Spent the day at Old Trafford today, was amazed at how well they did things there. Impressive to see the entire staff wearing the same uniform/match day get up the manager wears. How well they branded their cafe as being club orientated. Some things, difficult to apply to a much smaller financial scale. Others, well, more similar than I'd like to think (Hello, David Moyes).

After the tour, sat around for a pint and a counter meal at the club cafe. Got me wondering on how Carlton could apply this.

Made me think of how in the past few years, we've said goodbye to Naughtons, to Puggs, and now Percy's. All iconic Carlton venues. Mostly replaced by hipster American fried food venues with craft beers no-one had ever heard of. To some extent, a blow to that 18-25 demographic, in the sense that they're a licensed venue, and there's a lot of uni students fitting that demographic around Carlton way.

Given the serious issues the club have had in attracting and retaining this demographic during the poorer on-field years, I wonder if using Princes Park as some sort of venue like this, not only provides another source of revenue, but also potentially shoring up that 18-25 demographic as well. Give people a reason to say that the reason they fell in love with the Blues was going there for drinks after uni, and ending up finding a football club out of it as well.

I've heard from Ryan Trainor about the possibility of the pop-up bars during certain training sessions or after school holiday clinics. Why not expand on this further?

Open the club up. Roll out the welcome mat to food vans as one would expect during the live game era of the ground. Except instead of pies, sausage rolls and hot dogs, you've got poughboys, subs and pulled pork. Make Tuesday and Thursday nights after training the venue to be in Melbourne. Use the newly made grassy hill for the kids of the area to sip sangria out of barely cleaned jam jars. Blare bizarrely composed mashups of Doors b-sides meeting One Direction out of the Sam Smorgon scoreboard. The fact that training is going on in the background is of only interest to the 18 year old flowers who would rock up to Puggs and try and pull Lance. Could even do a night market out in the car park, and potentially make some coin out of selling stall space. Promote this at those who like Carlton the suburb from a renting and place to visit perspective, not the football team with a view to eventually promoting them as one in the same (in practice they could be nothing more alike right now).

The main sticking point potentially is the noise complaints (imagine if you could set up a live DJ or a band up in the legends stand after training), and liquor licensing. Having said that, clearly the club has been able to overcome this obstacle before whilst showing interstate games live at the club and do it again. I'm sure Melbourne City Council could be swayed if its proven to have a positive cultural impact on the town, and an injection of coffers into local small business.

I'd love to see research done into how many live in the surrounding Carlton area and don't have a football team of choice (not just international students), or how little connection between how attitudes toward the suburb of Carlton correlate to how we view the Carlton Football Club. Certainly not in the way of modern, progressive thinking and being on the cutting edge of fashion and innovative ideas.

Remove the idea that drinking at a footy club is for yobbos in tracksuits with nothing better to do in between sticky-taping crepe paper together and make it a point of community interaction. Huge leap forward from the constant criticisms of locking the gates come training day.

_________________
BLUES 2010: PAV AND JUDD = FLAGS. DOING IT FOR THE LOVE OF DICK PRATT.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR TALKINGCARLTON SUPERCOACH 2009 YET?

I like your train of thought. I've been a Social Club member since joining as a junior in 1971. It gave you access to the club all week not just match days.
It was a meeting place, somewhere to ''belong''.
I still pay Social / Captain's Club membership. I can't get to many games these days so my subscription is basically a donation to the footy club.
When the Social Club was demolished, it left dumbos like me paying for membership to a ''club'' that no longer existed.
Blind Loyalty is all I can put it down to.

_________________
The problem with Socialism is, you eventually run out of other people's money.

It's a great stop-gap idea until we start playing our home games there again.

_________________
The only way for some people to understand is for them to be on the receiving end

Left wing moralists
In self serving denial
They shit me no end

RIP Charlie Kirk (was/were)

The worst thing about the revamp was losing the social club aspect. Surely it wouldn't be that hard to put a bar in there? I just find that lazy and annoying.

