The European Championships - how many of us actually went to Windsor ?

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Well I have mixed views really in that the Championships were well organised in a beautiful setting, but my overriding thoughts were how disappointing that the home SJ team weren't better supported.

It started for me on the Friday and watching on BBC and I thought it was a real shame that the camera's had to pan great sways of empty seats which is not something you'd expect for a major championship. IMO it makes the sport look un- popular. I'm not sure if tickets prices were to blame, or location etc.

Secondly at the time of the programme we were lying in second place which was a great opening position but there was no sense of excitement or passion from the commentator and I thought the commentary was poor not just in terms of content ie he only spoke when a horse was going over a fence and as for delivery it was about as exciting as double maths on a tuesday imo. Not very ra ra at all, still nothing that 40lbs of Semtex couldn't put right. Sunday was better and it was visually appealing.

Saturday we actually went to Windsor and we were shocked at how empty it was, thank god for the european supporters making up the numbers, it did fill up a bit in the stand under cover for the GP though and we saw some great SJing although we would have liked more clear rounds, it was like watching football with no goals for a long while.

All credit to the dressage supporters Saturday evening the crowds arrived and you at last felt like you were at a championship event
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So overall some fantastic sport, disappointing for the Brits not just in terms of results but imo support.

Congrats to Kevin although I did want OKI Doki to win but hey ho.
 
I didnt go as I live in the North of Scotland and by the time I bought a ticket, flew to Heathrow, took the train and stayed the nights somewhere it would have been too expensive.

I used to live near Windsor and I think if I was still living there then I would have gone.

It was very dissapointing to see so many empty seats, my dad who is non horsey commented on it and it got us discussing why seats were empty.
 
We've had a discussion on another thread about the problem of the ticket prices being far too high, and problems people had in booking. Prices for major British SJ events are much higher than for their equivalents in the rest of Europe, and as one who travelled abroad regularly for 20 years I believe that far more visitors would have come from abroad had the prices been more reasonable. I did not go: health problems mean I don't now have the stamina for long sessions inless than comfortable seating, but had that not been the case I'd have thought very carefully about it as not only was there the cost of the tickets but accommodation for several nights (this would have been true had I still lived in London - as a non-driver I could not have got home after the evening sessions) I think it was an "own goal" by the organisers, and could well damage GB's chances of staging such events again in future.

I'm not a fan of Mike Tucker's commentary, and was glad to listen to Steve Hadley on FEITV.

It's vital that something is done to restore the profile of SJ in GB. Sadly the BSJA decision-makers have never seemed very interested in non-competitors.

Congratulations to Bob Ellis who did such a good job with the design of the courses: his only misjudgement was the lack of alternatives in the Speed lag.
 
I'm not a fan of Mike Tucker's commentary, and was glad to listen to Steve Hadley on FEITV. [ QUOTE ]


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To be honest thank god for Mike Tucker on the BBC, the other bloke was so dull and poor MT had to work really hard to keep the commentary going, in fact if I was him I would have felt really fed up that I'd have to have that level of input just to prevent the glaring gaps of silence. These two certainly didn't bounce off each other, there was no camaraderie or chemistry. Steve Hadley should come back to the BEEB.

I don't know who was doing it on the showground for the GP with MT but he was very easy on the ear.

Essentially though it was a great shame all round that imo the support wasn't there for the team, and if the europeans can travel why can't the Brits, especially on home ground.

I suppose essentially it illustrates that there are huge numbers of people in this country that have horses of their own but have no / little interest in what the national teams are doing.
 
Andy Austin (experienced competitor) was there to give "expert analysis" I think. I don't have Sky but I know he's done some work for them.

I'm almost certain that on the showground it will have been Nick Brooks-Ward who is one of the best around at the moment.

Some British enthusiasts did go from various parts of the country (I know 3 of them!), but you are absolutely right in saying that there are many riders who have little interest in the national teams.
 
I would like to have gone but couldn't get the time away. I watched it on the telly and really was sad at how many empty seats there were at the medal ceremony for Kevin Staut & Co. I gave them a big cheer from up here
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I'm another one of the Saturday night crowd.

have to wonder if the low mid week attendance was partly due to M25 phobia. I'm only 1 1/2 drive from Windsor in good traffic. This easily becomes 2-3 hrs when the M25 screws up.
 
I went on Thurs, but only as I won tickets at Hickstead. No way would I have paid £45 for each ticket and £10 for parking. That's £100 for two people before you start and IMO that is shocking.
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I went on Wednesday, and can honestly say it was one of the best shows I have ever been to - I had a great time. I too thought it sad that so many seats were empty, and I particularly get cross when people up and leave before the prize giving ceremonies - it is just so disrespectful! But the quality of competition was amazing - SJing will always be my thing, but having been to Windsor I now look at dressage in a different light - Mum and I have already decided to go to watch the dressage at the Olympics (as well as the SJ and eventing, of course
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i have to agree about the crowds and i must suppose it was the price or the timing of the event as the locatrion is easily reached by car or train and there are buses from the airports. it was a shame really.
I am not sure i listened to the same commentary as you because there were several options for viewing as well as radio but on the bbc version i watched as a replay friday night I thought that there was little information given about any of the competitors except our own and it was all about the 'scope' that this this that or the other had shown. I thought they could have done a bit more background stuff.
 
