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The capacity debacle


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We should genuinely be making more of this 1,000 fans in the ground issue. It's borderline scandalous. There seems to be no real issue on 30%, 40%, 50% filled grounds at this point where we seem to be either moping about how sad it is fans aren't getting back in numbers we'd like, or saying f**k all.

The fans have an absolute right to know who is making these decisions, why they are being made and why the club aren't fighting tooth and nail against any decisions made on 'social distancing' guidelines given that these don't appear to apply nearly as stringently to many, many other clubs very local to us.

Fir Park will be 47% full on Saturday for their game vs Hibs...St. Mirren Park was (allegedly) only allowed to be 12% full yesterday and only 12% full a week next Saturday.

Dundee, a city that had the outright highest infection rate in Europe until only a couple of weeks ago have applied for and expect to be granted increased capacity for our match on Saturday. And rightly so, who can blame them? And again, likely no away fans.

So why is Fitzpatrick showing up on Radio Scotland yesterday sounding like a beaten man when it comes to more supporters being let in? Why are the club not publicly questioning these decisions? This was packaged up by our SLO the other day as being a social distancing issue but that's clearly not true at all. I get some grounds have more seats, exits, facilities etc, but definitely not a disparity of 12% capacity in one ground allowed vs 47% in another.

Who ever ultimately made the decision, be it SMFC or Renfrewshire Council owe the supporters a full and frank explanation. Why should we still be balloting to see who f**king gets to go to games and who doesn't when other clubs are fighting tooth and nail to get ALL fans who want a ticket through the doors?

Edited by djchapsticks
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Just now, Cookie Monster said:

The decisions are getting made by a local advisory group made up from the emergency services, local authority and the club, following guidelines from scotgov.

How do folk not know this, it's widely reported.

Doesn't make it right or fair? 

There seems a massive difference between clubs that's, on to the surface, lacking a relatively common approach. 

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4 minutes ago, Cookie Monster said:

The decisions are getting made by a local advisory group made up from the emergency services, local authority and the club, following guidelines from scotgov.

How do folk not know this, it's widely reported.

I'm aware of this but where is the consistency of decision being made? How can any authority determine that 12% capacity is the maximum when the next authority over deems 35% or 40% OK?

The folk in charge of making these decisions are not in any way infallible and should be getting questioned and fought tooth and nail at every opportunity.

Edited by djchapsticks
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20 minutes ago, djchapsticks said:

We should genuinely be making more of this 1,000 fans in the ground issue. It's borderline scandalous. There seems to be no real issue on 30%, 40%, 50% filled grounds at this point where we seem to be either moping about how sad it is fans aren't getting back in numbers we'd like, or saying f**k all.

The fans have an absolute right to know who is making these decisions, why they are being made and why the club aren't fighting tooth and nail against any decisions made on 'social distancing' guidelines given that these don't appear to apply nearly as stringently to many, many other clubs very local to us.

Fir Park will be 47% full on Saturday for their game vs Hibs...St. Mirren Park was (allegedly) only allowed to be 12% full yesterday and only 12% full a week next Saturday.

Dundee, a city that had the outright highest infection rate in Europe until only a couple of weeks ago have applied for and expect to be granted increased capacity for our match on Saturday. And rightly so, who can blame them? And again, likely no away fans.

So why is Fitzpatrick showing up on Radio Scotland yesterday sounding like a beaten man when it comes to more supporters being let in? Why are the club not publicly questioning these decisions? This was packaged up by our SLO the other day as being a social distancing issue but that's clearly not true at all. I get some grounds have more seats, exits, facilities etc, but definitely not a disparity of 12% capacity in one ground allowed vs 47% in another.

Who ever ultimately made the decision, be it SMFC or Renfrewshire Council owe the supporters a full and frank explanation. Why should we still be balloting to see who f**king gets to go to games and who doesn't when other clubs are fighting tooth and nail to get ALL fans who want a ticket through the doors?

