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BBC SCR say the club is to review....



Rangdo said:
I think that people who go to most home games but aren't STH should get priority
Agreed.

It's not about "putting money into the club".

This about-turn seems to me to be a regrettable kick in the teeth of loyal fans who simply can't afford to find £400 in one go.
 




gollum

Member
Dec 29, 2004
166
The situation will only get worse after Falmer. Better facilities and a bigger capacity will result in more STH but no more away tickets.

Agree we have to get bums on seats at Withdean, but we also need to reward the away fans as well.
 


cjd

Well-known member
Jun 22, 2006
6,313
La Rochelle
Juan Albion said:
And if the West Ham game had been at home? Or when we get Manure at home in the next round? Would those who travel to all the away games but don't have a season ticket get treated the same as a STH?

And there are people who go to all the home games but can't afford to buy a season ticket. Why should STHs gain priority over them? THAT'S NOT TOO DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND EITHER.

As it was, season ticket holders who never go to Doncaster or Port Vale or even Millwall or Bournemouth (or any away games whatsover) get first crack at HALF the tickets for an AWAY game. And if they are in the AMS, they could submit an application in that too. Seems to me the club got it pretty much spot on, but the STHs couldn't keep their toys in the pram if they lost out in a fair draw.

You really do need to go back and read the replies on this forum. Most of the replies have come up with good and fair suggestions, so that ALL regular supporters have a fair crack at getting tickets. Your remark that the Club have got it "pretty much spot on " doesn,t tally with the furore it,s created, nor with the fact that the Club is going to review it,s policy. From a "business" point of view, STH should come first, followed by supporters with some form of membership/loyalty card....and everyone else, who NEVER goes, ecxept to "the big games", is last in the queue. MORALLY (my point of view), all regular supporters with a STH or Membership/Loyalty card showing number of games attended should be treated the same.i.e. first dibs at a ticket. Loyalty points would count for HOME and AWAY games. I,ve tried to understand all points of view, but the over-riding factor for me, is quite simply; There were 5,200 tickets.Gates at Withdean, 5,500. Away supporters average 500 of which at least 300 are regular supporters at Withdean. That means, we have a hardcore support of approx. 5,700. It,s pretty obvious that of those 5,500 who go to withdean there are at least a 1,000 who for various reasons of age, finance, travel or other reasons would not take up a ticket. That leaves 4,700 regular supporters wanting a ticket.EVERY regular supporter should have been able to obtain a ticket with ease.........but they didn,t...did they..?
I really hope the Club get,s it as right as they can...but I have to say, their business acumen in this incident has been shown to be very poor....(IMHO).
No offence is meant to you personally in this post.
 


gollum said:
The situation will only get worse after Falmer. Better facilities and a bigger capacity will result in more STH but no more away tickets.
I don't agree.

With the capacity that Falmer will offer and with tickets more easily available on the day than they are now, I can't see many reasons for buying a season ticket, once we've got Falmer.

Never had one at the Goldstone. Always had one at Withdean. Unlikely to have one at Falmer.
 
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clapham_gull

Legacy Fan
Aug 20, 2003
25,885
Lord Bracknell said:
Agreed.

It's not about "putting money into the club".

This about-turn seems to me to be a regrettable kick in the teeth of loyal fans who simply can't afford to find £400 in one go.

I agree - and their support is obviously the easiest to measure.

It almost forgotten in all these arguments about STH v Away Members.

.. but their support wasn't really accounted for in the current system.

( only by virtue of being probably being an Away Member )

The FA Cup comes along in January - if you've been to the same amount of home games as a season ticket holder has already paid for - then you are at the same level, I have no problem with that.
 




El Presidente

The ONLY Gay in Brighton
Helpful Moderator
Jul 5, 2003
40,018
Pattknull med Haksprut
Lord Bracknell said:
I don't agree.

With the capacity that Falmer will offer and with tickets more easily available on the day than they are now, I can't see many reasons for buying a season ticket, once we've got Falmer.

Never had one at the Goldstone. Always had one at Withdean. Unlikely to have one at Falmer.

But a ST GUARANTEES you the chance to sit next to Liz Costa and Sarah Watts (or Ernest and Beachy as they are more commonly known)
 


cjd

Well-known member
Jun 22, 2006
6,313
La Rochelle
Lord Bracknell said:
I don't agree.

