Have to agree with the comments so far. The stadium itself is an awesome venue, but the 'experience' was poor. Ages to queue up for food - the highlight being a bloke asking for a meat pie, only to be told they'd run out, but he could have a vegetable one instead... and this was half way through the first half!
We got into the ground about 15 mins before kick off (partly thanks to the tickets not arriving in the post, so had to collect at the stadium) looking to get a quick beer. No chance - all drinks kiosks were closed, and remained closed for the rest of the game.
Wembley Park station has barely changed. Not helped by the idiots, and the police, running the crowd flow into it. We were held back twice by the OB, due to 'overcrowding' in the station. Once we got into it, we could see trains leaving that were half empty. Also, despite a jubliee line train being on the platform, loading but still half empty, we weren't allowed onto it, and were forced onto the Met line...yeah nice one!
Great ground, it tops the MCG as the best ground I've been to. Just ashame about the location, no pubs anywhere near or anything other than the stadium. They should of given more space to the caterers so that they could move.
When I got on the tube it was still half empty as it left the station. Hopefully things will prove.
Can't believe there were 55,000 there, the ground looked so empty!
Medders all the bars were open behind the goal and were well used by myself and stick! ;o) Great stadium but somehow it looked smaller than I expected. Moved around to the half way line for the second half and thought the view was excellent. Anyone else see the Charlton flag by the halfway line? and the steward by exit 132 had a charlton badge on his hat! Down points were the toilets were too small so took ages getting into them (should be less toilets but larger inside) and the royal box is in a stupid postion and like the old wembley seemed to take forever to get back to the station. All in all though get day out and hopefully we'll see Charlton there soon.
it was not booing, for some reason every time Huddlestone got the ball the crowd were screaming shoooooooot. (think i missed something there but he obiously likes to shoot)
Another thing though that was quite funny was one line of police were telling us to slow down heading into the station whilst ten yards on two policewomen were telling us to hurry up!!!! lol
Were I was sitting they ran out of beer at one point, coofee and tea was non existent and some toilets were not working....
I nearly never made it into the stadium as I had this big row with some fucking jobs worth steward who was not going to let me in with my camera ---- YOU WERE SAYING MEDDERS....
They said it was policy not to let people in with cameras like mine- it has a a bloody lens on it granted and is an expensive bit of kit - they point blank refused to let me take it in and i had to leave it in a holding area.
imagine my fury when as the game kicks off it is like a cacophany of flashes - it sorted ruined the day as my boy wanted some pictures of himself at the stadium etc... i was not a happy bunny.
Other than that thought the stadium was magnificent seats were great - great view even from the lower tier.
I will be wiritng to the FA and Wembley to complain because it was totally unneccessary i mean there was press from all over the bloody world there that day plus it was live on Sky Sports -what pictures would I have got to that a professional photographer from the press wouldn't have got - but try telling that to a no mark no brained steward.
oh yeah i wasn't expecting it to be perfect and wasn't bothered about the refreshment areas as you rightly say the whole point of these ramp up events are to iron out the problems.
yeah i had 2 mates with me who couldn't believe it either - my 10 year old son was baffled which makes it even worse he actually wanted to go and get the camera at half time himself and say tothem look everyone is taking pictures.
Nice one Falconwood! wish I had taken mine now. Did you see the big Palace one a bit further along from you? and a Millwall one in the upper tier behind the goal to your right? There was even a Cray Wanders one to my left!!
I think its still just as much of a shithole as it ever was - although the seats are more comfortable and the fact that all the seats now have an unobstructed view is obviously a big plus point.
The catering is as crap as it is in Wembley Arena (if anything, it was actually worse than it used to be), the Tube station is shit (I was there in November for a gig at the Arena so had prior knowledge of the stupidness of the Met Police's approach to crowd control) and the whole experience was generally crap.
As for the stewards, I spoke to a couple of them before the match (I was there at bloody 8:30!) and they said they had been treated like dogshit by their company - even worse than usual - and were being paid about six quid an hour. Would you bother to do your job well if you were on that kind of money?
I dunno, once all the catering is opened up, it'll make a difference, seems that one team did the community day, and another did yesterday, they've got 7 weeks to work it out.
Wembley Park was OK from my prespective, I was back at North Greenwich by 3.45, which is good going to me, no station can shift it all in one go, ain't going to happen, try getting out of the Stade De France if you want a nightmare.
As for the Stewards I encountered yesterday they were great.
