Mayflower Grandstand will have a limit capacity until remedial works are completed.

Ahead of our first Sky Bet League One home fixture on Saturday, we are writing to supporters with an update on the status of the upper tier of the Mayflower Grandstand.

From providing an outstanding venue for match-day hospitality and non match-day events to acting as a temporary Mass Vaccination Centre, the Grandstand has already proven to be a vital and versatile asset for both the club and community since opening on New Year’s Day 2020 – with over 50 events held in the venue, despite the challenges of COVID-19.

However, having opened just a number of weeks before the pandemic took hold, there has been limited opportunity for the club to hold test events in conjunction with the local Safety Advisory Group (SAG) under full capacity conditions. It became clear in those test events, back in early 2020, that seating comfort and the supporter experience in the concourses was not at the level we want to achieve for our supporters in the longer term.

With this in mind, the club is in the process of engaging with external consultants to assess our options in tackling these key areas, with supporter experience at the forefront of our thinking. As such, we have taken the decision to limit the number of tickets available for purchase in the upper tier of the Mayflower Grandstand heading into the new season.

First and foremost, we wish to make it clear that this decision will have no effect on 21/22 season-ticket holders whose seats are in the upper Mayflower Grandstand, and they can rest assured that they will be able to sit in their chosen seats for the upcoming season.

With just over 900 season-tickets purchased in the upper tier of the Grandstand, and with a sizeable capacity at our disposal in the rest of the stadium, we feel it is best for the supporter experience to limit sales of individual match tickets in the upper tier of the Mayflower Grandstand at this stage, until such a time that remedial works are outlined and completed.

We understand that the limited match tickets available in the upper tier of the Mayflower Grandstand may cause frustration. However, the decision has been taken to ensure that we give our supporters the best possible match-day experience, and that we allow ourselves time to deliver a solution efficiently.

We thank supporters for their understanding. In line with our Vision and Values, we will remain transparent throughout the process, and keep supporters informed as we make progress.

In précis....the upper Mayflower Grandstand isn’t fit for purpose.

Dear oh dear.

Who'd have thunk it. LOL

Czarcasm wrote:

In précis....the upper Mayflower Grandstand isn’t fit for purpose.

Dear oh dear.

Bit negative aren't you?

It's just the seating and the walkways that need work. Oh, see what you mean!

Twas a lovely place to get vaccinated though, what a shambles.

Another fiasco to lay at the feet of Brent and Jon Back. ..and you can throw in every member of that secret consulting group that included the likes of Newell. What a total waste of time they all were!

I try to put this on AFC twice, both time removed.

That stand is not fit for purpose never has been never will be. The sheer amount of Bullshit brent and fans came out with saying that stand with its mankover keeping all the aspects of the old stand fans and dignitaries have hated over the years and wanted gone ie the beams was never going to generate £1m income a year never.

The facilities inside the stand may well generate a million a year - that is yet to be seen?

However... The seating fiasco, and the narrowness of the concourse was known from day one. I could see from pictures on GOS that the seating was too cramped. How it was never checked for comfort is criminal.

..and this sort of crap is just the tip of the iceberg! So much for Brent's "Value engineering"!

Rickler wrote:

The facilities inside the stand may well generate a million a year - that is yet to be seen?

However...  The seating fiasco, and the narrowness of the concourse was known from day one.  I could see from pictures on GOS that the seating was too cramped. How it was never checked for comfort is criminal.

..and this sort of crap is just the tip of the iceberg!  So much for Brent's "Value engineering"!  

having had my jabs in the buisness suite there isnt anything outstanding that would say this is a money spinner outside match days. Its very bland kitted out by ikkea

Angry wrote:

Rickler wrote:

The facilities inside the stand may well generate a million a year - that is yet to be seen?

However...  The seating fiasco, and the narrowness of the concourse was known from day one.  I could see from pictures on GOS that the seating was too cramped. How it was never checked for comfort is criminal.

..and this sort of crap is just the tip of the iceberg!  So much for Brent's "Value engineering"!  

having had my jabs in the buisness suite there isnt anything outstanding that would say this is a money spinner outside match days. Its very bland kitted out by ikkea

Why am I not surprised? More "value engineering"!

However... Not having had much time at all with the Grandstand facilities open, this juror is still out on whether it's a money spinner or not. The sort of person who gets married at Home Park is probably not too discerning about cabinetry...

Rickler wrote:

Angry wrote:

Rickler wrote:

The facilities inside the stand may well generate a million a year - that is yet to be seen?

However...  The seating fiasco, and the narrowness of the concourse was known from day one.  I could see from pictures on GOS that the seating was too cramped. How it was never checked for comfort is criminal.

..and this sort of crap is just the tip of the iceberg!  So much for Brent's "Value engineering"!  

having had my jabs in the buisness suite there isnt anything outstanding that would say this is a money spinner outside match days. Its very bland kitted out by ikkea

Why am I not surprised?  More "value engineering"!

