So many people missing the point here - the people that will volunteer for this don't want paying!!!
They do it out of love for volunteering and do it for all sorts of reasons. Volunteers I've previously worked with on sports events have been from all sorts of backgrounds - some use it to grow in confidence and gain experience, some people are seriously high powered, well paid individuals who do it as an opportunity to give back, some are retired and it gives them something to get involved with.
This is so very different to unpaid internships etc. This is Burnley recognizing that these people exist and want to use their friendly nature to try and enhance the match day experience. A first in football really so will be very interesting to see how it goes. As mentioned previously been very successful in other sports.
Just a quick google will make you realise how different volunteering is what most people on here believe it to be (unpaid internships, exploiting people for no money etc).
I own 15 nursing homes if you could pop along one evening a week for 6hrs to help the oldies out much appreciated ,it's not for nothing though I can stretch to a cup of tea and a biscuit see you soon.
A few weeks ago we went to see Chievo versus Juventus at Chievo's shared home ground. Chievo average 10k in a 32k stadium, and it was sold out, predominately to Juve fans wanting to see Ronaldo's debut. I only saw 2 stewards all game. No one had a clue where they were sitting as signage was no existent. Fans were really mixed together and in this country fights would have broken out before the game. We had front row seats in the upper tier behind the goal. Fans stood at the barriers in front of us up until KO.I prefer to stand, but no one behind me was so I got those fans to sit down; further along one big fat bald bloke (Juve) with his 5 year old insisted on standing, but he didn't block our view so not my problem, but would have been someone else's. No stewards around to stop it...At the end the game got feisty and Juve went in to the lead; fat bloke started giving it large to Chievo fans in front, two stewards came to watch whilst his mate pulled him away - his kid was in bits (seem familiar to when we play the spanners?). Morale of the story is that whilst I've cursed stewarding in this country on many occasions, even in league 1 it is light years ahead of what I saw in Serie A. And you start to appreciate how important getting it right is
EFL: So what is this about you not paying the promised employee bonuses? RD: Hey! If Burnley can have 10 times our turnover and not pay them at all, how can I be expected to pay bonuses!?
I suspect on top of their match day hero work, they will require a ton of different H&S training before they are let loose on the paying public.
And that PPE doesn't come cheap either.
I wonder if they will have a hero hierarchy? Top of the tree are those that get to stand either side of the tunnel and escort the ref and linesmen off the pitch at full and half time. Newbies get sent into the away toilets to stop the fans from smoking.
Lot of fan backlash according to article on the BBC. Apparently Burnley made a net profit last year of over £22m, but at least they are offering any "heroes" some free merchandise...
So, instead of paying 20 players an average of £20,000 per week the Club "only" pays them £19,500. That releases £500,000 which, by my calculation, means they can pay for over 300 stewards @ over £60 per match.
The price of a player versus the value of a steward. And calling them "volunteers" merely devalues not just the position but the definition of a supporter.
Comments
It doesn't say they are not allowed to watch the match, it says they may not be able, that's not the same thing, at all.
EFL: So what is this about you not paying the promised employee bonuses?
RD: Hey! If Burnley can have 10 times our turnover and not pay them at all, how can I be expected to pay bonuses!?
And that PPE doesn't come cheap either.
I wonder if they will have a hero hierarchy? Top of the tree are those that get to stand either side of the tunnel and escort the ref and linesmen off the pitch at full and half time. Newbies get sent into the away toilets to stop the fans from smoking.
The price of a player versus the value of a steward. And calling them "volunteers" merely devalues not just the position but the definition of a supporter.