As for the stewards, I spoke to a couple of them before the match (I was there at bloody 8:30!) and they said they had been treated like dogshit by their company - even worse than usual - and were being paid about six quid an hour. Would you bother to do your job well if you were on that kind of money?[/quote]
I spoke to a steward in another block and he said the company kept em hanging around outside in the FREEZIN cold (and by christ it was cold) for 2 whole hours before they bothered to let them in...
I'd love to know where the millions went that were supposed to be spent on Wembley Park as someone is having a laugh.
It's a big football stadium. Didn't have a pie, didn't get a programme, and left 15 mins from the end so we could go into town and get some proper food.
[cite]Posted By: Ledge Knows[/cite]I nearly never made it into the stadium as I had this big row with some fucking jobs worth steward who was not going to let me in with my camera ---- YOU WERE SAYING MEDDERS....
They said it was policy not to let people in with cameras like mine- it has a a bloody lens on it granted and is an expensive bit of kit - they point blank refused to let me take it in and i had to leave it in a holding area.
I thought they would be like that Arf. I left my dSLR at home and borrowed the Mrs' compact. I assume you also have some kind of SLR? There's no way in you're going to be let in with that, especially if you've got some big zoom lens on it. Try getting it into the Valley, and I'd bet you'd get the same response....
To be honest I was well impressed with everything. We were in Block 110.
Tube was great from N Greenwich, all the way to Wembley Park. View was superb, It did seem smaller than the old Wembley (from end to end anyway. Found block, stand, seats with no trouble, very well sign posted. No Queues for food, drinks, programmes, toilets where I was. The one moan was a steward tried to stop me going back to my seat after getting a drink as I did not have my ticket. I said you should have told us to keep it on us! Had a fair wait for the tube but it was all very sensible except for the knobs pushing in down the sides of the queues. Was back at N Grenwich by about 4.
My one big moan was the 3 twats sat behind me who didnt stop talking (about absolute shat)all the way through the first half, took the familt to sit elswhere after half time.
[cite]Posted By: Ledge Knows[/cite]I nearly never made it into the stadium as I had this big row with some fucking jobs worth steward who was not going to let me in with my camera ---- YOU WERE SAYING MEDDERS....
They said it was policy not to let people in with cameras like mine- it has a a bloody lens on it granted and is an expensive bit of kit - they point blank refused to let me take it in and i had to leave it in a holding area.
I thought they would be like that Arf. I left my dSLR at home and borrowed the Mrs' compact. I assume you also have some kind of SLR? There's no way in you're going to be let in with that, especially if you've got some big zoom lens on it. Try getting it into the Valley, and I'd bet you'd get the same response....
it is an slr but it dsoesn't have a massive lens - it's barmy though half the world's press were there FFS what picture was I going to get that they didn't
[cite]Posted By: Ledge Knows[/cite]I nearly never made it into the stadium as I had this big row with some fucking jobs worth steward who was not going to let me in with my camera ---- YOU WERE SAYING MEDDERS....
They said it was policy not to let people in with cameras like mine- it has a a bloody lens on it granted and is an expensive bit of kit - they point blank refused to let me take it in and i had to leave it in a holding area.
I thought they would be like that Arf. I left my dSLR at home and borrowed the Mrs' compact. I assume you also have some kind of SLR? There's no way in you're going to be let in with that, especially if you've got some big zoom lens on it. Try getting it into the Valley, and I'd bet you'd get the same response....
it is an slr but it dsoesn't have a massive lens - it's barmy though half the world's press were there FFS what picture was I going to get that they didn't
Never mind !!!
I know what you mean mate, and trust me, I'd have loved to have taken mine and get some decent pics... especially seeing as we were only a few rows from the front...
However, I can see where they're coming from. I believe the official press photographers at games have to pay for the right to be there.... If I was one of them, I'd be pretty cheesed off if some bloke appears in the crowd with similar kit having paid only a tenner to get in!
Must admit, I see a few big lensed camers on show in the seats around me. To be honest the stewards were so interested in looking through the kids packed lunch and taking the bottle lids of their drinks they didnt even search me or the missus
Comments
Love ground though and my seats are perfect!!
They really need some cash points installed though
You can't buy food/drink as the queues and standard of service were worse than the West Upper.
All the cash they spent on Wembley Park station has gone on building a staircase and longer plaforms???
Every American stadium I've been to p*sses all over Wembley.
The stewards in my block were Eastern European and couldn't speak English!
Same old, same old.
Bit like the England team, all show and no substance.
We got into the ground about 15 mins before kick off (partly thanks to the tickets not arriving in the post, so had to collect at the stadium) looking to get a quick beer. No chance - all drinks kiosks were closed, and remained closed for the rest of the game.
