Stewarding staff at Brentford Football Club were delighted to receive high praise from a Birmingham City fan following their recent game at Griffin Park.
More than 1,000 fans travelled to support Birmingham at Griffin Park in late February but despite leaving disappointed as The Bees took the points, one visiting supporter put aside the result to contact Brentford FC about their experience.
Mark Devlin, Brentford FC Chief Executive, said: “We wanted to share this email as I don’t think I have ever seen correspondence of this nature from a visiting supporter after their team has lost. The customer service shown by the members of staff involved was quite extraordinary. I would like to think this is reflective of our Club culture and is definitely the kind of image of the Club I would like to see portrayed.
“On behalf of everyone at Brentford FC, I wanted to say a very big well done and thank you to all the operational and stewarding team for doing such a wonderful job. It is great to get feedback like this.
“We do our utmost to listen to valuable supporter feedback and invest in our staff to ensure we are forever evolving off the field. I hope and believe that all our matchday team feel valued and I would like to think this sort of service is replicated many times over the course of the season and all fans, home and away, are looked after in this way.”
The email received is reproduced below.
Hello,
I visited Griffin Park on Tuesday last to support Birmingham City in the recent EFL game which, I’m sorry to say we were soundly and deservedly beaten 5-0. I have followed Birmingham home and away for many, many years and I can say I have visited most of the grounds, if not all of the grounds “the blues” have played in, and so therefore experienced stewarding however good, or bad up and down the country and I can honestly say for the first time I have felt compelled to write to the club concerned , which , obviously is Brentford fc regarding your stewards.
From my first encounter ( which I was told “enjoy the game”) last Tuesday night to the last steward wishing me “a safe trip home”, I was impressed by their friendly demeanour and the care they showed. If I can elaborate, they’re were a few Birmingham supporters who needed walking sticks and, being standing only in the lower tier of the away end, I saw on three separate occasions stewards escorting these impaired fans up and down the terrace steps, and one of the stewards even helped one lady get to the ladies. I would like to mention the steward supervisor, I believe her name was Haley, she was everywhere. I saw her find a stool for a small boy to stand on so he had a better view. She also helped elderly fans up and down the steps leading into/out of the away stand. She even commiserated with me when she saw the obvious disappointment of a heavy defeat. When I bought my coffee at the refreshments outlet I was wished ” enjoy the game”. We were asked, politely, to move on after buying our drinks/pies because of blocking access to the toilets. Believe me you don’t get politeness in most grounds.
Football supporters in general get a bad press, and I suppose reputations precede some supporters so therefore opinions are formed which leads to then being treated like hooligans have arrived, which in turn means some fans will act like thugs. I believe the way Brentford Fc stewards treated us blues fans, with respect, care, and professionalism is a fine example to all other 91 clubs in the football league. If there were, maybe there is? An award for match day experience by any one club, then my vote most definitely goes to Brentford Fc and their staff.
Can you please pass this e mail onto the appropriate people, and pass on my thanks for a very good, apart from the result, match day experience at Griffin Park.
Good luck for the rest of the season.
Image: PA Images
