[Albion] 10-game ban and 50-loyalty point deduction

[Perry's Tracksuit Bottoms]

I think it's really important that the people who can afford to go to all the games can go to all the games, and that people who can't afford that are kept away.

 

[Bozza]

I can imagine he didn’t know what his sons did, so why isn’t one of them banned instead of him?

The rule is:

Any supporter found to be passing on away tickets will be subject to a ten-home match ban, during that time the excluded supporter will not be able to purchase away tickets and a 50-point loyalty point deduction will be made.​

​

I guess you could make the case that the son passed on his Dad's away ticket, but it's all getting quite tenuous there. The club will have observed the Dad's ticket being used by someone else and the rule is intended to prevent that from happening.

 

[Stat Brother]

It's a funny relationship with your (our) club. I was referring to the season ticket on which the away ticket was bought (assuming that is what has happened). The ticket is owned by your old man. You want to use it for a girlfriend. The old man wouldn't mind - were it me I'd be pleased. They will have a better day out.

Instead you have to dot all the i's and cross the t's. And I am not sure for what.

So that if you get ejected/arrested the club have some way of stopping it happening again.

What if she'd luzzed a bottle into the home fans - how would you feel about those responsible for getting her into the game going completely unpunished?

 

[dazzer6666]

Deal with the arrested fans and who enabled them to get the tickets. That is the problem. Someone's girlfriend ? Not so much.

How do you put controls in place stopping handover to one particular group but not the other ? Loads of the troublesome yoof have high-loyalty point ST mates who were getting them tickets, hence the new policy.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Really.....

Another over reaction me thinks, most of us on here are middle aged or older, and I think we forget what we were like, we may not have been coked up, but I bet we seemed boisterous, and obnoxious to the middle aged and older folk when we first started going....

I agree with your sentiment. Me and a big group of mates used to do as many away days as we could when I was in my teens and 20s and while we didn't do coke, or any drugs at all, we did drink pretty much all day, and I'm sure we sang twatty songs from time to time or annoyed people on trains. And that's been part of away days before I started going and still is now I'm over 50.

The thing is, though, there were only about 200 of us going to long distance aways then. Broadly you'd have one or two club coaches that were very well behaved, a mini bus or two, older people who drove and then the same old people on the trains. If there was the chance of trouble you might get the LA lads turning up or GD's lot but that was pretty much separated. Apart from three of us being attacked outside McDonalds by about 30 Birmingham (brave, brave lads) and being chased out of a boozer in Chesterfield we managed to avoid actual fighting, and this was the late 80s / early 90s. It fairly much self-policed and if you were being a dick someone soon enough told you that you were being a dick, because you'd have to face exactly the same people in two weeks time.

But now, welcome to the Premier League and all seater stadia. We have more demand for away tickets than supply and you normally have to sit in your assigned seat. There may have been an unwritten rule in the past of "it's away, go where you like" but when people are having to buy restricted view tickets or elderly people want to sit down at the front it's only right that you go in the right place, especially if your seat number might be noted if you're ejected.

Therefore the club had to find a way to fairly allocate the tickets (the points system) and to allocated seats (opening up block by block). It's only fair that people who are gaming that system or who are taking a seat someone else may be in that they've bought to be near someone or have a specific view get punished.

Tl;dr? It's not the club's fault, it's a minority of fans who think the rules don't apply to them.

 

[dazzer6666]

The rule is:

Any supporter found to be passing on away tickets will be subject to a ten-home match ban, during that time the excluded supporter will not be able to purchase away tickets and a 50-point loyalty point deduction will be made.​

​

I guess you could make the case that the son passed on his Dad's away ticket, but it's all getting quite tenuous there. The club will have observed the Dad's ticket being used by someone else and the rule is intended to prevent that from happening.

….and the club offered dad the opportunity to pass the ban to the son (as the offender here), but he refused. I wouldn’t have….life lessons….

 

[Stat Brother]

Deal with the arrested fans and who enabled them to get the tickets. That is the problem. Someone's girlfriend ? Not so much.

But none of them should be there.
Them being good or not, doesn't detract from the fact they are stopping fans from going who are abiding by the rules.

 

[Hotchilidog]

It's clear this chap is collateral damage and not the sort of person the new rule is aimed at, but given that the club offered to transfer the punishment to the real miscreant then I think they have tried to be fair to him.

An example has been and has shown the club to be serious, and I hate to say it, but away trips have been more pleasant this season, so from my point of view the club have a point with this policy at the moment.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

In the Twitter thread, the Dad says that the club offered to transfer the punishment to his son but the Dad declined the offer.

Unsure why he’s airing it then to be fair, everyone was told the consequences.

