The pictures posted here…
…are a good way to show how it was all a bit ‘the wrong way round’, at CitySq.
Summerbees and the food area would be packed and too small to house everyone who wanted to stand and sit there yet there’d be this gigantic open space that would often be sparsely populated like those pictures^
I used to like Summerbee’s when it was ordinary bitter… but it also became uncomfortable when they seemed to change the sound system and pump up the volume… and do that flavoured drink I could never work out what it was. Also they used to have proper bar staff and then replaced them with human can openers.
The whole City Square experience should be better than it is. It’s nice when to luxuriate watching the highlights waiting for the tram queue to die down a bit, and do a post-match analysis after the game, but it seems all the expense was spend on the stage, rather than the fan space.
Good it’s getting a revamp and brought up to date. Loved it when it first opened and still love the campus feel that is a good model for any club. A pity there aren’t more local boozers. I am a fan of The Grove Inn before or after, depending on kick off time.
The cheaper end of hospitality is still expensive for most, or the occasional treat, but they fill it and cater for as many different tastes as they can.
There are so many fan parks now and good big venues in Manchester to understand what works and what doesn’t. Generally I think they should keep it simple, as long as we don’t end up with an area where people throw pints in celebration like at overexcited England Fan Parks.
I can’t think of a ground in this country where they do it better, but room for improvement from City. I would give it a C+ and look forward to some improvement in the future.