Couldn't make today, it looked well attended (in line with the safety requirements), any other thoughts.......?

The Terminal 2 tribute bar is ok they even play bingo with the price of the drinks, each round same number of drinks just a variation of a quid. Useless bar manager telling the two staff what to do and virtually ignore the customers whilst cleaning glasses and keeping the fridges stocked, he would have been more use if he would have left them serving and he did the little jobs that keep a bar running. But then he couldn't be the manager if he did manual work.
Nice views and very impressive private boxes CCNo1 fan even mentioned he could success from the boxes has he looked at Old trafford.
The compass problem the North stand is actually on the west side of the stadium and the east side is on the north side of the stadium, i am assuming that the main stand is the east stand with the north stand having Irlam behind it.
The South stand has the motorway behind it and manchester which is to the East of Salford confused I am.
It appears that the stadium is 90 degrees out of sync with the rest of the world.

It would have been a lot simpler if they had named the stands as follows:
Todd
Risman
Snape and
Wilkinson
Alas, it was never to be


Would have saved a lot of Bigpev's waffle at least

The big stand is the west stand, the on opposite (naturally) is East. The home standing end is South (end furthest from the bridge) and the away standing end is North. Just hope they move the mount for the big screen from South East corner to North East or else the away speccies get the better view of the screen.

Viewing from the West Stand is great, and that was the only one open today so can't comment on the rest. The West Stand really does have superb facilities for the corporate guests and I do think it will help the club increase money from that. It's just a pity that there's no on site fans bar (I don't class standing in a breeze bock concourse with a plastic pint pot as a fans bar) as it would make a killing - there was loads of chat today about where people could drink pre/post game. The other three stands look like they were designed by the work experience kid on a brief to make them as cheap as possible.

I had a wander around the perimeter of the ground and would like to hope that in the summer months they make use of the (to be) landscaped area behind the East Stand - it would be great for a pre game BBQ/beer tent and some family events.

Finally, the stewards need a better understanding of (1) the ground's rules and (2) that we're not football fans.

Just to try to unconfuse everyone after Pev's post...

no signs around the ground
the bar prices and the no deals (i.e pie plus drink)
as anyone told them Wigan likes pies

and the car park exit senting everyone to Irlam to do a U-turn at Barton Airport

There is a Menu with Meal deals above the serving hatches it was £5.30 for a pie & pint and £3.80 with a hot drink & hot doggy or pie. I asked about signage the'll be put in before the start of the New season. The road markings i saw are pointing turn right as well as left When you get to the first junction, It'll all be Fixed for the Start of the season! "RELAX POUR BE YOUR SELF ONCE MORE" !!!!!!!

£5:30 for a pie and a pint??? FFS let's really encourage new customers by making it reasonable and enticing if you bring the family.

The club have no say over the catering. The stadium company tender out the contract to outside caterers. What I found today is similar to any other modern day stadium. That is, long queues and average over priced food and drink. When I say over priced, I am comparing it to your average shop and accept that the prices at Salford this year will be similar to all other super league clubs but that doesnt mean its right to rip off fans. I guess Im being very naive to expect a Holts bitter and a home made hot pot pie at a rugby stadium.

Iain, you are absolutely right that all the facilities are in place for the corporate bods. I cant see what the club can offer in terms of a fans bar without a major input from the stadium company and that aint going to happen. We may eventually see a brewers fayre or other type of pub/food chain opening up as theres plenty of room for development.

i enjoyed the whole experiene, it was clean, its was all very professionally run in my opinion, the service in the kiosks was quick, lots of meal deals on offer, salford badges on the kioks, highlights of tries being run on the plasma screens on the walls.

I wouldnt hesitate bringing my son to games now when he gets a bit older as the facilities are now there imo to enjoy the complete experience.

Hopefully the road signs will be ready for the start of the season rather than everyone having to turn around in barton airport /mackro

The view from the main stand was very good, i wouldnt hesistate in sitting there when i bring my son.

