This is not regard to the match itself but things like Journey to and from the ground, facilities in the ground etc.

What went well

The programme was excellent.
Despite a large crowd, the queues at the bars were not huge and service was relatively quick
lots of signs directing traffic on were to park
Dry and relatively comfortable seat in the North stand
Large choice of food available in the bars
Well staffed bars, all in very smart looking outfits, calling people sir, and generally being polite.
The stadium can generate a good atmosphere.
The pitch stood up magnificently despite the heavy rain.
Big crowd. All the home stands were well populated with speccies.



What didnt go well.

Large queues of people both before and after the match walking directly down the side of Tesco's rather than using the wide Boulevard. This narrow path should be blocked off on matchday to force people to use the wide path. This would then aid pedestrian flows to and from the stadium.

The PA system was variable. You could hear Stu clear as a bell, but the other guy sounded like he had been gagged
Concourses soaking wet.

Couldnt hear the hooter either at half time or full time. Do we even have a hooter?

The home terrace was very quiet. lots of work needed on singing.

The flag positions were crap you could barely see them.

large queues at some turnstile blocks while others were virtually empty. This was because fans were advised to use specific turnstiles. Home fans tend to congregate on the western side of the ground so the North west and South west blocks had big queues while the North East and South East blocks were relatively sply filled. Certainly with the North stand there should be no problem going through either turnstile block.

Mega busy crossing the bridge post match, with IMO inadequate crowd control from the police in this area. Perhaps they should look how the Met control crowds down Wembley way. It certainly has that type of post match tide of people feel to it. Another 6000 people heading home that way after the Wigan/Wire games could be interesting. Especially if home and away fans are mixed in. All it needs are a few idiots and it could cause a very dangerous situation eg stampede/crush.

They ran out of Saints gold before the match and also had shortages of hot dogs etc due to demand probably being higher than anticipated. Hopefully this game will give Saints an idea on likely sales.

Not all the bars serve Ale, and its not very clear which do and which dont.

Which end of the North Stand were you at? We were near the 20 at the away end and the bar queues didn't move at all. Or did you go pre-game when it was quieter?

Good point about the PA system. Absolutely terrible. Turn it up or add more speakers. Couldn't hear Mrs Rimmer, couldn't hear the post try music and the talking soundedlike it was a couple of fields away at a festival.

I don't think the queues at the bars was small and I certainly don't think the staff was fast, I was in line for good 25 mins while being stood in puddles which made the concrete floor very slippy.

Other than that, I thought it went well.

Oh, the PA system was crap.

I went to the bar near the away end of the North stand. took a few mins and got served. This was at about 19:40
Didnt go down at half time as thats always going to be manic whichever ground you are in.
Remember the staff are all learning their job, so it will take them time to get upto full speed and into a routine.
The other thing you could do is walk round the stands and get a drink in the away end if you felt like it. One of the bars in the Widnes end was all but deserted.

I was stood in water nearly ankle-deep in the queue for the North Stand bar (Aussie) pre-match for 20mins and eventually gave up so as not to miss the KO.
Bar staff inept & disorganised - possibly 'teething' problems.

Tannoy very poor & couldn't hear the 'hooter'.

Scoreboard display too small - would need binoculars to read the clock from North stand 'C'.

Huge 'bottlenecks' to the pedestrian flow leaving the stadium - side of Tesco & bridge approach.

But, hey, the stadium's great and the pitch is fantastic.
(Not so sure about the team though).

Generally love it.

Less good - wet concourse, speakers and some odd stewarding.

But love it.

Negatives:
1.The bar I was at in the north stand ran out of change so no-one got served for about 10 mins; some of the people in the queue were getting quite "verbal" about it. The service when resumed was really slow. They can only get better.

