So how was it for you?

[ncfcog]

I have to be honest and say I was having negative thoughts about our sell out crowd before the game yesterday. I’m a bit of a whinger in that respect and really wasn’t looking forward to having to deal with the hassle of it all, after all there’s something quite comforting about setting off at 2pm, not having a problem finding a parking space, walking straight through the turnstiles without queuing, buying a bovril and pie without queuing and being able to sit in your own seat with a bit of elbow room because there’s no bugger else next to you.

Anyway, I decided to face it full on and set off 1 hour earlier, managed to park on the embankment near the suspension bridge so not too bad a walk from there, sat in the car and listened to radio red for a bit before making my way to the ground.

Having made it to Meadow Lane the first thing I saw was queues, yes bloody queues at the turnstiles. I rolled my eyes and chose a queue expecting the painful experience of dealing with ‘daytrippers’ to start but to my surprise the stewards and turnstile staff were exceptionally efficient and I was in the ground within a couple of minutes of queuing.

The ground was already filling up so I wandered up to my seat where low and behold someone was sat in it, typical I thought, I just knew this would happen. So I puffed out my chest and calmly requested if the gentleman would mind finding his own seat, he duly obliged and to be fair had actually done me a favour because my seat was now nice and warm, happy days.

After a shaky start Notts finally get their act together and deliver the result we all really hoped for in front of a big crowd.

Hewitt was absolute dog **** for the first 20 mins but after Husin’s tap in he seemed to come into his own and rightly got motm.

Credit to Crewe, like Crawley before them they weren’t afraid to play the ball out from the back and looked dangerous at times but they looked a young lightweight team and Notts were able to capitalise on this once they got their tails up.

In conclusion I felt the club did everything right yesterday both on and off the field, fair play to all involved.

It was nice to see the ground so full but I do think we lost some of the atmosphere we are used to because of this, we have made more noise with 3500 in attendance.

I’m also not a fan of the way it was achieved because I’m a great believer if the product is right then the customer will pay and the only way that the club will maintain any kind of sustainable future is by success on the pitch. hopefully we will see that this season with promotion but it’s going to be a tough ask.

So all in all much better than expected, will be interesting to see if we can break 5k against Carlisle a week on Tuesday.

[Notts78]

I would imagine Notts would have made more from yesterday’s promotion than had they kept prices normal. Not so much from gate receipts but merchandise, food n beverages.
I also disagree with the loss of atmosphere as there were times chants were coming from both the Sirrel and Paris and they were joining in the Kop which was bouncing at times.
The experience would be better if it was warmer, sort the weather out Mr Hardy.
What yesterday proved is that football has largely become unaffordable. When it is affordable Notts have the capability of dragging in fans, if if they support other clubs.
I took a friend who is a season ticket holder at Bradford but lives local. They pay 149 for a season ticket which explains there big gates. I have often thought that Notts could reduce theirs too. Mr Hardy can definitely sell Notts to the wider public in Nottingham, as proven yesterday. So why not take the initiative and offer lower priced season tickets? Even on a staggered basis I.e. 4K normal price, 5k at 90%,6k at 80%, 7k at 70% 8k at 60% then 10k at 50%. Notts would always get the 2-3k pay on the day.
The other alternative is a zero % finance deal where fans can pay monthly for their season ticket paying monthly from August - April. Those that pay in full could have a 10% reduction. AH is keen to drag Notts attendances up and these are a couple of ideas that could help.
Anyway, I loved yesterday. Was disappointed that I couldn’t get a half time bevvie.

[queenslandpie]

I have to be honest and say I was having negative thoughts about our sell out crowd before the game yesterday. I’m a bit of a whinger in that respect and really wasn’t looking forward to having to deal with the hassle of it all, after all there’s something quite comforting about setting off at 2pm, not having a problem finding a parking space, walking straight through the turnstiles without queuing, buying a bovril and pie without queuing and being able to sit in your own seat with a bit of elbow room because there’s no bugger else next to you.

Anyway, I decided to face it full on and set off 1 hour earlier, managed to park on the embankment near the suspension bridge so not too bad a walk from there, sat in the car and listened to radio red for a bit before making my way to the ground.

Having made it to Meadow Lane the first thing I saw was queues, yes bloody queues at the turnstiles. I rolled my eyes and chose a queue expecting the painful experience of dealing with ‘daytrippers’ to start but to my surprise the stewards and turnstile staff were exceptionally efficient and I was in the ground within a couple of minutes of queuing.

The ground was already filling up so I wandered up to my seat where low and behold someone was sat in it, typical I thought, I just knew this would happen. So I puffed out my chest and calmly requested if the gentleman would mind finding his own seat, he duly obliged and to be fair had actually done me a favour because my seat was now nice and warm, happy days.

