Falmer pay on gate?

[Tooting Gull]

It beggars belief the amount of crap on this thread. People who seem prepared to spend hours trawling through a football forum website, typing lengthy diatribes about the club and then turn around and point out they can't be arsed to spend 5 minutes on the club website to buy their tickets before setting off for the ground to collect them. Brovion had been bleating on about it but then points out that he would walk a long way to get to the ground anyway.

Do half of you on here have punkawallahs to wipe your arse for you just because at that particular time you just can't be bothered.

Really? I'd have said this thread is, by a distance, the best and (for the most part) constructive debate ever held on the issue on this board or anywhere else.

And it's vital the club take notice of more casual fans. By their very nature, their opinion might not be heard, they are not STHs, etc. But collectively, there are thousands of them and they are very important.

 

[Bry Nylon]

Have you tried shopping or swimming in Brighton city centre lately? You can park your car - but you pay through the nose to do so.

Why? Because too many cars were killing the city. And someone has done something about it.

Since when was Falmer in Brighton city centre? Falmer is about 4 miles from the centre of Brighton. Me driving into Brighton so that I can get a train back out to the football stadium will only cause more congestion than if I had simply driven the ground and parked there.

 

[Brovion]

It beggars belief the amount of crap on this thread. People who seem prepared to spend hours trawling through a football forum website, typing lengthy diatribes about the club and then turn around and point out they can't be arsed to spend 5 minutes on the club website to buy their tickets before setting off for the ground to collect them. Brovion had been bleating on about it but then points out that he would walk a long way to get to the ground anyway.

Do half of you on here have punkawallahs to wipe your arse for you just because at that particular time you just can't be bothered.

*Sigh* Another one who's missed the point. Walking to the ground will be my choice as walking is something I enjoy doing. Hanging on a telephone or going out of my way to buy a ticket is NOT something I enjoy doing - especially as I can think of better ways to spend my time (and money) as opposed to wasting it watching a poor third divison football team play a shit match against another poor third division team. Unlike others I'm not too fussed about handing over cash at a turnstile but I expect the club to make the ticketing process as painless and as easy as possible. And I will decide what is 'easy' and what is too much effort. Ok?

 

[drew]

*Sigh* Another one who's missed the point. Walking to the ground will be my choice as walking is something I enjoy doing. Hanging on a telephone or going out of my way to buy a ticket is NOT something I enjoy doing - especially as I can think of better ways to spend my time (and money) as opposed to wasting it watching a poor third divison football team play a shit match against another poor third division team. Unlike others I'm not too fussed about handing over cash at a turnstile but I expect the club to make the ticketing process as painless and as easy as possible. And I will decide what is 'easy' and what is too much effort. Ok?

No, I haven't missed the point. You want everything how you want it and not prepared to compromise. You sound like you would be prepared to cut of your nose to spite your face.

If you want to go to the Albion, it really doesn't take that much effort but if you can't be arsed then you can't be arsed. Trouble is, now I can't really be arsed to carry on arguing.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Whats going to happen when you book online an hour before the match , get your "oyster card" credited , get into the stadium and find someone sitting in you favourite seat ? Will the casual fans who go to say 10 or 12 home games be allocated a seat on a match by match basis similar to what they do in the cinemas ? What happens if you want to sit with your mates who are STH's ?

 

[Jamie]

Agree entirely, but are there genuinely thousands of fans who are going to decide at 2.30 on a Saturday afternoon to pop along to Falmer? I can see fans deciding on the morning of the match, if the club makes it easy, (and it is a big IF) they fans can still get a ticket under the existing rules, and we are now in the 21st century, so let's take advantage of technology whilst not disenfranchising the technophobic.

I suspect what is more likely to put floating fans off is transport to and from the ground, but the days of parking nearby are gone, whether we like it or not.

As for the stick that Jamie gets, if he repeatedly shows he does not know the difference between pay on the day and pay at the gate then I don't have any sympathy.

