Kidderminster v Slough

[Nathan]

3 hours ago, Reading Rebel said:

Nathan, It's no secret that AP needs more money spent on it to get it up to scratch for not only our current supporters viewing but to comfortably hold bigger crowds.

Segregating away fans and providing their own temporary facilities does make some sense I suppose. However, we'll need more permanent arrangements for the east side if we ever hope to get into the National League Premier.

3 hours ago, Reading Rebel said:

BTW I noticed at our last home game that the toilet soaps were fully replenished and of a good consistency 😅 

Glad to hear it! I hope whoever's responsible has properly read the instructions, so that these incredibly high standards can be maintained! 🤣

20 minutes ago, Ian g f said:

I go to football to watch football not drink tea or eat chips You should go to Macdonald's 

It's all part of a good matchday experience, which hopefully will result in some of my money going to the club. You have totally missed the point.

[sdelaney2308]

17 minutes ago, Ian g f said:

I go to football to watch football not drink tea or eat chips You should go to Macdonald's 

g f  so I can save money not buying you a pint in the future where.s the laughing emoji gone.

[rebelbrewer]

33 minutes ago, Harriers9 said:

Hi. Harriers fan here. I also run the Harriers Online website at www.harriers-online.co.uk and our forum is at www.harriers-online.co.uk/forum.

I will be C&P'ing to there but first I'll try to help here:

[quote]( Have they got an electronic clock though ? I couldn't see one.) [/quote]

Yes we have but it's on the roof of the stand you were in. Not the best place for it but it's also knackered and hopefully it'll be replaced by next season. Not much use to you unless you can get into the National League (if we somehow manage that)

[quote]When we arrived at Kidderminster, we all got off the coach and were told that we were not allowed to go into their clubhouse.[/quote]

That was the Harriers Arms and because there isn't a lot of room in there they limit numbers. That also goes for Harriers fans too but they can opt to sit outside. The Social club around the corner does charge for away fans but myself and my partner are also charged with an annual subscription. That does include free car parking on site (not the council/club car parks) though and for myself with the inability to walk distances due to Myeloma it's a godsend and I don't mind paying for membership.

 [quote]After paying a whopping £3.50 for what was a very average match programme[/quote]

I don't blame you. It's crap and very few Harriers fans buy one now. On away trips I don't mind paying for the memory value so it's personal really but I can see, and understand, your point of view.

[quote]I asked the stewards standing outside when would they be open, and was told 2 pm, which was still over 15 minutes away.[/quote]

Same for home fans. Better than Hereford and Altrincham who don't open up until 30 minutes before the start of the game.

[quote]Kidderminster were charging £7.50 for Slough fans to park their cars in the club carpark.[/quote]

Again that's the same for home fans at the home end. At one time (20 years ago) you could park in the side roads and also pieces of wasteland but since the previous off road areas got built on that's no longer the case. We asked for a park & ride system but the club and the council didn't want to know.

[quote]I heard someone else say they had paid £3.70 for some chips that were inedible[/quote]

Fully agree. The caterers were changed by the new owner when he took over and the old Aggborough Soup and Cottage Pies vanished. Pressure made them bring back a version of the pie but the soup recipe was a secret. I hated the stuff anyway and don't buy food in grounds. I did have some nice sour bread with cheese followed up with some superb Panetone at home before we left for the game anyway  

As for the 'spark' the 'spark' is what you make it. Go to a game looking for faults and annoyances and naturally the spark won't be there. Go looking forward to the game and discovering somewhere new then that spark will happen.

The only place a spark will never happen is AFC Fylde. I don't know if Slough have ever played there but believe me the place is depressing and overpriced. 

We, the fans, didn't think badly of you and in the Social we were all chatting with each other in the queue for the bar. There were a lot of you in there and you would have felt at home there.

With the owners it is different and they have alienated the fans a bit due to their strange aversion to the fans trust, KHIST. The owner will have nothing to do with them and won't even enter into a conversation with them. KHIST could do so much to help but we're not wanted. He's more interested in his rich mates with their Porsches and Lamborghinis that get free parking.

Very sad state of affairs really.

As for the game itself it was very enjoyable for us but your persistence in using the high line even when you went two down was strange. Slough are not Liverpool!

