Food options at St Marys

Just at my desk, pondering what to have for my lunch. Which reminds me that every time I go to St Marys I am so unimpressed with the choice of food on offer. Why are there so many vans all around the ground that all do the SAME food? What's the point of duplication? Unless it burgers, chips, pies, hot dogs, onions, crisps etc you are not catered for. So often I'm hungry but don't buy because it's just not enticing enough and definitely not good for me.

It got me thinking about whenever I visit an outdoor music festival. The choice of food outlets there is always one of my highlights! There are vans and stalls for virtually every cuisine - thai, indian, vegetarian, pizza, lebanese, chinese, japanese, steak burgers - you name it!

I'm happy to pay my money, I just think some culinary choice is more suitable to this day and age.

Back to today's lunch, I fancy falafels and salad in a pitta.

Football ground for football,

music festival for musical entertainment.

Food festival for food, surely?

Problem is you would assume they wouldn't come back every week if they didn't sell enough to make money, probably the best market research available is the experience of knowing you're going to sell X number of **** burgers every week at Y profit.

Agree it would be nice to have a choice, but on the flipside, Southampton city centre has a good range and is only a 10-minute walk away.

Lol, somebody's hungry.

I'd agree though, the rat burgers on offer outside are minging to say the least! Id definitely be up for a little variety with different cuisines. I can't see it happening though as they think that they've got us nailed down with the average punter wanting nothing more than a flaccid burger and chips.

You could take a leaf out of a chap in our row's book - he has managed to smuggle in all sorts of culinary delights, ranging from figs, big mac meals, sushi, sweet and sour chicken noodles and KFC.

One of the more recent offerings was a multi pack of burton's fish and chip crisps, of which at least 5 of the 6 were demolished.

I've long thought that street food vendors outside St Mary's would be a great thing - offering more than just your standard dodgy burger wagon fare. I don't know how the club manage it but if it were me I'd be charging for the pitch and letting them get on with it. Supply and demand would sort out the popular from the less popular.

It's impossible to know beforehand what fans would want - at the moment it's only burgers, hotdogs and chips type fare so they don't have the choice but I dare say quite a few would plump for something different if it were offered

Fans campaign? Liverpool fans got the result they wanted in only 1 week!

It is/should be supply and demand. So I guess if that's what the majority want, that's what we get. But I cannot believe that's the case. We should do a poll! And present it to our enlightned club heirarchy.

Problem is you would assume they wouldn't come back every week if they didn't sell enough to make money, probably the best market research available is the experience of knowing you're going to sell X number of **** burgers every week at Y profit.

 

Agree it would be nice to have a choice, but on the flipside, Southampton city centre has a good range and is only a 10-minute walk away.

I'm not sure about that. Sometimes I get hungry and have some of the overpriced food but it doesn't mean that I particularly enjoy it or go out of my way to get something there on a normal matchday.

Just at my desk, pondering what to have for my lunch. Which reminds me that every time I go to St Marys I am so unimpressed with the choice of food on offer. Why are there so many vans all around the ground that all do the SAME food? What's the point of duplication? Unless it burgers, chips, pies, hot dogs, onions, crisps etc you are not catered for. So often I'm hungry but don't buy because it's just not enticing enough and definitely not good for me.

 

It got me thinking about whenever I visit an outdoor music festival. The choice of food outlets there is always one of my highlights! There are vans and stalls for virtually every cuisine - thai, indian, vegetarian, pizza, lebanese, chinese, japanese, steak burgers - you name it!

 

I'm happy to pay my money, I just think some culinary choice is more suitable to this day and age.

 

Back to today's lunch, I fancy falafels and salad in a pitta.

I don't eat a meal between 15:00 and 17:00 so I couldn't care less what food options there are.

Fans campaign? Liverpool fans got the result they wanted in only 1 week!

 

It is/should be supply and demand. So I guess if that's what the majority want, that's what we get. But I cannot believe that's the case. We should do a poll! And present it to our enlightned club heirarchy.

All buy burgers and throw them at the players on 5mins, to signify our displeasure at quality and price?

never mind the food, that only comes into play for night games when you have run out of time, more importantly after 15 years at SMS why is the beer queue still so bloody long? The ROI of having more staff, multi piny pourers and all round faster service must be almost immediate.

Fans campaign? Liverpool fans got the result they wanted in only 1 week!

While the headlines would suggest that to be the case, I suggest people dig a little deeper into the resolutions to see that come next season, many Liverpool fans will still have great cause for complaint...

never mind the food, that only comes into play for night games when you have run out of time, more importantly after 15 years at SMS why is the beer queue still so bloody long? The ROI of having more staff, multi piny pourers and all round faster service must be almost immediate.

Qjacker

In my opinion everything at SMS food wise is top drawer, delicious and great value. Apart from Quavers...

I can't remember the last time I ate something at football which wasn't a steak pie, a balti pie or a bar of chocolate, because they're literally the only things they sell at football that I'd even consider. I would probably eat other stuff if there was any kind of option at all, but any time I'm even thinking about watching what I eat and go to football, forget it.

