Matchday Hospitality & Clubhouse

Discuss all matters related to Dagenham and Redbridge
dagger4eva
Posts: 1735
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:39 pm

Something that’s bugged me for a long time is the matchday hospitality.

Generally speaking, I’d say the price was just about acceptable for your average Joe punter, but often surprised at the lack or originality when it comes to the menu.

I get the need to be able to make enough food to serve a large-ish number of people but surely some-one at the club has a little more creativity than to churn out the same, drab, rotten carvery, week after week after week, after season after season.

When it was first introduced, it was a bit of a big novelty for us and it finally felt, to me at least, like we were really trying to run like a professional outfit. Me and my pals would look to do this at least a couple of times per season and thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, I can’t muster enough interest to fill even half a table as everyone is bored to tears with the same old.
Even on Boxing Day, they day after almost every household in the country has eaten a roast dinner, what do we serve??? You guessed it!

There are so many possibilities for what can be served, depending on what day and/or time of the week the game is. Would anyone else be tempted to try hospitality if there were slightly more appealing options available?


And on to the clubhouse, I feel there is STILL such wasted opportunities with this.
I’ve drunk socially (non-matchdays) in the bar for almost 15 years now and the decline in punters that frequent the bar nowdays, on both match & non-matchdays should be worrying some-one at the club, yet no-one does actually seem concerned.

The Boreham Wood game was my 1st match of the season and after arriving at about 6:30pm, had literally been at the bar, upstairs for less than 2 minutes when a bloke came up to change his flat and foul tasting Carling. There is on a regular basis people changing their Ales.
Then went upstairs after the Harrogate win on Saturday. I’d say there were 30 people up there at the most (at its peak) and by about 6-6.30 there was probably around half that number.

There are huge swathes of what were regulars now staying away permanently after various let’s call them ‘disagreements’ with Steve and there are huge swathes of people staying away too because the beer is completely dreadful.

Yet, as with the hospitality food, nothing changes, the same old selection of beers are served (BADLY) – no variation – no guest beers – no promos – no entertainment – no nothing.

There are still plenty of people out there willing to spend plenty of money IF they are given a good product to spend it on. It would be lovely to see something change soon regarding all of the above but I shalln’t hold my breath!
Perhaps our new marketing man should arrange and send round to season ticket holders some kind of customer satisfaction survey. I bet our new owner's would be taken back by the results!

Interested in any thoughts the rest of you have on this.
Diggerthedog
Posts: 3893
Joined: Tue Dec 31, 2013 6:08 pm

A few clubs do a curry night for evening matches, also why would any season ticket holder pay £20 for a carvery when there is one 3 mins down the road for £7 that serves better beers and is much bigger and better carvery.

I rarely stay after games in fear of the old dodgy beer stomach the next day. I now drink bottles in there and the Guiness I had a few weeks back was the worst I had ever tasted, Wetherspoons serves better Guinness.
rebeldagger
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Joined: Sat Oct 19, 2013 7:51 pm
Location: Romford
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As with most issues at the club it's down to publicity.

Hopefully the new marketing manager can look into this and bring in a few changes, also with Peter and Craig coming over shortly that too should bring about a difference.

With regards to the upstairs bar, again it's down to publicity, I must admit I don't even know if it's open to the general public or do you need to be a full member or do season ticket holders have access, and if so are guests allowed too? I did ask one of the girls behind the bar, yet she was not able to confirm for me.

I nearly always have a prematch drink and occasionally would stay after too. There does need to be more selection as the variety has at times put off my partner from attending, she'd prefer a nice glass of red, yet the wine at bar is just about good for yer chips or perhaps as a salad dressing. The Daggers ale/stout/blonde aren't too bad to be fair and is invariably what I'd go for. yet I appreciate these aren't to everyone tastes and would be nice to have a selection. Any know what happened to that IPA that Craig Unger tweeted last year, was something like 10.5%, a can of that would be tempting.
Alan
Posts: 1464
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2014 2:34 pm

We had Citra in the downstairs bar couple of years ago and it sold like hot cakes.

The beer and catering need an overhaul.
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ARNU
Posts: 3746
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 4:43 pm

You support a club that has 950 die hards most of whom go to the match then go home and have nothing else to do with the club. I think if you run any sort of business you will understand about profit and loss and with the income this club has it should be abundantly clear why we haven’t got Marco Pierre White cooking up lobster before glamour ties like Havant and waterlooville in the conf on a Tuesday night.
Bollix to Shampoo, it's real poo we want !
Alan
Posts: 1464
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2014 2:34 pm

No, but you could knock out a burger, pie and mash or a curry fairly cheaply.
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Auntie Merge
Posts: 2178
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 3:43 pm

ARNU wrote: Tue Aug 20, 2019 7:50 pm You support a club that has 950 die hards most of whom go to the match then go home and have nothing else to do with the club. I think if you run any sort of business you will understand about profit and loss and with the income this club has it should be abundantly clear why we haven’t got Marco Pierre White cooking up lobster before glamour ties like Havant and waterlooville in the conf on a Tuesday night.
I’ll bite. You seem to have a very limited view of this. For many, many years, the bars were far more successful than the football team, and they kept the club alive far more than the 950 people who are die hard fans. Then things changed when we got into the football league; those involved seemed to be quite happy with the money from the FL and not too keen on doing the work to keep the same standards in the bars. Regulars were banned from the bars on a whim, the atmosphere in the bars changed, others started to drink elsewhere- a downward spiral.
dagger4eva
Posts: 1735
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:39 pm

