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Sheffield's "Stadium"


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http://www.rlnews.co.uk/lions-fans-slam-sheffield-facilities/

Whilst I can appreciate things haven't been easy for Sheffield recently, the fan experience here (at least from the away segment) sounds dreadful. I think the feeling of unfairness towards Swinton having been unable to remain at Sedgeley RUFC has merits. 

For £15 entry fee I doubt they'll be getting many extra away fans. I've watched top level sport at genuinely great facilities for less than that. From the sounds of it, "facilities" is stretching it here. Whether this is merely an individually poor case or not time will tell. 

I have a soft spot for Sheffield but really the decision to go pro a few years ago was madness. Money clearly should have been better invested.

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28 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

http://www.rlnews.co.uk/lions-fans-slam-sheffield-facilities/

Whilst I can appreciate things haven't been easy for Sheffield recently, the fan experience here (at least from the away segment) sounds dreadful. I think the feeling of unfairness towards Swinton having been unable to remain at Sedgeley RUFC has merits.  

For £15 entry fee I doubt they'll be getting many extra away fans. I've watched top level sport at genuinely great facilities for less than that. From the sounds of it, "facilities" is stretching it here. Whether this is merely an individually poor case or not time will tell. 

I have a soft spot for Sheffield but really the decision to go pro a few years ago was madness. Money clearly should have been better invested.

I think you'll find few would argue with your last statement.

Certainly the RFL's application of the facilities required isn't consistent. I feel a little sorry for Sheffield because they have been hamstrung by this move and the delays and false promises have left them where they are. That said, they should be making the best of a bad job and looking to put on an adequate match day experience before the new stadium gets built

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34 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

http://www.rlnews.co.uk/lions-fans-slam-sheffield-facilities/

1. Whilst I can appreciate things haven't been easy for Sheffield recently, the fan experience here (at least from the away segment) sounds dreadful. I think the feeling of unfairness towards Swinton having been unable to remain at Sedgeley RUFC has merits. 

For £15 entry fee I doubt they'll be getting many extra away fans. I've watched top level sport at genuinely great facilities for less than that. From the sounds of it, "facilities" is stretching it here. Whether this is merely an individually poor case or not time will tell. 

2. I have a soft spot for Sheffield but really the decision to go pro a few years ago was madness. Money clearly should have been better invested.

I'll do these in reverse order:

2. there was no money... they went pro on a promise of cash which was never going to appear with everything else that was going on.. it was a stupid decision at the time and a lot of people were saying that... wait for the cheque to be cashed then spend it.. they did it the wrong way round. 

1. yes its not great... however, the plans are in and they are waiting for work to begin in the next few months on something that looks quite nice. the options for Sheffield have not been great and if it was a long term "this is what it will be like" then they would probably get told to do one but it seems to be moving forward to I am sure the RFL are ok with it on that basis. 

The toilets are portaloos because there is no permanent stand, not ideal at all. There is a stand with cover but if the wind blows there is nothing to stop it and i got drenched in the stand with the rain scything in when i went to one of the games last year (but that has happened at other stadiums too).. i also commented at the time that the food and drink stand was woeful as was the fact there wasnt even a tressle table selling merch.. 

It is tough at the moment in Sheffield as there is no where to go while this is getting sorted but they could be doing more IMHO to make it a better experience. I know we are not flush with money but it isnt great. However, hopefully next year will be 1000x better.

 

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on a separate note... the no ambulance should be looked into for sure.. I always thought there had to be an ambulance at the ground from kick off, not just for players but for spectators too. 

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Read the article. 

Firstly, can you blame the club for an ambulance not being available? I don’t imagine the club have access to an ambulance or the ambulance service could afford to take an ambulance out of service for a few hours. That’s a society problem. The emergency services have had the backside ripped out of them and the workers are stretched beyond belief. 

Seating, maybe there’s dispensation for a year because Sheffield are moving next year. I’m not sure if they are. No disabled section? That’s poor. 

Queues for refreshments, it was the first game of the season and lessons will surely be taken from it, I’m sure. 

No shelter from bad weather, that’s an odd complaint for me. Plenty of grounds in plenty of sports don’t have that and as far as I know, there is no requirement for a roof on a stand anywhere in RL. 

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I can't imagine there's a great fan experience wherever you go to watch Swinton at the moment.

It's a difficult one for the RFL. You have to show consistency but for the first time in a while there is showing promise in Sheffield. The team is improving, they got a good opening crowd, there's plans for improved facilities. Is it really in their interest to come down on Sheffield now and harm all that?

I'm not familiar with the Swinton situation but were they given any time or was it a case of "If you're not out of the stadium by Tuesday we're kicking you out of the league"

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Just let’s take a breath.

The Eagles are working miracles to exist at all. Sure enough people can point backwards if they wish, I don’t see the point.

I froze to my bones yesterday, my 1st visit to OLP. I’ve been to multi million pound stadiums all over the UK, thing is, not one of the clubs using those fine places has the financial status the Eagles have. They all pay vast fortunes to cheats which they don’t actually have. Everything to do with those clubs is eye wateringly expensive, fans are cash machines and nothing else.

It is minimal at the OLP. The Eagles are in an ongoing transition period. If I go to a club this season in the same position I will expect the same thing.

RL will grow in the Steel City, it will grow from the OLP via the cash that people like you and me hand over. I’m proud and happy to do it and will be at any other RL club.

RL = the best team game on the planet.