Maybe when Davies brings in these new defenders you'll drop a bit deeper and look better for it.

I hope that helps to explain things about us and we look forward to meeting you again one day. Can't wait for a trip to yours and a new ground ticked off. I'll find a 'spark' somewhere in Arbour Park

Phil...

Made this a bit long haven't I  

Thanks for replying to our gripes, I must say that all the people were great but the rules/decision and facilities made the away experience poor (then we played poorly which didn't help.) Personally I would highlight 3 things

1 - arriving at a game 90 minutes early and not being able to use a toilet (I have a kidney condition so for me it's a disability issue) and then after remonstrating being allowed to go in one at a time like naughty schoolboys. At Arbour Park for the last round we opened at 12.30 and allowed people in with hot food and drinks stall plus an away bar (we normally don't segegrate and so away fans can use our upstairs bar/indoor food area, brand new rebels bar and other food franchises.) When I got in the food was ok (I had a cottage pie.)

2 - being searched on my way in (first time it's ever happened to me in 58 years of watching non league football - makes you feel like an inconvenience rather than a friend to be welcomed. Again, you wouldn't experience this at Arbour Park)

3 - food and drink kiosk closing just after half time meaning we had to go home on a 2 hour coach journey with no hot drink inside us.

Your stadium is excellent and it would take very little to make it a good away fan experience, if it's a priority for you. We have recently had a number of independent vloggers speak very positively of the away experience at Arbour Park, which, despite some of the comments above I know to be a priority for our owners.)

I would also question whether segregation was really necessary for yesterday's game.

It's a shame as I was looking forward to chatting with Harriers' fans just as we used to do back in the 90s.

Good luck in the draw and the next round.

Edited Sunday at 17:25 by rebelbrewer
Spelling

[Ian g f]

1 hour ago, Nathan said:

Segregating away fans and providing their own temporary facilities does make some sense I suppose. However, we'll need more permanent arrangements for the east side if we ever hope to get into the National League Premier.

Glad to hear it! I hope whoever's responsible has properly read the instructions, so that these incredibly high standards can be maintained! 🤣

It's all part of a good matchday experience, which hopefully will result in some of my money going to the club. You have totally missed the point.

I rather Slough win then the quality of the soap Can't see us going far on your money 

[Norbert22]

4 minutes ago, Ian g f said:

I rather Slough win then the quality of the soap Can't see us going far on your money 

Don't you like soap?

[Ian g f]

9 minutes ago, Norbert22 said:

 

 

9 minutes ago, Norbert22 said:

 

 

9 minutes ago, Norbert22 said:

 

 

9 minutes ago, Norbert22 said:

Don't you like soap?

I know someone that loves it 🤪

Edited Sunday at 19:04 by Ian g f
Soap

[Holyport Rebel]

It's nice to see people posting a lot on here today with their thoughts about the game yesterday, ( and other things.)

Can I just say on here firstly, "Thanks" to  'Irishadrian' who regularly says nice things about my ramblings which I post now and again. 

They are always much appreciated ! 

Secondly, I was very surprised to see Kidderminster fan 'Harriers9' responding on here to the  gripes in my post.

Great to read your comments Phil.

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to do so.

What a tremendous stadium you have Phil.

You could so easily stage Football League matches there (once again), and I watched on enviously when Kidderminster were  so cruelly robbed by West Ham in that FA Cup match a couple of years ago.

Clubs like Kidderminster aren't the same now as they were back in the 90's, when we played against them in the old Vauxhall Conference. 

If you have the facilities and all the numerous other things required to advance further up the pyramid, why wouldn't you want to do so ?

You gain an awful lot by going up, but on the other hand in my eyes you lose an awful lot too.

To me, as a fan, teams lose more than they gain by getting to the National League ( and beyond).

 But that's only what I think.

I'm an old git stuck in his ways.