Well done mate you’ve nailed it here. Also Tony defending the balloting policy which is so unfair . Can’t he see this that we all paid our cash last year to see no games and that we all deserve a chance to see our team? Instead some have had two games whilst others have none. On my ticket front I drove an hour yesterday to see about getting my renewal kids tickets sorted. I knew I wouldn’t  get ticket staff but as it was my only day to do so I took a chance. I was met with a reception lady who assured me they’d call me first thing today. They never. I know people are fed up with me moaning but when you go home and away to every game for 25 years and you email, call and indeed visit the club you kinda get a bit annoyed at the complete shambles the club are with tickets. 
 

also the clubs PR and lack of clear messaging this summer has been astounding. I mean are they sitting with their fingers in their ears ? 

Edited by norrie82
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We should genuinely be making more of this 1,000 fans in the ground issue. It's borderline scandalous. There seems to be no real issue on 30%, 40%, 50% filled grounds at this point where we seem to be either moping about how sad it is fans aren't getting back in numbers we'd like, or saying f**k all.
The fans have an absolute right to know who is making these decisions, why they are being made and why the club aren't fighting tooth and nail against any decisions made on 'social distancing' guidelines given that these don't appear to apply nearly as stringently to many, many other clubs very local to us.
Fir Park will be 47% full on Saturday for their game vs Hibs...St. Mirren Park was (allegedly) only allowed to be 12% full yesterday and only 12% full a week next Saturday.
Dundee, a city that had the outright highest infection rate in Europe until only a couple of weeks ago have applied for and expect to be granted increased capacity for our match on Saturday. And rightly so, who can blame them? And again, likely no away fans.
So why is Fitzpatrick showing up on Radio Scotland yesterday sounding like a beaten man when it comes to more supporters being let in? Why are the club not publicly questioning these decisions? This was packaged up by our SLO the other day as being a social distancing issue but that's clearly not true at all. I get some grounds have more seats, exits, facilities etc, but definitely not a disparity of 12% capacity in one ground allowed vs 47% in another.
Who ever ultimately made the decision, be it SMFC or Renfrewshire Council owe the supporters a full and frank explanation. Why should we still be balloting to see who f**king gets to go to games and who doesn't when other clubs are fighting tooth and nail to get ALL fans who want a ticket through the doors?
100%
Just add it to the ticket fiasco and strip shambles? 
The club must be chucking away thousands with these issues that no one seems to be bothered to resolve if they were bothering I'm pretty sure TF would have released one of his pat on the back communications.
The decisions are getting made by a local advisory group made up from the emergency services, local authority and the club, following guidelines from scotgov.

How do folk not know this, it's widely reported.
It is widely known but surely we didn't just bend over and take it without challenging by using other clubs as an example especially the junior clubs.
I know they are not in Renfrewshire but with every council area being Level 0 the rules should be the same no matter what area you are.
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We should genuinely be making more of this 1,000 fans in the ground issue. It's borderline scandalous. There seems to be no real issue on 30%, 40%, 50% filled grounds at this point where we seem to be either moping about how sad it is fans aren't getting back in numbers we'd like, or saying f**k all.
The fans have an absolute right to know who is making these decisions, why they are being made and why the club aren't fighting tooth and nail against any decisions made on 'social distancing' guidelines given that these don't appear to apply nearly as stringently to many, many other clubs very local to us.
Fir Park will be 47% full on Saturday for their game vs Hibs...St. Mirren Park was (allegedly) only allowed to be 12% full yesterday and only 12% full a week next Saturday.
Dundee, a city that had the outright highest infection rate in Europe until only a couple of weeks ago have applied for and expect to be granted increased capacity for our match on Saturday. And rightly so, who can blame them? And again, likely no away fans.
So why is Fitzpatrick showing up on Radio Scotland yesterday sounding like a beaten man when it comes to more supporters being let in? Why are the club not publicly questioning these decisions? This was packaged up by our SLO the other day as being a social distancing issue but that's clearly not true at all. I get some grounds have more seats, exits, facilities etc, but definitely not a disparity of 12% capacity in one ground allowed vs 47% in another.
Who ever ultimately made the decision, be it SMFC or Renfrewshire Council owe the supporters a full and frank explanation. Why should we still be balloting to see who f**king gets to go to games and who doesn't when other clubs are fighting tooth and nail to get ALL fans who want a ticket through the doors?

