09/06/2008 : Yeovil Town Blog : Summer 2007 Supporters Bar Survey Results
9 June 2008 : Summer 2007 Supporters Bar Survey Results
Last summer (yes it really was that long ago - apologies!) Ciderspace ran a survey relating to the club's proposals to build a new supporters' social club at the stadium. At the time we set up the survey, the club had just put through the second of two planning applications through to the council, with both designs extremely different in what they could be potentially used for.

The earliest design was for a corner building sited between the home terrace and the East (Cowlin) Stand. The club got planning approval from the Council, but almost immediately began to lean in another direction - a second design based on a concourse bar, bolted onto the back of the home terrace. The club's own documentation described it as a 'lean to' design, and it was this that was submitted to the council last summer.

We set up the survey, let it run its course, and then unfortunately the 2007-08 season got in the way of matters and (apologies again!) we never got round to publishing the results. Despite the time having flown by, as we see it, the issues surrounding the development still stand. At the April 'Achieve By Unity Fans Partnership' meeting, Glovers Chairman John Fry indicated that there were wider plans under discussion within the club concerning the stadium as a whole. The second 'concourse' design application is dormant on the SSDC planning website and it would imply that both submitted plans are now dead in the water. At present we await a currently unknown set of plans that went to the club's board in late April, but as yet have not been published anywhere we are aware of.

The ABUFP minutes state that "there are a variety of proposals (for the social club) and once we have the go ahead from the Board the plans will be on display for the supporters to see" - we'd interpret that as saying that the door is still wide open for any of the club's current thinking to be influenced. Thus this survey still appears to be as relevant as it was last summer.

Cutting straight to the chase, the survey was provoked by a debate on the Green Room as to the respective merits of a 'corner bar' social club versus a 'concourse' bar, given that the two designs the club had submitted were so radically different. Whilst both designs got a thumbs up by a majority, it was quite clear from the survey results that the 'corner bar' design was favoured by a significant majority. The corner bar saw 81% of supporters respond positively, with just 7% giving a negative reaction. The concourse bar still saw a 62% majority, but perhaps of more concern to the club would be that 31% had negative views on the design. With this meaning that one in three supporters had negative feelings about the concourse design, we'd say the club need to exercise caution in going ahead with something of this nature.

Not everything is as black and white as 'corner bar' vs 'concourse' though, and so our survey also looked to find out what supporters wanted in a bar. Hence our survey also asked what sort of features people would look for in a bar, regardless of its position or design. We've ranked each of the questions we asked in order of strength of feeling - i.e. how important supporters felt it was for such facilities to exist. Thus we can hopefully draw out those features that are particularly important to have in a club bar, and those that people can take or leave. The full list of features and the percentage of voters who considered that important are as follows:

The bar must be accessible by spectators in all three stands : 88%
The bar must have full Sky Sports TV coverage : 81%
The bar must have a variety of drinks available (over and above one bitter/lager/soft drink) : 74%
The bar must have tables and chairs to sit down at : 68%
The bar must have basic teletext/vidiprinter TV : 68%
The bar must allow children to be welcome : 60%
The bar must allow drinking from non-plastic glasses : 59%
The bar must have tea-bar style food available (pasties, chocolate etc) : 57%
The bar must have pub style food available : 51%
The bar must be open outside matchdays : 36%
The bar must allow drinks to be served at half time : 22%

Given how highly important the access from all three stands is deemed to be by supporters, it is easy to see how the 'concourse' design got the thumbs down by supporters, given that it would only have benefitted those on the home terrace. It is not going to be easy to convince someone in the Cowlin Stand that building a concourse bar is a good idea when they won't be able to get into it! Joking aside, clubs thrive on their whole community feel and the ability for supporters and club officials to mix and exchange views and excluding certain parties is not conducive towards unity.

On the flip side, the lowest ranked feature was the ability to open the bar at half time, again suggesting that supporters are less bothered by one of the key advantages that a concourse bar would provide over a separate corner bar. That's not to say the club shouldn't open a bar at half time if the licence allows, just that it doesn't appear to be a high priority for supporters. In an ideal world we'd have all of the above features provided, but where compromise is necessary, this hopefully shows the club where the priorities lie.

In addition to the statistical side of the survey (full results of which are linked in at the foot of this page) we also allowed supporters the option of providing further thoughts on the subject. Again these are provided in full, warts'n'all, and are the views of the individual supporters and not necessarily that of Ciderspace (but quite often are)! It is also worth noting that the comments were made soon after the club submitted their 'concourse bar' plans, and so some of the comments are a specific reaction to that submission.

Another important factor to note is that this survey of course only considers Yeovil Town supporters. If we are to breakaway from the matchdays-only concourse bar, then the club must also consider other local opportunities such as those who live on the Abbey Manor Estate, where there is just one pub serving several hundred homes. With a major development around Thorne Lane on the cards, this is a rapidly expanding area of the town, yet so far the leisure and social facilities at this end of town have failed to keep pace with the builders. Could this also be a useful way for the club to integrate itself further into the local community and persuade new people that Huish Park is the place to be?

On a similar note, we are picking up anecdotal evidence of a shortage of local skittle alleys. Supporters suggest that those who play in the local skittles leagues are struggling to find facilities within the town, with many popular local pubs having closed over the years. The skittlers are being forced out into the surrounding villages to fulfil their fixtures. If there is such a shortage of alleys, then the club should consider how attractive an environment with easy parking and easy-to-find location would be for such people. And again it would push the club's profile into other parts of the town community.

The club should also not forget that a supporters bar is not just a revenue generating device. It is also the means by which a club's community bonds together. The current arrangements that see the top brass up stairs whilst the grassroots supporters are scattered across the Marquee, the Arrow and the Bell in itself creates social divisions and even if it may not be responsible for a them'n'us environment, it would not help to break any barriers or misconceptions down. It would also add to the whole day's Huish Park Experience, that today is largely geared around just the 90 minutes of football.

The biggest concern though is the apparent lack of progress on the project, and the associated lack of communication. Whilst supporters have been patient, recognising that planning permission and associated obstacles can take time to unravel, as time has moved on, frustration has grown and with it an aura of cynicism, questioning whether such a project will ever reach fruition, or if it does, whether it will be a significant compromise that will end up not serving its purpose. It is very difficult to work out what is going on and what the current roadblocks are. If there are still reasons why such a project is unable to start, then the club need to share them with supporters so that they understand what is going on. The survey comments (linked below) would suggest that is not currently the case and although we are now nearly a year further along, we suspect little will have changed to alter that perception.

Link: Summer 2007 Supporters Bar Survey Participant Comments.

Link: Summer 2007 Supporters Bar Survey Statistical Results.


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