Reserved seating for Bay 16 poll

[Pete]

I've just voted no - it shouldn't be reserved seating but a reserved area.

The tickets should be for General Admission - Home Support only.

As there are already seats within Bay 16, sure allocate the seats to whomever buys a spot (that will limit the numbers for safety purposes : anyone without a ticket for Bay 16 could find themselves locked out on a day where the crowds are high), but have an advisory note on the ticket saying that it is unreserved WITHIN the Bay 16, and that loud supporting, singing,chanting and standing are the norms.

The HAL has now been billed 90 minutes: 90 emotions, and highlights the atmosphere at games. The FFA and the Mariners should be more receptive to the Marinators, the fact is there's been little for any officials to complain about in regards to the Bay 16 culture.
The Marinators have now established the Marinators Club too.There's a VP sitting on the Committee who has the responsibility of liaising with the Stadium Management, the FFA and the Mariners. If enough Marinator Members believe it's worth approaching the 'powers-that-be' about this issue, it may be appropriate to put the matter to the VP?

[DJ]

No way.......if anything the bay should be marketed as the Marinators/Fanatics bay and warn people about noise and fanatical behaviour!

Even if the area was sold as Reserved GA, who would police it?

IMO just warn season ticket holders and normal ticket purchases that bay 16 is 'the noisier' bay

[Pete]

djgrounsell said:

No way.......if anything the bay should be marketed as the Marinators/Fanatics bay and warn people about noise and fanatical behaviour!

Even if the area was sold as Reserved GA, who would police it?

IMO just warn season ticket holders and normal ticket purchases that bay 16 is 'the noisier' bay

Should have no mention of "Fanatics" for fear of a bunch of those limp wristed G & G Fanatics turning up thinking it's theirs!

And any warning should be made prior to sale - so folks have an informed choice.

As for "policing" it (ie the numbers) that is actually the job of the security folks, and lawful directions can be given by them and Police if the Bay gets full (for safety reasons).

They can already demand production of a valid ticket, and they should be checking tickets on days when the crowds are large to stop folks without GA tickets going into GA areas (again for safety reasons).

The fact they have been laid back about their procedures is their own issue, but they can do all this and more already (you and I both know that DJ, so why you jumped up about the enforcement of any restriction put in place by ticketing conditions set down by the Stadium Management is a mystery to me).

[kevrenor]

floss said:

Addition: OK, i've just outlined things that have been said a few times already. Is it the role of the marinators club to discuss these at a meeting before decisions can be made?

Yes, it was discussed at the strategic planning meetings held over the last month or so. Now the Committee and Club Captain (have to work out how to put things into action). Debate should continue on here - that's what it is for and I believe they would welcome any ideas.

[northernspirit]

Reserved Seating - definately no
I do think the Bay should be general admission but a seperate category "standing only supporter bay"... hopefully this gets rid of the kids who can go to the adjoining bays

[DJ]

petethebusdriver said:

djgrounsell said:

No way.......if anything the bay should be marketed as the Marinators/Fanatics bay and warn people about noise and fanatical behaviour!

Even if the area was sold as Reserved GA, who would police it?

IMO just warn season ticket holders and normal ticket purchases that bay 16 is 'the noisier' bay

Should have no mention of "Fanatics" for fear of a bunch of those limp wristed G & G Fanatics turning up thinking it's theirs!

And any warning should be made prior to sale - so folks have an informed choice.

As for "policing" it (ie the numbers) that is actually the job of the security folks, and lawful directions can be given by them and Police if the Bay gets full (for safety reasons).

They can already demand production of a valid ticket, and they should be checking tickets on days when the crowds are large to stop folks without GA tickets going into GA areas (again for safety reasons).

The fact they have been laid back about their procedures is their own issue, but they can do all this and more already (you and I both know that DJ, so why you jumped up about the enforcement of any restriction put in place by ticketing conditions set down by the Stadium Management is a mystery to me).

you know what I mean when I say fanatics - doesn't have to be that word......passionate supporters etc.

Policing it - no it's the Mariners job as they pay for security, so if extra staff is needed to ensure people are sitting in the right area at the end of the day the Mariners pay for it. Same as Mariners pay for broken seats and cleaning (hense why the stadium love the idea of us doing a tifo display every game)

Pete - I don't understand your last point? When did I jump up? Mariners decide what ticketing they want to sell, when did I mention Stadium management? Stadium Managment may have different views to the club (in 1 or 2 cases perhaps) but it's the Mariners who make the decisions on what they want and where (with some FFA influence perhaps)

I'm actually saying don't change a thing with how GA ticketing is sold, perhaps just educate members and other spectators that bay 16 is generally the noisy bay where a lot of passionate support is?

