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Xhaka not happy with the early leavers


SAFC_LIAM said:
To be fair I sit on the aisle and cannot understand why people go down on 30 something mins and it’s not just a few. Although I went when it was HT for a beer and the e-bars weren’t working so queues were longer than usual.
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Maybes if we had some kind of decent service people wouldn’t think that had to give themselves 30 min to receive a pint and a packet of crisps
 
Let's be honest - 99% of people who leave early do so because it saves them time and they get home a bit earlier. They don't want to spend 10 mins stuck at the back of the stand or an extra 30 mins in traffic or whatever. Some may also want to sneak an extra pint in before they have to be home.

If we're serious about combatting this issue then the club needs to look at ways of clearing the ground quicker at full time (it doesn't take 20 mins to get down the steps btw it takes 10 - I've timed it) and of easing traffic congestion around the ground. Also, needs to be a quicker turnaround of getting drinks served to people at half time (this should be the easiest one to solve in theory).

Either that or the team has to put in a brilliant performance every week and every game has to be a classic that goes down to the wire (never going to happen and even if it did some would still leave).
 
Cack Stottie said:
Best way to address it is to talk about it. Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if some strategically placed interviews with players talking about the importance of having the fans with them Til The End in the lead up to the Spurs game appeared. Need people to be conscious of it happening at games.


Aye, let them cry. People don't like having their shitty behaviour called out.
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I get what you are saying and full credit to those having meetings with safc on issues like this. However I don't get it that players are affected by it. They are very very highly paid and pampered in ways ways none of us can ever experience, they also have their whole life structured to the nth degree by the club, all paid for by working class supporters who have no doubt gone without so they can buy a ticket and who maybe want to get away early for whatever reason. Whether the ground is full or completely empty should not matter one jot. They are there to do a job, they are not doing me or any others a favour by being there.
 
Fact is people will always find some way to justify it. Even if the alleged problem for an individual is resolved, its ingrained behaviour in most. Not everyone i should add, but its symptomatic of modern football. Its why we lose several thousand season tickets after a relegation.
But its also a transition in the way football is sold even more now as an entertainment and that clubs see fans more as customers that they want to find a way to financially exploit more. Again thats normal for football, but I think its a big part in a portion of supporters feeling less engaged and if they arent enjoying it just leave. The fact it happens at most clubs indicates that imo. Not sure what the fix is.
 
I think we’re lacking a common goal at the moment too.

In the playoffs, everyone was pulling in the same direction. Get promoted. At the start of the season everyone touted us for relegation, so there was the common goal of staying in the PL.

We’ve achieved that now, and there’s not much else to play for. It’s happened for as long as football has been a thing. Terms like on the beach are used, but it’s a natural thing that both players and fans drop off once the goal has been achieved. It’s not just a football thing either.

This isn’t a criticism of RLB, but there’s likely a bit of 40 point subconsciousness crept into fans and players alike. He’s said after every game that getting to 40 points was the aim. Getting to 40 points is a very definitive goal. The new one of “let’s just see how many points we can get” is a lot more wishy washy.
 
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It obviously does affect the players no matter which club you play for.

Just stay until the final whistle ffs or don't bother going.
 
Behind Enemy Lines said:
Let's be honest - 99% of people who leave early do so because it saves them time and they get home a bit earlier. They don't want to spend 10 mins stuck at the back of the stand or an extra 30 mins in traffic or whatever. Some may also want to sneak an extra pint in before they have to be home.

If we're serious about combatting this issue then the club needs to look at ways of clearing the ground quicker at full time (it doesn't take 20 mins to get down the steps btw it takes 10 - I've timed it) and of easing traffic congestion around the ground. Also, needs to be a quicker turnaround of getting drinks served to people at half time (this should be the easiest one to solve in theory).

Either that or the team has to put in a brilliant performance every week and every game has to be a classic that goes down to the wire (never going to happen and even if it did some would still leave).
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Come 80 minutes make it so you have to go down the stairs and out the nearest exit. No walking around the walkway to other parts of the stadium, you can do that once you're outside. No standing on the stairs or the top of the ramp, if you're going you've got to keep moving until you're out. Obviously if you're nipping down to the bog etc you can go back to your seat.
 
Different grounds, different circumstances. Once you leave your seat in the SOL you have to leave the stadium, but at Roker Park you could edge towards the exits but still stay in the ground. That was certainly the case in the Fulwell End. People would start to drift to the side exits 5-10 minutes before the end so they could make a quick getaway when the whistle went. The two corners in the Fulwell used to be packed for the last few minutes.
 
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DonaldDownTheWing said:
I think we’re lacking a common goal at the moment too.

In the playoffs, everyone was pulling in the same direction. Get promoted. At the start of the season everyone touted us for relegation, so there was the common goal of staying in the PL.