Utter drivel mate. Read the thread. The distinction between pay on the day and pay has been understood from the start but it is just you have attempted to misunderstand the point I make deliberately or you just do not understand. Your distinction however misses the point and really your distinction is a bloody stupid one. The debate is, as has been said many a time before but I will try again, is whether someone needs a "poxy plastic card" to gain entry to a football match in a 22500 stadium between Brighton and say Barnsley. Your view (which is just bizarre in my opinion) is that you do need the said "poxy plastic card" and I have pointed out that such requirement is bloody stupid, and should be relaxed. I then point out that it will, whether you like it or not, put people off. I have given examples of kids in the playground, and old Sussex people who just will not carry such a card and should not have to rely on others to have a card before they are allowed entry to a game such as Btn v Barnsley on a Wednesday night in January. Given that it is common ground with anyone with half an ounce of common sense understands that there is no need for a "poxy plastic card" for anyone who does not want one for the game against the said Barnsley, then forcing people to get one is the "bloody stupid" and will, whether you like it or not, put people off. You then go into the "Im a council planner and my rules say". I then point out that actually, whilst you may think you are important as a council planner, you are open to court scrutiny and the rule of needing the said "poxy plastic card" is so otiose to be beyond belief then the rule will not (in my view) stand up to scrutiny and the club should strive to fight against such a bloody stupid council planning regulation, and stand up for its customers. May I also say (again) that I say this as someone who will get a "poxy plastic card" but (and if nothing else please take this on board) there will be many many people (especially old sussex blokes who have followed the club all their life) who will not carry the said "poxy plastic card". I just ask again that the club puts itself in other peoples shoes and take on board these very simple points because really they are not complicated and they will lose fans.

 

[Jamie]

When I go to the supermarket I turn up, park my car, choose what I want and pay cash.

When I go to the leisure centre, I turn up, park my car, pay cash, go swimming.

When I go shopping in my local town, I park my car, buy stuff, pay cash and then go home.

BUT, if I want to go and watch Brighton play at Falmer I have to buy tickets on a swipe card I don't want, or do it on my phone (which I don't want to do either), or go to some mystery phone booth at some mystery location, and then get on some godforsaken train or bus, which will presumably take me into Brighton after the game, even though I want to get home to Cambridge.

Chances of me going to watch Brighton at Falmer? 0/10

Exactly.

 

[GT49er]

Utter drivel mate. Read the thread. The distinction between pay on the day and pay has been understood from the start but it is just you have attempted to misunderstand the point I make deliberately or you just do not understand. Your distinction however misses the point and really your distinction is a bloody stupid one. The debate is, as has been said many a time before but I will try again, is whether someone needs a "poxy plastic card" to gain entry to a football match in a 22500 stadium between Brighton and say Barnsley. Your view (which is just bizarre in my opinion) is that you do need the said "poxy plastic card" and I have pointed out that such requirement is bloody stupid, and should be relaxed. I then point out that it will, whether you like it or not, put people off. I have given examples of kids in the playground, and old Sussex people who just will not carry such a card and should not have to rely on others to have a card before they are allowed entry to a game such as Btn v Barnsley on a Wednesday night in January. Given that it is common ground with anyone with half an ounce of common sense understands that there is no need for a "poxy plastic card" for anyone who does not want one for the game against the said Barnsley, then forcing people to get one is the "bloody stupid" and will, whether you like it or not, put people off. You then go into the "Im a council planner and my rules say". I then point out that actually, whilst you may think you are important as a council planner, you are open to court scrutiny and the rule of needing the said "poxy plastic card" is so otiose to be beyond belief then the rule will not (in my view) stand up to scrutiny and the club should strive to fight against such a bloody stupid council planning regulation, and stand up for its customers. May I also say (again) that I say this as someone who will get a "poxy plastic card" but (and if nothing else please take this on board) there will be many many people (especially old sussex blokes who have followed the club all their life) who will not carry the said "poxy plastic card". I just ask again that the club puts itself in other peoples shoes and take on board these very simple points because really they are not complicated and they will lose fans.

Well said. Don't want poxy plastic cards. Don't mind if I have to buy a ticket from a machine on Falmer, or Brighton, station - but don't want to have to book in advance; just not a practical proposition for some of us. If some matches are going to be sell-outs, then fair enough, ticket only - but otherwise I want to be able to make a decision on the day - and not by phone or on the internet either!