[Rowdy]

What's the old saying about "having your cake and getting to eat as well" ?

I find this debate ironic, as I was a strong proponent of reserved seating from Season 1 and the idea was poo-poo'd time & time again, by some now posting in favour.

In season 2 Bay16 imo gradually got worse in regard to the invasion of the emo's and non-particapant's, regular hardcore boy's from the back rhs slowly started to dissapear from one home game to the next. You'd be there yelling your lungs out trying to start chant's and all these youngin's would just stand there and do Jak-Shit.

Grunta & I bought ticket's up in the stands (41) this year with our lady partners & kid's, 'DJ/Puss'n'Boots/Floss and a few of his mates are about 6 seats to my right, another mate and good friend of Adzs', 'Bristol' is 3 rows in front of me with his kid's. We all use to occupy the back right hand side of Bay16. There's many more of "The Boy's" who've also bought "Tongue" real estate elsewhere

We were in 16 for pre-season and will be there again throughout this season no doubt, that's what 'non-allocated' seating allow's and is the root cause of all the problems.

Emo's & Non stander's/singer's come and go from Bay16 because they have no sense of ownership. They have no sense of ownership because they have no investment in Bay16.

I'm more than sure that if one could buy a membership, that is make an investment into Bay16 then Grunta, DJ & myself would be transferring our Bay 41er's for 16's in a heartbeat & others who've left would do likewise.

Go and try and sit in a Platinum seat that's already 'owned' buy a Platinum Member and see how long you can keep your arse on the seat b 4 all hell break's loose. They LOVE their seat because they paid for it.

I LOVE Bay16, but I don't want to have to be there an hour before kick-off to stay in LOVE, I'd prefer to PAY for 'dinner & drinks" and be guaranteed a root, er..I mean to root for my team from the seats that I wish to do so. (full circle to my first sentence)

Once (and 'it' will take 2-3 years imo) Bay16 is sold-out, the seats down the sides will be the next 'valuable' piece's of real estate seats for those that wish to be a part of what Bay16 is all about. Those down the front may wish to relocate to the back of 15 or 17 next to the aisle, then those seats vacated down the front of 16 become available to new "Bay16 Marinators", growth - alway's changing, all organic.

As for elitisim, something can only be regarded as elite if you don't have the abillity to be a part of it.
i.e elite athlete's: you either have the sporting abillity to compete against them or you don't.

So the question to ask people is "Do you have the abillity to wear the YELLOW, stand and sing loud and proud and experience "90 emotions in 90 minutes" ? Will do ya?

Then buy a fcuking membership to Bay16! and as CCMFC advertise "ride the wave!"

Rant over...............watching & waiting.

[DJ]

Slightly different issue but I think a few people purchased Gold this year due to prices being so competitive........plus as you said Roddy people have the freedom to choose their gold seat or any GA seat.

[Jeff (LouMacari)]

Pete, this VP (who has the role you mentioned) had lengthy discussions with the Stadium and the Mariners late last season and early this season. Our plight was (and has been in the past) put forward in no uncertain terms.

DJ is right when he says that it is the Mariners (with ffa input) who dictate this issue. I have no doubt that something will be done about it, but obviously not this season as we're already underway.

The issue is being watched, but for now, I believe the only thing we can do is to educate those who we see as 'spoiling' what we're trying to achieve. We're not dealing with a football culture here and they simply see it as a 'cool' place to be. Kudos to us for making it such, now we gotta educate them.

For the future, I think a reserved 'bay' is more easily achievable rather than reserved seating.
Someone mentioned about 'member numbers' ? This kind of thing is where Marinator Club member numbers will help us in the future, when VP's in various roles tell people "we have over 500 members who believe that......." THAT carries clout! At the moment, we're a bit short of that number (unabashed, blatant plug for more to sign up to the Marinators Club online or during the Kendall screening of the Melbourne game on Sunday Week. )

[~Floss~]

I didn't think anyone would read if i did one huge post, so i'll agree with small bits as other people raise them:

djgrounsell said:

I'm actually saying don't change a thing with how GA ticketing is sold, perhaps just educate members and other spectators that bay 16 is generally the noisy bay where a lot of passionate support is?

