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Match day experience

Match day experience

Staffordwhite

Staffordwhite

Scribe to the Gods
Joined
Jun 8, 2004
Messages
6,808
I was going to post this as a reply but I keep reading (understandably) people saying 'it's about the experience more than the footy these days'.

I couldn't agree more and maybe it always has been. You can get away with crap footy if the overall experience is good and vice versa, but North End seem to have cracked neither at the minute.

Ask any of the younger generation and they'll much more likely regale you with stories of 'away days' rather than matches at Deepdale. My lad is 19 and he'd much rather spend a lot more money going to an away game than go to a home game.

Think how misty-eyed older fans get when they talk about John Beck, Gary Peters and the Town End of the 90s? How even older fans (like me) recall the great days at the back of the old Kop or Crazy Corner.

Who would get like that now about any part of the ground? 🤔

The match day experience at home is dull, apathetic, flat as a pancake. The club seems to adopt a 'bare minimum' approach to it and there is no innovation, zip or life about the place for 'normal' fans in the stands.

The Town End singers are stuck in the far corner, the Kop is still closed even if there's only 20 Charlton fans coming, the match build-up and half-time 'entertainment' is appalling.

Even the bloody music we come out to is second-hand Man Utd.

One of the many disappointments we've endured over the past couple of years was the dropping of the fan-zone idea. Going to other clubs around the country, surely the Riddler should have a wander around and see how other places do this successfully. And yet we plod on with the same old 'you'll get what you're given' routine then wonder why our attendances are so low.

The lack of supporter engagement on match days is pitiful and could be improved dramatically without spending a fortune - even if it was something to lure in younger fans, kids, families.

Instead, they seem devoid of ideas, innovation and inspiration. Do something different. Don't just keep punting out the same tired old crap and hope to get away with it. (I'm talking off the pitch, but now I come to think about it . . . )

How about using this time to press reset on the whole match day experience and look at ways of not only keeping the loyal 10,000 on board, but actually bringing new people into the stadium too?

Just a thought.

In the meantime they're knocking down Legends for more car parking spaces?

Sounds about right. 🙄
 
The main difference is that an away day is more about a day on the piss for a large percentage of the away fans, whereas a home game the vast majority just come for the match. Nothing wrong with that but it obviously dilutes the atmosphere massively.
 
It goes far further than the match day experience, there is very little engagement with the wider community to make the people if Preston feel like they want to be part of North End. Even our social media is dire (private jet aside), it just looks uncool, I'm 33, not old, not young, but even to me the stuff I see online feels like it was put out by Nigel, a 46 year old with a background in marketing for an electrical wholesalers. You want to modernise the look of the club? Get some of these mid 20s marketing and social media geniuses who are making fortunes for companies and themselves involved and find a way to actually make us feel exciting!

Get that right, and then create a joined up approach with the match day experience and you're on to a winner!

Covid is an opportunity to reinvent ourselves as a club. The thing is, we won't take the opportunity.
 
Staffordwhite said:
I was going to post this as a reply but I keep reading (understandably) people saying 'it's about the experience more than the footy these days'.

I couldn't agree more and maybe it always has been. You can get away with crap footy if the overall experience is good and vice versa, but North End seem to have cracked neither at the minute.

Ask any of the younger generation and they'll much more likely regale you with stories of 'away days' rather than matches at Deepdale. My lad is 19 and he'd much rather spend a lot more money going to an away game than go to a home game.

Think how misty-eyed older fans get when they talk about John Beck, Gary Peters and the Town End of the 90s? How even older fans (like me) recall the great days at the back of the old Kop or Crazy Corner.

Who would get like that now about any part of the ground? 🤔

The match day experience at home is dull, apathetic, flat as a pancake. The club seems to adopt a 'bare minimum' approach to it and there is no innovation, zip or life about the place for 'normal' fans in the stands.

The Town End singers are stuck in the far corner, the Kop is still closed even if there's only 20 Charlton fans coming, the match build-up and half-time 'entertainment' is appalling.

Even the bloody music we come out to is second-hand Man Utd.

One of the many disappointments we've endured over the past couple of years was the dropping of the fan-zone idea. Going to other clubs around the country, surely the Riddler should have a wander around and see how other places do this successfully. And yet we plod on with the same old 'you'll get what you're given' routine then wonder why our attendances are so low.

