Crossbars after was bad as well, very slow. In an area with so few pubs they are really missing a trick not having slightly better service and staying open a bit later.
Queued before the game yesterday. After best part of 10 mins, the queue hadn't moved at all and we were still blocking the concourse and standing uncomfortably close to the ladies loos. Gave up at that point and might not bother again.
It's a poor service anyway. As someone else has said they don't know how to pour a pint. I've long since given up telling them to get their grubby hands off my rim. It's a lesson never learnt, their fingers seem drawn to it.
If only Burger Boy hadn't been so ridiculously over-promoted he could have been sorting this out rather than swanning round like the great I am outside The West Stand in his poorly fitting shiny suit.
Sick of it tbh. Fans groups have been on at the club about this for ages and nothing ever changes. We left three minutes before half time to try and get a beer and just gave up because the queue wasn't moving and 12 minutes later we were still near the back wall.
Surely management walk around and have a look at what's going on in these kiosks. The problems are so glaringly obvious
Does anyone know the name of the company the catering is contracted out to?
Such a missed opportunity - yes the costs would go up but surely that would be outweighed by the increased sales
Doubt it! You have to employ extra staff for three or four hours but they are only working for 30 minutes just before the game and at half time. It's a service rather than a money maker?
The club highlighted these new offerings on sale on the concourses but they are no good to anyone if the service is at its usual sub standard self.
Gather & Gather plus Meantime need to assess this situation as they will be losing trade and the club as well.
The two burgers vans in Harvey Gardens look always busy but the queue moves quickly. Maybe they need advice from them on how to run a quick and efficient service
End of last season I went to the game at Cheltenham and was in the home end as I was with family. Bear in mind, this is a smaller ground with less punters. At halftime, my nephews wanted a bite to eat. There were two kiosks for the whole stand. There was a sign on the first one saying “NO CHIPS use other kiosk” with an arrow. We went to the other kiosk where there was an enormous queue that was barely moving. By the time we got within about twenty people from the front, people who had been served were telling us they’d run out of food. Some brave soul called out “Have you got any food left?” and was greeted with apologetic shrugs. The queue dispersed and on closer inspection, they had a squashed sausage roll and a couple of mystery items. And no chips. And no drinks. We returned to the other kiosk (second half had kicked off, but nephews (and us too) were hungry and it’d become a bit of a mission) there was a shorter queue now, but the options were very limited. I think we had some sort of sausage roll or pie - can’t remember, but there wasn’t much choice left - and 4 cups of tea. The food was ok but a bit meh. The teas were the temperature of the surface of the sun. You genuinely couldn’t hold the polystyrene cup for longer than 10 seconds, the tea was so hot. Burnt my lips. Twice. (I’m an idiot). One of the nephews had his lid pop off so spilled it all over himself, fortunately managed to lean forward so he didn’t burn himself. And we missed the first equaliser.
The whole experience brought home to me why I generally don’t visit the kiosks when I go to live football. It’s invariably a disappointing and frustrating experience. I expect the lack of chips (and sufficient other options) on this occasion was a decision not to overstock as the season was nearly over, but still, you’d expect them to have enough to cater for an expected crowd right? But the lack of choice, clueless staff and bizarre overheating of tea reminded me that it’s not just Charlton.
Compare it to watching live sport in the US, it’s a different animal. There’s variety and choice and loads of places to get food quickly. Yes it’s still pricey, but those yanks sure know how to take your money. The British are clueless.
Would appear Cheltenham are clueless.
How about feeding the kids before the match starts next time.
How about reading the post properly before criticising? Yes, it would’ve solved the problem, but for a start, they’re not my kids, which you could’ve read in the post. We met them there, so there wasn’t an opportunity to feed them first. Anyway, regardless, sometimes we do things last minute. It can be awesome, but sometimes not. That’s part of it. I’ll own that.
The point wasn’t about whether I wanted to feed them there, it was about the service at Cheltenham which appears to be similar to Charlton and many other grounds. The British do it badly. Not just Cheltenham.
End of last season I went to the game at Cheltenham and was in the home end as I was with family. Bear in mind, this is a smaller ground with less punters. At halftime, my nephews wanted a bite to eat. There were two kiosks for the whole stand. There was a sign on the first one saying “NO CHIPS use other kiosk” with an arrow. We went to the other kiosk where there was an enormous queue that was barely moving. By the time we got within about twenty people from the front, people who had been served were telling us they’d run out of food. Some brave soul called out “Have you got any food left?” and was greeted with apologetic shrugs. The queue dispersed and on closer inspection, they had a squashed sausage roll and a couple of mystery items. And no chips. And no drinks. We returned to the other kiosk (second half had kicked off, but nephews (and us too) were hungry and it’d become a bit of a mission) there was a shorter queue now, but the options were very limited. I think we had some sort of sausage roll or pie - can’t remember, but there wasn’t much choice left - and 4 cups of tea. The food was ok but a bit meh. The teas were the temperature of the surface of the sun. You genuinely couldn’t hold the polystyrene cup for longer than 10 seconds, the tea was so hot. Burnt my lips. Twice. (I’m an idiot). One of the nephews had his lid pop off so spilled it all over himself, fortunately managed to lean forward so he didn’t burn himself. And we missed the first equaliser.
