So if/when Mary D's closes

I agree with a lot of others on here - city square is shit.

We are seriously lacking pubs around the ground. The thing is a lot of these pubs aren’t closing because people aren’t using them it’s because developers are turning them into houses and flats.... the police don’t want them either

Elsewhere in the centre and plenty of other areas, pubs are thriving. Other then the ground there’s no reason to actually go to the area

We could also do with a city centre pub. There aren’t any just Man City ones
 
Pubs closing has become a feature of society - as a child I remember pubs everywhere - a pub on almost every corner but pub landlords can’t hope to compete with the likes of Tesco and Asda who use alcohol as loss leaders. I did hear once that circa 50 pubs a week are now closing across the U.K. - so no wonder they are disappearing at a rapid rate - and the pubs that do seem to be surviving are the likes of Wetherspoons - which to my mind are not proper pubs - no character or atmosphere. People can get 10 cans for the cost of one round at the pub - and hence people sit at home where they can watch the TV and have a smoke if they want. Pubs and footie grounds is more complex - somewhere the size of Mary D’s can no doubt shift enough volume once a fortnight and survive - but for a lot of pubs one pay day once a fortnight just isn’t enough and the premises can be put to better use. If City were to expand the North Stand - they should sweep away City Square and replace it with a covered area and create a German type beer hall - with a wide range of beers and food - they’d clean up if they priced it right - both before and after games - with little or no competition in the area. Need a decent range of craft beers sensibly priced - so that probably never gonna happen - it’ll be Budweiser at £5 a bottle ! Personally, I drive to games so I never have a drink but I know it’s a key part of the matchday experience for many and it’s not transferred well from Maine Road to the present ground.
Agree with all of this, the move from Maine Road no doubt contributed to the lack of pubs in Moss Side/Rusholme/Fallowfield now as they lostthe match day and concert trade. A covered area well priced with decent products could do well or as mentioned earlier the academy stadium could be utilised much more on match days. I feel much of the City Square set up is to get people down early and stop them spending elsewhere.
 
Agree with all of this, the move from Maine Road no doubt contributed to the lack of pubs in Moss Side/Rusholme/Fallowfield now as they lostthe match day and concert trade. A covered area well priced with decent products could do well or as mentioned earlier the academy stadium could be utilised much more on match days. I feel much of the City Square set up is to get people down early and stop them spending elsewhere.

Much of the problem is that the clubs vision of what they want to provide - doesn’t quite align with what many of the fans actually want. The club has focussed on a family orientated product - which is fine in its place, but many still want a traditional pie, smoke and pint experience and that’s not really catered for too well at the ground, sure you can get a pie and yes you can get a pint, but the quality isn’t great, the prices are a piss take and the environment isn’t conducive... for all that our owners have done and they’ve been amazing their one weakness is a genuine relationship with the fans - they use marketing to justify their decisions but I’m not sure they really listen or ask the right people in terms of getting the match day experience right. It might be me - and I’m an old git but I find much of the pre match stuff either childish or patronising. I know it’s not all aimed at me so I should shut up but I don’t really feel catered for at all.
 
Went to Madrid for the CL semi-Final.

The area around the Santiago Bernabeu was full of residential apartments and bars underneath the apartments. It was clean, green, and very pleasant. In contrast there is f**** all around the Etihad apart from Mary D’s and Summerbee’s. The Manchester has gone, and the Townley is off the beaten track for most fans. When Mary D’s goes, City will have a monopoly on bars around the ground. Especially when the proposed arena and bars surrounding it are built.

Fern, Danny, City, etc, I’m asking, is there any chance you could get some of Manchester’s Micro Breweries involved and signed up for the future proposals for the Etihad Campus, instead of serving us shit and over priced Amstel at the Etihad? Believe it or not, I would pay a bit more for a decent pint.

Spurs are charging £4 for a pint of Beavertown, Gamma Ray, brewed inside the stadium. It taste f***ing beautiful compared to that Amstel shit! Sorry for being so blunt. Taste test the difference if you don’t believe me.

Contact 7 Brothers, Ancoats. They brew some great beers. Or better, do the Piccadilly arches. You’ll find loads of Independent MCR breweries that could supply City on a matchaday.
 
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Went to Madrid for the CL semi-Final.

The area around the Santiago Bernabeu was full of residential apartments and bars underneath the apartments. It was clean, green, and very pleasant. In contrast there is f**** all around the Etihad apart from Mary D’s and Summerbee’s. The Manchester has gone, and the Townley is off the beaten track for most fans. When Mary D’s goes, City will have a monopoly on bars around the ground. Especially when the proposed arena and bars surrounding it are built.

Fern, Danny, City, etc, I’m asking, is there any chance you could get some of Manchester’s Micro Breweries involved and signed up for the future proposals for the Etihad Campus, instead of serving us shit and over priced Amstel at the Etihad? Believe it or not, I would pay a bit more for a decent pint.

Spurs are charging £4 for a pint of Beavertown, Gamma Ray, brewed inside the stadium. It taste f***ing beautiful compared to that Amstel shit! Sorry for being so blunt. Taste test the difference if you don’t believe me.

Contact 7 Brothers, Ancoats. They brew some great beers. Or better, do the Piccadilly arches. You’ll find loads of Independent MCR breweries that could supply City on a matchaday.


Totally agree mate, City missing a good Opportunity to cash in in the craft beer market.
 
It is surprising a lot of these pubs near the ground have closed as there is a lot of housing in the area. I guess the close proximity to the city centre means people just go there.

There is a niche in the market for the old working man's club type of establishment for older clientele who often feel uncomfortable in modern pubs. A compere, followed by a turn, a singer, group or comedian. I know the demand is there because one of the most packed and popular bars in Tenerife is the Brahms and List's which uses this format. Give people what they want in a safe environment and they will come.
A lot of the residents in the new flats in Ancoats/New Islington want the Bank Of England to be done up and re-open so it can be their local. I keep trying to find the YouTube video with a local reporter talking about it, to no avail. It was in the last couple of years.

There’s an upturn in new housing in the area after years of demolition which would have also had an impact on pubs with local resident numbers falling, swathes of empty land with no housing on them therefore nobody to go in the pubs.

But now there’s new housing all the way from AOR in a sweep around ATW to GAS. These new people will need a few local pubs to go to.

Them all closing down is a bit backwards with a head on 2007 shoulders with no thought going into that the resident numbers are on the up in the area.
 
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