The lack of supporter engagement on match days is pitiful and could be improved dramatically without spending a fortune - even if it was something to lure in younger fans, kids, families.

Instead, they seem devoid of ideas, innovation and inspiration. Do something different. Don't just keep punting out the same tired old crap and hope to get away with it. (I'm talking off the pitch, but now I come to think about it . . . )

How about using this time to press reset on the whole match day experience and look at ways of not only keeping the loyal 10,000 on board, but actually bringing new people into the stadium too?

Just a thought.

In the meantime they're knocking down Legends for more car parking spaces?

Sounds about right. 🙄
Click to expand...
In respect of your second paragraph John Beck proves the point. The football was one dimensional and dull but he certainly galvanised the supporters.
The Town End was absolutely buzzing.
 
BenPearsonIsGod said:
The main difference is that an away day is more about a day on the piss for a large percentage of the away fans, whereas a home game the vast majority just come for the match. Nothing wrong with that but it obviously dilutes the atmosphere massively.
Click to expand...
I like the way you use the word dilutes with piss & alcohol 😁
 
Must admit I prefer going on three or four away games a year, taking in the better atmospheres and working my way through my 92 list, over going to Deepdale 23 times a year.

A sad, but honest truth in my case.

Often opposition’s match day experience seems far ahead of ours, though it may be a case of the ‘grass is always greener’.
 
Staffordwhite said:
I was going to post this as a reply but I keep reading (understandably) people saying 'it's about the experience more than the footy these days'.

I couldn't agree more and maybe it always has been. You can get away with crap footy if the overall experience is good and vice versa, but North End seem to have cracked neither at the minute.

Ask any of the younger generation and they'll much more likely regale you with stories of 'away days' rather than matches at Deepdale. My lad is 19 and he'd much rather spend a lot more money going to an away game than go to a home game.

Think how misty-eyed older fans get when they talk about John Beck, Gary Peters and the Town End of the 90s? How even older fans (like me) recall the great days at the back of the old Kop or Crazy Corner.

Who would get like that now about any part of the ground? 🤔

The match day experience at home is dull, apathetic, flat as a pancake. The club seems to adopt a 'bare minimum' approach to it and there is no innovation, zip or life about the place for 'normal' fans in the stands.

The Town End singers are stuck in the far corner, the Kop is still closed even if there's only 20 Charlton fans coming, the match build-up and half-time 'entertainment' is appalling.

Even the bloody music we come out to is second-hand Man Utd.

One of the many disappointments we've endured over the past couple of years was the dropping of the fan-zone idea. Going to other clubs around the country, surely the Riddler should have a wander around and see how other places do this successfully. And yet we plod on with the same old 'you'll get what you're given' routine then wonder why our attendances are so low.

The lack of supporter engagement on match days is pitiful and could be improved dramatically without spending a fortune - even if it was something to lure in younger fans, kids, families.

Instead, they seem devoid of ideas, innovation and inspiration. Do something different. Don't just keep punting out the same tired old crap and hope to get away with it. (I'm talking off the pitch, but now I come to think about it . . . )

How about using this time to press reset on the whole match day experience and look at ways of not only keeping the loyal 10,000 on board, but actually bringing new people into the stadium too?

Just a thought.

In the meantime they're knocking down Legends for more car parking spaces?

Sounds about right. 🙄
Click to expand...
I think going to away games generates a togetherness that no longer exists at Deepdale.
 
Ill be honest - as an oldy ! - the home match experience was never as good as 'some' away games.

The home match feeling often depended on who you were sat or stood near and the banter - nothing to do with the clubs efforts.

Getting wet on the Pavilion Paddock; using the falling down loo's; hearing the 50 away fans in the Town End etc didnt compare to the train trips to Shrewsbury !

Rarely have North End fans been 'up for a game' at home like we are away.... though all seaters make it even harder for atmosphere it is certainly better for children and us elderly !!
 
Maybe we should start another thread about the 'Legends Experiences' never mind the 'Match Day Experience' 😊 Grab a Granny I think was the main pastime!!
However you're spot on there's not many home games us old ones talk about, maybe Torquay & Birmingham spring to mind. The away trips though were something else. Back in the day, there was a fair sized group of lads then in Longridge, Grimsargh, Chipping that enjoyed many a trip away with the shenanigans that followed. The fact that in the main we were following an unsuccesful team didn't matter. You enjoyed the games, the banter & the camaraderie just the same.
 
