Saturday, September 10, 2005
Roar Revenge - What Goes Around, Comes Around!!
Original post: 4:23 PM, Friday 2 September 2005
A few of us Brisbane Hammers joined nearly 21,000 fans to see Queensland Roar dispose of NZ Knights 2-0 in the inaugural A-League match at the Suncorp Stadium last Sunday.Norven Munky aka Tony Mac and myself joined in with a few Queensland fans in a light hearted post match sing song in the Paddington Tavern. A young bouncer decided to take exception to this and believing that we had not done anything to warrant his heavy response, we tried to stand our ground and argue our case when asked to leave. After the bouncer threw our drinks in the garden, we were forcefully removed from the premises in an unnecessary manner for no apparent reason other than being jovial and singing songs supporting our team.
Disgruntled at this, the next morning Tony decided to email the Paddo and CC'd Queensland Roar for an explanation of our treatment. Instead of the apology we thought we were due, Tony received a very rude & aggressive phone call from the management of the Paddington Tavern basically claiming we were in the wrong. However the article on the left appeared in the local paper this week, who had obviously been tipped off by Queensland Roar CEO Lawrence Oudendyk. For this reason Queensland Roar will get the full support from the Brisbane Hammers for years to come.
This act of support for two of the clubs fans goes a long way, and shows the importance of a bit of positive PR and support of your customer base that the Paddo could learn a valuable lesson from. If they had sympathised with our case rather than being rude and defensive, then maybe the Caxton wouldn't have a large number of new customers for the course of the A-League season. I for one will be going to a lot more QLD games this season than planned and I may even buy some Roar Merchandise :-)
So thanks to Mr Oudendyk for your support, we hope to repay your loyalty with the Brisbane Hammers' full backing of Queensland Roar Football Club!
said...i think the $50k worth of revenue they'll lose over the course of the season should be punishment enough!
whubris said...Looks like the Paddo are going to really miss out. Look at these comments from the unofficial Qld Roar chat site. Link: http://s10.invisionfree.com/Qld_Roar_Forums/index.php?showtopic=788 (Hans & stormin_norman, welcome!)
"the two blokes were only having a laugh too...poor buggers"
"o'learys is the place to be.... where he can get a round of applause from the supporters group."
"B*****cks to the Paddo. If our hard earn't money is good enough for them, they can go and find another 200+ paying customers to fill there f'ing pub both pre and post match. I would rather go and give my cash to a more deserving land lord. The Irish Bar sounds great !!"
"I second this! I like being able to sit outside the Paddo and spill onto the footpath, but if they are going to play like this then the Irish it is!!!"
"That areticle is funny, because we all carried on at the Caxton and nothing was said at all...just goes to show how much of a meat-head NRL pub the Paddo has become."
"the Paddo did stink pretty bad...and the toilets were unsanitary at best."
"the paddo has just kissed goodbye to a few thousands of dollars in revenue everygame. has anyone let them know? paddo@xcel.com.au seems to be their email."
"would they bother if they DID know?"
Thanks for the support guys and see you at anywhere OTHER than the Paddo!
whubris said...But wait.. there's more...None of these comments were posted by any of our group.
"Don't bother telling them. Let the stupid T***s get a full team of bar staff working before he realises no-one coming !!! The girls get an easy afternoon, and the managment have to pay them for it !!!"
"I have mentioned this to the travelling Bling fans also.....we are all together in this new footballing culture, so should all stand together includng any boycotts." (Well done that man! - Ed.)
"As brought to my attention by a Sydney fan - there were football fans hassled at the Paddo RSL in Sydney when wanting to watch the Roar v. NZ game - gotta be the name or something eh!! http://www.sydneyfc-unofficial.com/Forums/...hlight=RSL.html"
(from this link comes the following story)
"Went to a RSL club close to Aussie Stadium, hoping to watch the Roar v Knights game on Fox Sports, prior to attending the SFC match. We arrived at this club at about 3.20. There were 3 screens, 1st with a, Rugby League Only, notice on it. 2nd with a, AFL and Rugby Union Only notice and the 3rd had no notice at all. I asked staff if they could switch one of the screens over to FOX Sports 2, which they did. We watched the game for 5-10 minutes, then the Floor Manager walked on over and told us we were not allowed to watch the Football as a "member" who was watching the league had compained, even though the league was being shown on 1 of the 3 screens, and the third screen was showing the AFL, which nobody was watching anyway. I complained but the Manager just turned his back on me, so I called him a "Wanker". I was with my parents and brother and the experience left a bitter taste. I have frequented this club prior to many sporting events in the past, but no longer. They will not be receiving any more of my hard earned in future."
So, if anyone's headed to Brisbane or Sydney, avoid Paddo's and the Paddington RSL! Boycott the lot! :-)
said...Another good reason to patronise O'Leary's Bar as other Brisbane Hammers did before and after the game!
Brisbane Hammer