Yes I agree about the lack of information, though I suppose no information is better than wrong information which would probably had been the case had they tried!
 
I went on Thursday and had a good time, but because we booked at the last minute we only paid £11 a ticket. And that was in the covered area. It was a shame it was so empty, especially as it was school holidays. My friend bought her ticket as soon as they were released, for £45.
 
Yes I agree we each paid a total of £ 80 just to be there,
£ 49 - ticket
£ 10 - parking
£ 8 - burger
£ 13 - 3 x drinks.

We would have stayed for the dressage in the evening but another £ 49 was a cost too far.

Also they could have made Saturday tickets better value by having some more SJ in the morning, not just a parelli demo outside as the only entertainment.

The showground looked fab though with all the flags and it was great to see some European competitors.
 
One of Kevin Stauts close friends who is also a friend of mine told me that he had paid 300 euro for the tickets for himself and his wife (sadly for him he only told me after or he could have saved himself some money with all the special offers here!!) and that meant the trip was just too much money for many of the foreign supporters as well.
as for the commentary i agree with sjfan that sometimes no information is better than none, but i suspect that if steve hadley hadnt been involved with the FEI broadcasts he would have been as ill informed as the others. Nicolo who does the commentary for the Global Champions Tour live stream always seems to know loads of good stuff, so much so that often i watch from where he is commenting from so I can make good use of it all
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I agree about the total lack of information given, the only comments were what was in front of him, scope being one of them etc.

The other thing I don't like is when a commentator is rude about a competitors style ( Roger Eves Bost ) and a competitor making an error ( Tim or Pete can't remember which) cos I think we all ride differently and we all make mistakes and I think if the commentator had the perfect style and never made a mistake they'd be riding in the competition not bl@@dy commentating on it.
 
well said LHS and it also drives me to distraction that Tucker cant help himself mentioning any unfortunate incidents in the past, e.g. Norway losing bronze medal when Tony andre hansen jumped, that applies to other nations, with such relish. he does it at hickstead as well.
 
LOL I think the big thing for me is not just what is said but how it is said, and in times when we should be promoting English SJ you need every avenue of contact for the public to be exciting and passionate, as this is an exciting sport. To deliver a big event like this as if you are reciting a shopping list is awful.

If the people in the sport aren't excited how is anyone else gonna be.
 
Tickets were insanely expensive, and it was very unfair to restrict people to day or evening sessions. This meant that if you bought a ticket for Saturday daytime all you got to see was under 2hrs of showjumping (not even for the European title) and nothing else. I would have been fuming.

The dressage on Saturday night had a full house and was an amazing atmosphere and competition, but it was unfair to make people buy two sets of tickets to stay all day.

Food and drink were insanely expensive. I asked for a Pimms, and got it poured from a can - and charged £5! I bought cans of Pimms in a shop in Windsor (5 mins down the road) for £2.50. Even in the rider's restaurant drinks were stupidly expensive, and all you got with your meal ticket was a plastic cup of ribena!!!!! A friend had press accreditation and said he couldn't even get a cup of coffee in the press tent. Not good enough.

But, the toilets were brilliant and clean, the stables were super, there were loads and loads of hook up points in the lorry park, and a constant stream of buggies to get you from lorries to stables (even though some were driven by certified nutters LOL). The woman who did the announcements at the stables was hilarious. And the free bar in the rider's area on Tuesday night was a nice touch even though amazingly badly attended! (although the Irish team had no problem finding it
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Steve's problem is I think that he doesn't have enough spare time in which to keep abreast of international SJ form & breeding. Nicolo is good, but like my own unfavourite Philip Ghazala on FEITV seems a little inclined to talk to a select few of the riders. Anyway, full marks for him for giving a better English language commentary than those whose first language is English!
 
