Due to lack of accommodation in the Blackburn area, Rovers’ Indian owners, the Venky’s, want to install Japanese-style sleeping pods inside Ewood Park.
Venky’s wanted somewhere near Ewood Park to build a hotel. Unfortunately there seemed to be nowhere available. A member of staff suggested they use Ewood Park itself. Parts of the football ground have space available and some bright spark came up with an idea to install Japanese-style sleeping pods.
We know them as pods in this country, but they are not as widely used as they are in Asia where they are known as sleeping capsules. Based on Japan’s famous capsule hotels from the 1970s, they were originally created as accommodation for well-oiled businessmen looking for a few hours to spend the night after they missed their last train home. Capsule hotels have steadily become a global trend. This idea came to a member of staff while they were visiting their local launderette.
One of many annoying problems with today’s football is the frequency with which match kick-off times keep changing. This can be particularly difficult for fans who travel from out of town. It is even worse when games are postponed at the last minute. Some fans can also be caught out due to a lack of availability of public transport during midweek matches. This is especially the case if a match goes to extra time or penalties. It has led to some fans being marooned in Blackburn when matches finish. So having cheap accommodation available in the vicinity of Ewood Park would be very helpful.
Installing sleeping pods would be a fraction of the cost of buying a suitable premises or building a new hotel. A spin off would mean greater use of Blues Bar and extra sales for our club’s in-house catering facilities. Not only Rovers fans would enjoy this benefit, but so could a lot of away fans too. Many of them comment on how cheap beer and food costs in Blackburn and they often vote away days at Rovers as their favourite game of the season. With so many clubs facing financial problems, one of our main objects must be to not only attract football fans to Ewood Park, but to keep them here for as long as possible and part them with their money. Perhaps an offer of a sleeping pod might just be that little bit of an inducement to persuade them to spend even more of their cash at Ewood Park.
