MaseVilla Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 General, not a question, just a massive thank you for all your efforts to get me to the game today. To fill everyone in, I posted on this thread over a week ago asking if the General knew of any way that i could get a ticket to the Wigan game, as due to many reasons i had no chance of getting one before they sold out, and have hardly missed a game all season. I expected there was little chance that anything would be available, but that did not stop Mr. Krulak from obtaining my phone number on here, and passing on my request to the consumer sales department to see if there was anything they could do. Yesterday evening i received a phone call from the head of consumer sales department (who took time out from a trip to Austria to call) explaining that they would try everything they could, to ensure i got a ticket to the game. To my complete and utter shock that call was followed by one from the General himself who explained he had passed the message on and he hoped that i would get to the game, and that the club were doing everything they could do to get me there!!! Unbelievable! In the meantime, a mate of mine had accquired a spare ticket for the game and kindly sold it to me, solving my crisis. I received a call this morning from the consumer sales department explaining they had had no luck yet in finding me a seat, but were just about to phone wigan and try and get something off them. At this point i explained i had found a ticket for the game and hopefully saved them a lot of hassle in ringing the wigan offices. I made my way to the game, gritty performance, 2 goals and another 3 points away from home. Great result. This message is to yourself General and also to all the staff at Villa who were involved in trying to get me a ticket. The fact that you took the time out of your busy schedule to pass on the message and then personally call me(and im assuming, due to the poor reception, all the way from America!) meant a great deal and i cannot say thank you enough. You're a credit to yourself and the club sir, and im honoured to have spoken to you. Hope to meet you one day and chat to you at greater length! Cheers again, Mase - Villa Till I Die Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-krulak Posted December 29, 2007 Author Share Posted December 29, 2007 General Krulak here" 1. Mase: I am very glad that you made it to the game. Yes, I am in the US and I received a call early this morning indicating that you had "found" a ticket. Well done! Simply put, when we have someone like yourself and all the rest who actively support our Club whether here at Villa Park or on the road, we are going to do our best to help. Sometimes we are successful, sometimes we aren't...but this is Aston Villa Football Club and we are Family!! It was my honour to speak with you...even though the connection was terrible. By the way, the person who called you from Austria was Nicky Keye...one of the tremedous group of people we have in our Ticketing Organization...she heads up the Team in that area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted December 29, 2007 Moderator Share Posted December 29, 2007 ^^^^ that's absolutely brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Zen Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 That is a fantastic story, Mase. I can't believe how helpful the club is, really makes me proud. Question for the General; There are about 70 of us making the trip down from Norway for the Newcastle game (I believe you've spoken to my good friend Hall), all of us extremely grateful for all you and Randy have done for our club. Do you think you're man enough to drink all the rounds we're all prepared to buy you? :winkold: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrobo1 Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 fantastic customer service General Just a quick niggle I have checked the OS today and we still do not have the tables for the reserves and youth, it is a small thing but I believe a lot of us would like to know this and a Yeovil fan has just post this so it is nice to see a very talented yougster doing so well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacquesderrida Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 The above makes my heart swell with Villa-esque pride... Go Browns – even more, go Colts!! (An orange button moment, methinks, to help our brothers along??) General, do report on the games for us, when you can... (I never thought I'd be quite so nervous about an NFL fixture!) jd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avillafan.com Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 Firstly what a great story. Nice to know that there are generous people around. And theres nothing nicer to hear than someone with a big role and say in the club come out with a comment like... "but this is Aston Villa Football Club and we are Family" Priceless. Happy New Year General. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markeefc Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 General yesterday was my first away game for about 10 years and with the result and everything turned out to be a really super day. However,I have to raise some concerns with you about the away end at Wigan. Not sure if this is the right approach but as the club is responsible for the behaviour of its own fans then think it appropriate. The concourse (about 20ft wide in places) with refreshment bars, toilets etc is on a raised diase about half way up the stands. From here there is a single entry and egress point for each of the six blocks. At half time most of the Villa fans were tring to leave the stand to use facilities by these single point, s enter or exit the toilets or make their way to the refreshment bars. This resulted in a massive crush point (not helped by the behaviour of some Villa fans) with the potential for serious injury, especially for the many young children at the game. There were no stewards or police on hand to try and control things. Having escaped the crush I found a steward at the front of the stand and asked to see the senior safety steward but he clearly had no idea who I was asking for. When I finally got to see someone in 'authority' I got the impression that they didn't no how to handle such a large away following and to be honest couldn't care less. In fact whilst raising my concerns another steward told me I was blocking the aisle and to move. I was in block NS3 where my experience happend and can't comment on the other areas, but the Wigan Ratings thread seems to have some simlar comments. My main concerns consits about the lay out of the stand, the poorsity of the access points and the poor training of the stewards and lack of getting involved. (I think Wigan hire in there stewards from an outside company). Hope the club can raise this with Wigan to try and improve things in future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomb2233 Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Best of luck today to The Browns General! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 General, Congratulations are due to the team and Martin on breaking a club record. The win at Wigan meant that for the first time ever in the top flight (even during the seasons when we won the league title) we have gone from the start of the season to the end of the year without losing more than one league game away from home. I'm sure that Randy, yourself and the whole backroom team will be happy to have seen a club record broken and some history made so early into your time at Villa Park. Please accept my best wishes for the future and thanks for all of the great work that is being done at the club that is so much appreciated. Lets hope that 2008 will bring good things for both Villa & The Browns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b6bloke Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 General yesterday was my first away game for about 10 years and with the result and everything turned out to be a really super day. However,I have to raise some concerns with you about the away end at Wigan. Not sure if this is the right approach but as the club is responsible for the behaviour of its own fans then think it appropriate. The concourse (about 20ft wide in places) with refreshment bars, toilets etc is on a raised diase about half way up the stands. From here there is a single entry and egress point for each of the six blocks. At half time most of the Villa fans were tring to leave the stand to use facilities by these single point, s enter or exit the toilets or make their way to the refreshment bars. This resulted in a massive crush point (not helped by the behaviour of some Villa fans) with the potential for serious injury, especially for the many young children at the game. There were no stewards or police on hand to try and control things. Having escaped the crush I found a steward at the front of the stand and asked to see the senior safety steward but he clearly had no idea who I was asking for. When I finally got to see someone in 'authority' I got the impression that they didn't no how to handle such a large away following and to be honest couldn't care less. In fact whilst raising my concerns another steward told me I was blocking the aisle and to move. I was in block NS3 where my experience happend and can't comment on the other areas, but the Wigan Ratings thread seems to have some simlar comments. My main concerns consits about the lay out of the stand, the poorsity of the access points and the poor training of the stewards and lack of getting involved. (I think Wigan hire in there stewards from an outside company). Hope the club can raise this with Wigan to try and improve things in future. General the issue raised above was of great concern to me also and i too was in N3. Half time was a nightmare! and though i don't see how fans singing made things worse i have no doubt that if an emergency situation was too occur that there would have been a crushing incident. There was no sign of any stewarding or police and without a shadow of a doubt that concourse was not suitable to the numbers allowed in the stand. I would be asking to see Wigans Emergency evacuation plan and risk assessments. Wigan WILL see away crowds like that again and if something were to happen i would hate to look back and think that something could have been done to prevent it. I know this is not Villa's fault but this concern should be brought to their attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drat01 Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Chaps - we had similar experiences yesterday. At half time the 2 police men who were watching it all happened cam back with the classic, "oh we will do something aboout it if it happens". The Wigan stewards were nowhere to be seen and when we eventually spoke to one they said a lot of them didn't know what was going on as they had a lot of people off that day! I would just like to add a small caveat though the behaviour of so called Villa fans was disgusting yesterday. Pushing girls over and then abusing them is something I would expect from the sha brigade. This was just one thing we saw and experienced yesterday, not really a pleasant experience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-krulak Posted December 30, 2007 Author Share Posted December 30, 2007 General Krulak here: 1. Roger on the Reserves. 2. Michelson: Not sure I could handle 70 rounds of anything...much less brewed. 3. I will speak to our H&S Leadership and ask them to pass on the concerns of our fans to the folks at Wigan. 4. Club Record: Neither Randy nor I had even thought about the "record"...thank you for making us aware of this. Very nice. Obviously, MON and the Team are the ones who deserve all the credit. 5. Fan behaviour: Obviously I feel gutted every time I read that a Villa Supporter does not act with some modicum of dignity. It reflects on the Club, the Team and, of course, the entire fan base. Somehow we need to figure out how to control such antics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bully Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 General Please pass on my congratulations to Randy and all concerned on the Browns 10-6 season. I remember you saying that 8-8 was the target so whatever happens in the later game (please God the Colts do the biz) it has been excellent progress this year for the Browns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trekka Posted December 30, 2007 VT Supporter Share Posted December 30, 2007 Congratulations on your 500th post here on VillaTalk General. Here's to another 500 posts :notworthy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasthevillan Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 What a run by Joshua Cribbs! Heres hoping that the Colts can do us a favour in the 2nd half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeeed1977 Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Hi General, Seasons greetings to you and all the team at Villa and thanks again for bringing the feelgood factor back to us all. Its truly amazing to be part of whats going on at our club! I just wanted to ask if there are any special Villa related "experiences" I could get for my Dad. Its his Birthday on the 5th Jan. He has been a Villa fan all his life and a season ticket holder since he was a boy (over 50 years). He's supported Villa through thick and thin. Its always been, and continues to be, his one true passion in life (much to Mum's bemusement at times!). One of my earliest memories in fact was of him coming home from Rotterdam in '82. Sadly, as I was only 5 at the time I didn't quite grasp the enormity of the experience he went through. I'm pleased to say though that he, like many other people on this site shared the whole story of that day (and many others) with me last season at the Sheffield United game. For it was on that day that the enormity of what Randy and you guys have done to my club finally sank in to me. Suddenly my Dad's passion had been re-ignited again for the club he has always loved. A passion that, whilst always burning inside, had flickered lamely for so long over the previous few years of stagnation and regression. My Dad retired this year and whilst he'll continue go to every (home) game at the club with my Uncle (and me!) as he has done for the past 50 odd years, I'd just really like to give him something that little bit extra for his Birthday this year. I've bought him the match day experiences before (and a paving stone by the Trinity!) which have been excellent but I was wandering if there's anything more "personal" that I could buy him from the club? If you could point me in the direction as to who to speak to I'd be eternally grateful! Thanks again General. All the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 General........I must say the Colts (or should I say Dolts) were F***ING useless tonight. Hard luck to the Browns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSV Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 yeah just watched the game.. they took off their better players near the end.. poor sportsmanship.. but ah well.. 10-6 is a good season for the browns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sm Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Sorry General. Several of us stayed up to cheer your boys on, but to no avail. The Colts second string QB let you down big-time. He was hopeless. Please pass on our commiserations to Randy too. Happy New Year to you and your family, Randy too and everyone else at Villa Park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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