For me the biggest problem was the layout of the ground. I was there everyday from the Tuesday. the long walk from the BD pavilion round to our seats in the covered stand was a joke! It took 10 mins every time. The fact there was no-where to get tea/coffee from the covered stands without at least 5 mins walk was very poor. Only one set of loo’s was not great. I mean hello, come on, we had paid for the most expensive seats & yet had no facilities in easy reach. I know they opened up the gap from the Thursday thanks to a friend of mine being very persuasive with the organisers. But it was not truly safe when 3000 all tried to exit through he narrow gap all together.
The fact that when we arrived on Tuesday morning at 8.30 the main gates were not open because “the arena is not set up yet”. Fine but so what! We wanted to get in to the shops etc. The dressage was not scheduled until 9.30 so it did not matter to us that the arena was not set up. Cue phone calls to people inside & eventually at just before 9. there were a lot of continental people in the queue, so what they must have thought about British organisation heaven only knows.
It was very disappointing to see so many empty seats. I gather that at the start of the week dressage outsold SJ 2 to 1. But even Saturday night there were still empty seats. When you compare this to WEG in Aachen 3 years ago, when not only were the stands full for the Kur but people were stood 4 or 5 deep…..
I do worry about how we will cope with the Olympics.
Tickets were less expensive is a season was bought £125 for the dressage in the stands. Which when you think people will pay this to watch a band for 2 or 3 hours & we had 4 days of sport plus the gala, I do think this was not too bad value.
My overall impression was a lack of planning & foresight with regards to the needs of those paying for the tickets.
The toilets were fab & got lot’s of brownie points.
Food was expensive, but always is at these sort of things. It would have been nice to be able to get more in the way of simple food like sandwiches though. When you get there at 9 & don’t leave until 11 it was very expensive to eat.
I gather some of the press were not impressed by the lack of facilities & food in the press area.

I went to the Europeans when they were at Hickstead in 2003 – there the loos were awful, the entrance & parking a joke & food a nightmare. At least this time the parking was ok – but expensive (but then Burghley is £10 a day to park), the loos were great & there was good food choice & not too big queues, so we have learned a bit. But I feel there is a long way to go to compare with the continent. When the Germans staged Hagen in 2005 6 weeks after the Russians collapsed due to lack of funding it was great, a little rough, but still pretty good. We have had a long time to sort this.

Ah well whinge over.
 
there was a coffee machine in the press tent but it did break rather often! and also sandwiches. which was just as well because you are right about the food prices. six or seven pounds for a burger. one of my foreign colleagues suggested going to get something to eat, and then offered to treat me and i nearly died of embarressment when i saw how much this little bit of generousity had cost.
it is also true that in europe at most outdoor shows the entry fee is minimal or nothing, you just pay for grandstand seating, sometimes not even for that
 
Many thanks for such an interesting and detailed report. You mentioned Hagen - I was there in 2002 for the Junior European Champs and it was a superb and very well run venue. And as for Aachen: seating capacity is of course far greater than Windsor, Hickstead or Greenwich.
 
Catering not a British speciality either - did they have a kettle as a back-up? I had a press pass for the Junior European Champs in Hagen and the pess shared hospitality area with VIPS - plentiful food and drink at no cost.

Obviously spectators pay for seating at Championship events in Europe, but much less than here, and the powers that be continue wonder why the sport is not generally well attended here!
 
we will be in trouble with greenwich because there is not enough room for the seating xc course stables etc as it is so lord knows where the catering and toilets are going, they are not on the current plans but that is another argument entirely.....
the thing about feeding the press is that if they are happy they write happy reports...... the nationals have barely even mentioned the winner of the indivudual european showjumping title here as there was no british interest once ben had hit fence three in the first round so they were probably even more tweaky than usual!!
they got 30 through the gates this year for the derby at hamburg, 10'000 at valkenswaard, and there were loads of people dying to come from abroad but here you can hardly expect people to get excited when we had been thrashed in the Super League and all could you? I was thinking about the mass hysteria almost that greeted Gianni Govoni when he won the GP in Rio or Bernado Alves in Hamburg, neither of whom were in front of home crowds but probably thought they had won the world championship from the reception they got. There just isnt the interest here for showjumping that there used to be, despite the best efforts of several press and marketing persons.
 
Doubtless a Gold medal would help boost interest in the top-end of the sport, but even had we won the Super league series, I doubt that there would have been a great deal of attention paid except by the exising aficianados. IncidentallyI have found that spectators at national shows seem to be more numerous and knowledgable in this region than was the case in the south where I was until last year.

Alan Smith had been fighting a losing battle for space in the Daily Telegraph, hence his retirement. Pippa Cuckson who now contributes is more of an Eventing lady and the paper gave more space to Highclere (perhaps because Zara was there) than they did to either the Dressage or SJ at Windsor! The Times virtually ignored Windsor (where was Jenny McArthur?) as did The Independent which bizarrely reported the non-championship SJ GP but not either of the Championships.
 
Thanks. Was Genevieve Murphy there as well? I expected Alan still to be taking a keen interest. Guess it is a space problem for the others - wonder how much space they might have been given if we'd had a junping medal. Precious little credit was given to our successful dressage riders.
 
I think one of the big questions now is how to turn this apathy around before the Olympics. Surely to goodness some of the powers that be need to call in some favours and get this sport a bigger profile before its too late.
 
I went on the Thursday afternoon for the dressage but if the timings had worked I would have gone for the jumping instead. I thought the layout worked well although agree that the food and drinks were expensive as was the parking. I got my ticket at a discount through a post on here ad I'd be pretty fed up if I had paid full price for the seat I had as the view wasn't great for the second highest priced seat in the stands.
 
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