You know what makes it all the more galling - even within the 1039 number the right hand side of the family stand AND the away end had practically no seats taken - so did the club not sell the tickets (find that impossible to believe) or were they all no shows (also can’t believe this).

Also what’s this with not opening the main stand up (relative to the rest of the stadium).

Given that other clubs are getting 30/40% in - we should be getting the same fair and square.

Will this not be short term though as of the 9th August is it not fully open?
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Interesting to see the uncertainty conveyed by Dundee's arrangement for Saturday. Any ballot plans "oot the windae" as it's too hard to organise.:lol:

Quote

 

As the opening cinch Premiership fixture of the 2021/22 season approaches we are happy to be in the position to offer season ticket holders the chance to collect tickets for this Saturday’s match with St. Mirren at the Kilmac Stadium.

We have applied for an increased capacity and are currently in advanced discussions with the council, we expect a decision on Tuesday. In the meantime, we will initially be issuing tickets for the limited capacity in the Bobby Cox Stand with the hope that we can increase the numbers in attendance at Dens after the council update.

Current restrictions mean that one metre distancing must be in place between groups. As such we would ask friends and families to obtain tickets together at the time of collection, up to the maximum of 15 can be seated in a group.

The voucher needed to trade for a ticket will be VOUCHER NUMBER 1. One ticket per voucher.

There will be no guarantee that you will seated in your season ticket seat for this fixture.

Previously the club had stated that tickets for league games would be available on a rolling ballot basis but given the time constraints we feel the only reasonable way to proceed is to offer on a first come first serve basis. 

Tickets will be available to personal callers inside the Ticket Office from Tuesday at 10am.

The fixture will be season ticket only. Sales of season tickets will be suspended on Tuesday.

With your help of bigger groups together in the Bobby Cox and a potential increase in capacity issued by the council we are hopeful of getting all season tickets holders who can attend on Saturday into the match safely but unfortunately at this time are unable to guarantee this without having a full knowledge of the situation.

We would again like to thank all supporters for their patience and understanding in this situation. We understand it’s not ideal but the club is doing everything in our power to have as many of you back in the stands as we can.

 

 

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13 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Rumours doing the rounds on Social Media that we are only allowing 1039 in for Hearts match again next week.

Are the rumours on social media as reliable as the ones concerning the office staff being sacked?

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Are the rumours on social media as reliable as the ones concerning the office staff being sacked?
Don't know unable to get to ticket office the taxi driver refused to go to check, be a good girl and jump down and check will you I'm desperate to know.
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This is the reply I have just had back from the SLO regards the shambles of 1039 for attendance last weekend. 
 
Hi
 
just an update to let you know we have some answers to your point and just need to get some more details yet and we (slo) plan to publish some background to the principles before this weekend on our face book and twitter pages, link below.
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5 minutes ago, Ronnie said:
15 minutes ago, FTOF said:
Are the rumours on social media as reliable as the ones concerning the office staff being sacked?

Don't know unable to get to ticket office the taxi driver refused to go to check, be a good girl and jump down and check will you I'm desperate to know.

So clueless as usual then.

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18 hours ago, Cookie Monster said:

The decisions are getting made by a local advisory group made up from the emergency services, local authority and the club, following guidelines from scotgov.

How do folk not know this, it's widely reported.

The government guidelines only require you to consult the Local Authority if you wish to exceed the capacity set by government. The capacity is 1000 standing and 2000 seated. There are other restrictions on arrive and dispersal, as well as catering. However none of the guidelines seemed insurmountable that could not be managed.  It’s really for the club to undertake their risk assessment and put in place the procedures to ensure the 2000 is met 

the way the government are pushing this is that you cant sit in the open air and watch football. However you can sit next to someone on a airplane with 100’s of other people. Where’s the science to substantiate the FACTS.  

