Arsenal away 1st October - ticket availability

[portlock seagull]

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.

Exactly, I couldn't care less about Arsenal Spurs etc but West Brom and Everton...yes please!!

 

[Bozza]

Just thinking out loud here, but is there a case to be made for an even wider variation in the allocation of loyalty points? Could games like Arsenal and Man United be ZERO points, while Newcastle on 30th December is even more than 15? That would certainly help people move up the ladder by putting in the long journeys and, to be perfectly honest, I don't feel like travelling 50 miles to watch Arsenal at The Emirates really justifies any form of reward.

There could be but only if actual physical attendance is verified (being discussed here). A "problem" with the Premier League's £30 ticket price and 19 away games a year is that it will cost less money, in terms of ticket prices, to follow the Albion away in the PL than it did in the Championship. As such, buying and not using a ticket is not an unreasonable sacrifice to make if you are in a borderline position. It will just mean your average ticket price is, say, £35 over the season.

 

[jamie the seagull]

Well I think you do stand a decent chance just not for the "high profile" games just yet.

Get to the games that many others can't be bothered with, accruing 15 points each time, and you'll increase your chances when the "big" games come round again.

The problem is that these tickets will also be taken by those who have 1st chance just for the points, so will not be available to those who may want to actually go..
Got Arsenal ticket today (just) and went to both Leicester & Watford where on both occasions I was surrounded by empty seats next to me.

 

[soistes]

Sorry but you're talking bollocks. You are saying that some tickets need to be held back for a lottery system for those without enough points. Firstly, this penalises those who are steadily building up loyalty points who might otherwise have bought them. Secondly, if there is a lottery then there will inevitably be people lucky enough to get a ticket despite not having half as many points as others who didn't win. That is de facto queue-jumping. Thirdly and most importantly, the idea that we should factor in loyalty for long-time fans who don't go to many games is just silly. It's ridiculous and if you do factor this in then inevitably there will be more loyal fans i.e. those who put money into the club by going to home games or support us away will miss out.

It's impossible to have a lottery system without penalising some more loyal fans.

My point was that it's unfair that 2 year STH goes ahead of a 6 year STH and it's equally unfair that someone who hardly goes to games should go ahead of a 2 year STH.

On balance, although I can see some defects with the current system, I agree with you that the lottery model would be worse. As someone who was in the second tier for both Bournemouth and Arsenal (on the basis of 6 years of Amex STH, a few away games in each of the last few seasons, plus going to Leicester, Watford and Barnet this season), and who just managed to get tickets for both of these before they sold out (with the usual nerve-wracking wait for the online queue at 9 am), holding back 10% or whatever for a lottery would pretty much have guaranteed that I didn't get tickets for Bournemouth or Arsenal, and I might have been fairly hacked off to learn that they went instead to someone with no 'loyalty' record through a lottery system.

 

[ATFC Seagull]

We have played at the Liberty Stadium at least twice. I've been there for a 0-0 draw in League One and I think there was also a JPT defeat. I agree with your point about there being certain games where tickets will be widely available though - Huddersfield and Newcastle in December, followed by the two you mention in the new year, are good examples.

Just thinking out loud here, but is there a case to be made for an even wider variation in the allocation of loyalty points? Could games like Arsenal and Man United be ZERO points, while Newcastle on 30th December is even more than 15? That would certainly help people move up the ladder by putting in the long journeys and, to be perfectly honest, I don't feel like travelling 50 miles to watch Arsenal at The Emirates really justifies any form of reward.

I think any system that differentiates between the value of away games has to be done quite carefully to avoid a) overly penalising people who miss the odd game if it happens to be the one with bonus points and b) doing it on the basis of day of the week/time of year.

If I was someone who went to many away games but went on holiday (or to a wedding) and had to miss a specific game, fair enough. But it wouldn't be my fault if that happened to be the weekend of a particularly unattractive away game and rather than be 5-10 points behind those that went I ended up something the equivalent of 3-4 games behind those that went.

Equally, many fans cannot do midweek games away from home further north than London due to work commitments and unflexible holiday etc. Equally, I know some fans that ONLY go to midweek aways due to work commitments, but go to all of them without fail. I think it would be a bit farcical where someone who has been able to make 5 midweek away games has accumulated the same points as someone who has gone to 12-13 Saturday aways.

Unsure about games around Christmas, Bank Holidays etc - again I sort of feel that you shouldn't penalise people who really can't get away from family commitments at those times with a massive bonus for those that can.

I do get the need to differentiate between attractive vs non-attractive away days but I think it's probably about right now.

 

[ditchy]

The problem is that these tickets will also be taken by those who have 1st chance just for the points, so will not be available to those who may want to actually go..
Got Arsenal ticket today (just) and went to both Leicester & Watford where on both occasions I was surrounded by empty seats next to me.