The whole experience brought home to me why I generally don’t visit the kiosks when I go to live football. It’s invariably a disappointing and frustrating experience. I expect the lack of chips (and sufficient other options) on this occasion was a decision not to overstock as the season was nearly over, but still, you’d expect them to have enough to cater for an expected crowd right? But the lack of choice, clueless staff and bizarre overheating of tea reminded me that it’s not just Charlton.
Compare it to watching live sport in the US, it’s a different animal. There’s variety and choice and loads of places to get food quickly. Yes it’s still pricey, but those yanks sure know how to take your money. The British are clueless.
Huge difference, is that sports in the US are glorified food and merch selling events spread out over many hours
Yeah, fair point. Watching sport is very different there.
End of last season I went to the game at Cheltenham and was in the home end as I was with family. Bear in mind, this is a smaller ground with less punters. At halftime, my nephews wanted a bite to eat. There were two kiosks for the whole stand. There was a sign on the first one saying “NO CHIPS use other kiosk” with an arrow. We went to the other kiosk where there was an enormous queue that was barely moving. By the time we got within about twenty people from the front, people who had been served were telling us they’d run out of food. Some brave soul called out “Have you got any food left?” and was greeted with apologetic shrugs. The queue dispersed and on closer inspection, they had a squashed sausage roll and a couple of mystery items. And no chips. And no drinks. We returned to the other kiosk (second half had kicked off, but nephews (and us too) were hungry and it’d become a bit of a mission) there was a shorter queue now, but the options were very limited. I think we had some sort of sausage roll or pie - can’t remember, but there wasn’t much choice left - and 4 cups of tea. The food was ok but a bit meh. The teas were the temperature of the surface of the sun. You genuinely couldn’t hold the polystyrene cup for longer than 10 seconds, the tea was so hot. Burnt my lips. Twice. (I’m an idiot). One of the nephews had his lid pop off so spilled it all over himself, fortunately managed to lean forward so he didn’t burn himself. And we missed the first equaliser.
The whole experience brought home to me why I generally don’t visit the kiosks when I go to live football. It’s invariably a disappointing and frustrating experience. I expect the lack of chips (and sufficient other options) on this occasion was a decision not to overstock as the season was nearly over, but still, you’d expect them to have enough to cater for an expected crowd right? But the lack of choice, clueless staff and bizarre overheating of tea reminded me that it’s not just Charlton.
Compare it to watching live sport in the US, it’s a different animal. There’s variety and choice and loads of places to get food quickly. Yes it’s still pricey, but those yanks sure know how to take your money. The British are clueless.
Huge difference, is that sports in the US are glorified food and merch selling events spread out over many hours
Yeah, fair point. Watching sport is very different there.
Swore I'd never go to another international at Wembley after people were getting up to get food throughout the match, including during a penalty.
Queued before the game yesterday. After best part of 10 mins, the queue hadn't moved at all and we were still blocking the concourse and standing uncomfortably close to the ladies loos. Gave up at that point and might not bother again.
It's a poor service anyway. As someone else has said they don't know how to pour a pint. I've long since given up telling them to get their grubby hands off my rim. It's a lesson never learnt, their fingers seem drawn to it.
If only Burger Boy hadn't been so ridiculously over-promoted he could have been sorting this out rather than swanning round like the great I am outside The West Stand in his poorly fitting shiny suit.
The club highlighted these new offerings on sale on the concourses but they are no good to anyone if the service is at its usual sub standard self.
Gather & Gather plus Meantime need to assess this situation as they will be losing trade and the club as well.
The two burgers vans in Harvey Gardens look always busy but the queue moves quickly. Maybe they need advice from them on how to run a quick and efficient service
It's not just us, went to a Coldplay concert at Stade De France last summer and all the kiosks had mental queues and they ran out of food a full hour before the concert had even began, but the stadium is one of those where once you're in the "compound" you can't go out and come back in again, so any of the food stalls outside the ground are inaccessible.
Similar thing for the Army Vs Navy rugby game at Twickenham, they ran out of food and beer before kickoff, as they didn't think it would be that busy! Surely they know how many people are attending roughly.
The club highlighted these new offerings on sale on the concourses but they are no good to anyone if the service is at its usual sub standard self.
Gather & Gather plus Meantime need to assess this situation as they will be losing trade and the club as well.
