New Broom

[A Candy]

Hi Everyone,
I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself to the fans forum. I have posted on some forums in the past but along with Tim Herbert the Club’s Communications Manager (who will hopefully be setting up his own account in the next few days), we are going to try and be regular contributors on issues where we can help your discussions. We will do this by providing factual information from the Club’s perspective. However, we won’t be engaging in theoretical debates about whether or not we should be signing a new centre forward or how good/bad a particular player was in the last game.
I want to try and build on the existing communication channels between the Club and its supporters and where appropriate provide more timely information on topics that concern the fans. Clearly there will some issues where we will not be able to release information as quickly as fans might like but we will endeavour to keep these to a minimum.
I also want to ensure that when fans contact the Club that they get a response. Over the last couple of years I have received many ideas and suggestions and we have been able to introduce some of them. If you contact the Club you might not always get the answer you want but I will ensure that you at least get a reply. Please let me know if that is not the case.
For now we all must band together and concentrate on staying in the Football League starting with a massive game on Saturday.
Thank you for your support.
Best wishes,
Andrew Candy.

[Behind-the-Gulls]

Thanks Andy,I'm sure your comments will be well received on this Forum,good luck in your new role of CEO.

[taxilady]

Your contributions will be very welcome; thanks for setting up this line of communication. I echo BtG's best wishes.

[hector]

Yes - this is a positive development and I join others in wishing you well in your new role and hope that it brings benefit to TUFC!!

[brucie]

Good luck - Here is a question for you then.

Why on earth are tickets to Bristows Bench numbered. I attend matches with other members of my family and a friend who is a season ticket holder.
There are seats aroune him which are not reserved. We don't always enter the ground together.
Basically my point is - if I enter the ground at 2 o'clock I should be able to sit where I like (provided my seat isn't reserved) -
If I enter the ground early I should have my pick of the seats (rather than someone who enters the ground at say one minute to 3)

Further to this I attended a recent Tuesday game (cant remember which one it was). I got into the ground at seven pm. I was wearing a hat and a coat both with Torquay emblems on them.
When I produced my ticket to the steward he asked me if I was an away supporter!

It seems your gatemen were giving away tickets to the home supporters.

He then said "well fit in where you can" - whilst I was looking at a completely empty stand. Its both farcical and comical at the same time.

[tauntongull]

Hi Andy,

I just wanted to add my own personal congratulations at your new well deserved appointment. During the last twelve months you have made a considerable personal effort to improve communication and more importantly customer service by reading the forum and offering to resolve matters for fans. At times I am sure you felt this was a thankless task, but I for one and very grateful you volunteered to take time and spend energy on listening to fans and implementing change at the club. Not only have you been responsive and eager to listen but you have also been friendly, approachable. A club like Torquay needs more people like you and I hope these changes mark the beginning of a new era for both yourself and the club.

Regards,

Alan.

[Alpine Joe]

I had to laugh at the point Brucie is making, as I'll admit to going through almost the entire season without realising that we were meant to take the slightest notice of the numbers on Bristows Bench tickets, or that there was anyone that actually did so.

I've attended virtually all the home games and I just select an empty seat of my choice, while naturally avoiding those marked 'Reserved'.
It was only at our last home game versus Bradford that someone thought it might be a rule that he should sit in the very seat I was occupying because that was a number on his ticket, despite the swathes of other empty seats all around us.

So firstly I think we can conclude that you can quite happily sit where you want without it causing the slightest inconvenience, other than once in a blue moon when you might have to shift along one, but I can see it being an annoyance if it was implemented. Isn't there a possibility that you could be seated at the front, while your preferred position at the back had rows of empty seats, or vice versa ? Might not an elderly supporter who struggles with the steep steps find that his seat number will require him to climb to the back of the stand and make the equally precarious descent ? Surely a much more customer friendly option is to let him choose to turn up a little earlier to ensure he gets a seat at a lower level.