This type of 'promotion' (as in educating the masses) is what's needed until this happens:

rowdyroddy said:

Once (and 'it' will take 2-3 years imo) Bay16 is sold-out, the seats down the sides will be the next 'valuable' piece's of real estate seats for those that wish to be a part of what Bay16 is all about. Those down the front may wish to relocate to the back of 15 or 17 next to the aisle, then those seats vacated down the front of 16 become available to new "Bay16 Marinators", growth - alway's changing, all organic.

When it starts becoming real competitive for a spot in bay 16, it will be the most passionate supporters who are willing to go further to guarantee a spot. Fringe-dwellers will hopefully feel the need to demonstrate the level of support they can provide before competing for some bay 16 territory, and it will be just plain intimidating for someone not wearing yellow and singing loudly to even enter the area.

Until this "2-3 years imo" has elapsed, the way to encourage this effect to occur earlier is by successfully exuding this sort of "fanatical" atmosphere, whilst remaining encouraging and welcoming to those able to help boost numbers and join in, and discouraging those who detract from it.
... i.e. by promoting (as above) the direction in which the marinators want to take the bay.

This also means that anyone who feels strongly enough can contribute to the image of the bay while waiting for the more official arrangements to slowly develop over time.

[Rowdy]

floss said:

This type of 'promotion' (as in educating the masses) is what's needed until this happens:

When it starts becoming real competitive for a spot in bay 16, it will be the most passionate supporters who are willing to go further to guarantee a spot.

Until this "2-3 years imo" has elapsed, the way to encourage this effect to occur earlier is by successfully exuding this sort of "fanatical" atmosphere, whilst remaining encouraging and welcoming to those able to help boost numbers and join in, and discouraging those who detract from it.

When I said 2-3 years, I meant for the seats/membership's for the entire Bay to be sold, and I think that's a realistic time frame, people who sit on the fringes watching then decide i want a permanent seat in there with'em, then go out and secure their seat in Bay16.

Don't wait 2-3 years for the bay16 to be filled consistently with sing'n - stand'in - yellow wear'in people and then decide to start selling seats/memberships. It'd b toooooo late, who decides 'who' get's seats and 'what' seat's ?

Christ, even the CCMFC advertise using line's similar to, "Hurry up and secure your membership NOW! the best seats are selling fast." etc,etc.

If seats in Bay16 went on sale today about a third of it would be sold by tommorrow. The next third would hopefully by the last round of this season. The remaining third sold in the following season.

Like I said 2-3 years to fill Bay16 is realistic and if done would fulfill my fantasy of having one bay unified in voice and heart, never being 'outsung' by visiting supporters teams, because when the 'singing-war's' erupt between say The Cove or The Scum a 'complete' Bay16 will only inspire other Coastie fans around us to join and help defeat the enemy. arghhhhhhh.

[dibo (pron. "DIB-OH")]

rowdyroddy said:

floss said:

This type of 'promotion' (as in educating the masses) is what's needed until this happens:

When it starts becoming real competitive for a spot in bay 16, it will be the most passionate supporters who are willing to go further to guarantee a spot.

Until this "2-3 years imo" has elapsed, the way to encourage this effect to occur earlier is by successfully exuding this sort of "fanatical" atmosphere, whilst remaining encouraging and welcoming to those able to help boost numbers and join in, and discouraging those who detract from it.

When I said 2-3 years, I meant for the seats/membership's for the entire Bay to be sold, and I think that's a realistic time frame, people who sit on the fringes watching then decide i want a permanent seat in there with'em, then go out and secure their seat in Bay16.

Don't wait 2-3 years for the bay16 to be filled consistently with sing'n - stand'in - yellow wear'in people and then decide to start selling seats/memberships. It'd b toooooo late, who decides 'who' get's seats and 'what' seat's ?

Christ, even the CCMFC advertise using line's similar to, "Hurry up and secure your membership NOW! the best seats are selling fast." etc,etc.

If seats in Bay16 went on sale today about a third of it would be sold by tommorrow. The next third would hopefully by the last round of this season. The remaining third sold in the following season.

