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Issues (And How We Might Fix Them)
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After Saturday's omnishambles we take a look at the same old problems that keep coming up repeatedly. The time for action is now.
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By:
Eric Hitchmo & Max Bygraves
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04/08/2025
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This article has been viewed 1243 times.
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As much as it may pain hardline traditionalists, the modern game of football is a family affair. We bring our children and our partners along, sometimes they come of their own free will rather than being coerced. Gone are the days where 99% adult male crowds are hemmed into to ramshackle terraces, pissing against a wall and shouting themselves hoarse for hours on end. The modern fan expects comfort, safety and value for money. Hardly excessive demands.
Sadly, Barnet FC is falling woefully short on providing even a basic level of a matchday experience. We have no complaints about the football (at the moment or over the past three years) but everything else surrounding it, we have plenty. Like it or not, the ‘experience’ part is more about non-footballing activities than it ever has been.
This is not whinging for whinging’s sake. This is a genuine problem and frankly it has not been good enough for a long time. We talked about this after the first day of the 2021/22 campaign and again early in the 2022/23 season. The success of the football has been masking it for some time, but now we are back in the Football League it is imperative that the club fixes this as soon as possible. No more excuses or shoulder shrugging.
We are not a well-supported club. How much of this is down to the poor experience that new fans and families have had at The Hive over the years? We often cite location as a problem, but the matchday experience is an underlying issue that has been a blight for so long. We’ve been able to brush it under the carpet, but we cannot do this any more if we want to be a proper football club. Amateur hour is over. The club needs to listen to its supporters. Now.
This is not about digging out individuals at the club. One of us is a former employee at the club and knows full well that it is a lean operation where staff have multiple tasks at any given time. No one at the club is doing a bad job on purpose. Matchdays are stressful at the best of times. This is intended to be constructive and a helpful collation of priorities as we see them. We hope that the BFCSA can work with the club on these priorities and others to fix these issues once and for all.
To us, there are three key priorities that need to be addressed. Ticketing, refreshments and merchandise. Take of those the order of priority that you wish. We will run through the current issues and what we believe can help to fix them. We don’t expect a wholesale change overnight, some things will take time. But there are absolutely things that can be fixed tomorrow which would have a noticeable impact.
Ultimately this really is about the future of Barnet FC and what we want it to be. Matchday experience for fans is only going to get more important. If we cannot recruit and retain new supporters because the experience is so bad, they will not return or go somewhere else. For a club whose average attendance is low for the level it is at, it is imperative we fix this. That is true whether it’s at The Hive or at New Underhill should that ever come to pass. The football can be amazing, but if we can’t get people through the door to watch it or they’re having a miserable time when they’re in, they won’t come back.
Surely none of these issues are unique to Barnet FC, but we struggle to think of many grounds we’ve been to where the combination of everything is so stark in one place. Let’s get into them…
Ticketing
The ticketing system has been creaking for some time and it has now come to a head. We’ve had the “auto-renew” issues all summer where season ticket holders haven’t been certain as to whether their seat has been kept for the new season, culminating in the absolute disaster at the Fleetwood game where season ticket holders had their seats sold to someone else.
Couple this with the fact that for various reasons, people were really struggling to get into the ground until 3:30, it really adds up to a terrible experience for fans new and old.
The turnstiles have been a problem for a long time. We have plenty of them, even lots of new ones now, but they aren’t all functioning for whatever reason. This is either by choice or because of the equipment not working. Which is it?
The infamous QR code scanners are a constant source of problems. The codes don’t scan consistently on people’s phones meaning that there can be backlogs very quickly. Coupled with the lack of people at the turnstiles, the problem snowballs and leads to issues like the Fleetwood game where no one can get in.
Let’s be honest though, any time there is a large crowd this happens. We fail to understand how Underhill with its limited facilities was able to cope with crowds over 3000 (this is not to say there were not plenty of other issues on many occasions there, this is not a rose-tinted view), but The Hive can’t. We are not exactly the best supported club at this level, how do other clubs do it and avoid these issues? Why are we the outlier?
We’ve read some awful things about Saturday. Children were able to get through the turnstiles but their parents weren’t because the system wouldn’t let them in. At the point of human intervention, i.e. talking to the stewards and supervisors, the parents were sent to the ticket office to resolve the problem. Firstly, having queued for ages, they’re being sent to queue again at the ticket office through no fault of their own, but most importantly, the parents have been separated from their distressed children and the stewards wouldn’t let them be reunited.