After a shaky start Notts finally get their act together and deliver the result we all really hoped for in front of a big crowd.

Hewitt was absolute dog **** for the first 20 mins but after Husin’s tap in he seemed to come into his own and rightly got motm.

Credit to Crewe, like Crawley before them they weren’t afraid to play the ball out from the back and looked dangerous at times but they looked a young lightweight team and Notts were able to capitalise on this once they got their tails up.

In conclusion I felt the club did everything right yesterday both on and off the field, fair play to all involved.

It was nice to see the ground so full but I do think we lost some of the atmosphere we are used to because of this, we have made more noise with 3500 in attendance.

I’m also not a fan of the way it was achieved because I’m a great believer if the product is right then the customer will pay and the only way that the club will maintain any kind of sustainable future is by success on the pitch. hopefully we will see that this season with promotion but it’s going to be a tough ask.

So all in all much better than expected, will be interesting to see if we can break 5k against Carlisle a week on Tuesday.

Great post full of insightful views from a loyal supporter unlike me who buggered off and now lives in the wilderness. Sometimes however I think the tyranny of distance is a benefit in terms of a view point as it is not scued ( Sid how do I spell it) by my current environment. Yesterday Alan Hardy and co. probably brought 8-10,000 people to Meadow Lane who either had not been in eons or who had never been before. This has never happened before. We also won 4-1 which is also great. I expect the club probably lost money on the deal in many ways but it's clear that our chairman is trying to make Notts a trendy place to go in Nottingham. This will take a while and it also needs a bit of luck like a promotion or two. This is new thinking for Notts and the old thinking, which is what your post portrays has never worked. So from my point of view let the new thinking prevail and COME ON YOU PIES!

[jackal2]

In the days before the game I did wonder if the extra numbers wouldn't create a better atmosphere, because the additional customers wouldn't be genuine Notts fans familiar with the club culture/chants etc. Fortunately, I was wrong and the ground was both noisy and lively. I did fear with Crewe's early goal that it would all be a massive anti-climax, but Noor Husin's equaliser set the tone for the rest of the game. The players really responded to the extra vocal backing and Crewe were never really in it after that.

I don't think Alan Hardy can run another promotion like that this season, because loyal season ticket holders would (justifiably) point out that it is devaluing their purchase too greatly, but it may have given him food for thought on where to pitch season ticket and match day prices next season. I don't envy him the dilemma, because fans will always call for prices to be slashed, but we know a lot of our 'supporters' beyond the hardcore of around 4,000 are extremely fickle and you can't guarantee they would turn up consistently, even with a greater financial incentive. Bradford have had some success with an aggressive price-cut strategy, but they have a significantly bigger support base.

[SwalePie]

Lots of fan pictures here from Crewe game... can you find yourself?

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=49e3d69219

[ncfcog]

Some fair comments here, I’ve purposely not gone into detail about the ins and outs of the £2 offer and whether it was worth it or not because only time will tell. Equally I’ve refrained from commenting on AH purely because there’s so much going off around him it’s hard to be sure if he’s the real deal or not. Without doubt he has done a tremendous job over the last 12 months and he deserves credit for that. I’ve never met the guy so will never comment on him personally but I do think he’s dropped a few clangers along the way but he does seem to be learning and improving which can only be a good thing.

Regarding the atmosphere yesterday maybe it was an acoustic issue from where I was sat in the Pavis, just seemed a bit flat.

But hey, please don’t think I didn’t enjoy the day because I did, I always do, even if I am a miserable old(ish) sod!

[CmonUSexyStylishPies]

The old boys I sat near in the Pavis did nothing but moan from 2.15 until the final whistle. Couldn't go for a slash, couldn't get a cup of tea and wouldn't get home until 7pm. Some of our fans definitely don't do change.

[60YearsAPie]

The old boys I sat near in the Pavis did nothing but moan from 2.15 until the final whistle. Couldn't go for a slash, couldn't get a cup of tea and wouldn't get home until 7pm. Some of our fans definitely don't do change.

It wasn't Old_pie was it?

[keldsyke]

The old boys I sat near in the Pavis did nothing but moan from 2.15 until the final whistle. Couldn't go for a slash, couldn't get a cup of tea and wouldn't get home until 7pm. Some of our fans definitely don't do change.

I laughed too as some of the ‘older’ regulars in the exec seats were moaning as they had to keep getting up to let people get to their seats 😂.

To be fair their needs to be signage with rows and seat number directions at the top of the stairs before it splits to avoid this, but I thought it was funny.

[Steward]

From my working view, the day went more smoothly than I thought, I was expecting a delayed start. But people got in the ground very early which helped, not all that many came in after k.o. obviously there were queues at the tea bars. But all in all the day went smoothly and was enjoyed by all.