2. The concourse was sopping. Sureley this can't be allowed in the long term.

3. Did we have a P.A. or hooter at all?

4. We tried to get in at turnstyle no 21 in the north stand but the tickets were turnstyle specific so had to go to 25 where there were long queues because two of turnstyles broke down. The turnstyle specific was turned off at Widnes after the first few games last year enabling you to enter at any appropriate turnsyle.

Positives:
1. The beer was pretty good and not a bad price at £2.80

2. Excellent views from our seats

3. The atmosphere was much better than widnes in our opinion

4. Traffic flowed really well before and after the game (at least from the peaslet cross road side of the ground).

Overall - an excellent stadium to be proud of with some teething troubles which will all be sorted out in coming weeks/months/years

To echo most others' opinions really:

Good:
Decent seats and legroom
Good views
Stayed dry (at least in the South stand)
Fantastic burgers
Quick and easy escape post-game both on foot and in car
Player profiles 'round concourse
Nice loos
Lovely programme

Bad:
Shocking bar service
Terrible PA
Slightly ridiculous looking mini-scoreboard
Awful and woefully misjudged pre-match "entertainment"
Asthmatic hamsters instead of hand-dryers
Terrible (hopefully pre-season only) atmos - even worse than Widnes
Variable stewarding (lots of people with standing tickets were made to sit in the North stand apparently instead as anyone and their dog were allowed unchecked onto the West stand until it was crammed full)

What went well:

Easy to get in and helpful stewards on the South Stand
Views from the seats are great and nice and dry in the South Stand
Legroom is excellent unlike other so called modern stadia
Pitch in excellent condition after the game considering the amount of rain and inclement weather recently.
New players making their Saints debut
The artwork of the players on the Concourses is excellent

What didn't go well and areas for improvement:

Pre match entertainment was not the best
PA system must be the one from Knowsley Road
The Hooter sounds like it has a throat infection, nowhere near loud enough
Scoreboard is far too small
I hope the lights under the stands are fixed well. (I guarantee It will only be a matter of time before a player kicking for touch on a penalty smashes one of the lights to bits showering the supporters.
The "I want a bit of the limelight" appearance and grandstanding by a certain Mrs Rimmer. Totally embarrasing and sycophancy at its worst.

I think generally we had a great night, took my father in law as my dad couldnt make this one, he was well impressed with the stadium, you forget how good it is, until fresh eyes see it.

The main concerns for me, and none of this is to do with the C word or the weather as thats by the by at an outdoor arena.

Being fairly low down in the south stand due to my dad having problems up steps, we missed 3 tries due to saints players and their support staff standing on the pitch instead of in the section in front of their seats, these where tries and play down in southstand away end area. We just couldn't see anything, and we are quite a way from this area, I can only imagine what it was like for the next section along whose view was probably more impaired.

The PA was poor at best as has been said, but to not have to listen to rimmer (not that i've got anything against her, but she does go on) was a godsend, and the hooter need to be the proper load rugby league hooter not the piff that sounded. The pre match just needed to be the cheerleaders, quite why anything else needs to be put on is beyond me, keep the cash Saints.

The bar ran out of most pies prior to the match, and the queues where long, but the staff where trying their best and it's first night for them so no worries.

The queues when the turnstyles opened on Southstand entrance where huge but we walked around the stadium and all the other turnstyles where empty, it's almost like everyone was sent to the one turnstyle.

The walk back to the bridge was potentially dangerous, the path down tescos side was chocker but the main path hardly used and the stretch over the bridge was busy and I can forsee issues here if a system is not in place, probably not an issue for saints.

I think in general it was an EXCELLENT night and everything felt good generally for me, the club should be proud of a job well done.

Another great thing was that I thought the atmosphere was better than any friendly i've been to in years, despite the fact it was bit of a lacklustre performance on the pitch.

