Arsenal away 1st October - ticket availability

[Simster]

The idea that fans might drift away if they don't get the opportunity to go to see Arsenal or Chelsea away this season is equally absurd. They had plenty of opportunity to do Birmingham or Burton away last season or see us play Barnet last week. The scheme actually encourages people to stick around because that's the way to get away tickets.

Do we really want a system that accommodates fans who might have been for only a couple of seasons, hardly ever did an away game and who might drift away if they can't get to see the one away game this season that they were going to go to?

No but as I say, I'm talking about 300 tickets not 3,000!

 

[dwayne]

Are there any loyalty points awarded for the Carabao Cup game away to Bournemouth ?

Fingers crossed. nice cheap points.

Certain sell out if points awarded

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[Buzzer]

I'm not talking bollocks, I'm not advocating anything other than a tiny percentage of tickets be held back for a ballot, thus giving anyone a punchers chance of seeing their club at one of the big boys. There's a lot of nonsense being talked about loyalty on here - I'd suggest the very last reason a STH buys a ST is because he or she is thinking "in 6 year's time, this will almost guarantee I can watch us play at The Emirates".

The other thing with a ballot is that it gives you a chance to go with people you otherwise couldn't go with. In recent weeks, you've lamented the fact that one or two of your sons couldn't go with you because of a lack of points, but with a ballot in place you could apply for 3 tickets. Or you could even buy your one tickets, go into the ballot for the other two, and sell your original one back if you didn't get lucky.

How will holding back any tickets NOT penalise someone higher up in the loyalty points pyramid?

We all support Brighton in different ways but if you want away tickets for the big boys then really, first dibs should go to those who actually go to games.

 

[Simster]

How will holding back any tickets NOT penalise someone higher up in the loyalty points pyramid?

We all support Brighton in different ways but if you want away tickets for the big boys then really, first dibs should go to those who actually go to games.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. To be clear though, I'm really not advocating anything other than that, except for 10% of tickets.

 

[Bozza]

I'm not talking bollocks, I'm not advocating anything other than a tiny percentage of tickets be held back for a ballot, thus giving anyone a punchers chance of seeing their club at one of the big boys. There's a lot of nonsense being talked about loyalty on here - I'd suggest the very last reason a STH buys a ST is because he or she is thinking "in 6 year's time, this will almost guarantee I can watch us play at The Emirates".

The other thing with a ballot is that it gives you a chance to go with people you otherwise couldn't go with. In recent weeks, you've lamented the fact that one or two of your sons couldn't go with you because of a lack of points, but with a ballot in place you could apply for 3 tickets. Or you could even buy your one tickets, go into the ballot for the other two, and sell your original one back if you didn't get lucky.

If you had sufficient points to be in today's second tier for Arsenal, got given place 300 in the queue but just missed out because 300 tickets had been held back, do you think you'd be on here posting that it was fair enough as it gave others with less points than you a chance?

I'd venture that you'd probably be pretty pissed off to have missed out to someone, say, going to their first ever away game who was in their first year as a season ticket holder.

 

[Buzzer]

No but as I say, I'm talking about 300 tickets not 3,000!

We've got 25k STHs. If just 10% of those apply for your lottery and an equal number of non-STHs then you will have 5000 people trying for just 300 tickets. And you think this will solve the non-existent problem of fairweather fans drifting away from the club because they can't otherwise get tickets to see Arsenal?

 

[Nixonator]

To be honest if you're trying to get "up the ladder" from a low-ish position this year then you are going to find it hard going - but then the club are rewarding the people who've climbed it earlier. However next year, you will be fine. We will either have stayed up, and a lot of people will be way less fussed about going to all these grounds for a second time, or we will go down, in which case we will rarely sell out an away game at all and you can take your pick.

Totally agree. Those sitting in the pissing rain in a midweek game under Sami Hyppia in a half empty stand watching horrendous football should get their reward. Likewise IF we do go down again next season those who don't have enough points this year will get to show their loyalty on those long away nights up north in the middle of winter and earn more than enough points to get the glamour ties when we go back up again. Will they though? Or will they still just keep moaning it's unfair?

The problem is that the people moaning about not getting a ticket to the 'glamour' ties now (WITH SOME VERY OUTSPOKEN EXCEPTIONS) are generally the very same people who said 'nah' to those kind of games during that period and will say 'nah' again if/when we descend to it again.

On the face of it a lottery system seems a decent idea to be as inclusive as possible, but if you think about it … not only are you screwing c300 people or more who were next in line loyalty wise, but there are also no guarantees that the people who get them will be the ones who have supported the club for many years with genuine reasons for low points or new younger fans who have every intention of supporting us in the future through good or bad.

 

[Nixonator]

Someone will be along in a minute to tell you to get a ticket to watch the stiffs in the cup and Swansea away to give yourself a puncher's chance.

If you're on a limited budget, local aways might be all you can afford to get to.

Plenty of locals the last few seasons, also seem to remember getting to Birmingham and back for less than £10 each just a few months ago.

So you should be fine.

 

[Giraffe]

The new scheme is very fair, whether it is fairer than last seasons I'm not sure, but if you sit back from it and look it rationally then it really is only rewarding loyalty to the club. The combination of needing to have been a season ticket holder for some time together with having been to quite a few away games in the last few seasons must be the only way to do it.

