Staying til the end

Behind Enemy Lines · 14th July 2012, 07:18 PM

One of the things that pisses me off the most about the match is the thousands of people who leave the SOL before the final whistle is blown. It doesn't seem to matter to these people if we're winning, losing or drawing, they will leave before the end of the match regardless. Not only is it annoying having to keep getting up from your seat to let these people past, it has a negative effect on the atmosphere, must be a shit sight for the players at the final whistle and looks embarrassing on the TV and in general. I include those people who hang around by the exits and on the concourse for the last few minutes in this too for the same above reasons and also they often block the view of others.

So why do people leave before the end? There may be a few genuine cases where people literally cannot stay for whatever reason - but those cases are a small minority. The vast majority IMO are just impatient people who have got in the habit of leaving early to "beat the rush" or "beat the traffic", which are really just excuses for their impatience and selfish attitude.

People complain that it takes too long to get from the top of the stand to the exit - bullshit. I sit near the top of the North Stand - takes me 2 mins to get from there to out the ground and I stay til the end every match.

People complain the traffic is too bad - bullshit. I park 15 mins walk from the ground, get stuck in traffic for approx 10 mins and then I'm away. Again, I repeat, I stay til the end every match.

Let's say on a bad day it takes some people 5 mins to exit the ground and 30 mins to get clear of traffic - is 35 minutes out of your day really a good enough excuse not to applaud YOUR team off the pitch after their efforts? Please spare me from the "they pay their money, they can do what they want" excuse, that misses the point. I honestly believe that the value of those few thousand people supporting our team to the end can be crucial over a season. If we're 0-3 down then yeah, it probably won't matter (still looks embarrassing though) - but look at Ji vs City, Larsson vs Blackburn etc. Crucial goals in tight games and IIRC there seemed to be fewer early-leavers in both games. And why the hell would anybody risk missing moments like those anyway? If you left early in either of those games or in any tight game where the result is in the balance, you're not a proper supporter IMO - sorry if that sounds harsh but I'm going to call a spade a spade.

So how can we stop early-leavers? My suggestion is that people can scan their season card (or individual match ticket) at the end of the match and if the ticket is scanned at the gate after the final whistle is blown, they get some kind of future rebate. One-off match goers get 10% off their next ticket, season card holders get 10% off their next season ticket if they do this for 15 of the 19 games say.

Thoughts? Any other suggestions of how to combat this problem that faces our club every week? I expect a lot of people on here to bury their head in the sand over this but you never know someone might have a good suggestion the club could implement.

Roid · 14th July 2012, 07:22 PM

All will be revealed at the beginning of this season

Watch this space (and other spaces in the stands)

Bishop Mackem · 14th July 2012, 07:26 PM

Fucking hell how can you write so much about people leaving early

I agree though.

urmom777 · 14th July 2012, 07:28 PM

Aye it is a bit pathetic like,if your that bothered about the traffic then dont bother going in the first place.

Cochise 2 · 14th July 2012, 07:28 PM

So in general, 40,000 plus people, entering the ground at various times between say 2pm and 3pm, still manage to create lengthy queues.
What sort of queues do you think would be created by 40,000 impatient people, all trying to scan their tickets/cards at the same time after the final whistle?