The two burgers vans in Harvey Gardens look always busy but the queue moves quickly. Maybe they need advice from them on how to run a quick and efficient service
Maybe just employ the guys who run the burger vans ?
Bought a hotdog in lower west before KO - looked nothing like the one in the picture. Just the hotdog sticking out of a roll, no different to last years offering.
It's not just us, went to a Coldplay concert at Stade De France last summer and all the kiosks had mental queues and they ran out of food a full hour before the concert had even began, but the stadium is one of those where once you're in the "compound" you can't go out and come back in again, so any of the food stalls outside the ground are inaccessible.
Similar thing for the Army Vs Navy rugby game at Twickenham, they ran out of food and beer before kickoff, as they didn't think it would be that busy! Surely they know how many people are attending roughly.
End of last season I went to the game at Cheltenham and was in the home end as I was with family. Bear in mind, this is a smaller ground with less punters. At halftime, my nephews wanted a bite to eat. There were two kiosks for the whole stand. There was a sign on the first one saying “NO CHIPS use other kiosk” with an arrow. We went to the other kiosk where there was an enormous queue that was barely moving. By the time we got within about twenty people from the front, people who had been served were telling us they’d run out of food. Some brave soul called out “Have you got any food left?” and was greeted with apologetic shrugs. The queue dispersed and on closer inspection, they had a squashed sausage roll and a couple of mystery items. And no chips. And no drinks. We returned to the other kiosk (second half had kicked off, but nephews (and us too) were hungry and it’d become a bit of a mission) there was a shorter queue now, but the options were very limited. I think we had some sort of sausage roll or pie - can’t remember, but there wasn’t much choice left - and 4 cups of tea. The food was ok but a bit meh. The teas were the temperature of the surface of the sun. You genuinely couldn’t hold the polystyrene cup for longer than 10 seconds, the tea was so hot. Burnt my lips. Twice. (I’m an idiot). One of the nephews had his lid pop off so spilled it all over himself, fortunately managed to lean forward so he didn’t burn himself. And we missed the first equaliser.
The whole experience brought home to me why I generally don’t visit the kiosks when I go to live football. It’s invariably a disappointing and frustrating experience. I expect the lack of chips (and sufficient other options) on this occasion was a decision not to overstock as the season was nearly over, but still, you’d expect them to have enough to cater for an expected crowd right? But the lack of choice, clueless staff and bizarre overheating of tea reminded me that it’s not just Charlton.
Compare it to watching live sport in the US, it’s a different animal. There’s variety and choice and loads of places to get food quickly. Yes it’s still pricey, but those yanks sure know how to take your money. The British are clueless.
How about feeding the kids before the match starts next time.
This.
Astounds me the number of people who can't go without a pint or some chips at 3.45pm.
Do you usually go down the pub mid afternoon ?
We scored just before half time. Only 1 goal in the game and loads of people missed it because their need for a pint was more pressing.
Left my seat in F block covered end, 7-8 minutes before HT due to previous experience with the waiting time. 20 minutes in the queue to be told I would have to wait another 5 minutes for a bhaji burger, so told him just to give me anything that was already cooked, by the time I got back to my seat we had kicked off again. Not enough staff and the ones that were there were not exactly proactive. Everytime somebody ordered chips you had the ridiculous situation of one woman at the back making them to order, which is never going to work with the numbers to serve queuing, seems they don’t want to have food pre prepared for fear of wastage, which I get to a certain degree but it needs more thought and Gather & Gather need a better strategy. Even more ridiculously, the server stopped dead waiting for chips rather than trying to serve anybody else, hence even longer waits. The whole thing is completely amateur and needs an overhaul, I for one won’t be queuing again and will eat before going into the ground, more lost revenue for the club. Not enough staff, and badly trained and supervised ones that are there.
The club highlighted these new offerings on sale on the concourses but they are no good to anyone if the service is at its usual sub standard self.
Gather & Gather plus Meantime need to assess this situation as they will be losing trade and the club as well.
The two burgers vans in Harvey Gardens look always busy but the queue moves quickly. Maybe they need advice from them on how to run a quick and efficient service
Maybe just employ the guys who run the burger vans ?
Bought a hotdog in lower west before KO - looked nothing like the one in the picture. Just the hotdog sticking out of a roll, no different to last years offering.
Its always puzzled me how long the club or whoevers job it is just to not fuck this element of a home fixture up have had to get this right and yet manage to so spectacularly fail to do so. We can all recount tales of Middlesborough and Blackburn and their mental 6 pints at a time routine and this was nearly 20 years ago, or how, even at a cramped Upton Park it was possible to get leathered they served you so quick. Southampton, Yeovil, Coventry are all places we have taken big numbers and managed to get beers before the game and at half time without a performance so why can we not get it right?