Wembley Park station has barely changed. Not helped by the idiots, and the police, running the crowd flow into it. We were held back twice by the OB, due to 'overcrowding' in the station. Once we got into it, we could see trains leaving that were half empty. Also, despite a jubliee line train being on the platform, loading but still half empty, we weren't allowed onto it, and were forced onto the Met line...yeah nice one!
Still, at least it was good game!
When I got on the tube it was still half empty as it left the station. Hopefully things will prove.
Can't believe there were 55,000 there, the ground looked so empty!
The booing was for Richardson, who was dreadful. How he plays for United is beyond me. Huddlestone replaced him if I remember rightly...
Another thing though that was quite funny was one line of police were telling us to slow down heading into the station whilst ten yards on two policewomen were telling us to hurry up!!!! lol
The ground was freezing as well!
Wembley Park seemed better to me, but we timed it dead on. Next time I think I'll use Wembley Stadium station instead.
Were I was sitting they ran out of beer at one point, coofee and tea was non existent and some toilets were not working....
I nearly never made it into the stadium as I had this big row with some fucking jobs worth steward who was not going to let me in with my camera ---- YOU WERE SAYING MEDDERS....
They said it was policy not to let people in with cameras like mine- it has a a bloody lens on it granted and is an expensive bit of kit - they point blank refused to let me take it in and i had to leave it in a holding area.
imagine my fury when as the game kicks off it is like a cacophany of flashes - it sorted ruined the day as my boy wanted some pictures of himself at the stadium etc... i was not a happy bunny.
Other than that thought the stadium was magnificent seats were great - great view even from the lower tier.
I will be wiritng to the FA and Wembley to complain because it was totally unneccessary i mean there was press from all over the bloody world there that day plus it was live on Sky Sports -what pictures would I have got to that a professional photographer from the press wouldn't have got - but try telling that to a no mark no brained steward.
Catering, a lot of the catering points were closed in Level 5 were closed, but it all seemed to work ok
Yeah that was mine :o)
The catering is as crap as it is in Wembley Arena (if anything, it was actually worse than it used to be), the Tube station is shit (I was there in November for a gig at the Arena so had prior knowledge of the stupidness of the Met Police's approach to crowd control) and the whole experience was generally crap.
As for the stewards, I spoke to a couple of them before the match (I was there at bloody 8:30!) and they said they had been treated like dogshit by their company - even worse than usual - and were being paid about six quid an hour. Would you bother to do your job well if you were on that kind of money?
Wembley Park was OK from my prespective, I was back at North Greenwich by 3.45, which is good going to me, no station can shift it all in one go, ain't going to happen, try getting out of the Stade De France if you want a nightmare.
As for the Stewards I encountered yesterday they were great.
I spoke to a steward in another block and he said the company kept em hanging around outside in the FREEZIN cold (and by christ it was cold) for 2 whole hours before they bothered to let them in...
I'd love to know where the millions went that were supposed to be spent on Wembley Park as someone is having a laugh.
You can build the biggest station in the world, but if you can't get the trains in and out, then it's a problem.
By all accounts Wembley Stadium and Wembley Central were a lot better yesterday
It's a big football stadium. Didn't have a pie, didn't get a programme, and left 15 mins from the end so we could go into town and get some proper food.
Hope to go back sometime with Charlton ...
I thought they would be like that Arf. I left my dSLR at home and borrowed the Mrs' compact. I assume you also have some kind of SLR? There's no way in you're going to be let in with that, especially if you've got some big zoom lens on it. Try getting it into the Valley, and I'd bet you'd get the same response....
Tube was great from N Greenwich, all the way to Wembley Park.
View was superb, It did seem smaller than the old Wembley (from end to end anyway.
Found block, stand, seats with no trouble, very well sign posted.
No Queues for food, drinks, programmes, toilets where I was.
The one moan was a steward tried to stop me going back to my seat after getting a drink as I did not have my ticket. I said you should have told us to keep it on us!
Had a fair wait for the tube but it was all very sensible except for the knobs pushing in down the sides of the queues. Was back at N Grenwich by about 4.
My one big moan was the 3 twats sat behind me who didnt stop talking (about absolute shat)all the way through the first half, took the familt to sit elswhere after half time.
it is an slr but it dsoesn't have a massive lens - it's barmy though half the world's press were there FFS what picture was I going to get that they didn't
Never mind !!!
I know what you mean mate, and trust me, I'd have loved to have taken mine and get some decent pics... especially seeing as we were only a few rows from the front...
However, I can see where they're coming from. I believe the official press photographers at games have to pay for the right to be there.... If I was one of them, I'd be pretty cheesed off if some bloke appears in the crowd with similar kit having paid only a tenner to get in!