I ain't gonna change now ! 😄

You thoroughly deserved to beat us yesterday, best of luck in the next round and if promotion to the National League is what you want, I hope you achieve it.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Edited Sunday at 19:31 by Holyport Rebel

[Red and White Harrier]

1 hour ago, rebelbrewer said:

Thanks for replying to our gripes, I must say that all the people were great but the rules/decision and facilities made the away experience poor (then we played poorly which didn't help.) Personally I would highlight 3 things

1 - arriving at a game 90 minutes early and not being able to use a toilet (I have a kidney condition so for me it's a disability issue) and then after remonstrating being allowed to go in one at a time like naughty schoolboys. At Arbour Park for the last round we opened at 12.30 and allowed people in with hot food and drinks stall plus an away bar (we normally don't segegrate and so away fans can use our upstairs bar/indoor food area, brand new rebels bar and other food franchises.) When I got in the food was ok (I had a cottage pie.)

2 - being searched on my way in (first time it's ever happened to me in 58 years of watching non league football - makes you feel like an inconvenience rather than a friend to be welcomed. Again, you wouldn't experience this at Arbour Park)

3 - food and drink kiosk closing just after half time meaning we had to go home on a 2 hour coach journey with no hot drink inside us.

Your stadium is excellent and it would take very little to make it a good away fan experience, if it's a priority for you. We have recently had a number of independent vloggers speak very positively of the away experience at Arbour Park, which, despite some of the comments above I know to be a priority for our owners.)

I would also question whether segregation was really necessary for yesterday's game.

It's a shame as I was looking forward to chatting with Harriers' fans just as we used to do back in the 90s.

Good luck in the draw and the next round.

As a Harriers fan, I sadly have to agree that something of a spark has gone from our club. I doubt it's any consolation, but the club's attitude towards home fans has deteriorated in a similar fashion. In recent months, they've started stopping people attempting to take their own hot food into the ground as this competes with the concession stalls. Thirty years I've had the same pre-match routine.  This hasn't, of course, stopped me purchasing better value and higher quality food elsewhere, neither has it persuaded me to buy the ground-based offerings. I simply eat before I get to the ground, drinking in less of the pre-match atmosphere and feeling slightly annoyed at an owner who appears to know the price of everything and the value of little.

That said, our current owner is a vast improvement on the one who came before.  He has sound business sense, and appears to have a more realistic approach to success than many within the game.  It's just a pity that he seems to view the fans with contempt- an income source to be milked rather than a partnership to be built.  Though I suspect some of that- especially his refusal to even talk to the supporter's trust- is down to the previous owner thoroughly salting the earth before his departure.  There's also sadly a small minority of brainless Kiddy fans that necessitate a heavier-handed stewarding approach than should be needed, which I suspect colours the approach taken throughout the ground.

Segregation and searches are standard at all our games. Someone once told me that all former league clubs have to retain these processes even after relegation.  Whether or not that's true I can't be sure, but certainly they are things I generally expect when travelling away, and am somewhat surprised when they aren't in place.  For the full cavity search and caged squalor experience, I can recommend Hereford.

You are absolutely right that it wouldn't take much to vastly improve the experience, for home fans as well as away. I hope we can regain some of that spark at some point in the future, but sadly I don't expect it.

 

[Nathan]

1 hour ago, Ian g f said:

I rather Slough win then the quality of the soap Can't see us going far on your money 

So you're ok with catching (and allowing other people to catch) a nasty (and easily preventable) disease as a result of people not being able to wash their hands properly, so long as Slough win ???

[Ian g f]

11 minutes ago, Nathan said:

So you're ok with catching (and allowing other people to catch) a nasty (and easily preventable) disease as a result of people not being able to wash their hands properly, so long as Slough win ???

I don't think I've killed anyone lately Nathan get a life it's not all about soap 🤪 Good night and don't forget to clean your teeth 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nathan]

7 minutes ago, Ian g f said:

I don't think I've killed anyone lately Nathan get a life it's not all about soap 🤪 Good night and don't forget to clean your teeth 

You're right. Who cares if you've killed anyone or about potential legal ramifications for the club; the football is the only thing that matters. 😕😕😕

I think this discussion should end here, so I'll leave you to your flu, E-Coli poisoning and other nasty diseases (contagious diseases that are of course not remotely important, but which are easily preventable with a £1.50 bottle of handwash), and I'll look after my health.

[Reading Rebel]

6 hours ago, Harriers9 said:

Hi. Harriers fan here. I also run the Harriers Online website at www.harriers-online.co.uk and our forum is at www.harriers-online.co.uk/forum.