However...  Not having had much time at all with the Grandstand facilities open, this juror is still out on whether it's a money spinner or not.  The sort of person who gets married at Home Park is probably not too discerning about cabinetry...

i like to think they at least take down the bolted in cubicles and not the temp ones put up for the jabs for wedding functions return to home park.

I see Jon Back has gone into the beauty industry. The Delforge Group: Beauty, Spa and Salon Experts.

Head of Personnel for The Delforge Group. Retired Police Officer, Civil Servant & Plymouth Argyle Club Sec & Head of Ops.

Tgwu wrote:

I try to put this on AFC twice, both time removed.

No surprise there Ivor the individual running that show has his snout right in the trough and no criticism is acceptable at all

What a fisaco though and utterly predicted by every man and his dog with an IQ of more than 7
I cant see that they can do anything with the actual depth/pitch of the seats and all that can be done is remove 1 out of every 5 seats and realign them to give a little more width

Tgwu wrote:

I see Jon Back has gone into the beauty industry. The Delforge Group: Beauty, Spa and Salon Experts.

Head of Personnel for The Delforge Group. Retired Police Officer, Civil Servant & Plymouth Argyle Club Sec & Head of Ops.

hes no george clooney so it wont last long in the beauty industry the blagger.

Brent's cheap bodge job now not only looks shit, it's also unusable. Tear it down and build a proper stand.

We will end up with less capacity than before, again. If this club ever takes off again (I won't be holding my breath on that) we will be fecked. The million pounds pa for the conferencing may be achieved in about ten years when inflation takes us there but I've always thought the Exeter Chiefs model was bullshit and although the directors and owners have always secretly hated us oafs it's our bums on seats that pay the wages. This is a poss poor affair all round.

harvetheslayer wrote:

Tgwu wrote:

I try to put this on AFC twice, both time removed.

No surprise there Ivor the individual running that show has his snout right in the trough and no criticism is acceptable at all

What a fisaco though and utterly predicted by every man and his dog with an IQ of more than 7
I cant see that they can do anything with the actual depth/pitch of the seats and all that can be done is remove 1 out of every 5 seats and realign them to give a little more width

Harv they have reinstated one, funny when I post a story they always remove them

Generate an income of £1 million a year? £20,000 a week is just pie in the sky.

Anyone know who much Exeter Chiefs make out of non match day events? They have more experience and a better location.

Grovehill wrote:

Generate an income of £1 million a year? £20,000 a week is just pie in the sky.

Anyone know who much Exeter Chiefs make out of non match day events? They have more experience and a better location.

hard to answer that atm given covid 19 but before that more than £1m. They are or have just finishing off building a new hotel next to their corporate facilities including a new stand so they stand to make more money in future with their facilities once covid starts dying down.

Was that turnover or profit?

Angry wrote:

Grovehill wrote:

Generate an income of £1 million a year? £20,000 a week is just pie in the sky.

Anyone know who much Exeter Chiefs make out of non match day events? They have more experience and a better location.

hard to answer that atm given covid 19 but before that more than £1m. They are or have just finishing off building a new hotel next to their corporate facilities including a new stand so they stand to make more  money in future with their facilities once covid starts dying down.

Can't see a motorway hotel packing them out on non-match days tbh, so thats 90% of the time. Unless of course people decide they need an overnight stay for the trip to Ikea.

Brents mess was unfit for purpose from day one !
No room for f#%K all up there the seating for starters your legs are rubbing up against seats in front of you
The corridors are so narrow up that’s why they franchised it out to on the concorse cos there’s no room to swing a cat up and don’t even get me started about trying to have a piss at HT It’s been condensed so bad just make it bigger for the corporate shit underneath….the whole thing should have been flattened

Czarcasm wrote:

Angry wrote:

Grovehill wrote:

Generate an income of £1 million a year? £20,000 a week is just pie in the sky.

Anyone know who much Exeter Chiefs make out of non match day events? They have more experience and a better location.

hard to answer that atm given covid 19 but before that more than £1m. They are or have just finishing off building a new hotel next to their corporate facilities including a new stand so they stand to make more  money in future with their facilities once covid starts dying down.

Can't see a motorway hotel packing them out on non-match days tbh, so thats 90% of the time. Unless of course people decide they need an overnight stay for the trip to Ikea.

its a bit more up market than a Travelodge tbf to them as the cheifs are planning to do up that whole area they intend to get revenue streams from multiple sources that will draw them money which is what we should have been looking at with the car park over a dentist and a free labor from a school on match days and the other crap brent wanted squeezed into the car park.

Shorely Hallet must shouder some of the blame, the original ultra budget design may well have been Brents but Si went ahead with it, unless I'm getting my timelines wrong he had an opportunity to amend before construction began but obviously chose not to.