Delaney said:
I always have a much better match day experience at away games but rarely come away thinking that the opposition's home fans look to be having a better time than we have at Deepdale.
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Exactly this! I think away games create a them against us togetherness and all the singers in the ground are packed together. But there are still some home atmospheres that are better than others.

It is unfortunate that we have so few pubs within walking distance nowadays. A well thought out Fanzone has to be an improvement.

Great OP - because it’s much more than a few beers- and if a way to engage with the club could be found, it’s a good time for the project.
 
A good mate of mine is on the board of the Tranmere Supporters Trust, they have funded their own fan zone of sorts (a home fans supporters bar basically), working alongside the club to achieve it. It's a temporary structure in the car park at the moment with eventual plans to create a 'proper' building.

Could we do something similar?
 
MBcha said:
A good mate of mine is on the board of the Tranmere Supporters Trust, they have funded their own fan zone of sorts (a home fans supporters bar basically), working alongside the club to achieve it. It's a temporary structure in the car park at the moment with eventual plans to create a 'proper' building.

Could we do something similar?
Click to expand...
It doesn’t feel like the fans are involved or encouraged to do so, it's a case of this is our offer, if you don't like it , tough.
No real initiatives, it's seems like an "us and him (TJH) situation.
 
tcinders said:
It doesn’t feel like the fans are involved or encouraged to do so, it's a case of this is our offer, if you don't like it , tough.
No real initiatives, it's seems like an "us and him (TJH) situation.
Click to expand...
I'll prefix this message with the fact that I am not the man to lead an initiative such as this from the outset, far too foolish and lazy but;

If the club intends the demolish Legends, could the fans buy it? Form a company, crowdfund and court local investors to raise the cash and do it ourselves?

Pie in the sky at this stage and I'm ready for somebody with more knowledge than me on these things to shoot me down, but is it beyond the realms of possibility?
 
MBcha said:
I'll prefix this message with the fact that I am not the man to lead an initiative such as this from the outset, far too foolish and lazy but;

If the club intends the demolish Legends, could the fans buy it? Form a company, crowdfund and court local investors to raise the cash and do it ourselves?

Pie in the sky at this stage and I'm ready for somebody with more knowledge than me on these things to shoot me down, but is it beyond the realms of possibility?
Click to expand...
Trevor has bought it to build houses on 🤣😛
 
Honestly think the original post is spot on, PNE are missing a trick now with very few places to drink for home and away fans , since the Deepdale pub and the Summers have shut down , a fans zone selling good not to expensive beer and decent food would make a great meeting place to meet your mates and mingle with opposing fans. Pre match also being having a couple of beers might numb your brain for the crap that you then have to watch .
 
No Danger said:
In respect of your second paragraph John Beck proves the point. The football was one dimensional and dull but he certainly galvanised the supporters.
The Town End was absolutely buzzing.
Click to expand...
That was one of my favourite eras as a North End fan because of the Town End atmosphere.....

The footy was not great in the John Beck days, but I loved the Town End band ( 1993-1995 )

Fortunately, the atmosphere continued under Gary Peters and David Moyes up until the Town End was knocked down ( 2000 )
 
Have to admit I'm one of those that far, far prefers the away games.

This may sound daft to some but with being a 'pick and choose' for home games, I feel a bit of an outcast and don't necessarily fully enjoy the whole experience. I'm there solely for the football whereas away games I'm there for the 'whole day'.
Also, I think there's far more of a togetherness between fans and far more camaraderie and I enjoy having discussions with opposition fans.

I think there is the potential to improve the general matchday experience but it seems the club just aren't bothered. So long as the money's coming in that all that matters to them (although ironically the addition of a fanzone, for example, could increase the revenue stream).
 
shabbagaz said:
Have to admit I'm one of those that far, far prefers the away games.

This may sound daft to some but with being a 'pick and choose' for home games, I feel a bit of an outcast and don't necessarily fully enjoy the whole experience. I'm there solely for the football whereas away games I'm there for the 'whole day'.
Also, I think there's far more of a togetherness between fans and far more camaraderie and I enjoy having discussions with opposition fans.

I think there is the potential to improve the general matchday experience but it seems the club just aren't bothered. So long as the money's coming in that all that matters to them (although ironically the addition of a fanzone, for example, could increase the revenue stream).
Click to expand...
Can totally agree with this..... away days have always been magical in my opinion.
 
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