This is OUTRAGEOUS. A complete disgrace. This is a lack of common sense. A lack of empathy and a lack of training, process and protocols to deal with instances in a humane, common sense way when things go wrong.
Without wishing to sound hyperbolic, the above example is a serious safeguarding issue. Any public place like a football club, rightly, has to stick to very clear procedures in this area especially where children are involved. There was one really sorry read on OnlyBarnet from a supporter who’d brought his kids, only for this to happen and their child saying they never want to return. One terrible experience having a pretty huge consequence for that family and no doubt the dad’s hopes for taking his kid along going forward.
What impression would this give any first time fan if this happened to them? What impression does this give a season ticket holder about the care that Barnet FC gives to its fans and their families? It is not good enough.
What needs to happen?
- Fix the bugs in the ticketing system immediately and ensure season ticket holders have their seats reserved. A reasonable expectation.
- Utilise all turnstiles on matchday. If the equipment is broken and preventing some from being used, fix it!
- Have a cash/card turnstile with an actual human being able to allocate blocks of seats for groups.
- Review the functionality of the dreaded QR codes. If one person is having a problem, it’s probably user error. If it’s hundreds of people, it’s the system that is wrong.
- Have a member(s) of staff on hand at the busiest points (Legends entrance) who understands the ticketing system and can resolve issues quickly there and then without having to send people to the ticket office every time.
- Train stewards and supervisors to deal with issues in a common sense manner and don’t treat fans with contempt or with suspicion as default.
The safe standing section needs to clearly show this on the ticket. We’ve not mentioned it above but heard several issues of people moaning at others for standing in that area. That’s the whole point of it! Proper signage, explanation from stewards and very clear information about this both at point of purchase and on arrival. This is still a relatively new initiative. It may not have taken off in great numbers as yet but unless they’re getting rid of the idea altogether, make it clear and obvious.
We haven’t even mentioned pricing which has now gone up to £26 on a matchday. Now we understand that for a club like ours, ticket revenue is a far bigger proportion of income than the bigger clubs who have far more in terms of TV money and sponsorship. So we understand that there has to be a balance when it comes to the ticket price and I think the structure for concessions largely makes sense (concessions applying for students over the age of 20 perhaps the only final tweak needed - quite a jump when you go from 20 to 21 yet still could be a full time student on a budget).
It’s up to the individual to decide whether £26 constitutes good value for money for League Two football. Given where we are on the pitch you’d argue for it, but in terms of the overall experience at the moment you’d be hard pressed to make that argument.
What would the right price be? Would a round £20 incentivise enough people to make it worth it? It’s hard to say. We can sympathise with the club on this one.
The Bar (& Food)
This is the one that has seemingly been rumbling on the longest and beggars belief that we have yet to take any meaningful action.
Fans are very keen to have a beer at the football. The setup at the moment means it is hit and miss as to whether they get one. The club is pissing away money by not being able to supply the demand.
Running a bar that is open once a fortnight isn’t going to be straightforward. It comes with extra staffing issues, beer waste and so on. However, the operation on the day needs to be much slicker to churn through heavy peaks in demand (half time and the 30 minutes before kick off).
- Pre-pour pints. Everywhere does this. The club will know how many people are in the ground and can estimate how many pints they need to pour at specific points. Even it is a small number just to clear through initial demand, it will get things moving and fans can spend their money.
- Have an area where one or two people are constantly pouring and placing pints for fans to collect. Have another one or two people take orders and payment.
- I’d be amazed if fans were that bothered if they were given a pint that had been poured 5-10 minutes previously. They just want a pint. With the exception of Guinness, don’t pre-pour that.
Pricing of beers has got out of hand, pushing £7-8+. This is just extortionate. It seems to us that we are aiming for a set profit margin to reach this kind of price point. No one would realistically say that the club shouldn’t make some sort of profit from the bar (otherwise what’s the point) but how have we got to these prices? I understand that cost prices (what we are paying the brewer) are liable to change and are probably higher because we buy less volume, but if we cannot keep the retail price to a reasonable level, this arrangement has to be reviewed.
On top of that, we don’t even display the prices meaning that people will be taken by surprise when they are asked for £8.50 for a Peroni. This must be addressed ASAP. It’s unethical at best to not display pricing openly.
What other options are there?
- Cans and plastic bottles are an easy solution which would speed up the process whilst also keeping the prices lower. There could even be scope for a separate area for these being sold at a stall on the other side of the bar or out the back.
In terms of more advanced options;
- Some grounds have self-service machines which seems unnecessary, but may help to alleviate pressure.