 

[Smithy]

The solution is to buy a season ticket.

 

[Everest]

Let's just hope we never play Barnsley on a Weds night in January then.

 

[Jamie]

As I work in Ldn town then im not sure hy im bothered about btn v barnsley on a wednesday night as its unlikely id get down for it anyway ! Actually i know wy im fussed, the idea of stopping some old fella or a ew kids paying on the day and telling them to log on line to get an oyster card about sums up why allot of football is shit these days. Had my say. Off now, they can either listen or not i spose.

 

[e77]

It is probably worth pointing out that I imagine the club would love to be able to sell tickets at the ground on match days.

 

[SICKASAGULL]

After the first month the stadium will be half full to watch Division 1 football,there is no way I would buy a season ticket as if the team does not perform then I want the option to decide which matches I want to see.
Once the club have your cash for the whole season there is not the pressure on them to take the necessary action when required.

 

[Curious Orange]

Utter drivel mate. Read the thread. The distinction between pay on the day and pay has been understood from the start but it is just you have attempted to misunderstand the point I make deliberately or you just do not understand. Your distinction however misses the point and really your distinction is a bloody stupid one. The debate is, as has been said many a time before but I will try again, is whether someone needs a "poxy plastic card" to gain entry to a football match in a 22500 stadium between Brighton and say Barnsley. Your view (which is just bizarre in my opinion) is that you do need the said "poxy plastic card" and I have pointed out that such requirement is bloody stupid, and should be relaxed. I then point out that it will, whether you like it or not, put people off. I have given examples of kids in the playground, and old Sussex people who just will not carry such a card and should not have to rely on others to have a card before they are allowed entry to a game such as Btn v Barnsley on a Wednesday night in January. Given that it is common ground with anyone with half an ounce of common sense understands that there is no need for a "poxy plastic card" for anyone who does not want one for the game against the said Barnsley, then forcing people to get one is the "bloody stupid" and will, whether you like it or not, put people off. You then go into the "Im a council planner and my rules say". I then point out that actually, whilst you may think you are important as a council planner, you are open to court scrutiny and the rule of needing the said "poxy plastic card" is so otiose to be beyond belief then the rule will not (in my view) stand up to scrutiny and the club should strive to fight against such a bloody stupid council planning regulation, and stand up for its customers. May I also say (again) that I say this as someone who will get a "poxy plastic card" but (and if nothing else please take this on board) there will be many many people (especially old sussex blokes who have followed the club all their life) who will not carry the said "poxy plastic card". I just ask again that the club puts itself in other peoples shoes and take on board these very simple points because really they are not complicated and they will lose fans.

Have the final ticketing arrangements already been decided then, is it the case that everyone has to have a card, even the away fans? It strikes me that the ticketing arrangements are likely to be far more flexible than that - a lot of new grounds now have barcode readers on the turnstiles, which could mean that anything from a traditional ticket to an image txt'd to a mobile phone, or a plastic card, could be used to gain entry.

It has already been established that paying at the gate is going to be a non-starter due to planning regs, and whatever you say there is nothing that the club can do about that as those regulations are set at a national level rather than a local one - they don't apply to older grounds because they were built before they came about and it would be perverse to try and retrospectively apply them.

But pay on the day will be possible by a variety of means (does the current ticket office not accept cash in person at the moment? Why would they stop when the new ground opens?), and from what I have heard so far at a variety of places. So in fact getting tickets will be easier for the majority of people.

Pay on the gate would be lovely, but it isn't going to happen unless the planning regulations are changed, and that isn't going to happen because a minority of Brighton fans can't be bothered to make a phone call an hour before the match.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

Well said. Don't want poxy plastic cards. Don't mind if I have to buy a ticket from a machine on Falmer, or Brighton, station - but don't want to have to book in advance; just not a practical proposition for some of us. If some matches are going to be sell-outs, then fair enough, ticket only - but otherwise I want to be able to make a decision on the day - and not by phone or on the internet either!

