Delaneys...your verdict?

let's keep it simple. Did you like Delaneys and do we want to stick or try somewhere else?

Personally, and as you are all well aware, I am not the greatest fan. I found myself watching the small screen above the bar as the huge screen has a very very bad washed out picture. Plus no discount and just didn't have that feeling of a home. Am I going over the top? If popular opinion that is it OK then I'm happy to stay (day trips aside)

By the way this isn't about where next, it's just to see what popular opinion is before we look elsewhere. Just stick with this one issue for now. Poll will run for 3 days lest we all fall asleep

wot u mean no discount?

1) it was happy hour until 9

2) most of us there had discount cards (which we didn't even need to show as they knew we were Spurs) - so if we ordered food at anytime, or drinks after happy hour we got 10%.

We made the evening what it was... not saying delaney's is the best bar in HK... but it was good that we could so easily get 50 of us in there making a noise.

However a 10pm kick off might be a bit more difficult as the night will have already started a few hours before the game start and theere will be other randoms in the bar.

The layout is better than before, although I don't like the new chairs/tables.

A plus point is more or less have the place to ourselves, allowing us to make a noice without disturbing other patrons. Some neutrals do like to listen to the commentary so if we descend on a larger bar full of non spurs fans there is a risk of causing an incident.

I do agree though the large screen is awful. Small screen is fine but what happens when larger numbers turn up ? We can't all huddle around the bar area.

I'd question whether the place is big enough for gatherings with hkspurs. You can take out chairs etc, but I know a lot of the lads from hkspurs prefer to sit down to watch the game and may be put of attending future events.

One possible idea could be to watch home games in Delaney's and away matches in elsewhere - create a sense of home/away fixture.

I dont mind Delaynes but if we can find a better bar that would show spurs matches then I am happy to hear other suggestions.

My question for this coming weekend is:

1. Are we planning to gather around to watch Spurs vs. Derby? I really hope Spurs dont F*#K this game up else it would two poor result against two newly promoted sides.

2. And if we are gathering - is Delaneys the place to be at? I think kick-off is at 10pm. Pity McSorleys has those pool tables upstairs. Could have been a good venue.

Judging from the polls it would appear Delaney's is the preferred choice for this Saturday.

I honestly don't care where we go as long as:

A) Everyone goes there
B) We can make as much noise as we like
C) It has enough space to accommodate all of us without being a ridiculous crush
D) Everyone can see the screen

The big screen at Delaney's wasn't the best and for the Arse game they will have to get rid of the tables and chairs or we'll never all fit in, so if those things can be improved or dealt with I'm happy, and if they can find their way to giving us a deeper discount, all the better.

I prefer to speak to Noel about further discounts once we've packed the bar a couple of times. Saturday was a good example of what we can produce on numbers. For the big games, I do agree that even the Sports Bar at Delaneys could be a squeeze, but I will talk to Clare (the manager) about moving out some of those bigger chairs and placing stools there instead so that people can more easily move around (less casual).

A couple of other things to note about Delaneys is :-

1). They will show even the late night Spurs games and even give us the same bar if we can get at least 10 people in there.
2). Flags can be hung wherever we like so long as we don't damage anything.
3). The bar pretty much becomes an exclusive location when there's 40 or more of us there.
4). I think the geographical location is suitable for most people no matter where in the SAR they live. It's also easy for tourist and overseas Spurs fans to find when visiting H.K.
5). The only other (sizeable) suppporters that default to that bar for live matches are a small group of Manure fans (I know them). Chelski, Arse, West Sham, Liverpool etc. mainly use other bars.

I'll also mention to Noel about the screen, however I personally haven't noticed the quality being that bad (albeit not perfect). On the service, I think it has improved slightly.


Stew.

Didn't see the projector screen on saturday as was plonked in front of the plasma...but did find it very grainy during the torino game. Maybe something simple like an adjustment on the lens on the projector is needed. Mind you if we play like we did on Saturday, the blurrier the picture the better.

I'll be at Delaney's on Saturday... aiming for 8:30 to get a couple of happy hour drinks in.

GDG wrote:

I honestly don't care where we go as long as:

A) Everyone goes there
B) We can make as much noise as we like
C) It has enough space to accommodate all of us without being a ridiculous crush
D) Everyone can see the screen

The big screen at Delaney's wasn't the best and for the Arse game they will have to get rid of the tables and chairs or we'll never all fit in, so if those things can be improved or dealt with I'm happy, and if they can find their way to giving us a deeper discount, all the better.

What he said (I'm still feeling a little hoarse) oooerrr

I found the screen pretty grainy to be honest. Not enough to spoil the game but borderline. Needs to be improved.

Food was quite good though. Although granted that's a fairly minor thing.

If we stay at Delaneys they need to sort the big screen out - to be honest its terrible. All they need to do is buy a new bulb for the projector (around $2000 - $3000). Maybe Stew or someone should kick them up the arse to do that.

Apart form that - no complaints although my preferance would be a few high tables and stools dotted around instead of the large 'mad hatters tea party' style table they had slap bang in the middle of the room.

All in all I think everyone had a good time.

Question - why are we not aiming to unite the sihk group and the spurs.hk group for all the games. Surely its better we try for a 'home' for all of us. I thought the general idea was to unite all parties?

