[Football] Stop Exploiting Loyalty - FSA Campaign

Paulie Gualtieri said:

Was t aware of this but just read online that Man City haven’t issued season tickets since 2020 but will only honour those that renew.

Over the course of this approach c5,000. Season tickets seats have been lost and added to the general match day tickets volume

Click to expand...

BBassic said:

Is pretty much where I stand on it.

Fans get charged more and more and more because people will pay it. If it's too expensive for me, someone else will step in and pay.

This isn't just a football thing either. Look at the furore over the cost of Oasis tickets. Streaming services continually putting their prices up. Video games now cost £50-£70 for a digital license essentially meaning you don't even own the thing you're buying.

Clubs, streaming companies, games publishers etc etc will keep raising prices until people start to vote with their wallets and say "no more".

But we won't because we don't want to miss out.

Click to expand...

maffew said:

Should display the banner as is in solidarity, 100%. Quite clear it's an FSA message not a Brighton one. Definitely seems like a "we're ok not our fight thanks" approach, sorry disagree with decision

Click to expand...

Gazwag said:

"The guy at the FSA who runs the Premier League network is a Newcastle fan."

Oh the irony, getting criticism from a Newcastle fan

Click to expand...

Pogue Mahone said:

It seems very odd to me that @Barry Izbak and the FAB have made this decision without consulting the wider fan base at all.

It’s the wrong decision, in my opinion, we should be at the forefront of campaigns like this.

Would it be possible for NSC, a far more representative section of our fan base, to bypass the FAB and organise the protest?

Click to expand...

ROSM said:

They consulted with all the other fan groups. It says so in the original post. Who is this wider fan base you speak of?

Click to expand...

Professor Plum said:

From what I can see, the general view is that Brighton fans support the campaign in general but are nervous that displaying the banner would appear (wrongly) to be a criticism of Albion and Bloom. So that’s the hurdle to overcome — how can we make this distinction clear? It’s difficult with one simple banner. We’d have to get into the CPFC realms of displaying a paragraph of opinions spread over several banners, and no one wants that.

Or would a simple "Support the FSA" banner be some sort

Click to expand...

Black Rod said:

Bit concerning that we as a fan base now seem to be too scared to be seen publicly criticising our own board, even by joining in with a protest not directly aimed at the club

With Naylor and The Argus also too scared to write anything mildly critical and effectively acting as club spokespeople, it is all a bit North Korea

Click to expand...

Littlemo said:

I think we are worrying too much about our board feeling targeted by this. Tony and Paul are sensible people, capable of understanding the concept of showing solidarity for other clubs and supporting the message overall whilst not directing it towards them. I am sure there must be ways of communicating that to them as well - we know Paul reads his emails after all!

They may even agree. Other teams driving costs up in this way will impact on us and force us to increase prices etc. We don’t operate in a bubble and keeping our income at a good level means being roughly in line with what others are doing.

We should be supporting it.

Click to expand...

The Tactician said:

Charlie from the FAB here.

I have noted the feedback and viewpoints from this thread, following the initial discussions we had with a number of supporters groups to come to, as Barry Izbak states, a difficult decision.

Clearly, it is extremely important that our Fans United history, and a wider solidarity with our fellow fans against the worsening state of football governance and exploitation of fans is maintained.

Within this context, there is a belief that the efforts BHAFC makes and the guiding principles of Tony Bloom in his running of the club have safeguarded against many of the disappointing actions taken by other clubs.

Our role as a Fan Advisory Board is to facilitate the view of all fans, not our own, and that is why I believe we should and will facilitate actions from fellow fans who want to be part of this. The proposal would be:

Those on this thread who have voiced their strong belief in partaking in this protest in solidarity with other fans to create a bespoke banner "FANS UNITED" to show our support, and present it at the Wolves game. This is a challenge timing wise.

Alternatively, if those involved agree the suggested FSA banner is clear enough not to be pointing fingers at our own club, then this is used. Perhaps the banner can be surrounded by scarves from other clubs to signify where the protest is aimed. I am happy to work with you to draft a letter to share with Tony / Board that outlines the source of the protest, explaining the wider context.

This should also be accompanied by a social media statement to be released in advance of the game to fully contextualise - this can distributed to UK news desks so they are aware and report responsibly.

With the above, while there is clearly split opinion on what the right thing to do is, for those that are passionate and want to commit their time to making this happen, we have a duty to facilitate and support you to do so in a productive way. So, if anyone does want to work towards this, please do let me know and we will help you communicate the stance to the club, collaborate with the FSA, and manage the wider optics.