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1 minute ago, Brilliant Disguise said:

The government guidelines only require you to consult the Local Authority if you wish to exceed the capacity set by government. The capacity is 1000 standing and 2000 seated. There are other restrictions on arrive and dispersal, as well as catering. However none of the guidelines seemed insurmountable that could not be managed.  It’s really for the club to undertake their risk assessment and put in place the procedures to ensure the 2000 is met 

the way the government are pushing this is that you cant sit in the open air and watch football. However you can sit next to someone on a airplane with 100’s of other people. Where’s the science to substantiate the FACTS.  

You need to speak to Baz if it's about facts. :whistle

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I watched the PT game in the pub on Sunday because I wasn't successful in the ballots. I assumed the other 4 STHs who were with me were also unsuccessful but it turns out none of them renewed due to the ongoing restrictions.
I might be lucky and get a ticket for the Hearts game, I might not. One thing I am certain of is that if I'd known last week that the PT and Hearts games would have a capacity of 1039 then I wouldn't have renewed either.

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So this is the statement put out on July 13th by Nicola no word of up to 2000. The phrase used as below is at least” 2000. 
 

The First Minister has announced further easing of Covid-19 restrictions from Monday, July 19.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced Scotland will move to Level 0 Covid-19 restrictions from Monday - and that has significant implications for football. 

The FM confirmed a further easing of restrictions from July 19 as she addressed a virtual session of the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.

Scotland's vaccination rollout has allowed for a continued easing and the latest modifications come just in time for the 2021/22 league campaign, set to begin on July 31.

Under Level 0 restrictions, at least 2000 spectators can attend outdoor events, including football matches.

 

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Clydebanksaint said:

So this is the statement put out on July 13th by Nicola no word of up to 2000. The phrase used as below is at least” 2000. 
 

The First Minister has announced further easing of Covid-19 restrictions from Monday, July 19.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced Scotland will move to Level 0 Covid-19 restrictions from Monday - and that has significant implications for football. 

The FM confirmed a further easing of restrictions from July 19 as she addressed a virtual session of the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.

Scotland's vaccination rollout has allowed for a continued easing and the latest modifications come just in time for the 2021/22 league campaign, set to begin on July 31.

Under Level 0 restrictions, at least 2000 spectators can attend outdoor events, including football matches.

 

 

 

She likes to play with words her retort would be that at least 2000 would be invited however only 1000 would be let in.

Or 2000 could have got in they just never turned up

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So this is the statement put out on July 13th by Nicola no word of up to 2000. The phrase used as below is at least” 2000. 
 
The First Minister has announced further easing of Covid-19 restrictions from Monday, July 19.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced Scotland will move to Level 0 Covid-19 restrictions from Monday - and that has significant implications for football. 
The FM confirmed a further easing of restrictions from July 19 as she addressed a virtual session of the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.
Scotland's vaccination rollout has allowed for a continued easing and the latest modifications come just in time for the 2021/22 league campaign, set to begin on July 31.
Under Level 0 restrictions, at least 2000 spectators can attend outdoor events, including football matches.
 
 
 
You are allowed following a few trials at lower capacities 2000 seated if that can be accommodated with the social distancing regs.

What folk are seeing/reading are just the headline figures not the full details that if you read the full stories you can find out.
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This is the reply I have just had back from the SLO regards the shambles of 1039 for attendance last weekend. 
  Hi   just an update to let you know we have some answers to your point and just need to get some more details yet and we (slo) plan to publish some background to the principles before this weekend on our face book and twitter pages, link below.
I wrote a Facebook post that the SLO just approved to make it public on their page asking if he could ask the club for an update asap on the Capacity situation & whether we challenged Renfrewshire Council decision, the Season Ticket situation and why in busiest time of year ticket office is still open only 20 hours per week, also the strip and shop situation too.

Hopefully with what he wrote to you we will have some clarity on all this by end of the week but really we shouldn't even have to ask these things.
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