We’ve achieved that now, and there’s not much else to play for. It’s happened for as long as football has been a thing. Terms like on the beach are used, but it’s a natural thing that both players and fans drop off once the goal has been achieved. It’s not just a football thing either.
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Agree entirety.
The buzz has gone, I was surprised how many season ticket holders did not turn up around me last Saturday.
 
SAFC11 said:
Fact is people will always find some way to justify it. Even if the alleged problem for an individual is resolved, its ingrained behaviour in most. Not everyone i should add, but its symptomatic of modern football. Its why we lose several thousand season tickets after a relegation.
But its also a transition in the way football is sold even more now as an entertainment and that clubs see fans more as customers that they want to find a way to financially exploit more. Again thats normal for football, but I think its a big part in a portion of supporters feeling less engaged and if they arent enjoying it just leave. The fact it happens at most clubs indicates that imo. Not sure what the fix is.
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That bit probably hits the nail on the head more than anything.
 
Hag Mater said:
Different grounds, different circumstances. Once you leave your seat in the SOL you have to leave the stadium, but at Roker Park you could edge towards the exits but still stay in the ground. That was certainly the case in the Fulwell End. People would start to drift to the side exits 5-10 minutes before the end so they could make a quick getaway when the whistle went. The two corners in the Fulwell used to be packed for the last few minutes.
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Under the flood light pylons was a favourite.
 
DonaldDownTheWing said:
It’s not a 10 minute delay though. Leaving on 85 as opposed to full time, can save you up to an hour, depending on where you live.

Again, I stay til the end of the match every week but I can see why people do it.
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In terms of stadium design Iam astonished how long it takes to empty the upper rows of the main bowl.
Heavens knows what’s supposed to happen in an emergency.. that’s not clearing in 3 minutes.
Exit from the top of the stand would make an enormous difference to number of early leavers
JJH said:
That was your job and you were paid to do it. How do you know what people are going home to do ? Whether they want to sit at home doing nowt or spend time with family, it really has nothing to do with others.
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When you are driving 60k a year every hour you are delayed is your time , people don’t get paid by the hour
 
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Chewit said:
In terms of stadium design Iam astonished how long it takes to empty the upper rows of the main bowl.
Heavens knows what’s supposed to happen in an emergency.. that’s not clearing in 3 minutes.
Exit from the top of the stand would make an enormous difference to number of early leavers
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It’s because we have one walkway for the entire lower bowl.

All fans from both the upper and lower sections of the lower bowl have to go onto the same level to go out via the same access tunnels.

At stadiums where the pitch is at ground level, the upper section have separate access tunnels. Look at how many tunnels there are at SJP, Old Trafford & Anfield for example.

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Cack Stottie said:
Aye, lots of bruised egos. Brighton have been a consistent presence in the top half of the Premier League for almost a decade and are routinely used as the example to which other clubs should aspire to be. They are not as big a club as Sunderland but they are lightyears ahead of us right now, and I think that some have a hard time accepting that fact. It was the same after Fulham and it was the same after Brentford battered us - unless a team is viewed as 'bigger' than us, people show them no respect and forget all the context of where we are at right now and how quickly we've lept from League One to the Premier League.
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i still can't believe the fan who rang up Total Sport after that Fulham defeat and said it wasnt acceptable to be beaten by a team like Fulham. As if Fulham were the new team in the league and hadn't been there for 3.5 years already
 
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DonaldDownTheWing said:
Maybe that’s why they played WMS at the start of the second half?

I think a holistic approach has to be taken and there’s not one single measure the club can implement which will solve it all.

Queueing times at the bar mean people go down early before HT, and come back up late. Traffic issues mean people want to get away quick. Public transport is really poor.

Home performances have dropped off recently, we’re safe from relegation and we won’t be getting into Europe, so some may take the view that we’re not really playing for much now.

Like I say, there’s loads of reasons people may use to justify it to themselves and whether those of us who stay till 90 minutes like it or not, the early leavers won’t stop just because they get slagged off on a forum they don’t even know exists.
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You say this, yet posted on here wanting to 'purge' the awag fans who don't sing?
 
DonaldDownTheWing said:
I agree with your last point. The council has spent however many millions on a new pedestrian bridge and still closes a lane on the green bridge. Why don’t they just build a railing on the edge of the pavement to stop people getting knocked into the road? Foot traffic over there must be <20% of what it was pre keel crossing.
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That sounds far to sensible. No doubt it would come from a different budget though.
 
Cack Stottie said:
Is that a new thing? Might actually be an example of where something that has been suggested is implemented :lol:

I know at the last meeting they were talking about turning the screens off so people couldn't just stand and watch the game from the concourse.
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I noticed it either the Liverpool or Fulham game, cant remember which so it must be a relatively new thing
 
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