A lot of what you say is correct. For all it's faults, Delaney's does offer an 'exclusive' feel - no problem hanging up flags, making plenty of noise etc. You'd struggle to hang up those size flags in other bars like White Stag, Devils etc. Also, though I'm sure the management would welcome the arrival on an extra 40 or so thirst fans, they might have second thoughts if our chanting drives away neutrals who are out to watch the game and listen to the commentary. If I found myself in a bar full of other fans singing away I'd probably move on.

However, I'm not sure about Delaney's for these proposed larger gatherings. If we want to join forces now and again I think we should be prepared to meet hkspurs half way. The difference between those bars in Mongkok / Roof bar is vast compared to whats on offer at Delaney's. Moving a few chairs out doesnt strike me as a compromise. Should we consider a bigger venue, somewhere that offers adequate seating ?

Having said that I'm struggling to come up with an alterative.

Wait a minute !!! What about that place in the basement of Jardine house ? Similar venue / atmosphere / size to the old LA Cafe. Anyone know the one I'm referring to ?

You can see from the pics that Hung showed above that they like to sit down and watch, and Delaney's is very expensive for a lot of them who are students, especially if there's no happy hour. We've agreed to get everyone together for a few of the big games, notably the upcoming Arse game, probably at Delaney's - hence the need to sort out the space in time for that.

GDG wrote:

You can see from the pics that Hung showed above that they like to sit down and watch, and Delaney's is very expensive for a lot of them who are students, especially if there's no happy hour. We've agreed to get everyone together for a few of the big games, notably the upcoming Arse game, probably at Delaney's - hence the need to sort out the space in time for that.

I agree with GDG. Whilst I would very much prefer all Spurs fans to be together in one location, there does appear to be two types of fan. The one's that like to stand and mooch around and the one's that like to stay seated throughout, there were many in Delaneys that like to watch the game seated as well. HKSpurs also like seating generally. Fact is, that different people like different things. I myself like to stand and move around a bit (must go back to the days of standing on the terraces!).

My idea of asking for the seating to be changed wasn't a comprise on location as such. More a practicality on squeezing more people in on September 15th and possibly for the Derby game.

I of course and like most others open to new location ideas, but for the reasons O pointed out on my previous posting here, I can't honestly find a better all-round location than Delaney's - albeit not the perfect solution.

I do take onboard the requirements for HKSpurs and that's why after a good turnout on the Derby game I will have a serious chat with the powers that be. At the end of the day they can only say yes or no. I will speak to them also about the big screen and seating in the meantime.

I think the task for those that are very much anit-Delaney's (for whatever reason), they would need to come up with a better alternative and check the place out. I don't mind poping over to an alternative place for a meed-week beer with them to check out some of these places either.

COYS !!!


Stew.

spur'don wrote:

A lot of what you say is correct. For all it's faults, Delaney's does offer an 'exclusive' feel - no problem hanging up flags, making plenty of noise etc. You'd struggle to hang up those size flags in other bars like White Stag, Devils etc. Also, though I'm sure the management would welcome the arrival on an extra 40 or so thirst fans, they might have second thoughts if our chanting drives away neutrals who are out to watch the game and listen to the commentary. If I found myself in a bar full of other fans singing away I'd probably move on.

However, I'm not sure about Delaney's for these proposed larger gatherings. If we want to join forces now and again I think we should be prepared to meet hkspurs half way. The difference between those bars in Mongkok / Roof bar is vast compared to whats on offer at Delaney's. Moving a few chairs out doesnt strike me as a compromise. Should we consider a bigger venue, somewhere that offers adequate seating ?

Having said that I'm struggling to come up with an alterative.

Wait a minute !!! What about that place in the basement of Jardine house ? Similar venue / atmosphere / size to the old LA Cafe. Anyone know the one I'm referring to ?

Grappa's, used to be Pier One, problem is its a Restaurant and therefore non Smoking,

twiglet wrote:

If we stay at Delaneys they need to sort the big screen out - to be honest its terrible. All they need to do is buy a new bulb for the projector (around $2000 - $3000). Maybe Stew or someone should kick them up the arse to do that.

Apart form that - no complaints although my preferance would be a few high tables and stools dotted around instead of the large 'mad hatters tea party' style table they had slap bang in the middle of the room.

All in all I think everyone had a good time.

Question - why are we not aiming to unite the sihk group and the spurs.hk group for all the games. Surely its better we try for a 'home' for all of us. I thought the general idea was to unite all parties?

Twigs - we tried before, and with some success too. However, Stew is right - people want different things. In fairness to hkspurs, they had a hard core of about 15 or so that turned up almost every week to Delaney's for several years. For various reasons ( cost, location, pre match buffet, etc, seating ) they've opted for an alternative environment.

Judging from the photos they had a good time and a decent turnout. I don't mind watching games in that sort of environment occasionally but majority of the time I'd prefer a 'english' pub atmosphere, just as majority of hkspur probably prefer a HK style gathering.

The overall new layout of Delaney's is an improvement and Stew's right, there aren't too many alternatives that jump out. Those that do - Amic - are already taken by other groups.

The results from the poll however do suggest only a minority are content with Delaney's as it is. Better drinks discount ( agree with Stew - probably need a couple of strong turnouts before re-negotiating ) and projector TV require some work. The big screen is a major draw back. I gave up watching it and switched to the screen behind the bar - but there's a limit to how many can huddle together to view the better screen.

hung how much are the beer DURING happy hour?... $130 is cheap already!

do they serve draught beer? if so how much?

would the chanting, singing and general boisterousness be a concern?
If not, looks like a good place to tryout at least,