May have empty seats but then look at the aisles towards the top of the stand and see people standing as they dont want to sit lower down . Maybe you didnt have a lower seat , but i think this went on to a fair degree

 

[CheeseRolls]

The problem is that these tickets will also be taken by those who have 1st chance just for the points, so will not be available to those who may want to actually go..
Got Arsenal ticket today (just) and went to both Leicester & Watford where on both occasions I was surrounded by empty seats next to me.

You are in danger of creating a witch hunt here based on an incorrect assumption. Many premier league teams will only sell the minimum number of tickets they need to provide to away supporters, rather than striving to fill a stand. This needs to be taken into account before blaming "big game" fans gaming the system.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

 

[el punal]

The problem is that these tickets will also be taken by those who have 1st chance just for the points, so will not be available to those who may want to actually go..
Got Arsenal ticket today (just) and went to both Leicester & Watford where on both occasions I was surrounded by empty seats next to me.

Really? I went to both those games and both looked to have had a full away allocation present. It could be that many fans (like me) do not bother with sitting at away games, and particularly with Watford it was impossible to get to your allocated seat anyway.

 

[Horton's halftime iceberg]

Whats the best Twitter account to give late ticket releases? Thanks

They have just popped up on my twitter feed, I assumed from https://twitter.com/OfficialBHAFC?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

The problem is that these tickets will also be taken by those who have 1st chance just for the points, so will not be available to those who may want to actually go..
Got Arsenal ticket today (just) and went to both Leicester & Watford where on both occasions I was surrounded by empty seats next to me.

Really? I was at Watford and no one was sitting and it was packed. Where were you?

 

[Horton's halftime iceberg]

https://www.brightonandhovealbion.c...uth-vs-brighton-and-hove-albion-on-19-sep-17/

Bournemouth away in the league cup is 10 loyalty points

 

[Is it PotG?]

https://www.brightonandhovealbion.c...uth-vs-brighton-and-hove-albion-on-19-sep-17/

Bournemouth away in the league cup is 10 loyalty points

Brings about a query in my mind, more points for the Cup than the League game? I am in the 'IAJ' tier but I do find this allocation very strange indeed.

 

[jamie the seagull]

Really? I was at Watford and no one was sitting and it was packed. Where were you?

Block VR1 towards the rear...

 

[Horton's halftime iceberg]

Brings about a query in my mind, more points for the Cup than the League game? I am in the 'IAJ' tier but I do find this allocation very strange indeed.

Perhaps as loyalty for the few that will troop down to Boscombe twice in 5 days - I thought the 5 points was low for the trek to Dean Court.

 

[Petee]

Block VR1 towards the rear...

Don't forget, some people don't sit/stand in their allocated seat.

 

[Superseagull69]

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.

This will happen even under the current scheme, as even after being a season ticket holder for at least 3 years & gone to the occasional away game too, my daughter still falls into the same bracket as a JCL Glory hunter who has only jumped on the band wagon this season.

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.

Definitely already a closed shop, as there is no chance of moving up a tier. Most away games, if not all, will sell out in the top two bands & as JCL's are in the same band as some loyal supporters who albeit have been STH for only 3-4 seasons.
Was lucky enough to get Leicester tickets & Burton tickets but all the club seem to do in increase the thresholds of the bands keeping them still out of reach.
Not sure how it could be improved but people being in the lower bands are not any LESS loyal or any less a fan just because they not in the superfan top bands....

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Brings about a query in my mind, more points for the Cup than the League game? I am in the 'IAJ' tier but I do find this allocation very strange indeed.

Makes perfect sense. There will be more points given to those games that more people do not want to attend. For another example, I would imagine there will be more points for Swansea than Manchester Utd.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

I saw seven away games last year but only three with tickets bought through the club. Others were POTG, given a ticket at Brentford, guest of home team fan etc.

If you're canny and tenacious, you can get tickets to a lot of away games. As people have said, the marquee games will be harder, but it is possible.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Genuine question and not being argumentative or trying to make a point - do you have a history of doing as many away games as possible in the lower divisions? And are you an STH? If so, you'd surely be in the top bracket.

Answer.
I am a STH and last season I did 13 away games and every home game. ( Gosfield base camp 80 miles from the Amex ) I have over 290 points and could have got a ticket on Tuesday. I don't travel home or away alone and my travelling companions all have 240+ points but not enough for Tuesday purchase. We thought we would be ok and logged on at 8.15am this morning. Sadly to no avail.
The comment was out of frustration as Arsenal was in my top 3 of intended away games. My son and I had hoped to do all 19 away but clearly underestimated demand. Hey ho, we will have to lower our expectation level.