I will be C&P'ing to there but first I'll try to help here:

[quote]( Have they got an electronic clock though ? I couldn't see one.) [/quote]

Yes we have but it's on the roof of the stand you were in. Not the best place for it but it's also knackered and hopefully it'll be replaced by next season. Not much use to you unless you can get into the National League (if we somehow manage that)

[quote]When we arrived at Kidderminster, we all got off the coach and were told that we were not allowed to go into their clubhouse.[/quote]

That was the Harriers Arms and because there isn't a lot of room in there they limit numbers. That also goes for Harriers fans too but they can opt to sit outside. The Social club around the corner does charge for away fans but myself and my partner are also charged with an annual subscription. That does include free car parking on site (not the council/club car parks) though and for myself with the inability to walk distances due to Myeloma it's a godsend and I don't mind paying for membership.

 [quote]After paying a whopping £3.50 for what was a very average match programme[/quote]

I don't blame you. It's crap and very few Harriers fans buy one now. On away trips I don't mind paying for the memory value so it's personal really but I can see, and understand, your point of view.

[quote]I asked the stewards standing outside when would they be open, and was told 2 pm, which was still over 15 minutes away.[/quote]

Same for home fans. Better than Hereford and Altrincham who don't open up until 30 minutes before the start of the game.

[quote]Kidderminster were charging £7.50 for Slough fans to park their cars in the club carpark.[/quote]

Again that's the same for home fans at the home end. At one time (20 years ago) you could park in the side roads and also pieces of wasteland but since the previous off road areas got built on that's no longer the case. We asked for a park & ride system but the club and the council didn't want to know.

[quote]I heard someone else say they had paid £3.70 for some chips that were inedible[/quote]

Fully agree. The caterers were changed by the new owner when he took over and the old Aggborough Soup and Cottage Pies vanished. Pressure made them bring back a version of the pie but the soup recipe was a secret. I hated the stuff anyway and don't buy food in grounds. I did have some nice sour bread with cheese followed up with some superb Panetone at home before we left for the game anyway  

As for the 'spark' the 'spark' is what you make it. Go to a game looking for faults and annoyances and naturally the spark won't be there. Go looking forward to the game and discovering somewhere new then that spark will happen.

The only place a spark will never happen is AFC Fylde. I don't know if Slough have ever played there but believe me the place is depressing and overpriced. 

We, the fans, didn't think badly of you and in the Social we were all chatting with each other in the queue for the bar. There were a lot of you in there and you would have felt at home there.

With the owners it is different and they have alienated the fans a bit due to their strange aversion to the fans trust, KHIST. The owner will have nothing to do with them and won't even enter into a conversation with them. KHIST could do so much to help but we're not wanted. He's more interested in his rich mates with their Porsches and Lamborghinis that get free parking.

Very sad state of affairs really.

As for the game itself it was very enjoyable for us but your persistence in using the high line even when you went two down was strange. Slough are not Liverpool!

Maybe when Davies brings in these new defenders you'll drop a bit deeper and look better for it.

I hope that helps to explain things about us and we look forward to meeting you again one day. Can't wait for a trip to yours and a new ground ticked off. I'll find a 'spark' somewhere in Arbour Park

Phil...

Made this a bit long haven't I  

Thanks for your post Phil.

On the bit about Hereford and Altringham not opening the gates until 2.30 does seem a bit ridiculous/odd unless the club bars are outside the turnstiles to capture the supporters who want to have a pre match drink. 

Our managers mantra is to play attacking football and always go for it rather sit back and defend. I suppose once we were 2 down there was no point in sitting back.

Good luck for the rest of the season.

[DonnyNo6]

17 hours ago, Harriers9 said:

Hi. Harriers fan here. I also run the Harriers Online website at www.harriers-online.co.uk and our forum is at www.harriers-online.co.uk/forum.

I will be C&P'ing to there but first I'll try to help here:

[quote]( Have they got an electronic clock though ? I couldn't see one.) [/quote]

Yes we have but it's on the roof of the stand you were in. Not the best place for it but it's also knackered and hopefully it'll be replaced by next season. Not much use to you unless you can get into the National League (if we somehow manage that)

[quote]When we arrived at Kidderminster, we all got off the coach and were told that we were not allowed to go into their clubhouse.[/quote]

That was the Harriers Arms and because there isn't a lot of room in there they limit numbers. That also goes for Harriers fans too but they can opt to sit outside. The Social club around the corner does charge for away fans but myself and my partner are also charged with an annual subscription. That does include free car parking on site (not the council/club car parks) though and for myself with the inability to walk distances due to Myeloma it's a godsend and I don't mind paying for membership.

