Thinking outside the box has Saints fans in the zone

DEMAND for entry to the ‘fan zone’ outside St Mirren Park today was so great that organisers are already planning a repeat. All 225 places within the specially constructed marquee were snapped up within 48 hours of being made available earli er t hi s week, underlining the desire of many Scottish football fans for a better match-day experience.

The rapid uptake also l ends weight to the Scottish Daily Mail’s ‘End the Drink Ban’ campaign, as those Saints fans lucky enough to have registered in time will be able to enjoy alcohol i n safe and convenient surroundings.

Soft drinks and food will also be available, while a wide range of family entertainment is being laid on, including a live band, games consoles and televised football from England.

The project is the brainchild of the St Mirrenn Fans Council — a supporter group p which wo r k ss closely with the e club on a variety y of initiatives.

And their chairman Alan n Wardrop believess it is time footballall was allowed to do more to match thehe all-round expeririences offered byby other sportss ,, which are luringng spectators away ay from the national nal game.

‘When we were talking about this as a group, what came up was that a lot of supporters had been to America and Canada,’ said Wardrop. ‘They had experienced baseball, American football and so on, where it is a day out and not purely the sports event.

‘We are definitely losing supporters to things like (nearby ice hockey team) Braehead Clan so we have to address it.’

While freely available at various venues for ice hockey, rugby and basketball, it has been illegal for football fans watching a game to consume alcohol since the 1980 Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Rangers ended in a pitch battle. Fans in corporate seats are allowed to drink alcohol but not within view of the field of play.

Pressure is, however, mounting to alter what many now view as outdated legislation, with sports promoter Barry Hearn recently telling the inaugural SFA Convention that the ban was an ‘insult’ to the paying customer.

‘You cannot tell me the people who go to St Mirren Park are a totally different group of people who go to Braehead Clan or to a rugby match,’ insisted Wardrop. ‘It is all about behaviour. And if you treat people properly, they will behave properly.’

The St Mirren Fans Council raised money for the marquee via a recent lottery, while the club secured the alcohol licence and will operate the bar and some other aspects.

The Fan Zone will be open between 12.30pm and today’s 3pm kick- off against Motherwell, and then again for an hour after the match. Entry is f ree but only available f or those f ans who registered earlier this week after a surge of interest.

‘We definitely want to do it again because it is has been so popular,’ said Wardrop. ‘ The most difficult thing has been telling people they can’t attend.

‘This was so over-subscribed that I could have doubled the size of the marquee. But we worked on an estimate of costs for a certain number of fans. And although we had the physical ability to extend the marquee, the additional costs didn’t allow us to do it.’

HEadded: ‘ It had been planned since October but we could only market it once we got a drinks licence on Monday. We had to close the registration on Wednesday lunchtime because it was full.

‘We are paying for the set-up costs via the lottery. But the club is going too run the bar and a pop-up shop. All the profits from that will go to theh club.

‘We work very closely with them and chief executive Brian Caldwell is a huge part of that. He attends all ththe meetings and lets us know the cclub’s perspective.’

In common with some other rrecently built stadia, St Mirren PPark sits in an area not well served by restaurants or bars.

‘The basic concept is that we don’t have a supporters’ club at the ground,’ added Wardrop. ‘ An area called the void was left when the stadium was built but the club has never had the funds to develop it.

‘Supporters don’t have anywhere to go locally to congregate before and after the match. So we wanted to try to put this together, almost as a Christmas party and a family event.

‘To give you a little example, one of the guys coming was in two minds. But as soon as his son saw there were Playstations, he was then told he had to go to the game. That shows it can have a positive influence.

‘We can get kids under 12 in for free these days. We are getting the costings right but you also have to get the experience right.’