I visited the ground today

[SuperFreeman]

Firstly let me just quickly say that I visit the ground about every three weeks during the close season, something I've done for years, walking from Hammersmith to Bishops Park via Charlie's Barbers and The Half Moon Cafe,
So I'm familiar with The Riverside from inception to what you see today, on the way to the ground I had to pass both The River Cafe and The Crabtree and I must say that both establishments were absolutely packed, standing room only, so I was quite surprised to find what could be best described as a smattering of people and a lot of them were wearing Fulham lanyards,
If other venues within 10 minutes of the ground are packed and we're not then surely we are doing something wrong are we not ?
Every time I visit I struggle to see exactly what audience we are trying to attract, there's no restaurant there, at least not downstairs, where you can have a meal with a menu and a knife and fork, or a cafe style scenario with comfy chairs and cakes and sandwiches etc ,
There is no way that costs were being covered today, certainly not in the 90 minutes or so that I was there,
Plenty of people with laptops though,"working from home " using the WiFi but not spending any money, every time I visit there never seems to be anyone in charge just plenty of youngsters head down staring at their phone, something Al Fayed would never had tolerated, I visit because I love the Club and the area ,if I didn't I wouldn't have a single reason to return as customer service is pretty lousy.
There was though plenty going on on the pitch with what looked like the entire pitch being re laid , also lots going on with the wall at the back of The Hammersmith End it looked like some kind of cosmetic work,
If ever there was a day designed for an outdoor swimming pool then this was the day, how long has it been now, seven years  ?
Oh and I met Alec McLeish on the tube, a bit of a legend of mine.

I enjoyed reading your observations and that you regularly walk past the Cottage. It must be one of the nicest locations on the list of 92 professional clubs in England Wales. However, I was a little confused when you said the Crabtree and the Riverside Cafe were packed and then say that there was only a smattering of people. Did you mean the barber shop and Half Moon Cafe were packed?? If so, it must surely have something to do with pricing. Pubs are now expensive meeting points and I know the Riverside Cafe is also pricey. Hence why they are near empty. As for a swimming pool at the club. That will never happen. Health and Safety. Look at the number of recent fatalities involving those who couldn't swim- or couldn't swim properly yet entered the sea or a swimming pool. Fans in the Riverside drinking and eating large amounts and then jumping into a swimming pool would be a recipe for a disaster- even if the pool had a lifeguard. It's a bad idea.

[john dempsey]

Firstly let me just quickly say that I visit the ground about every three weeks during the close season, something I've done for years, walking from Hammersmith to Bishops Park via Charlie's Barbers and The Half Moon Cafe,
So I'm familiar with The Riverside from inception to what you see today, on the way to the ground I had to pass both The River Cafe and The Crabtree and I must say that both establishments were absolutely packed, standing room only, so I was quite surprised to find what could be best described as a smattering of people and a lot of them were wearing Fulham lanyards,
If other venues within 10 minutes of the ground are packed and we're not then surely we are doing something wrong are we not ?
Every time I visit I struggle to see exactly what audience we are trying to attract, there's no restaurant there, at least not downstairs, where you can have a meal with a menu and a knife and fork, or a cafe style scenario with comfy chairs and cakes and sandwiches etc ,
There is no way that costs were being covered today, certainly not in the 90 minutes or so that I was there,
Plenty of people with laptops though,"working from home " using the WiFi but not spending any money, every time I visit there never seems to be anyone in charge just plenty of youngsters head down staring at their phone, something Al Fayed would never had tolerated, I visit because I love the Club and the area ,if I didn't I wouldn't have a single reason to return as customer service is pretty lousy.
There was though plenty going on on the pitch with what looked like the entire pitch being re laid , also lots going on with the wall at the back of The Hammersmith End it looked like some kind of cosmetic work,
If ever there was a day designed for an outdoor swimming pool then this was the day, how long has it been now, seven years  ?
Oh and I met Alec McLeish on the tube, a bit of a legend of mine.

I enjoyed reading your observations and that you regularly walk past the Cottage. It must be one of the nicest locations on the list of 92 professional clubs in England Wales. However, I was a little confused when you said the Crabtree and the Riverside Cafe were packed and then say that there was only a smattering of people. Did you mean the barber shop and Half Moon Cafe were packed?? If so, it must surely have something to do with pricing. Pubs are now expensive meeting points and I know the Riverside Cafe is also pricey. Hence why they are near empty. As for a swimming pool at the club. That will never happen. Health and Safety. Look at the number of recent fatalities involving those who couldn't swim- or couldn't swim properly yet entered the sea or a swimming pool. Fans in the Riverside drinking and eating large amounts and then jumping into a swimming pool would be a recipe for a disaster- even if the pool had a lifeguard. It's a bad idea.

Have you never been on Holiday, all those thosands of people,
in Hotels.
eating drinking around the pool.
If this weather holds for the weekend
the Riverside will be packed out.
This can only be good for FFC and,
the profile of the club.

[cookieg]

Given the fact that there  are no offices in the immediate area then it's hardly a surprise that there is a lack of office workers lunch time. And those who do work at the ground are hardly going to walk to Putney Bridge for lunch so if it's convenient for them to have a coffee or meeting at the stand then it makes sense. I get the feeling that some people are just looking to pick holes in this project.

[C Block]

Given the fact that there  are no offices in the immediate area then it's hardly a surprise that there is a lack of office workers lunch time. And those who do work at the ground are hardly going to walk to Putney Bridge for lunch so if it's convenient for them to have a coffee or meeting at the stand then it makes sense. I get the feeling that some people are just looking to pick holes in this project.

Not at all, in fact I agree with everything you say, but there lies the problem, it's not easily accessible for those people that just want to pop out at lunchtime, and that's never going to change, so what's the answer?
How do you entice the clients of the River Cafe and the Crabtree to make the effort to walk the additional distance to The Riverside?
It's not convenient for either the people of Putney or the people of Hammersmith to pop to for an hour, but somebody involved with the Fulham Pier needs to think about a solution 🤔

[acji]

Given the fact that there  are no offices in the immediate area then it's hardly a surprise that there is a lack of office workers lunch time. And those who do work at the ground are hardly going to walk to Putney Bridge for lunch so if it's convenient for them to have a coffee or meeting at the stand then it makes sense. I get the feeling that some people are just looking to pick holes in this project.

Not at all, in fact I agree with everything you say, but there lies the problem, it's not easily accessible for those people that just want to pop out at lunchtime, and that's never going to change, so what's the answer?
How do you entice the clients of the River Cafe and the Crabtree to make the effort to walk the additional distance to The Riverside?
It's not convenient for either the people of Putney or the people of Hammersmith to pop to for an hour, but somebody involved with the Fulham Pier needs to think about a solution 🤔

Bring back the footbridge plans! Seriously though, look at the footfall in Bishops Park and Fulham Palace, if a venue gets a good rep. people go out of their way.