Like I said 2-3 years to fill Bay16 is realistic and if done would fulfill my fantasy of having one bay unified in voice and heart, never being 'outsung' by visiting supporters teams, because when the 'singing-war's' erupt between say The Cove or The Scum a 'complete' Bay16 will only inspire other Coastie fans around us to join and help defeat the enemy. arghhhhhhh.

reserved seating brings up problems that we know the cove have already had - anybody can buy a ticket in the bay and show up week after week but it won't guarantee that they'll *do* anything.

[greenpoleffc]

I am not sure that reserved seating is the answer but fully support a reserved area (suggest top of bays 15,16 & 17.

Maybe (and I mean maybe) we need to be less tolerant of people who are in bay 16 area for the "wrong" reasons???

A few chorus's of "sing up or just F*ck off" etc would get the message across if done on a consistent basis??

Leaflets etc are unlikely to work IMHO.

If this issue isnt addressed satisfactorily, I can foresee "splits" where groups drift off to other parts of the GA area

[T]

greenpoleffc said:

Maybe (and I mean maybe) we need to be less tolerant of people who are in bay 16 area for the "wrong" reasons???

A few chorus's of "sing up or just F*ck off" etc would get the message across if done on a consistent basis??

Unfortunatly I can't see this working as some of the "undesirables" in Bay 16 are there just to cause shit. There were a couple of league fans in Bay 16 last Fri whose sole purpose was to try and stir up the rest of the bay or get thrown out, which is what happened, but not until they had managed to piss off a good portion of the Bay.

[marinermick]

thres said:

greenpoleffc said:

Maybe (and I mean maybe) we need to be less tolerant of people who are in bay 16 area for the "wrong" reasons???

A few chorus's of "sing up or just F*ck off" etc would get the message across if done on a consistent basis??

Unfortunatly I can't see this working as some of the "undesirables" in Bay 16 are there just to cause shit. There were a couple of league fans in Bay 16 last Fri whose sole purpose was to try and stir up the rest of the bay or get thrown out, which is what happened, but not until they had managed to piss off a good portion of the Bay.

i think terese's post just highlights that there is not one magic solution and any action taken will also have some negative aspects

we just need to work on a number of strategies to find the best fit and be sensible enough to realise that whatever actions there will always be people that will be pissed off with these actions

club captain and match-day subcommittee is already on the case and they are all on this forum so will read the comments posted

if you want to give a more confidential opinion email brett on [e-mail]

keep the comments coming here though, as this discussion has been very valuable

[Chimmi Churri]

thres said:

Unfortunatly I can't see this working as some of the "undesirables" in Bay 16 are there just to cause shit. There were a couple of league fans in Bay 16 last Fri whose sole purpose was to try and stir up the rest of the bay or get thrown out, which is what happened, but not until they had managed to piss off a good portion of the Bay.

Might need to work closer with the security to get rid of that element - Security didn't step in until one Marinator specifically asked them to do something and pointed out that they were there to start trouble.

[alicia]

I think at the moment it comes down to numbers. Lets face it, there are a lot of "marinators" some in the bay, some throughout the rest of the stadium, which I think is great.

Once we have the numbers to fill the bay (16 etc) there wont be room for said trouble go-ers.

[dru]

thres said:

greenpoleffc said:

Maybe (and I mean maybe) we need to be less tolerant of people who are in bay 16 area for the "wrong" reasons???

A few chorus's of "sing up or just F*ck off" etc would get the message across if done on a consistent basis??

Unfortunatly I can't see this working as some of the "undesirables" in Bay 16 are there just to cause shit. There were a couple of league fans in Bay 16 last Fri whose sole purpose was to try and stir up the rest of the bay or get thrown out, which is what happened, but not until they had managed to piss off a good portion of the Bay.

Those two twats were the ones to muck around with the large shirt on last friday too. At least the emos help pass it over themselves!

[T]

dru said:

thres said:

Unfortunatly I can't see this working as some of the "undesirables" in Bay 16 are there just to cause shit. There were a couple of league fans in Bay 16 last Fri whose sole purpose was to try and stir up the rest of the bay or get thrown out, which is what happened, but not until they had managed to piss off a good portion of the Bay.

Those two twats were the ones to muck around with the large shirt on last friday too. At least the emos help pass it over themselves!

And when they got chucked out half the emo's sitting with them left as well!! ;D

[dru]

thres said:

dru said:

Those two twats were the ones to muck around with the large shirt on last friday too. At least the emos help pass it over themselves!

And when they got chucked out half the emo's sitting with them left as well!! ;D

Alcohol supply left?