Today's NWEM headline

[TOUCHSTONE71]

Never mind the players, how about a nice Green's pie instead of burgers for the spectators on a freezing match day.

[mightywhite]

...and fish n chips from Matties at that.

Seriously I was a bit surprised at the observation that one of the revolutionary changes made by AP was to ensure that the "right" food was provided at the right times for the players. I thought we'd caught up with the European mentality on diet in the 90s - though I do recall Alan Shearer used to survive on Chicken and beans for most of his career. Clearly food has to be budgeted for but these are full-time professionals. You'd have thought that you'd monitor what was consumed by them and when just to protect your asset. Didn't we have somebody on/advising the staff on nutrition?

At most clubs, food is taken from the players wages weekly. If it wasn’t they would have to bring their own anyway! Even in the premier league believe it or not players meals are deducted from salary.

[Suffolk Blue]

Liam Hughes must've been paid in pizza.

[Soulboy]

Never mind the players, how about a nice Green's pie instead of burgers for the spectators on a freezing match day.

That’s a really good idea. Nationally awarded pies with hairy bikers backing. The club should pursue this and actually sell greens pies in the ground. The current crap that’s sold by vendors who give little back is something that needs changing. We need to ensure everything that’s sold in the ground represents decent profit for the club

[Hadrian]

As I understood it from one of the many times this has been raised before, attempts to interest at least one well-known local pie shop foundered.

From a pie shop point-of-view, if your business is based on selling hot-from-the-oven pies which have been prepared fresh that morning, then supplying them to the football club under your 'brand' for them then to be reheated by a third party represents a risk to your image.

Out of interest, what would see as being a decent mark-up on a pie to be sold at the ground for the snack bar to be able to share "a decent profit" to the club? (For information, the BBC Price of Football 2017 survey showed the price of a pie at the NL clubs that sold them to range between £2.40 and £3.50.)

[John_Bucks]

Burgers > Pies

[Fazered]

I paid £3.50 at York for a truly awful pie at York. This bit about Green's reputation is nonsense. You just sell them as meat and potato pies without a brand. I'm sure if I went to a local supplier for 100 pies they would just sell them to me

[orpheus]

We must be the only club that dont sell M&P Pies. Surely local butchers will do the deal.

[Hadrian]

I'm sure they would but would the caterers take the risk and invest in an oven for each of their units?

Woking and Sutton are pie-free, according to the BBC report.

[Fazered]

Surely the best answer is for the club to build proper food outlets and then franchise them. This one area where the club has made no progress

[Steelworks End]

Woking and Sutton are pie-free, according to the BBC report.

Theyre southerners. Pies are for us northern lads & lasses.

[Wintergreen]

This topic should now be moved to the Déjà Vu section.

[Fazered]

On page 94.....