or a different match. 

Email can be so easy to hack. 

I would be surprised if ATAC are not trying to address this problem with the SFA.

[GAD]

1 hour ago, Lurkst said:

For me the poorest aspect of going to Hampden at the moment is getting admitted. Until that can be resolved they should revert to manual ticket scanning for games with a large crowd. Even if half the turnstiles were manned it would make a noticeable difference. 

 

 

 

Yeah, agreed, all the stuff about train stations is mostly just the folk who don't seem realise there are about 3 others in easy walk from the stadium. The biggest problem I see at Hampden each time is actually getting people through the turnstiles. It takes fucking ages and the last couple of games I've been to the stadium hasn't even been close to full at kick off, with people still piling in with 20 mins gone.

 

 

[German Jag]

For the 5 or 6 games that I‘ve been to since it was switched to QR codes, have never had an issue. Neither have any others in the group that I go with.

 

[velo army]

1 minute ago, German Jag said:

For the 5 or 6 games that I‘ve been to since it was switched to QR codes, have never had an issue. Neither have any others in the group that I go with.

 

But the fact remains that it is an issue with the support at large. You can say that these people can just get there earlier, and you'd be right, but only technically. Scotland fans mostly like to be in the bars enjoying atmosphere before heading to the ground. For folk further afield it's a big day out, they're not going to come in earlier just to sit there not drinking.

One thing we haven't spoken about as a cause of delay is the search. I find it disgraceful that we get searched and came close to a heid's gone at the Cyprus game about it. Rugby fans don't get searched and I haven't heard of any fights in Hampden involving weapons. It came in after lockdown and has just stayed. It no doubt causes delays as well. 

[Skyline Drifter]

56 minutes ago, German Jag said:

For the 5 or 6 games that I‘ve been to since it was switched to QR codes, have never had an issue. Neither have any others in the group that I go with.

 

Nor have I. Straight in no issues, both me and my son. Its been very easy. Surprised to hear its a problem. We always go early though. Maybe it only becomes a problem when its busier? 

Biggest issue for me is the turnstiles themselves are bloody narrow. At 6ft tall and overweight I find them an uncomfortable squeeze. 

Edited April 8, 2023 by Skyline Drifter

[Lurkst]

43 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Nor have I. Straight in no issues, both me and my son. Its been very easy. Surprised to hear its a problem. We always go early though. Maybe it only becomes a problem when its busier? 

It's definitely a problem when it gets busier. I would estimate self scanning takes about twice as long as being clicked through by an operator. When there's 100 people in a queue that makes a significant difference. 

 

[Molotov]

I’ve been going to Hampden with crowds far larger than we see today. There have always been queues. I do believe the systems in place now do create additional delays as some fans struggle with electronic ticketing systems. 
I see similar issues for home and away fans at St Mirren games. 

[Barry Ferguson's Hat]

Fatties and the technologically deficient should be banned from attending.

 

[lubo_blaha]

There are a number of ways they could make the e-tickets better. Being able to add it to your Apple wallet, have them on an app with the ability to transfer them to different email addresses, have a notification pop up 2 hours before the game so people can easily find their ticket in the queue, have tickets sent directly to the email address linked to the account they’ve been bought on etc.

At the last game, I encountered a group of older guys who all had wee lanyards with plastic envelopes containing their printed tickets. Things must have gone badly wrong in previous games before that had to happen

There has to be a better way though, I buy the tickets for four of us and for this campaign that involved an email with twenty pdfs attached. Must be a nightmare for those buying for a whole supporters bus.

[Ray Patterson]

If Killie can have Apple Wallet tickets then the Scottish FA can.

The best Tickets App out there was the one I used for The Open, you could transfer tickets between phones if sharing with mates etc.

[Gordopolis]

On 08/04/2023 at 11:40, Barry Ferguson's Hat said:

Fatties and the technologically deficient should be banned from attending.

 

What will you do instead on international nights, you tubby luddite?

[forameus]

Thistle are an absolute fucking basket case at best, but their ticketing system just works.  My season ticket is a QR code on the back of a card, and you just scan it through the unmanned stations and you're in.  Paper tickets are similar I believe.  Nothing particularly revolutionary, but significantly better than the last time I went to Hampden when at least a few of them didn't work, and you had plenty of people (pished usually) having complete meltdowns over nothing working.  Not sure if it changed at all for the recent games, so maybe better now.

My particular favourite thing the SFA did for the games I did attend was sending out all the tickets in one e-mail, with QR codes in the email body.  I believe the code was just for one ticket, but duplicated many times.  The attachments had the correct codes, and of course there was no explanation for why they'd done it like that.

[Pie Of The Month]

13 minutes ago, forameus said:

Thistle are an absolute fucking basket case at best, but their ticketing system just works.  My season ticket is a QR code on the back of a card, and you just scan it through the unmanned stations and you're in.  Paper tickets are similar I believe.  Nothing particularly revolutionary, but significantly better than the last time I went to Hampden when at least a few of them didn't work, and you had plenty of people (pished usually) having complete meltdowns over nothing working.  Not sure if it changed at all for the recent games, so maybe better now.

My particular favourite thing the SFA did for the games I did attend was sending out all the tickets in one e-mail, with QR codes in the email body.  I believe the code was just for one ticket, but duplicated many times.  The attachments had the correct codes, and of course there was no explanation for why they'd done it like that.

Your experience of Thistle's ticketing system is very different from mine. It definitely doesn't just work for a number of people I've spoken to about it and I've given up asking the club to fix my account as they are meant to be switching to a new system in the summer.

[forameus]

3 minutes ago, Pie Of The Month said:

Your experience of Thistle's ticketing system is very different from mine. It definitely doesn't just work for a number of people I've spoken to about it and I've given up asking the club to fix my account as they are meant to be switching to a new system in the summer.

That's interesting, I've always found it pretty good.  Maybe just the lucky one then, fair enough.