I've also been a social club member for years, though I keep mine for guaranteed GF tickets.

_________________
Audere est Facere

Correct me if I'm wrong but don't the Hawks have little cafes etc out at Waverley?

Good idea I reckon.

_________________
Writer for SuperCoach Paige www.scpaige.com.au
Twitter - @johnfeeney24

Can't see it happening.

Sounds too much like a vision.

_________________
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

On my return from my craft beer and bitcoin fact-finding junket to the U.S in June, July, August, September - I will (on the proviso I can find a suitable investor) open up the area underneath the Gardiner Stand (currently sub-let to Serco) and start my micro-brewery / pizzeria. There'll be some Saison brews with some Carlton themed ones thrown in for good measure, but honoring the lesser-likes of the club. The Bier de Banana labels are ready for print as we speak...

_________________
Writer for SuperCoach Paige www.scpaige.com.au
Twitter - @johnfeeney24

Looking back at the old Social Club, it really wasn't used effectively at all. Pensioners from the housing commission flats basically stayed there like rats till it was demolished, before propping up Perc's front bar until that will be demolished too.

Even thinking about how the cafe at the club could be used better. It doesn't seem like it connects well with the space it occupies. You could do so much more to make it a "Carlton" cafe, rather than just a place to get eggplant quiche from Jason Johnson to the left of SIXTEEN @#$%&! PREMIERSHIP CUPS.

Paint the chairs navy blue. Put the famous numbers/surnames of greats on the back of them. Gimmick the menu should you need to. Fevola Fries...the Bob Chitty Minute Steak....a Dominic Fotia Foccacia...doesn't quite undo the Geoffrey Edelsten Pool or the Zac Fried Shop, but its something.

Was amazed at their version of the Blueseum. Type in a players name on the screen built into the cafe table, and I could watch video clips of Mark Bosnich's save on Juninho, Diego Forlan's first goal for United, or Dwight Yorke's run down the wing. The food didn't take nearly long enough to arrive as you went through those clips.

_________________
BLUES 2010: PAV AND JUDD = FLAGS. DOING IT FOR THE LOVE OF DICK PRATT.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR TALKINGCARLTON SUPERCOACH 2009 YET?

So nothing on Ryan Giggs' brothers' wife?

Agreed. Same goes with the beer list...

Dean Rice

_________________
#DonTheStash

its an interesting perspective and probably a sign of how much the club has fallen away since living Princess Park.

ive been and maintained a social club membership since I become a member. The best thing about going to Princess Park was standing at the bar on the top level and watching the footy, or I would venture out to the stand to right, sit in the very rear row where I could see players walk past, have a chat as they walked past to the boxes, watch the footy ...

none of that happens anymore, I rarely even go into the room that is supposed to be our Social Club, I maintain my membership, probably for the fact of securing a gf ticket (though that isn't happening anytime soon) but since the dark days of leaving Princess Park, the club has never recovered in my opinion, and doesn't have the same presense (on or off the field) as it does. There is no romance about it all anymore.

I understand the economics of it (though I have always argued that the lower drawing games should have been played at PP for all clubs and it should have been used as the 3rd stadium etc..) but since that move, the club hasn't recovered. I certainly don't blame everything on moving from PP but I think the first thing that needs to be done is for the club to once again develop its "Personality" and connection with the community! This would be the first step towards something like.

Create a venue, that you could go to for interstate away games, a meeting point for people travelling interstate for games, a place to go and watch the game if you cant make it etc.. I think its a great idea and something the club should explore!

_________________
Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

Man i hope that was a constant auto correct scotsanders.

_________________
The only way for some people to understand is for them to be on the receiving end

Left wing moralists
In self serving denial
They shit me no end

RIP Charlie Kirk (was/were)

Where's Princess Park?

_________________
dane's trolling again

Matt Clapeccinos would keep you warm in the outer.

_________________
Congratulations CK95

_________________
"I had to eat"

As would Kentucky Zac Fried Chicken

_________________
#DonTheStash

_________________
And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.