Nothing stopping you going to the ticket office; it just won't be at the ground, as now.
As for plastic cards; if such a scheme were to be introduced it could be just a matter of modifying the existing gold/blue/white membership scheme criteria to include all home matches. You currently cannot buy an away ticket from BHA unless you are a member and the scheme seems to work OK for the thousands of us who are members already.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Since when was Falmer in Brighton city centre? Falmer is about 4 miles from the centre of Brighton. Me driving into Brighton so that I can get a train back out to the football stadium will only cause more congestion than if I had simply driven the ground and parked there.

No-one is saying you will have to drive down from Cambridge and go to the club shop in Queens Road. You will be able to drive down from Cambridge, park at Mill Road, buy a ticket there and be taken by bus to within 100 yards of your seat.

Far more convenient than driving to Falmer High School car park and having half a mile to walk.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Utter drivel mate. Read the thread. The distinction between pay on the day and pay has been understood from the start but it is just you have attempted to misunderstand the point I make deliberately or you just do not understand. Your distinction however misses the point and really your distinction is a bloody stupid one. The debate is, as has been said many a time before but I will try again, is whether someone needs a "poxy plastic card" to gain entry to a football match in a 22500 stadium between Brighton and say Barnsley. Your view (which is just bizarre in my opinion) is that you do need the said "poxy plastic card" and I have pointed out that such requirement is bloody stupid, and should be relaxed. I then point out that it will, whether you like it or not, put people off. I have given examples of kids in the playground, and old Sussex people who just will not carry such a card and should not have to rely on others to have a card before they are allowed entry to a game such as Btn v Barnsley on a Wednesday night in January. Given that it is common ground with anyone with half an ounce of common sense understands that there is no need for a "poxy plastic card" for anyone who does not want one for the game against the said Barnsley, then forcing people to get one is the "bloody stupid" and will, whether you like it or not, put people off. You then go into the "Im a council planner and my rules say". I then point out that actually, whilst you may think you are important as a council planner, you are open to court scrutiny and the rule of needing the said "poxy plastic card" is so otiose to be beyond belief then the rule will not (in my view) stand up to scrutiny and the club should strive to fight against such a bloody stupid council planning regulation, and stand up for its customers. May I also say (again) that I say this as someone who will get a "poxy plastic card" but (and if nothing else please take this on board) there will be many many people (especially old sussex blokes who have followed the club all their life) who will not carry the said "poxy plastic card". I just ask again that the club puts itself in other peoples shoes and take on board these very simple points because really they are not complicated and they will lose fans.

You'll find that EVERY ticket you buy will be a "poxy plastic card". Re-usable and re-chargeable the next time you want to go. It will even get you into away games at grounds that have the same ticketing system.

Paper tickets won't be available to anyone.

 

[SirDouglasLoft]

So, will it be pay of the gate? Or not?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

So, will it be pay of the gate? Or not?

No.

Pay on the day? Yes.

 

[Brovion]

No, I haven't missed the point. You want everything how you want it and not prepared to compromise. You sound like you would be prepared to cut of your nose to spite your face.

If you want to go to the Albion, it really doesn't take that much effort but if you can't be arsed then you can't be arsed. Trouble is, now I can't really be arsed to carry on arguing.

I'm not surprised you can't be arsed to go on arguing because despite what you say you HAVE missed the point. It's not a question of me cutting off my nose to spite my face, it's not like I'll be sitting at home thinking "I really really want to go and see Brighton play but I can't be arsed to sort out a ticket in advance." The bottom line is nowadays I am a 'plastic' Brighton fan and I DON'T really want to spend quite a lot of money watching a crap football team play a crap match, and in order to get me there the whole matchday 'experience' should be as pleasant and as hassle-free as possible. (The alternative of course is to get a winning team playing big games as opposed to the current shower of shite. Even us plastics will be more inclined to put ourselves out then)

Anyway, like you say it is pointless to go on arguing because as a 'real' fan you don't understand. Seriously, you don't. The bottom line is it doesn't matter what you or any of the other 'real' fans think - if it isn't easy for casual supporters to just turn up on the day (and get away afterwards) then it will just be the 7-8000 of you there. And no amount of bleating about how lazy, disorganised or ignorant we are is going to help.