We had been pointing out that our volunteer stewards need help for years and it has been notably better this season so I welcome any further updates to our safety processes and the increase in our stewarding budget. I didn't have any problems with the stewarding yesterday but I have personally experienced heavy handed stewarding at Halifax this season, so I hope that we can work with a company that is a good combination of friendly, fair and firm when required. It would be good to keep our volunteer stewards on as liaisons who can communicate with fans first and foremost, backed up by the muscle.
We're at a bit of a crossroads, here. We're being asked to up our game and professionalise our match day operation but I think an element of how it was is what made us attractive to the floating fan. We're all used to turning up and effectively having free run the ground. Walk where you want, stand where you want, hang around and have a chat on the Golf Road End for 20 minutes after the game. I can see this being phased out in future and it's going to be hard for us to take, and 'un-Alty' to many.
I don't believe it has been made clear what structural work we are actually doing. Please can we have this explained to us in a simple list. Phrases like 'extensive ground repairs' and 'new operating practices' tell a story but don't give us the nuts and bolts and leave this situation up to interpretation, which is a problem at the moment.
What I don't understand is - what on earth are they actually checking for when they come and take a look at the ground for a capacity review? How are these things not picked up in the pre-season? Do they do a yearly safety check for these sorts of things? How have we as a club not gotten on top of this before the fact? Hindsight is wonderful and I do wonder that, if given the opportunity again, the club would have opted to make these improvements ahead of starting the Fan Zone project. It does feel like we attempted to put a jewel in a crown of thorns.
Make no mistake though, the degradation of the ground starts well before our current leadership got into their stride. Sports Hall development aside, Moss Lane has been a tired old football ground for as long as I can vividly remember, which would be around 2003 or so.
Zooming out of these past few weeks and looking at our long term progression has helped me to feel a lot better about the situation. If any business experiences rapid growth then it will magnify the weaknesses that need work, we aren't a superclub and our growth isn't going to be without challenges. I do believe we are working hard on it and I know that we will learn a lot from this, in a number of ways.