To people saying “ what do we expect from concourse catering , stop moaning about it “ , it’s as if we are expected to still live in caves according to some .
I had relatives over from Canada four years ago and took them to a game at Ibrox . They were so excited to go but to cut a long story short despite their polite demeanour afterwards I know for a fact they were utterly let down and appalled by the experience ( didn’t help we drew 0/0 and it rained all day ) .
I put this down to both their false high expectations ( hadn’t been to Ibrox since 1980s) with nostalgic and blue tinted specs hoped for a better matchday experience . They asked what the portakabins were for , looked horrified at the basic “ catering “ on offer , and let down by lack of any atmosphere or fan involvement . Talk about a damp squib.
What people who only attend Scottish football need to come to terms with is the rest of the world have moved on . My Canadian relatives go to ice hockey now and get ice cold beers and food from a menu delivered to their seats at games . There are massive parking facilities and on site entertainment for whole families . People are made to feel welcome and involved in clean, modern facilities. The matchday announcer actively encourages fans to join in .
Now imagine going from that , to a rainy Ibrox with barbed wire surrounding Grey portakabins to collect tickets , toilets stinking of 40 years worth of crystallised urine and regal king size smoke, then queue to pay a fortune for a brick hard molten hot pie and watered down coke served by grumpy teenagers in bobbled red jumpers 4 sizes too big for them . A matchday DJ who is too lazy to read out subs never mind encourage singing or fan engagement . You get the picture . And Ibrox is by far the BEST in Scotland ! Think on that .
We are stuck in our ways and thankfully the new board and marketing guys we have seem to have a handle on the fact in 2020 people simply will not put up with such crappy facilities for much longer . Football in other countries have caught up and overtook Scotland on and off the pitch and has left us in their rear view mirror for the most part . We need dragged kicking and screaming into realising it’s meant to be an entertainment , where we welcome fans willing to spend time and money in and around the ground . Otherwise we lose passing the baton on to future generations .
Apologies for the long post but I feel strongly about this subject . Rangers have been pioneers in Scottish terms in the past and it’s time to be so again . Let’s lead the way and let the others try and keep up with us .