They have healthy food takeaways in service stations now, how hard can it be?

While the headlines would suggest that to be the case, I suggest people dig a little deeper into the resolutions to see that come next season, many Liverpool fans will still have great cause for complaint...

Not a surprise, given that they were only campaigning about a tiny fraction of the ticket prices anyway!

I would like to suggest to the club that maybe they could do something better. Anyone know what email address at the club is best to use?

Thinking about the streets around SMS, they probably get the pitch from the council. Their business is probably at other locations around the area on non-match days, SMS on match days. There probably isn't much call for quality street food from their clientale. It's the british way! So it'll never change. Only inside the ground could Saints have a say - and what's the point of more burgers and hot dogs inside if you can get that outside?

I would like to suggest to the club that maybe they could do something better. Anyone know what email address at the club is best to use?

AskRupert@saintsfc.co.uk

Because of work commitments I get dropped off just before kick off and need something to eat but try and resist having to buy from the traders outside. I actually got there early once and had some chips that were stone cold so obviously were meant to be warmed up leftovers. The best food I had inside the ground was the hog roast pork rolls but at £4-50p a bit expensive.

AskRupert@saintsfc.co.uk

Beat me to it.

Who cares it's only to soak up beer !?

Eating at football is only best experienced at half time, making sure you leave your seat at 40 mins to go down to the concourse, obscuring the view of everyone behind you, all for a very necessary 3:45 pm hot dog.

You could take a leaf out of a chap in our row's book - he has managed to smuggle in all sorts of culinary delights, ranging from figs, big mac meals, sushi, sweet and sour chicken noodles and KFC.

 

One of the more recent offerings was a multi pack of burton's fish and chip crisps, of which at least 5 of the 6 were demolished.

When we played villa in the cup I took my daughters so didn't sit in my normal seat, sat next to a old chap and his family they had a cool back full of pizza wrapped up in tin foil. They sat there most of the first half stuffing themselves, second half they got desert out satsumas bananas and apples washed down with cartons of various tropical juices. Didn't even offer us any but the people in front had plenty down their backs and in there hoods it was a right mess.

To cap it all he asked me twice if I was a villa supporter, then at full time asked what part of Birmingham I was from.

Saying that The Dell bar does an excellent burger and chips!

Will never buy anything in the ground until they can sort out the queues. I'd happily go the ground early if the beer was even half decent though. How do they get it so badly wrong?

A family near me routinely get crisps and dips out during the game. I'm waiting for us to score during this period to see doritos and hummus flying around block 26.

I don't eat a meal between 15:00 and 17:00 so I couldn't care less what food options there are.

What about 1730 kick offs?

I will never have a Burger from one of those vans outside the ground again after I got a terrible norovirus type illness from one after the Reading game in our first prem season. 4 days off work with ****s and sickness and was literally on the ****ter every half hour, even throughout the night. Things like that kinda put you off. Inside the ground is probably ok eg the pies, but now I will just go into the town centre before a game if i need some food.

I will never have a Burger from one of those vans outside the ground again after I got a terrible norovirus type illness from one after the Reading game in our first prem season. 4 days off work with ****s and sickness and was literally on the ****ter every half hour, even throughout the night. Things like that kinda put you off. Inside the ground is probably ok eg the pies, but now I will just go into the town centre before a game if i need some food.

To be fair that was more than likely from touching something else (on the train or stadium loos etc) than the food. The food is heated to such a ridiculous temperature, I'm pretty sure nothing would survive it, not even the food!

I will never have a Burger from one of those vans outside the ground again after I got a terrible norovirus type illness from one after the Reading game in our first prem season. 4 days off work with ****s and sickness and was literally on the ****ter every half hour, even throughout the night. Things like that kinda put you off. Inside the ground is probably ok eg the pies, but now I will just go into the town centre before a game if i need some food.

which is probably the main difference between this and a music festival. at a football match the customer is only captive for a couple of hours, that's within the ground, where the vans can't sell to them, and they rely on passing trade which can take its business elsewhere.

Anyone remember Mash of the Day in the industrial estate on the road that brings you up by the Chapel Kingsland corner, they did a couple of nice Lincolnshire Sausages, a funny mash with either Baked Beean or Onion Gravy all for £2.50. Sadly being a catering company they got good at what they did and had to move to bigger premises. Just before they left the queues were impressive.

Remember at Arsenal away there was a street near the Emirates where every house had a food stall literally in their front garden, there was every type of cuisine you could imagine it was awesome! Not sure if it was the owners of the houses who had set up these stalls or if the stall holders were renting the space but there was definitely plenty of choices.

You get the same outside Twickenham. (Which I'm sure the skates will enjoy when they start renting the ground.....apparently)

Thing is, the club only has to make the space available other than that they really don't have to put much effort in other than to satisfy H&Sregs. So it would only take a willing mind at the club for this to become reality

I don't buy any food or drink inside the ground, 1 it's overpriced, 2 in most of it is not worth buying, the shop just before start to walk through the industrial estate Chapel end you can buy a bottle of coke for just under half the price of what it is in the ground.