With the capacity that Falmer will offer and with tickets more easily available on the day than they are now, I can't see many reasons for buying a season ticket, once we've got Falmer.

Never had one at the Goldstone. Always had one at Withdean. Unlikely to have one at Falmer.

Interesting point re; season tickets at the Goldstone....I agree, by far the majority of supporters didn,t have season tickets. I will be very interested to see what happens at Falmer, bearing in mind, that the Goldstone was terraces, so it was easy not to have a season ticket, but still meet up with familiar faces in the same part of the ground. All seater stadiums will not allow us that opprtunity unless you have a season ticket.
 


Lord Bracknell said:
I don't agree.

With the capacity that Falmer will offer and with tickets more easily available on the day than they are now, I can't see many reasons for buying a season ticket, once we've got Falmer.

Never had one at the Goldstone. Always had one at Withdean. Unlikely to have one at Falmer.

Well, if I was the clubs sales and marketing person when we get to Falmer, I would start thinking of ways to start incentivising you to buy one. Access to drawcard games might very well be a logical way of doing that.

Not only is it vital income at a difficult time of the year when none other is flowing in, but of course it is guaranteed income for the club for every game regardless of whether you attend or not, as although there are some ST holders who manage to organise their entire lives around the home fixture list, most of us are not in that position and will probably write off two, three or four games every season as a donation to the club.
 
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clapham_gull said:
I agree - and their support is obviously the easiest to measure.

It almost forgotten in all these arguments about STH v Away Members.

.. but their support wasn't really accounted for in the current system.

( only by virtue of being probably being an Away Member )

The FA Cup comes along in January - if you've been to the same amount of home games as a season ticket holder has already paid for - then you are at the same level, I have no problem with that.

Yours is the logical solution. The only pitfall is whether an under-resourced ticket office have the equipment and manpower to run a loyalty system.

It's a tough call whether Dick Knight should really be paying out for that for what looks like being one big cup draw, say, every two or three years.

If the cost could not be justified, a simple adjustment to the current system of offering about two-thirds of tickets to season ticket holders would be a fair compromise. With an allocation of about 5,000 (any "big" cup draw these days would give us that), then that should satisfy the needs of season ticket holders.

How you would deal with the deserving regular away fans - well, the ticket stubs idea I think is an easy, cheap way of doing that. Next time, I wouldn't choose a midweek game though, how about selecting 3 Saturday away games before November and having tickets stubs from 2 giving you priority?

That should deprioritise the one game every couple of season mob.
 


cjd said:
the Goldstone was terraces, so it was easy not to have a season ticket, but still meet up with familiar faces in the same part of the ground. All seater stadiums will not allow us that opprtunity unless you have a season ticket.
The "familiar faces" I want to meet up with (and sit next to) aren't necessarily the same ones each week.

If we meet up in a pub beforehand and buy tickets on the day, we won't have to split up when we get to the ground.


[Incidentally, this problem only arises because season ticket holders have allocated seats. If the Club could remove that restriction, there might be a case for buying a season ticket.]
 
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Lord Bracknell said:
[Incidentally, this problem only arises because season ticket holders have allocated seats. If the Club could remove that restriction, there might be a case for buying a season ticket.]

When the time comes, hopefully everyone will lobby hard for one of the ends to be unreserved. Would solve so many problems and keep everyone happy.

The only cost to the Albion would be a 10 per cent reduction in capacity in that stand for health/safety reasons, would reduce the capacity of the stadium by about 400, but we obviously ain't going to be selling it out every week straight away :)
 




BensGrandad

New member
Jul 13, 2003
72,015
Haywards Heath
Lord Bracknell said:


[Incidentally, this problem only arises because season ticket holders have allocated seats. If the Club could remove that restriction, there might be a case for buying a season ticket.]

Is that not a reason why most people buy a season ticket it was for me at The Goldstone, Gillingham and now at Withdean and will be at Falmer.
 


Jim in the West

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Sep 13, 2003
4,957
Way out West
Lord Bracknell said:
[Incidentally, this problem only arises because season ticket holders have allocated seats. If the Club could remove that restriction, there might be a case for buying a season ticket.]