UTA.

Click to expand...

The Tactician said:

Charlie from the FAB here.

I have noted the feedback and viewpoints from this thread, following the initial discussions we had with a number of supporters groups to come to, as Barry Izbak states, a difficult decision.

Clearly, it is extremely important that our Fans United history, and a wider solidarity with our fellow fans against the worsening state of football governance and exploitation of fans is maintained.

Within this context, there is a belief that the efforts BHAFC makes and the guiding principles of Tony Bloom in his running of the club have safeguarded against many of the disappointing actions taken by other clubs.

Our role as a Fan Advisory Board is to facilitate the view of all fans, not our own, and that is why I believe we should and will facilitate actions from fellow fans who want to be part of this. The proposal would be:

Those on this thread who have voiced their strong belief in partaking in this protest in solidarity with other fans to create a bespoke banner "FANS UNITED" to show our support, and present it at the Wolves game. This is a challenge timing wise.

Alternatively, if those involved agree the suggested FSA banner is clear enough not to be pointing fingers at our own club, then this is used. Perhaps the banner can be surrounded by scarves from other clubs to signify where the protest is aimed. I am happy to work with you to draft a letter to share with Tony / Board that outlines the source of the protest, explaining the wider context.

This should also be accompanied by a social media statement to be released in advance of the game to fully contextualise - this can distributed to UK news desks so they are aware and report responsibly.

With the above, while there is clearly split opinion on what the right thing to do is, for those that are passionate and want to commit their time to making this happen, we have a duty to facilitate and support you to do so in a productive way. So, if anyone does want to work towards this, please do let me know and we will help you communicate the stance to the club, collaborate with the FSA, and manage the wider optics.

UTA.

Click to expand...

The Tactician said:

Charlie from the FAB here.

I have noted the feedback and viewpoints from this thread, following the initial discussions we had with a number of supporters groups to come to, as Barry Izbak states, a difficult decision.

Clearly, it is extremely important that our Fans United history, and a wider solidarity with our fellow fans against the worsening state of football governance and exploitation of fans is maintained.

Within this context, there is a belief that the efforts BHAFC makes and the guiding principles of Tony Bloom in his running of the club have safeguarded against many of the disappointing actions taken by other clubs.

Our role as a Fan Advisory Board is to facilitate the view of all fans, not our own, and that is why I believe we should and will facilitate actions from fellow fans who want to be part of this. The proposal would be:

Those on this thread who have voiced their strong belief in partaking in this protest in solidarity with other fans to create a bespoke banner "FANS UNITED" to show our support, and present it at the Wolves game. This is a challenge timing wise.

Alternatively, if those involved agree the suggested FSA banner is clear enough not to be pointing fingers at our own club, then this is used. Perhaps the banner can be surrounded by scarves from other clubs to signify where the protest is aimed. I am happy to work with you to draft a letter to share with Tony / Board that outlines the source of the protest, explaining the wider context.

This should also be accompanied by a social media statement to be released in advance of the game to fully contextualise - this can distributed to UK news desks so they are aware and report responsibly.

With the above, while there is clearly split opinion on what the right thing to do is, for those that are passionate and want to commit their time to making this happen, we have a duty to facilitate and support you to do so in a productive way. So, if anyone does want to work towards this, please do let me know and we will help you communicate the stance to the club, collaborate with the FSA, and manage the wider optics.

UTA.

Click to expand...

Dave the OAP said:

In other words…it’s not at all about you tony and Paul, it’s all about how awful everyone else is….and we will do a banner and “ attach other clubs scarves” to show how we are very cross.

sorry but that sounds mealy mouthed nonsense.for some of us who spent quite a few years of our lives and money trekking up and down the country supporting our cause, and to all the clubs and fans of other clubs who supported us, our stance seems to be “ sorry but we are all right jack…f*** you”

Click to expand...

Terry Butcher Tribute Act said:

Tbh it reads like you're shit scared of what our board think. Which is a sad indictment of what the FAB has begun.

Also, you mention Bloom's running of the club but by Bloom's own admission, he has handed over the running of the club on a day to day basis. A lot of people like to forget that.

I don't especially blame you either. It's supposed to be a Fan advisory board but in reality it's a club advisory board. Having to write to the club to get their approval for football fans to protest against football fans being exploited to the max is just a bit weird, even more.so if you have to ask the press to take the club's side first.

Still that's the Albion these days, all about controlling the messaging in the media. As long as the world think we're a 'well run club', nothing else matters.

Click to expand...