Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
Town on Hot Food Policy
Monday, 27th Oct 2014 18:22

Town have outlined why fans were prevented from entering Portman Road with burgers and hot dogs purchased from vendors outside the ground prior to Saturday’s match against Huddersfield.

Supporters on the TWTD forum and elsewhere on social media commented on what appeared to be a new club policy.

However, club media manager Steve Pearce said in a statement: “It’s not a new policy but it is one that the club have let lapse over recent times.

“It is 32 hours of work for our cleaning staff just to pick up litter around the stadium after a match and this is increasing.

“We have also noticed an increase in people bringing hot food into the ground so we will be asking supporters who purchase hot food and drink from outside the stadium to consume it before entering.

“This falls in line with other football clubs and other sports up and down the country. There are also food safety issues that we have to be mindful of.”


Photo: Action Images



Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.



roytheboy added 09:48 - Oct 28
Well Burger me.
0

oncebluealwaysblue added 10:56 - Oct 28
@NoCanariesAllowed

Those Hotdogs are incredible. Both taste wise and money wise. He's always got a 20 man deep line of people waiting as well
1

JustSpivvyChops added 10:58 - Oct 28
Many times have I and my fellow watchers attempted to consume the food and drink offered in the ground, but it is often difficult to determine the food from the packaging, in terms of taste and thus we choose to eat elsewhere before the game.

It is impossible to purchase tea/coffee in an acceptable timeframe at the break of the game and unless you are happy to miss several minutes of the game either side of half time, then you shouldn't attempt such a brazen move...........those that do decide to take the plunge are almost always disappointed with the quality of the offerings and bewildered at the cost, is there really a justification for marking up food and drink at 75%+ to that which is available on the other side of the road, simply because it is within the confines of the stadium?

This latest move by the club is clearly an attempt to get people to spend money inside the ground and 100% that is exactly what they should be aiming to do, it is an obvious money spinner and a big one too...................trouble is, when you are offering food/drink that is well below an acceptable standard and that which is available immediately outside the ground, is served by morons that at full steam are half the speed and intelligence of your average football fan and for which you are charging Michelin starred prices for the experience, it is little wonder that your faithful are left feeling rather underwhelmed by the whole experience.

If the club had actually bothered to find out what the perception of the food/drink served within the ground was amongst supporters and subsequently acted on this information to improve the quality and availability, followed by a statement declaring that it was attempting to attract more supporters to buy food/drink in the ground, as it was profitable for the club, I suspect that most people would have been utterly accepting and been happy to spend money in the ground.............BUT to simply continue to serve sub standard sh1te and try and force people to purchase it by cutting off food entering the ground is an underhanded move and has grotesquely backfired, as anybody employed by ITFC in a marketing and PR capacity should have been able to see a long way off.

I have a vision in my head of how the decision was reached.............the Marketing/PR team were all sitting round the table with coffee and biscuits on a Monday morning when they were informed that the owner felt that the club was missing out on a revenue stream in relation to food sales and it was put to the group that they should all go away and return in 20 minutes with some ideas to increase food/drink sales at the ground (it was common knowledge amongst the staff that the offerings did not taste good).......they came back and there were many ideas, some suggested new types of food to be made available that were less costly to make but more profitable to sell, some suggested more competitively priced meal deals for drink/burger/chocolate bar than was available outside the ground, some suggested offering a better quality of food and actually increasing prices as people would be happy to pay a premium to eat good food and drink knowing that they were supporting the club......one of the team suggested stopping people bringing food into the ground and thus forcing people to buy the sh1t on offer inside.............the management thought this was a brilliant idea as it costed precisely nothing and with an unerring disregard for the supporters of the club, the policy was swiftly put into action.

Well done ITFC...............again.
8

J4ck22 added 11:05 - Oct 28
This is hardly a big deal... But I guess you guys need something to complain about.
0

Keanos_Barmy added 11:42 - Oct 28
Be warned, we could see 4 people take to the streets over this one
2

broadside added 11:43 - Oct 28
The principle is fine. The club needs to make money from its food outlets. It's the deceit about the rubbish that gets peoples goat. Just be honest and straightforward
2

ElvisMariner added 11:55 - Oct 28
Food Safety Issues... What a load of squit.
It's obvious to anyone why this policy is being enforced and it's not for Food Safety reasons!... Come on ITFC dont take us for idiots
4

theblueginger added 12:01 - Oct 28
This just comes over as extremely petty! Are we really that tight on making FFP this season?
And as for 'safety' i feel a lot safer getting food outside than having to queue like a sardine and undergoing open wallet surgery for the sh*te on offer in PR!
3

Woodbridgian added 13:43 - Oct 28
If the inept NON-football management at the club devoted their time to ensuring that it was possible to buy food and drink inside the ground without having to Q for ages, then to served at best low quality & expensive food by poorly trained staff then maybe people wouldn't bother buying food outside.
2

Bluebongo added 16:38 - Oct 28
Does this mean that we,re not allowed to take a flask of coffee into the ground then.
1

spiegal added 17:13 - Oct 28
Yet again this once wonderful club shows its utter contempt for the people who pay their (inflated) wages. Just how far will they sink..what's next..."please don't come to our (half empty) ground if you haven't washed in the past few hours, using a towel purchased from the "Blues shop" just in case there is a reaction which may harm our players...madness.
3

NSL added 17:48 - Oct 28
If its litter which is the problem, I take it the club won't be replicating this that I was lucky enough to experience a few months ago:
0

NSL added 17:50 - Oct 28
Don't tell our Dusseldorf friends by the way ;-)
0

Gazelle added 20:01 - Oct 28
What's wrong with having a lunch at home.
0

Gazelle added 20:03 - Oct 28
What's wrong with having a lunch at home.
0

Talbs77 added 20:04 - Oct 28
I can only back up everybody else's comments at how this only alienates fans further as it's obvious they are attempting to get fans to buy what they call food!

I "treated" my 4 year old to a "hotdog" the other day and it was barely edible!

The club wonder why fans aren't returning in droves, don't get me wrong 1 crappy hotdog isn't the only reason but its little things like this that only makes fans sense the club are constantly trying to rip us off!
2

bluebrit added 20:30 - Oct 28
Perhaps someone could enlighten me about who is making PR decisions at the club because it appears to me that the number of PR errors are increasing. What is annoying is the shoddy rational used to justify unpopular decisions. Lots of people have stuck with the club despite watching, until recently, some fairly average football. It would be a shame if improvements in the team are undermined by clumsy decision making off the pitch.
1

runningout added 21:23 - Oct 28
Club is becoming a mess... Time for honest reasoning was long ago. Stop treating people like morons
2

Seasider added 15:36 - Oct 29
Have been supporting club for over 50 years,and in early days cant recall much food on offer inside or out.
This has increased over the years but since those early days people have taken a flask either hip,or larger containing hot beverages together with other items of food without a problem.
We are outside the ground at 1.30pm/6.30pm and go straight up to Legends where we purchase drinks until kick off,many more do this outside as it is much cheaper.
Sometimes I buy food outside and sometimes inside including at half time.
I have never had a problem during those 50 years but will have to watch my step now as big brother is watching.
Disgraceful.
0

Tufty added 16:44 - Oct 29
Would you buy a burger at McDonalds and take it to Starbucks to eat it and leave the packaging behind.?
nuff said
0


You need to login in order to post your comments

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls

About Us Contact Us Terms & Conditions Privacy Cookies Advertising
© TWTD 1995-2024