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Re: Supporters' Club Survey - Results Highlights

PostPosted: Fri May 19, 2017 2:00 pm
by The Feral Goat
Supporters are only one element, there are other stakeholders who need to give feedback as well.

I think it is fair to say Glasgow at Scotstoun is largely a success, so it makes sense for the SRU to follow a similar model with Edinburgh. A partnership with GW at Myreside is a great opportunity to create the home we need, but I think the club needs to be prepared to say yes we want to move to Myreside but we need another season / half season to get it to the standard we want. They need to jointly (ER and GW) present an end vision be it 3,5,7 years down the line we need to know what we are aiming for.

Hard to see the trial as a success but I feel there is a longer term opportunity to good to walk away from.

Re: Supporters' Club Survey - Results Highlights

PostPosted: Fri May 19, 2017 2:07 pm
by EWT spoons
bignose wrote:I'm pretty sure that we are furiously agreeing with each other on the key point...

There are three main aspects to building a successful professional rugby club:

1) Results
2) Results
3) Results

Everything else is peripheral.

Over to you Mr Cockerill.


100% agree with this.

That is, first and foremost, the most important thing that could be improved.

Re: Supporters' Club Survey - Results Highlights

PostPosted: Fri May 19, 2017 2:09 pm
by Tichtheid
Are the club seeking feedback from the residents who were opposed, or in fact the residents in general?

If Embra can get them on board, or at least to a point where they don't complain, that gives the club more incentive to invest in the ground.

Re: Supporters' Club Survey - Results Highlights

PostPosted: Fri May 19, 2017 2:11 pm
by EWT spoons
biffer wrote:
Rasho wrote:Lot of complains about the survey, but it is still good useful data. As with all statistics it`s all about how you use and interpret it. Saying things are obvious to one person may not be to another and not to Edi Rugby either.

If the experience (ignoring results for the minute) had been better people would rate the 2 closer, appreciating the difference and allow for that. It highlights the importance of sorting that out if we stay at Myreside as it is a long way from the majority of people being happy and using the castle, for example. People will now know how their specific travel etc works, too, and that feedback point helps.

A clear concern for Edi Rugby is whether people will recommend and bring others along. A sucessful trial could easily have seen that being better at Myreside. For the club to grow it needs to be somewhere where people like the club atmosphere and will recommend it and bring along family and friends to grow the crowd base. If that doesn't happen we're in trouble. It needs investment for that at Myreside.

Having been to Scotstoun for the 1872, there is a marked difference (and btw I wasn't swayed by the win). Arriving at the ground, the facilities inside and outside, main stand, access from town, branding all made it feel like a pro outfit. It was like Edinburgh playing a cup game against a team a couple of leagues above and that's looking at a stadium with similar capacity. I hadn't expected the grounds to be so markedly different and feel like Glasgow operated in a league above in terms of ground and facilities. Currently Myreside is very clearly a school ground. A lot of investment is needed to make Myreside get anywhere near the facilities, branding and quality of Scotstoun.


I think that's the point though, Scotstoun shows what you can do with a bit of investment. It still has significant flaws - I hate a ground with a track around it, the supporters bar is awful, public transport isn't great and it's full of weeg, but they've done a lot over the last few years. The problem is I think we have certain elements of our support who want everything sorted from day one. Not a huge number but there are some who make more noise about toilets than they ever make during a game. What the survey should help to do is show what the priorities are.


To continue the love in, I'm in total agreement here.

It's possible to create a great wee stadium at Myerside for Edinburgh to use. We should be about looking at how we do that, rather than moaning that it's not as nice as Murrayfield.

Off topic slightly, but does anyone know what happens to the money raised by the supporters club doing the 'pick a motm' thing after games?

Re: Supporters' Club Survey - Results Highlights

PostPosted: Fri May 19, 2017 2:20 pm
by biffer
The Feral Goat wrote:Supporters are only one element, there are other stakeholders who need to give feedback as well.

I think it is fair to say Glasgow at Scotstoun is largely a success, so it makes sense for the SRU to follow a similar model with Edinburgh. A partnership with GW at Myreside is a great opportunity to create the home we need, but I think the club needs to be prepared to say yes we want to move to Myreside but we need another season / half season to get it to the standard we want. They need to jointly (ER and GW) present an end vision be it 3,5,7 years down the line we need to know what we are aiming for.