I couldn't agree more....I have written to the club before on this, and the answer has been categorically that for safety reasons you MUST have an allocated seat. I believe this is one of the main reasons for the poor atmosphere at Withdean.
 


Jim in the West

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Sep 13, 2003
4,957
Way out West
Lord Bracknell said:
Agreed.

It's not about "putting money into the club".

This about-turn seems to me to be a regrettable kick in the teeth of loyal fans who simply can't afford to find £400 in one go.

If that's the problem, I don't see why the club can't give people the option of paying in (say) 10 monthly instalments - at a slight premium (or rather, those that pay up front get a slight discount). In fact, given the likely down-turn in ST numbers next season, I'd be amazed if the club weren't seriously considering this.
 




Kent Seagull

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
2,062
Tenterden, Kent
Interesting that this argument never arose in 1983 when we went to Liverpool and paid on the gate. Can you imagine what a nightmare a game against them would be like these days?
 


Yorkie

Sussex born and bred
Jul 5, 2003
32,367
dahn sarf
I think the split between STH and AMS should still apply but be 75/25 rather than 50/50 as it is now.
 


Kent Seagull

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
2,062
Tenterden, Kent
Yorkie said:
I think the split between STH and AMS should still apply but be 75/25 rather than 50/50 as it is now.

That's fine but should people who buy individual tickets for all home matches be excluded from big games?
 


Icy Gull

Back on the rollercoaster
Jul 5, 2003
72,015
I'm still of the opinion that those that go to the non glamorous earlier round home games should get priority and then STH, many of whom will have been anyway. If that was made clear we may get better crowds for earlier rounds.

The Cardiff/West Ham and Spurs occasional big game glory hunters would then be at the bottom of the list and be unlikely to get a ticket unless all those that had been, at least to a cup game, had all been sorted.
 
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BensGrandad

New member
Jul 13, 2003
72,015
Haywards Heath
IMHO a system should be brought in whereby each person who buys a ticket for a home game, whether by STH or individual games, gets 2 points per game. All away games attended get one point, the difference being that we need to sell out Withdean, and we ask that clubs give tickets on the turnstiles , like a bus ticket not complicated, or a ticket bought at BHA. The turnstile tickets can be sent to the club and a point allocated to the appropriate AMS account. Our maximum away attendance is usually less than 1000, except very local and holiday games so not too many entries for the office staff to make.

All tickets for home games would automatically on purchase be on the data base.

The clubs will probably accept giving tickets out as it protects their income and stops 2 people going through the turnstile and the gate man pocketing some money, as used to happen quite frequently.

If you wish to give an incentive to STH give them a 3 or 5 ticket bonus at the start of the season. The onus is on away fans sending in their stubs.

The selling of tickets could then be based on eg those with above 30 points 1st, those with above 25 2nd those with above 20 etc. Thus giving tickets to those who attend matches.

It is more complicated to write and explain it than to put it into operation.
 


Knotty

Well-known member
Feb 5, 2004
2,421
Canterbury
Juan Albion said:
And if the West Ham game had been at home? Or when we get Manure at home in the next round? Would those who travel to all the away games but don't have a season ticket get treated the same as a STH?

And there are people who go to all the home games but can't afford to buy a season ticket. Why should STHs gain priority over them? THAT'S NOT TOO DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND EITHER.

As it was, season ticket holders who never go to Doncaster or Port Vale or even Millwall or Bournemouth (or any away games whatsover) get first crack at HALF the tickets for an AWAY game. And if they are in the AMS, they could submit an application in that too. Seems to me the club got it pretty much spot on, but the STHs couldn't keep their toys in the pram if they lost out in a fair draw.

How can you say the club got it 'spot on'?

I know someone who is an AMS member and has been to 3 away games in 5 years. They have a ticket for West Ham. How can that be justified against a STH who didn't get a ticket? How is that 'spot on'?

The fact that you travel long distances to away games shouldn't, in itself, be a qualification. (I am a STH and travel 200 miles for HOME games!) The number of matches you attend should be a qualification.

There has to be a workable points system that rewards AMS members, and those who buy individual tickets at Withdean, fairly in relation to STH.

If you attend the matches you earn the points.
 


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