What went well

!st time visit and was very impressed with the stadium and immaculate playing surface
Turnstiles were super fast
Saints Gold Bitter is lovely (very strong)
Loved the walk inside around the concourse

Negatives

Not enough bar staff waited too long to get served in Founders Bar & under the West Stand
Can't wait for the Cladding to be put up as it was blowing a gale with the floor in the concourse soaking wet
West stand was over packed near me and people were standing in the isles and you could not get passed, later on they were moved to the north stand?
Will the West & East hold the 4500 allocated?????????
PA system was rubbish you could not hear it
Final hooter the same it needs to be louder

Hopefully someone will forward the comments in this thread to someone at saints so they know the recurring themes

I expected teething problems with the bar staff, it's new to them and no matter how much training they have done its still tough for their first night with 12,000 fans and I'm pretty sure after few home games it will be right as rain. Don't forget, everyone wanted to test out the beer, saints gold, burgers etc, wgen the season kicks off most will be having pre match beers in the pub.

The PA system was utter rubbish but again, it's a easy problem to fix and found it strange as the PA on the open training event was very very loud.

The main problem for me and IMO is a huge health & saftey risk is the amounts of rain water on the floor in the bar areas, in some areas it was pretty deep and was very slippy. IMO that's the only thing that pests this great rugby stadium and and I think it's a huge problem that needs sorting ASAP!

I expected to get through the turnstile quicker, might be better when majority use the swipe card.
Did notice one thing when leaving the concourse to take your seat, every entrance there where 2 stewards standing in front of the seating signs so that you can,t read them.
Those first 3 rows of the South Stand very wet, wouldn't,t like to be seated there.
On the positive side, it's a great stadium and have no doubt it's functionality will improve as we progress into the season.

In general the ground is really good, views will be good everywhere, the concourses are big which allows good movement and there's a variety of bars and kiosks within the stadium. The walk over the bridge to Langtree Park is superb, it's the type of thing you'd expect at Wembley anmd when you hit the corner of the south stand it really is a beautiful arena to look at especially with KC's statue prominant too.

All 3 stands need to be cladded asap, the North Stand concourse was a disgrace last night and it takes away from what a fantastic stadium we have in the main. We're in England not Tenerife and our games are at 8pm on a Friday night, it will rain even in the summer months. I can't believe Saints aren't intending on cladding this, this decision needs to be revised asap, the stand is potentially dangerous. It only takes one person to slip (which was highly possible in a stand full of puddles last night) and the club will get sued. If we were living in a hot country I'd understand but we're not. The wind sweeping in from the sides makes for a cold night with the stadium being so open currently. For me it's the biggest let down and HAS to be sorted as a priorty. There was also a problem with leaving the ground as it bottlenecks near tesco and takes an age to get back into town. A minor problem as I didn't evene think myself how busy it'd be, but maybe Saints could look into ways of traffic flow from when fans leave the stadium to allow for it to be easier. Also the lack of lighting near tesco makes it dark and dangerous IMO.

The Stadium itself is fantastic except for the concourses. I thought they were very dangerous last night and had every chance of an accident waiting to happen. Some of the water seemed to be coming from the inside area and flowing down the slopes of the 'tunnels' you walk through to go to your seat. Regarding the bars - there was a massive queue at the bar near us in North Stand so went to one 20 metres further up and no queue whatsoever. When we went passed the original queue on our way back to our seats they had only moved up about two places in the queue. It's worth a minute checking before you join a queue. The PA system was awful last night but I'm sure that can soon be fixed.

A lot of the problems like PA and queues at the bars are easily fixed and no doubt be sorted but it's the concourses that's the big problem and pretty unsafe with all the puddles of rain water.

Standing in few inch puddles while in line to get food or drink is not acceptable!

What went well

Loved the walk to the stadium. I just can't get over how cool Saints Way bridge is and what a thrill it is to turn the corner at Tesco and face the South Stand. Amazing.

Loved being able to stroll around the concourse.

Loved my spec in the West Stand. At the training session I felt the action was too far away but I'm glad I went to that night because it helped me to adjust from the days at Widnes so that I could really enjoy the view from my chosen place last night.