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31 minutes ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

Read the article. 

Firstly, can you blame the club for an ambulance not being available? I don’t imagine the club have access to an ambulance or the ambulance service could afford to take an ambulance out of service for a few hours. That’s a society problem. The emergency services have had the backside ripped out of them and the workers are stretched beyond belief. 

Seating, maybe there’s dispensation for a year because Sheffield are moving next year. I’m not sure if they are. No disabled section? That’s poor. 

Queues for refreshments, it was the first game of the season and lessons will surely be taken from it, I’m sure. 

No shelter from bad weather, that’s an odd complaint for me. Plenty of grounds in plenty of sports don’t have that and as far as I know, there is no requirement for a roof on a stand anywhere in RL. 

simply on the ambulance it was my understanding that there had to be one at the ground available, mostly its St Johns who charge. Would be interested to know if this is the case. If that isnt the case then your right you cant blame Eagles at all. 

 

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I went along yesterday, as a neutral, and thoroughly enjoyed the game, if not the OLP. My main concern is that the standard of the facilities has gone backwards from last year. This year's temporary stand is much smaller than last year's and yesterday was rammed. There was a scoreboard and clock last year and that wasn't there yesterday. Due to the injury to Will Hope there was around ten minutes added time in the first half but without a clock there was no idea how much time had been added.

There are  issues as well surrounding health and safety that I won't go into but I'm sure the club are aware and will resolve them.

The the crowd was announced as 1200 which was nowhere the near case. If I was being generous I'd say it was 800.

I wish Sheffield well and hope they prosper as they're the nearest semi-pro team to me but the new stadium can't come soon enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Clogiron said:

Is it a backwards step from where they were playing at previously which was basic to say the least?

same place as last year.. its pretty basic but it is being developed.

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2 minutes ago, Clogiron said:

No, I mean the one before the OLP, Hallam University wasn't it?

the one before the OLP was Wakefield IIRC Hallam was the one before that I think. 

OLP is better in terms of it being generally newer and a bit cleaner... Both are pretty basic. Its not a great look for the Eagles but its a means to an end.. Hallam was embarrassing and there was no clear vision of where it was going to end either.

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33 minutes ago, bobdeegan said:

I went along yesterday, as a neutral, and thoroughly enjoyed the game, if not the OLP. My main concern is that the standard of the facilities has gone backwards from last year. This year's temporary stand is much smaller than last year's and yesterday was rammed. There was a scoreboard and clock last year and that wasn't there yesterday. Due to the injury to Will Hope there was around ten minutes added time in the first half but without a clock there was no idea how much time had been added.

There are  issues as well surrounding health and safety that I won't go into but I'm sure the club are aware and will resolve them.

The the crowd was announced as 1200 which was nowhere the near case. If I was being generous I'd say it was 800.

I wish Sheffield well and hope they prosper as they're the nearest semi-pro team to me but the new stadium can't come soon enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is the temporary stand smaller so as to allow them to construct the new stand without obstructing it?..........ie. similar to North Stand at Leeds?

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I appreciate the importance to the club and it's fans of getting back to Sheffield.  But, I think they should have stuck with playing at Wakefield until OLP was up to scratch.  The OLP experience reminds me of when my son played at under 12's and I think it may have been at Shevington where they played on a school field and went back to the local pub for after match butties. Not really the set up you'd expect in the Championship.

To be honest, the set up at most amateur grounds is better than at Sheffield in my opinion.

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5 minutes ago, Sainthamish said:

I appreciate the importance to the club and it's fans of getting back to Sheffield.  But, I think they should have stuck with playing at Wakefield until OLP was up to scratch.  The OLP experience reminds me of when my son played at under 12's and I think it may have been at Shevington where they played on a school field and went back to the local pub for after match butties. Not really the set up you'd expect in the Championship.

To be honest, the set up at most amateur grounds is better than at Sheffield in my opinion.

maybe they would if it had been an option. However, IIRC, they were told they couldnt play in Wakefield the year after... 

Also between the two playing in our own city is much more preferable to playing at the bomb site IMHO... 

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I went to  the game yesterday, and great support from Swinton fans I have to say. I used to drive over to Sheffield often when they played Friday nights and I didn't work nights. I have seen them play at 3 different grounds since I first went in 1984. Yesterday came as a real shock to me. I am amazed that the RFL allow championship RL there. I want to see RL flourish in Sheffield and I wish Eagles all the best but that ground is just not up to standards. I understand that Eagles didn't really have much choice and I am glad to see that this situation is only temporary (I didn't know that). The only stand was a canvass shelter with about 75 seats in it and the toilet facilities were 7 portaloo's. I went back to the pub with about 20 minutes to go because I was freezing and there was nowhere to get out of the elements. There were queue's for food and drink but that is usually the case at most grounds and I have to say the food was worth waiting for. Well done to Eagles for producing a decent match programme as well. If this game had been played further into the Summer I don't think there would be as many people complaining so the weather played its part in making it a truly forgettable experience.

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4 hours ago, RP London said:

simply on the ambulance it was my understanding that there had to be one at the ground available, mostly its St Johns who charge. Would be interested to know if this is the case. If that isnt the case then your right you cant blame Eagles at all. 

 

Pretty sure don't need to have an ambulance at the ground but you must have a doctor. 

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12 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Pretty sure don't need to have an ambulance at the ground but you must have a doctor. 

ah ok that makes sense. in which case you cant really blame eagles for the ambulance.

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