Hard to see the trial as a success but I feel there is a longer term opportunity to good to walk away from.


Successes of the trial -

5000 people fit into myreside
5000 people can get to and from Myreside, although there are issues to be addressed.
TV coverage can be accommodated, both BBC Alba and the slightly larger Sky operation
The ground is capable of hosting pro rugby
There hasn't been a level of disruption which would make a permanent move intolerable for residents or the school
One or two local hostelries have jumped on board with offers to fans
The relationship between ER and GW seems to work
When the team plays better, the atmosphere is more tangible on the pitch than it is at Murrayfield (according to players I've spoken to)

Most of these are what I would call 'hygiene factors' i.e. the things that have to be in place to make something workable. There are some other things of this type which need to be addressed. The whistles and bells of a 'good supporter experience' (I hate that phrase, basically a good supporter experience is winning) have to come after that.

Re: Supporters' Club Survey - Results Highlights

PostPosted: Fri May 19, 2017 2:50 pm
by joe soap
Rasho wrote:Lot of complains about the survey, but it is still good useful data. As with all statistics it`s all about how you use and interpret it. Saying things are obvious to one person may not be to another and not to Edi Rugby either.

If the experience (ignoring results for the minute) had been better people would rate the 2 closer, appreciating the difference and allow for that. It highlights the importance of sorting that out if we stay at Myreside as it is a long way from the majority of people being happy and using the castle, for example. People will now know how their specific travel etc works, too, and that feedback point helps.

A clear concern for Edi Rugby is whether people will recommend and bring others along. A sucessful trial could easily have seen that being better at Myreside. For the club to grow it needs to be somewhere where people like the club atmosphere and will recommend it and bring along family and friends to grow the crowd base. If that doesn't happen we're in trouble. It needs investment for that at Myreside.

Having been to Scotstoun for the 1872, there is a marked difference (and btw I wasn't swayed by the win). Arriving at the ground, the facilities inside and outside, main stand, access from town, branding all made it feel like a pro outfit. It was like Edinburgh playing a cup game against a team a couple of leagues above and that's looking at a stadium with similar capacity. I hadn't expected the grounds to be so markedly different and feel like Glasgow operated in a league above in terms of ground and facilities. Currently Myreside is very clearly a school ground. A lot of investment is needed to make Myreside get anywhere near the facilities, branding and quality of Scotstoun.


when the Weegies moved to Scotstoun there was no supporters bar (and its still rubbish), much less branding, open at both ends (no temp stands) and not even a big screen. It looked very different.

No one is saying don't use survey data, we are saying comparing Myreside after a few games to Murrayfield is flawed methodology unless you want the trial to be shown to fail (happy to believe that is not the intention but.......)

as an aside did anyone ever survey the fans with the most relevant question first - is Murrayfield a suitable home for Edinburgh rugby. And perhaps it is worth asking other stakeholders (like sponsors and broadcaster that same question - who really wants to be associated with vast expanses of empty seats?).

If the answer to the fans question is "no" then questions about Murrayfield are doubly irrelevant. If it is "yes" then we deserve what we get; or we need a new fan base, which is what half the Weegie base now is, new.

Re: Supporters' Club Survey - Results Highlights

PostPosted: Fri May 19, 2017 6:23 pm
by GaryIPA
The fact the Challenge Cup was played at MF last Friday just illustrates the need for a medium size multi use stadium in Edinburgh

Re: Supporters' Club Survey - Results Highlights

PostPosted: Fri May 19, 2017 7:02 pm
by dolf_lundgren
Multi use is hard, we didne like Meadowbank or Easter Road either.

The stadium we really need is Almondvale, but it is in the wrong place. Other than that it is perfect.

The Toni Macaroni Arena though.... :roll: :airborne: :airborne: :roll:

Re: Supporters' Club Survey - Results Highlights

PostPosted: Fri May 19, 2017 8:38 pm
by Chris
To me, there's a fairly simple equation. There are three factors to getting a decent support:
(1) A good matchday experience - i.e. travel, beer, atmosphere, seating etc.
(2) Attractive rugby to watch
(3) Our team winning consistently: not every game, but the majority. The kind of feel that you get at Munster, Leicester, Toulon etc.: that your ground is a fortress, and that losing is unusual.