It certainly came as a surpise to me that I'd inadvertently been such a rebel all season by daring to select the unoccupied seat of my choice

[Alpine Joe]

Brucie

Further to this I attended a recent Tuesday game (cant remember which one it was). I got into the ground at seven pm. I was wearing a hat and a coat both with Torquay emblems on them.
When I produced my ticket to the steward he asked me if I was an away supporter!

But Brucie, you'd probably already started shouting insults at our players as they were warming up...no wonder the poor steward was a bit confused

[AustrianAndyGull]

Hi Andy,

I just wanted to add my own personal congratulations at your new well deserved appointment. During the last twelve months you have made a considerable personal effort to improve communication and more importantly customer service by reading the forum and offering to resolve matters for fans. At times I am sure you felt this was a thankless task, but I for one and very grateful you volunteered to take time and spend energy on listening to fans and implementing change at the club. Not only have you been responsive and eager to listen but you have also been friendly, approachable. A club like Torquay needs more people like you and I hope these changes mark the beginning of a new era for both yourself and the club.

Regards,

Alan.

Tauntongull pretty much sums up what i wanted to say but without the swear words and exclmation marks.

Good luck in your new role and i'm so glad there is someone at the club willing to listen to the fans concerns regarding appropriate matters rather than the usual 'us and them' scenario. Your input to the club AND the site is most welcomed.

[Gullscorer]

Numbered tickets is a good idea; it's always worked well in theatres and other similar places. If you want to sit in a particular part of the stadium, simply indicate your wishes when you buy your ticket, and get the ticket with the appropriate number. And then sit in that particular seat. Changing seats thereafter could inconvenience others, especially if the stand becomes anywhere near half-full...!!

[DTG]

Congratulations Andrew. A well overdue appointment. It was clear back in september when I met you and Tim that your hands were tied financially. I hope you now have a bit of leeway to try some ideas out. But, of course, Rome wasn't built in a day. Good luck.

Dave Shaw

[A Candy]

Sorry Brucie,
I thought I had sent a reply but it has not appeared for some reason. The reason for numbered tickets is because of the new online ticket system where fans select the seats they want in both BB and the Family Stand. This means that the seats are reserved and therefore fans paying through the turnstiles have also to be given numbered seats to stop them sitting in the seats that have been ordered on line. I will look at this again in the summer.
I have addressed the issue with the turnstile operators and it should not happen again.
I smiled at your steward story and will make some helpful suggestions to then before Saturdays game.
Very happy to meet you in person if you want to make yourself known to me on any match day.
Regards,
Andrew

[Alpine Joe]

Gullscorer

Numbered tickets is a good idea; it's always worked well in theatres and other similar places

You're probably right Gullscorer, but why does it work better than if the theatre didn't make people sit in specified seats ?
I can understand it would be a good idea if there were different pricing categories with cheap seats at the front etc.

On a couple of occasions I've needed to make a hasty post match exit I've selected a seat on the end of the row. Yes hopefully people would remember to stop chatting to their mate long enough to remember to ask the turnstile man to find an seat with a number that corresponds with the end of a row, but I would still imagine it would be so much quicker and easier to do it yourself once inside.

Sitting in allocated seats is fine if there's a big crowd or if a group buy 5 or 10 tickets so they can sit together, but with the number of free seats available for the vast majority of our games, it seems a bit unnecessary to force spectators to sit somewhere they wouldn't choose, while there are plenty of unoccupied seats in the area they would prefer.

[Gullscorer]

Hmm. If I knew I needed to make a hasty post-match exit I would have bought the appropriately numbered ticket for the end of the row in the first place. Should be easy enough to do, and would avoid any inconvience to others.

Otherwise, I'd have turned off my mobile phone! :~D Is anything ever so unexpectedly urgent?

[usagullmichigan]

Congratulations Andrew on your new role.

Question - Why is there not a free bus to pick up the fans stateside?

Anyway good luck and thanks for the information you have provided on here in the past.

Barry