I thought us in the West Stand did ok for a first hit out and considering it took most of the match for the team to get going (no surprise there given that it was this version of Saints' first game on the pitch this year).

Saints sell coffee in cups that I can hold for longer than 10 seconds. BONUS!!

Also, I was served very quickly before the match. I didn't attempt to get a drink at halftime; I never do. It's always a waste of my life no matter which stadium I am in! I felt sorry for the events staff. I know Saints have been recruiting to those positions so we have a lot of inexperienced young people serving. Hopefully they won't have been too put off by the comments of some of the more demanding and less considerate fans but instead will stick with it as I am sure they will grow in confidence and efficiency as time goes on.

I enjoyed listening to music while I was waiting to enter the stadium.

The special matchday programme was fabulous.

Although the volume needs raising, the PA connection had improved as not once did it cut out like it did on the training night.

I enjoyed reading all the legends boards. Those and the Robinsons signs really add a touch of something different to the concourses.

The toilet facilities are great! Loads of cubicles, plenty of wash basins and four hand dryers meant that there wasn't any delay to the ablutions.

The steps on the terracing were nice and deep. I never got the feeling I was going to fall when walking down, which I do sometimes at other grounds.

The stewards were very helpful and friendly. One held my coffee while I was taking pictures!

It only took me five minutes longer to get back into the town centre after the match than it did to get to the match (and I got to Langtree Park at 6.20). That's good going given the number of fans walking in the same direction.

I thought the whole ambience was one of friendly welcome rather than being all dictatorial, as seemed to be the case at Widnes. Very few lectures to be heard!

What didn't go so well

PA needs turning up in the West Stand.

I really wish no beer was allowed in the West Stand.

The obvious one about the 'water feature' as one fan wittily observed. Hopefully the cladding will at least minimise weather disruption once it is completed.

Saints need to block off the pathway alongside Tesco when people exit the stadium to encourage fans to use the much wider and better lit boulevard areas.

Not enough bar staff.
Couldnt be bothered getting a drink at half time in the south stand, the queue was never ending.

Be great when the cladding and advertising hoardings are up though.
The flood lights are very low, soon as the balls kicked high I was blinded by them

surprised there isnt a permanant screen in the corner.
Decent PA cost a lot of money so never expect anything special for that but would be a very nice bonus.

Toilets are no where near as good as knowsley road, There are these wierd white bowls that you can flush, and then people where using bowls to put water on there hands.
In fact they where inside.
Must be temperary until they bring the old ones to the new ground.

Every cloud eh?

Spoke to Eamonn today, was at Saints for something unrelated and bumped into him.

Basically, He absolutely agreed about the problems with the cladding and water issues but a few things he mentioned should answer some questions.

a ) I pointed out we are all proud of the achievement, mainly due him, and that we are reporting issues as we want the stadium to be the best in the league, nay country, and that he understand fans comments on the issues related to the stadium, and is thankful for them.
b ) The club are waiting for reports about the problems from both the broken roof and the Widnes game to be prepared over the next week or so BEFORE cladding is installed. It will be done though once the paperwork is completed. This also negates a possible press release or club statement on the construction work done and needing to be done.
c ) We need to be patient, as H&S and the above reports take time to put together and get agreed etc.
d ) A possible reduction of capacity for the Salford game to 17,000.
e ) The list of problems will be looked into by staff at the club.


The conversation was in no way a meeting and lasted no more than 5 minutes, Eamonn was HAPPY to talk about the C word, I didn't have a list of issues or time to go through them with him, and I would think that still needs to be coordinated.

oh also, whilst I think on, there will (for the salford game initially) be no movement between stands, it was apparant that people bought South Stand tickets only to stand in the west stand (bizarre as its cheaper to buy in the west) this won't be allowed for the Salford game.

Eamonn seemed pretty sad with this as he envisaged movement possible between stands to allow for people to meet up at half time, walk around freely etc.