Get two out of three right, and you're going to attract decent crowds. Get less than that, your support will fall away given time. At the moment, we're not really succeeding on any of those three bases, whereas over the past 12 years or so at Murrayfield we tended to have an acceptable matchday experience (apart from the atmosphere) if nothing else. So, I'll put up with:
1. A good matchday experience, and good rugby to watch, even if we lose (2/3).
2. A good matchday experience, and winning ugly (2/3).
3. A rubbish matchday experience, but we play great rugby and win (2/3).
4. A great matchday experience, we play wonderful rugby, and we win (3/3).

Re: Supporters' Club Survey - Results Highlights

PostPosted: Fri May 19, 2017 9:57 pm
by GaryIPA
dolf_lundgren wrote:Multi use is hard, we didne like Meadowbank or Easter Road either.

The stadium we really need is Almondvale, but it is in the wrong place. Other than that it is perfect.

The Toni Macaroni Arena though.... :roll: :airborne: :airborne: :roll:



Meadowbank was fine lots of potential with a little redevelopment

Re: Supporters' Club Survey - Results Highlights

PostPosted: Sat May 20, 2017 8:33 am
by biffer
GaryIPA wrote:
dolf_lundgren wrote:Multi use is hard, we didne like Meadowbank or Easter Road either.

The stadium we really need is Almondvale, but it is in the wrong place. Other than that it is perfect.

The Toni Macaroni Arena though.... :roll: :airborne: :airborne: :roll:



Meadowbank was fine lots of potential with a little redevelopment


Meadowbank is a LawrenceBryce SteveWalsh

Re: Supporters' Club Survey - Results Highlights

PostPosted: Sat May 20, 2017 8:35 am
by biffer
Chris wrote:To me, there's a fairly simple equation. There are three factors to getting a decent support:
(1) A good matchday experience - i.e. travel, beer, atmosphere, seating etc.
(2) Attractive rugby to watch
(3) Our team winning consistently: not every game, but the majority. The kind of feel that you get at Munster, Leicester, Toulon etc.: that your ground is a fortress, and that losing is unusual.

Get two out of three right, and you're going to attract decent crowds. Get less than that, your support will fall away given time. At the moment, we're not really succeeding on any of those three bases, whereas over the past 12 years or so at Murrayfield we tended to have an acceptable matchday experience (apart from the atmosphere) if nothing else. So, I'll put up with:
1. A good matchday experience, and good rugby to watch, even if we lose (2/3).
2. A good matchday experience, and winning ugly (2/3).
3. A rubbish matchday experience, but we play great rugby and win (2/3).
4. A great matchday experience, we play wonderful rugby, and we win (3/3).


That's just not true. There's one factor to getting big crowds.

Winning.

That's it, no more complicated. Everything else is just fluff.

Re: Supporters' Club Survey - Results Highlights

PostPosted: Sat May 20, 2017 8:50 am
by bignose
biffer wrote:That's just not true. There's one factor to getting big crowds.

Winning.

That's it, no more complicated. Everything else is just fluff.


Exactly.

On that note, do you think that Solomons and Hodge said in their performance reviews "Well, I would have got the team winning more if it hadn't been for the stadium"? *

Don't get me wrong. I'm not dogmatic about Murrayfield but Myreside is not a decent club ground and moving there doesn't address the main problem of poor performance unless there's some financial benefit to being there that might allow sufficient budget to be made available to pick up a better class of import. I can't see that being the case.


* Actually, maybe they did?

Re: Supporters' Club Survey - Results Highlights

PostPosted: Sat May 20, 2017 9:15 am
by GaryIPA
biffer wrote:
GaryIPA wrote:
dolf_lundgren wrote:Multi use is hard, we didne like Meadowbank or Easter Road either.

The stadium we really need is Almondvale, but it is in the wrong place. Other than that it is perfect.

The Toni Macaroni Arena though.... :roll: :airborne: :airborne: :roll:



Meadowbank was fine lots of potential with a little redevelopment


Meadowbank is a LawrenceBryce SteveWalsh


We'll just disagree on that

Re: Supporters' Club Survey - Results Highlights

PostPosted: Sat May 20, 2017 9:21 am
by Oldsalt
If Edinburgh have any ambition, then if they achieve anything they will have to play at Murrayfield or somewhere else with at least double the capacity of Myreside. Can Myreside be expanded to suit a European quarter final/semi final crowd? If it can't then being at Myreside is a waste of time.