What I'll also say is the beer, hot drinks and food are appalling on the concourses and reinforce my argument to forego food at football but as others have fairly pointed out to me in the past, it can be a long time without eating especially when kids are in tow and how much of a pain in the arse they can be when left unfed. Also, if you are enjoying a day on the session it isn't a great thing to lose 2 hours worth of momentum
Forgetting all that, surely the club or whoever has the licence to cater for match days actually want to make money by selling as much of their slop as possible? Get a fuck load of beers pulled up, round the prices and maybe train a handful of the matchday staff on how to use a till
I think self service should be introduced - like in the supermarkets - what could possibly go wrong ? - I have to say the staff serving are the slowest and least switched on I’ve ever known
Saturday was an especially busy day as 1st game of season buzz.
the beer and general fayre on offer is awful, for context most other grounds are the same, old Trafford, emirates and Wembley I've visited in recent years.
I go down about 40 mins to get the beers in because part of the football day for me is having pints with mates.
How bad is that concourse to get a drink or something to eat at half time ? 30 minutes to get a portion of chips and drink for my daughter.
You have one young kid serving two rows, it’s not rocket science is it? The more staff you javelin the more food/ beer you serve, more money you generate rather than people walking away
Saturday was an especially busy day as 1st game of season buzz.
the beer and general fayre on offer is awful, for context most other grounds are the same, old Trafford, emirates and Wembley I've visited in recent years.
I go down about 40 mins to get the beers in because part of the football day for me is having pints with mates.
The club is losing a lot of revenue here. Personally since Roland days I spend absolutely nothing in the ground or club shop. I rock up 15 minutes before ko and leave dead on the final whistle.
All this necessity to miss 5-10 minutes of the first half to have over priced watered down beer and food is totally lost on me. Can you not wait another hour?
How many goals do you miss a season doing this? Madness imo.
I have never run anything to do with catering or a bar, but honestly, I get so frustrated with Charlton's offering that even I could do a better job.
I don't need to eat or drink before, during or after the game, but if the offering was good, I would.
I might pop into the local pub before the game, sometimes after, but if the offering was better in the ground, I'd probably spend more time and therefor money in the ground.
Evening games would be perfect if they offered some half-decent food as coming straight from the office means no time to eat.
I'd easily spend between £10 and £30 more at games..,
OT away last season was worse, I remember queuing so long I ordered 3 pints for myself and just necked all 3 before the match, didn't bother trying to go back for any more
Comments
Surely management walk around and have a look at what's going on in these kiosks. The problems are so glaringly obvious
Does anyone know the name of the company the catering is contracted out to?
The two burgers vans in Harvey Gardens look always busy but the queue moves quickly. Maybe they need advice from them on how to run a quick and efficient service
https://www.charltonafc.com/news/fans-enjoy-food-sampling-session-valley
How about reading the post properly before criticising?
Yes, it would’ve solved the problem, but for a start, they’re not my kids, which you could’ve read in the post. We met them there, so there wasn’t an opportunity to feed them first. Anyway, regardless, sometimes we do things last minute. It can be awesome, but sometimes not. That’s part of it. I’ll own that.
The point wasn’t about whether I wanted to feed them there, it was about the service at Cheltenham which appears to be similar to Charlton and many other grounds. The British do it badly. Not just Cheltenham.
Similar thing for the Army Vs Navy rugby game at Twickenham, they ran out of food and beer before kickoff, as they didn't think it would be that busy! Surely they know how many people are attending roughly.
Astounds me the number of people who can't go without a pint or some chips at 3.45pm.
Do you usually go down the pub mid afternoon ?
We scored just before half time. Only 1 goal in the game and loads of people missed it because their need for a pint was more pressing.
What I'll also say is the beer, hot drinks and food are appalling on the concourses and reinforce my argument to forego food at football but as others have fairly pointed out to me in the past, it can be a long time without eating especially when kids are in tow and how much of a pain in the arse they can be when left unfed. Also, if you are enjoying a day on the session it isn't a great thing to lose 2 hours worth of momentum
Forgetting all that, surely the club or whoever has the licence to cater for match days actually want to make money by selling as much of their slop as possible? Get a fuck load of beers pulled up, round the prices and maybe train a handful of the matchday staff on how to use a till
the beer and general fayre on offer is awful, for context most other grounds are the same, old Trafford, emirates and Wembley I've visited in recent years.
I go down about 40 mins to get the beers in because part of the football day for me is having pints with mates.
All this necessity to miss 5-10 minutes of the first half to have over priced watered down beer and food is totally lost on me. Can you not wait another hour?
How many goals do you miss a season doing this? Madness imo.
I don't need to eat or drink before, during or after the game, but if the offering was good, I would.
I might pop into the local pub before the game, sometimes after, but if the offering was better in the ground, I'd probably spend more time and therefor money in the ground.
Evening games would be perfect if they offered some half-decent food as coming straight from the office means no time to eat.
I'd easily spend between £10 and £30 more at games..,