- Could there be some sort of pre-order system so fans can order from their seats in good time for half time? This would again help with pre-pouring as you’d have a much clearer idea of how much you need to pour. Payment taken in advance online for those who do this. Quick beers for them and then a queue system for those that didn’t pre-order.
As for food, we have trialled and tested various catering companies and different types of food (what about the crepes?) but nothing seems to stick. Again, the pricing makes the proposition unattractive to your average punter, pushing £10 for a burger or £15 if you want some chips with it. There has to be some sort of meal deal as an incentive to top up. Burger and chips for £10-12 for example seems a bit more reasonable. Food and Beer deals also are easily achieved and encourage the additional spend whilst rewarding fans with better value.
The actual quality of the food has improved to a decent level from our experience, but the price cannot be justified. We asking a first time fan to pay £26 for a ticket, £10 for food and £8 for a pint. £44 before they’ve travelled to the ground, and if they bring kids they’re looking at a £100 day out. It just doesn’t add up or constitute good value.
As it stands at the moment, this is a revenue stream that should be a money printing exercise but it is not fit for purpose. Dean Brennan stated in his Beespod interview that the club wanted fans out of Moranos and into the club bars. We think we’d all do that if the proposition was right, but it is so far off the mark at the moment that we will happily spend money elsewhere because we know we’ll get more value for our hard earned cash.
The message is simple. We want to spend our money at The Hive, but at the moment you are asking too steep a price and making it too difficult to spend what we have.
Merchandise
On a similar vein, the merchandise situation has been hot and cold for some time as well. We have a nice welcoming club shop but not a lot of things in there that people want to buy, either because the product offering is not quite right, or more to the point the stock level of the sizes people want are not available.
Pricing is again an issue, presumably the same as the bar where we are operating to a set expectation on profit margin. This leads to some daft pricing on items which sit there gathering dust. Who remembers the rucksacks priced at over £50?
Again, it is going to be a challenge for anyone at the club. It’s harder to get a decent cost price when the volume we sell is not as high as clubs up the pyramid. I’d be interested to know how much we actually sell of certain items when they are priced so high, and whether a keener price point would increase sales.
What are the basic top sellers? Replica shirts, training gear, hats and scarves. Get these basics right and then move on into other complimentary items. We should have data by now on the sizes that sell most and be able to order accordingly. It’s tricky and imperfect, but there shouldn’t be a situation where people cannot get their hands on certain sizes.
Closing the shop in The Legends stand makes sense for non-matchdays, but that decision has certainly run the risk of losing out on an impulse buy or two when there’s a game on. Saturday probably not a great example given the context, but the club shop there before was something to do at half time for younger fans and families. Maybe not many on the day bits were sold but it always seemed quite busy. If you come in to the ground on the Camrose Avenue side and go straight to Legends, you have no stopping point for merchandise. Again, maybe a small stall or similar with a few basics would be an idea (especially on bumper crowd days) with direction available from there for where to go for the main club shop.
We should also consult fans on what they want to see and what they would buy. I don’t know how many dog bandanas we sold, but I’m going to assume not many. What about a retro shirt bringing back old classic designs? We did a Twitter kit World Cup a few years back so we know the popular ones. Just a thought.
Is it an issue with the suppliers? Feedback on Stanno’s designs and quality have been mixed at best. If we cannot get stock of certain sizes, why not? Do we need to review our supplier again and move onto someone more reliable?
Conclusion
Without trying to labour the point, we really believe that the time for action is now. The BFCSA says it is in dialogue with the club and hopefully this article is an adequate collation of the key issues that we have experienced and read about in the last few days, weeks, months and years.
If anyone at the club is reading this, we want to reiterate that this is not personal and we know you are working hard under difficult circumstances. We have made great steps in some areas and they should be acknowledged. Our media output for example has come on leaps and bounds over time and is now of a very good quality.
However, we want to make it clear that for the good of the football club and for all of us, these are expectations going forward. We truly believe that these off-field issues are holding the club back and we want to give you the benefit of laying out in black and white the experience we are having and where it must be improved.
There are many fans with expertise in various fields who I’m sure would be happy to help with ideas. Anyone with a background in retail, stock management, bar management, ticketing for events, etc I’m sure would be able and willing to help on matters like these. It’s not that we think we could do better, it’s a genuine offer of support.
Hopefully the above covers the main points but I’m sure there are others too. We’d welcome any comments on our social media or via email on this and we’ll pass this onto the BFCSA and the club where necessary.
Hopefully now we can draw a line in the sand and say that the only way is up. The club must listen and act. We don’t want to be writing yet another one of these in time to come…
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