Most of our group tick both of those boxes in that we have all had season tickets for many years and travel away regularly. We are therefore comfortably in tier one. However two of our group whilst being away regulars for a few seasons have not had a season ticket until recently. They probably feel a bit aggrieved that they are now second or third tier but provided they can get to a good number of games they should still be okay. So far they have still managed to get tickets to all aways other than Arsenal.

It clearly is working.

I still maintain what I said on a previous thread about this becoming a closed shop though as the maths suggest that if you are not in the third tier by now it will become increasingly difficult for you to get out of that into the top two tiers.

 

[ROSM]

As someone who missed out on both watford and arsenal tickets i still believe the system is fair.

 

[ATFC Seagull]

The new scheme is very fair, whether it is fairer than last seasons I'm not sure, but if you sit back from it and look it rationally then it really is only rewarding loyalty to the club. The combination of needing to have been a season ticket holder for some time together with having been to quite a few away games in the last few seasons must be the only way to do it.

Most of our group tick both of those boxes in that we have all had season tickets for many years and travel away regularly. We are therefore comfortably in tier one. However two of our group whilst being away regulars for a few seasons have not had a season ticket until recently. They probably feel a bit aggrieved that they are now second or third tier but provided they can get to a good number of games they should still be okay. So far they have still managed to get tickets to all aways other than Arsenal.

It clearly is working.

I still maintain what I said on a previous thread about this becoming a closed shop though as the maths suggest that if you are not in the third tier by now it will become increasingly difficult for you to get out of that into the top two tiers.

I think that assumes that this buzz is going to continue past this season, which as I've said above I think is unlikely. Unless we do a Leicester, I think any subsequent seasons in the PL are going to see less fuss over away tickets which will give people who have narrowly missed out this year the chance to "get on the ladder". And if we go down, then people can go to as many aways as they like to build up the points for when we are next at this level.

 

[Simster]

No, obviously not. People have bought a season ticket for six years at up to £700 a go to watch the likes of Preston, Brentford and Burton. And therein lies the 'loyalty'.

Indeed - although I've been a STH at all three home grounds (not at Gillingham), and have never paid anything like £700.

Anyway, maybe it is too early for me to be calling for a ballot system - we've not been in the top flight for 4 decades, so upon reflection I can't really argue that a points system alone is anything other than the fairest way to go. But as [MENTION=3734]Giraffe[/MENTION] points out, from now on, it will become ever harder to pierce that top 2 band of point earners the longer we stay in this division, and then it will really will be a closed shop. At some point I feel the club will have to address the issue and I can't think of a better way than a ballot system for a small percentage of tickets.

 

[Simster]

You may or may not be correct on that. Nobody knows right now. But what I would say is that there are a lot of people who have spent many years and thousands of pounds trekking around this country to watch the Albion and they are the ones who deserve every single ticket going this season. Like it or not, the system is a very accurate representation of loyalty and therefore tickets should only go to those who deserve them as we finally get some reward for many years of dross. Our first ever trip to The Emirates is not the time to be backing a ballot or any other nonsense.

It gets more interesting and worthy of debate in Year 2 and 3 (presuming we stay up). Only then will we find out whether demand reduces for these games allowing people to climb/fall through the tiers or if the 'closed shop' scenario plays out. My opinion is still that this season is very much a one-off and in the long run we simply don't have the support to fill 3,000 seats at away games across the country 19 times a year.

As I have already said, upon reflection I do agree with what you (and others) say, for this season anyway.

 

[Giraffe]

I think that assumes that this buzz is going to continue past this season, which as I've said above I think is unlikely. Unless we do a Leicester, I think any subsequent seasons in the PL are going to see less fuss over away tickets which will give people who have narrowly missed out this year the chance to "get on the ladder". And if we go down, then people can go to as many aways as they like to build up the points for when we are next at this level.

That is a fair point although I think IF we stay up the buzz will continue as people won't want to lose their status in the top tier.

 

[Gazwag]

My opinion is still that this season is very much a one-off and in the long run we simply don't have the support to fill 3,000 seats at away games across the country 19 times a year.

My thoughts was well, I think the first test will not come until January and February when we have established EPL clubs Stoke and West Brom away, neither of which will have the appeal of Arsenal etc and I think these two will give those fans in the lower brackets a good chance to go to - if of course they want to travel to see us away in the EPL or do they want to just go to the "blue ribbon" games. Swansea may be an earlier game but as we have never played at that stadium before (I don't think we have from memory) it has the new ground appeal for most of the top bracket supporters.

 

[Bozza]

My thoughts was well, I think the first test will not come until January and February when we have established EPL clubs Stoke and West Brom away, neither of which will have the appeal of Arsenal etc and I think these two will give those fans in the lower brackets a good chance to go to - if of course they want to travel to see us away in the EPL or do they want to just go to the "blue ribbon" games. Swansea may be an earlier game but as we have never played at that stadium before (I don't think we have from memory) it has the new ground appeal for most of the top bracket supporters.

West Brom will be quite in demand I reckon, assuming it remains a Saturday 3pm. We've not played them for nearly 25 years, so it will be a new ground for many, and it's not too far to travel in the big scheme of things.

Newcastle, Burnley and Stoke are all a bit different, although we've not played Stoke in the league for 12 years so even that could tempt more than you might expect.

 

[ATFC Seagull]

That is a fair point although I think IF we stay up the buzz will continue as people won't want to lose their status in the top tier.

I personally told the Mrs I was giving up away games 3 years ago. I don't know how long I can get away with saying "I just need to do one more year".