 

[el punal]

Apparently, the ‘dickhead’ count at away matches is down considerably due to these rules. And guess what, the ‘dickheads’ are usually teens. Imagine getting your old man a ban like that and making him take it!

Barber spoke about our away fans starting to get a ‘reputation’ at other clubs on the roar. He has decided to make an example of people breaking the rules. This might shock some people but if he is achieving his aim, I can see the thinking behind it. Hopefully, the punishments can be reduced once the away ticket-cheats have been culled enough.

I love going to away games and have always loved the atmosphere. For me, it has been apparent on recent trips the knobhead element being very noticeable. The usual shit songs - you know the ones, the beer chucking in the concourse and ‘I’ll do what I like, what are you going to do about it attitude’. Okay, I realise that this is all part of the away day experience and I’m not bothered by it but I know many that are.

What I would question is are these ‘fans’ your genuine diehard away supporters who have a legitimate claim to an away ticket or have they snaffled a ticket from a mate of a mate who happens to have a spare?
I rather think the latter hence the club’s hard line stance in this matter.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

If only he had been a 1901 member none of this would have happened and he would still be as ‘loyal’ in the eyes of the club as before…

Come on you’ve seen enough American TV over the years to know the young tear away is from a wealthy family who exert control and influence over the mayors office or school in question to make the issue go away!

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

You can get away tickets without a season ticket.

I know.

 

[Stat Brother]

He hasn't really thought it through.

He wouldn't have missed anything banned for 10 games of Potterball.

We have no idea what the next 10 games have in store - I can't wait.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

But none of them should be there.
Them being good or not, doesn't detract from the fact they are stopping fans from going who are abiding by the rules.

Sorry. So it's a loyalty points issue is it ?

 

[BNthree]

Not clear from the Twitter thread, but it sounds like his sons are U18. Is it possible for an U18 to buy their own tickets without an adult account and credit/debit card and additional tickets from F&F lists?

The average parent would be fairly livid if their teenager used their CC, or even just his fan number, without permission, and making him face the consequences would be seen as appropriate punishment and a life lesson. Hence the fact that the dad has accepted the ban rather than it being transferred to the son seems odd.

Yes, unaccompanied minors have to be 14 and up. A relative of mine has just turned 16 and regularly does away games (paid for with his wages from part time job). Don't need a credit card as pretty much every current account comes with a debit card these days.

 

[wellquickwoody]

Really.....

Another over reaction me thinks, most of us on here are middle aged or older, and I think we forget what we were like, we may not have been coked up, but I bet we seemed boisterous, and obnoxious to the middle aged and older folk when we first started going....

To quote Plato circa 380BC

I find it quite perverse how many folk on here will condemn some of own, who having bought and paid for tickets, have the temerity to turn up at the said match. Possibly the same folk who often defend fans of other clubs who have a sizeable minority of hangers on who regularly travel to games without tickets. The moral high ground has a very two faced look about it at times.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

The son is obviously not a young teen if he had the ability to pay for the tickets as well…( but I guess fathers card might be on the account) how long do you protect a ‘child’?
I know it’s an honourable thing to do but how will they learn ?

In this instance it seems they won’t learn. IF and frankly a bit IF, the dad genuinely didn’t know the sons (assume >16 years and older) had done this, they should have done the honourable thing and offered to take the punishment. I can understand not grassing your own kids up to a level but then he has in the tweet?

 

[Stat Brother]

Sorry. So it's a loyalty points issue is it ?

Ticket swappers are jumping the queue.
If the allocation was sold out Mr J Bloggs, at the end of the queue, would have been unable to go because this ticket was used fraudulently.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

So that if you get ejected/arrested the club have some way of stopping it happening again.

What if she'd luzzed a bottle into the home fans - how would you feel about those responsible for getting her into the game going completely unpunished?

When they get chucked out - take their names and deal with those who cause the trouble,

If the girlfriend was doing that then of course she should be punished - as should those who enabled the ticket (knowingly or not). But this attitude that everyone who goes to a football match is a potential hooligan unless proven otherwise causes problems.

 

[Bozza]

Unsure why he’s airing it then to be fair, everyone was told the consequences.

I guess there are two points...

1. He may not have been aware of the rule. A LOT of stuff comes out from the club, and some of it is easy to miss. I rarely visit the official club site, I never see emails from the club either (no idea if they send them or they just end up in Promotions/Spam within gmail) and I don't tend to open twitter other than on match days. It was the thread I linked to early on this thread that informed me of the club's new process for away tickets.

2. Even if he was aware, the Friends & Family part of the ticketing system means that anyone can buy a ticket on behalf of someone that they have a F&F relationship with. That second person will not know that a ticket has been bought in their name unless the purchaser tells them. The ticketing system implies trust between those who form F&F relationships, not unreasonably.