ARNU wrote: Tue Aug 20, 2019 7:50 pm You support a club that has 950 die hards most of whom go to the match then go home and have nothing else to do with the club. I think if you run any sort of business you will understand about profit and loss and with the income this club has it should be abundantly clear why we haven’t got Marco Pierre White cooking up lobster before glamour ties like Havant and waterlooville in the conf on a Tuesday night.
I'll 'bite'too!
Who exactly was suggested we should have Marco Pierre White quality food in the Dave Andrews suite??
Not me .......
BB-Dagger
Posts: 606
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:32 am

ARNU wrote: Tue Aug 20, 2019 7:50 pm You support a club that has 950 die hards most of whom go to the match then go home and have nothing else to do with the club. I think if you run any sort of business you will understand about profit and loss and with the income this club has it should be abundantly clear why we haven’t got Marco Pierre White cooking up lobster before glamour ties like Havant and waterlooville in the conf on a Tuesday night.
What is there to bite about? As far as I read it Arnu is just stating the bleeding obvious, would you like something similar churned out by forest green? Tucking into some crappy vegan shite gluten free made with sunflower seed pastry with no taste 🤮 or whatever the bloody hippies eat these days!
The club do what it’s capable of doing, instead of criticising the food in the bar criticise the offal served inside the ground.
dagger4eva
Posts: 1735
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:39 pm

Im not saying they should NEVER do the carvery - just perhaps mix it up from time to time with some different choices.

And yes, for sure the food from 'Julies Fast Food' is utterly atrocious.

Bet your bottom dollar no-one from the board/management would put such garbage in their bellies. Its ok though, the peasant supporters will though. Heaven forbid they may wish to eat something half decent &/or edible.
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ARNU
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Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 4:43 pm

Thank you BB-Dagger, for actually reading what I’ve put and understanding what I was aiming at.

Dagger4ever,Nobody I suspect is expecting Marco Pierre White to knock up lobster but it can’t be particularly profitable knocking up a carvery for a limited number of people each game either. I see they’re offering £20 all in for the Yeovil game. How that competes with double pie ,mash and liquor round the corner I fail to understand.

I take your point Auntie Merge but like a lot of things on here that can easily irritate people about the club I think it’s nostalgia people yearn for rather than any serious business proposals.

My needs are simple, I just want a team that competes and a burger in a fresh roll. Others I accept want a decent pint and to be part of something. But we do have few fans, aren’t likely to get any more in great numbers and the new owners I doubt will make a penny from it all.
Bollix to Shampoo, it's real poo we want !
Daggernewbie
Posts: 852
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2016 10:37 pm

I was up in the upstairs bar Saturday and yes you guessed it people were taking their pints back to get changed.

According to this :-
In general, the fresher your keg draft beer is, the better it tastes. Keg beer will remain fresh if dispensing with CO2, while maintaining the proper temperature and pressure: For non-pasteurized draft beer about 45-60 days. For pasteurized draft beer about 90-120 days,so in other words if the beer stays fresh this long it must be down to way they store or look after the pipes.
BarkingRambo
Posts: 267
Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2015 11:53 am

I'm sure I heard a few years ago that the chef asked to do something different for hospitality but Thommo refused and said he had to keep doing roasts. Shame because mixing it up with things like curry, fish and chips, Pie and Mash nights, etc would be a great idea. I can't believe we haven't lost a few chefs bored that they have to keep making roasts for the hospitality every week. As others have said there is a decent Carvery down the road so the club needs to change the offer.

Also I wonder if post game the club need to do a happy hour in the upstairs bar to get rid of the draught that way they should need a fresh keg for every match. Might even persuade people to hang about for a bit.
Daggernewbie
Posts: 852
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2016 10:37 pm

BarkingRambo wrote: Wed Aug 21, 2019 8:56 am I'm sure I heard a few years ago that the chef asked to do something different for hospitality but Thommo refused and said he had to keep doing roasts. Shame because mixing it up with things like curry, fish and chips, Pie and Mash nights, etc would be a great idea. I can't believe we haven't lost a few chefs bored that they have to keep making roasts for the hospitality every week. As others have said there is a decent Carvery down the road so the club needs to change the offer.

Also I wonder if post game the club need to do a happy hour in the upstairs bar to get rid of the draught that way they should need a fresh keg for every match. Might even persuade people to hang about for a bit.
The way we play sometimes most of us are to depressed to be happy so maybe an unhappy hour as well so we can drown our sorrows in crappy beer. :lol:
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Mike the Dagger
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I agree that the beer could be a lot better. Can't comment on the wine, its not my match day drink of choice. Actually the draft bitter in the upstairs bar last Tuesday was pretty good (Old Speckled Hen) but suffered from the usual issues of having to battle to actually pull a pint that all the hand pulled beers upstairs seem to.

Interesting that one of the things the new owners wanted to change was the match day experience, and they were clear that the food & drink on offer ought to, and could be better at the forum last year.

They are over this weekend, I would suggest that this should be a topic of conversation to raise if anyone gets a chance to do so.
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