The whole point of today was for the stadium to put in to practrice all the theory and see what worked and what didnt, im sure they took a lot from it and this will only improve our experince of watching salford in such a wonderful facility

So Southstand is home standing, had a quick look at it doesnt seem that steep but ive watched salford on lower terraces in the past, im hoping the stand below is the same as the main stand as that would be brilliant
we shall see

it was also a good experience doing the walk, lots of people took part (more than i imagined) and it was good walking out of the willows probably for the final time and passing all the landmarks which hold both happy, sad, good and bad memories.

i also think that patricroft would be a ideal pre match pub crawl for both home and away supporters, a train station, 5 pubs, a subway, a bookies, a tesco, buses driving past to the ground or 20 min walk past a couple more pubs far more choice than we ever had at the

lets only whisper it but if this but if us fans and the club play our cards right it will be a roaring success

Was very impressed who the new stadium, noticed the seats and rows were not marked out as yet.
Thought they should of had a questionnaire/suggestion box for fans feedback i.e. I thought a running 6" shelf in the food and drink concourse, as if you buy a pie & pint you can't manage both, need to put your pint down to unwrap the pie, also rubbish bins, although a big wheelie bin was there I noticed a lot of rubbish left on to floor.
Found the stewards were friendly and o.k recognised some stewards from the willows
The view from the hospitality boxes seemed miles away from the action
Overall great stadium

only going off what an employee pointed out to me at the stadium, but i had had a few beers after the event.

also miles away from what the average supporter could afford, but good news 11 of the 12 have been sold at £10,000 a season, thats an extra income already we didn't have at the willows that eqates to 550 new season tickets.

Does that all go to the club or do we only get a cut off the owners?

As you are paying match rental,it would only be right that all the funds went to the club.

There seem to be two ground floor spaces at the front of the West Stand (one of which is behind hoardings) that look ripe for use. Once a space is usable as a fans bar (i.e. has a bar, some screens and some tables and chairs) it's also usable by the stadium company for functions. I don't expect the club itself to provide the bar, but if the stadium company / club want to maximise the income it's a good opportunity.

In the Car Park we drove towards Eccles as it were and were directed out towards the A57 and turned right at the new lights towards the motorway. No problem.

Plans to put 2,000 +extra parking space behind the north stand where the retail plans are. Ground levelling & hardcore going down and should be in place for start of the season. Not sure if they plan to fleece us for £5.50 for that area too.

I was told they were planning to to put a fans bar into the west stand , probably at the north end which is boarded at present .

otherwise they need to get the seats numbered and work out how to work the kiosk roller shutters and programme to the tils with the meal deals!

Looking forward to the Leigh & Wigan Games .

Thats a great effort from the club.

The ground rent will reflect the facilities we have to offer so good to see the club are getting the financial return in selling the corporate stuff.

anyone wanting a beer or food before or after game use the home of irlam hornets arlfc ,higher irlam social club or the tiger moth pub both on cutnook lane irlam ,£2 pint of john smiths ,lagers about£2.30.local taxi firms doing shuttle runs so you can leave your motors safe.

The Tiger Moth pub!!!! Feck me I'd rather drink out of the river Mersey!

Coaches on game days are going to be running from the Trafford centre & The willows from 2 and half hours before kick off, leaving every 20 minutes. Will be running back after the game for up to 1 hours. £1 per person, per journey.

The 10 grand will include food and possibly a higher match cost than just a ticket , so youd have to adjust your maths a bit , more likely 50% of the total to the club

Excellent news , especially for Marge, i hope somebody has told her

I think they must have brought the pa system from the Willows, because i didn't have a clue what was being said. Also I hope the coaches and subs aren't going to be stood at the side of the pitch as you couldn't see what was going on at the far end.

Apart from these couple of problems I was very impressed with the stadium which was better than I was expecting. The stewards were helpful and pleasant enough, the pitch looked in great condition and the facilities were first class.

Really looking forward to the season now.