 [quote]After paying a whopping £3.50 for what was a very average match programme[/quote]

I don't blame you. It's crap and very few Harriers fans buy one now. On away trips I don't mind paying for the memory value so it's personal really but I can see, and understand, your point of view.

[quote]I asked the stewards standing outside when would they be open, and was told 2 pm, which was still over 15 minutes away.[/quote]

Same for home fans. Better than Hereford and Altrincham who don't open up until 30 minutes before the start of the game.

[quote]Kidderminster were charging £7.50 for Slough fans to park their cars in the club carpark.[/quote]

Again that's the same for home fans at the home end. At one time (20 years ago) you could park in the side roads and also pieces of wasteland but since the previous off road areas got built on that's no longer the case. We asked for a park & ride system but the club and the council didn't want to know.

[quote]I heard someone else say they had paid £3.70 for some chips that were inedible[/quote]

Fully agree. The caterers were changed by the new owner when he took over and the old Aggborough Soup and Cottage Pies vanished. Pressure made them bring back a version of the pie but the soup recipe was a secret. I hated the stuff anyway and don't buy food in grounds. I did have some nice sour bread with cheese followed up with some superb Panetone at home before we left for the game anyway  

As for the 'spark' the 'spark' is what you make it. Go to a game looking for faults and annoyances and naturally the spark won't be there. Go looking forward to the game and discovering somewhere new then that spark will happen.

The only place a spark will never happen is AFC Fylde. I don't know if Slough have ever played there but believe me the place is depressing and overpriced. 

We, the fans, didn't think badly of you and in the Social we were all chatting with each other in the queue for the bar. There were a lot of you in there and you would have felt at home there.

With the owners it is different and they have alienated the fans a bit due to their strange aversion to the fans trust, KHIST. The owner will have nothing to do with them and won't even enter into a conversation with them. KHIST could do so much to help but we're not wanted. He's more interested in his rich mates with their Porsches and Lamborghinis that get free parking.

Very sad state of affairs really.

As for the game itself it was very enjoyable for us but your persistence in using the high line even when you went two down was strange. Slough are not Liverpool!

Maybe when Davies brings in these new defenders you'll drop a bit deeper and look better for it.

I hope that helps to explain things about us and we look forward to meeting you again one day. Can't wait for a trip to yours and a new ground ticked off. I'll find a 'spark' somewhere in Arbour Park

Phil...

Made this a bit long haven't I  

You mentioned the cars outside; blimey I walked through a couple of the carparks right outside the ground and at one point I turned to my other half and said 'two Porsches, a Bentley 4x4, a Ferrari and seven Range Rovers with more over there'.....different world than Arbour Park that's for sure. 😂

[Bernie Gogan]

Very grumpy on here aren't we, not least because we got stuffed 4-0 (deservedly). As for Kidderminster, excellent ground, full time squad and obviously on the back of what must have been a poor performance against Rushall took it out on us! Pretty sure Manager Phil Brown doesn't come cheap either.

Agree with previous comments, silly 2pm turnstile opening, no clubhouse for us to go to without paying £2 entry, expensive food etc. and generally regarded as socially undesirables (at least I wasn't searched!). Having said all that I thought the stewards and the locals were friendly and it was nice to mingle with them in the Harriers social club.

Whatever the situation regarding promotion to higher levels it won't stop me going to watch the Rebels home and away, I just hope our club continues to be as hospitable to away support as is practical. The Chesham supporters in The Rebels Bar for instance were friendly and typical Step 2 non league supporters not a bunch of trouble makers and that goes for most clubs, even Farnborough. 

What we have to guard against are those clubs with sizeable away support, which comes with promotion to NL. For instance 1000+ from say Aldershot, for example, would be a nightmare to accommodate. Our ground is not suited currently to comfortably hold 2-3000., let alone be friendly to them all!!

I'm sure this is all in hand in due course and there's the little matter of replacing the 3G pitch to contend with as well in the near future. Money doesn't grow on trees!!