New club ticket arrangements

[Ernest]

I think people who have a signed shirt from Ian Mellor should have first dibs at any tickets as they are such LOYAL supporters

 

[Withdean Wanderer]

Or just bring ina new scheme that is renewable each season and place the existing 24,000 AMS members next in line for tickets after the STH and Away Supporters Scheme (ASS?)

That sounds a VERY good idea to me, but you can be sure that someone will moan about it!

Edit: In fact, that could be made to work as well - AMS gives you the ability to buy away tickets in advance, it doesn't mention anything about what sort of priority you should have! Suggest to the club i think

 

[BensGrandad]

The annual renewable fee could be e.g £10 if paid by 1st May £25 if after. The early bird gets the worm.

The proritised allocation would only come into being in the case of what is expected to be an oversubscribed game. Ordinary run of the mill games there is not a problem AMS or ASS or STH will suffice.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

As regards Lord B point about wanting to sit with friend who are not STH I have never found this a problem as I have 3 ST and my 3 sons are all AMS and I just apply for the tickets I want at the required time stating who the tickets are for with their membership/account numbers and have not had a problem.

If you want FOUR tickets (or more), can you get them all at the same time?

My circumstances are that we have six people in the family who have been STHs in the past. All are AMS members. Two of us are still STHs.

The four who have dropped out include one who works regularly on Saturdays and buys Withdean tickets when he can, on a match by match basis; one who manages a pub and can't get to many games at all; one who now lives and works in London and can't get to many matches; and one who is a student in London, who can't afford a ST or the travel costs involved.

When three (or four or five or six) of us want to go to an away game together, it isn't possible to buy three, four, five or six tickets together if STH applications are separated out from AMS applications.

 

[Horsham Gull]

yeh i do think there one per away member should be relaxed abit for people who want to be sat togeather as a group. i dont see a problem as long all the people concerned can prove they are away members so tickets can be purchased togeather.

 

[Beach Hut]

When three (or four or five or six) of us want to go to an away game together, it isn't possible to buy three, four, five or six tickets together if STH applications are separated out from AMS applications.

And the solution is..........................

Falmer with crowds of 8,000

 

[The Large One]

I think people who have a signed shirt from Ian Mellor should have first dibs at any tickets as they are such LOYAL supporters

Christ, you are on one tonight.

It feels like I'm being chased around the board by a fat scarecrow with a butcher's knife but with some kind of homo-erotic fantasy subtext. It's very disturbing.

 

[mona]

If you want FOUR tickets (or more), can you get them all at the same time?

My circumstances are that we have six people in the family who have been STHs in the past. All are AMS members. Two of us are still STHs.

The four who have dropped out include one who works regularly on Saturdays and buys Withdean tickets when he can, on a match by match basis; one who manages a pub and can't get to many games at all; one who now lives and works in London and can't get to many matches; and one who is a student in London, who can't afford a ST or the travel costs involved.

When three (or four or five or six) of us want to go to an away game together, it isn't possible to buy three, four, five or six tickets together if STH applications are separated out from AMS applications.

So your 4 non-sth family should have equal priority with a group of 4 sth? No system is going to be completely fair but this strikes me as being incredibly flawed. Both for regular non-sth away fans and the sth who go to away games.

 

[Beach Hut]

Correct - totally flawed but there you go

 

[Ernest]

Correct - totally flawed but there you go

Fundamentally flawed but as he is a club lap dog it will be allowed

 

[Beach Hut]

Fundamentally flawed but as he is a club lap dog it will be allowed

Harsh

 

[Ernest]

Harsh

but fair

 

[mona]

Fundamentally flawed but as he is a club lap dog it will be allowed

Good Lord! I'm agreeing with you.

 

[BensGrandad]

If you want FOUR tickets (or more), can you get them all at the same time?

B]

Yes.

You have to just ask they can only say yes or no. If the ticket office says No you can't have them what have you lost?

 

[Citrus in Sheffield]

No I don't. I am one.

But when I go to away games, I very often want to go in a party of people that is a mix of AMS members and STHs. Ticketing arrangements that PREVENT us from buying tickets at the same time can often prevent us from sitting together.

It wasn't an issue at Orient - where the tickets were for "unreserved seating" - but it can be for any game where people are expected to sit in their allocated seats.

Equal priority for AMS members and STHs avoids the problem. That's why it's the solution.

 

[BensGrandad]

The problem is we have 24,000 AMS members including 4500 STH all equally entitled to a seat.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

So your 4 non-sth family should have equal priority with a group of 4 sth? No system is going to be completely fair but this strikes me as being incredibly flawed. Both for regular non-sth away fans and the sth who go to away games.

I agree that no system will be completely fair.

The point I am making (and you are making too) is that people who go regularly to away games (whether they are STHs or non-STHs) should be given some sort of priority.

STH priority is flawed because it fails to give non-STH away regulars the chance that they deserve.

I can live with the inconvenience of having to book my six tickets in two separate groupings. That's what we did for the WHU game - and we got the tickets by booking early.

But I believe the Club has got it wrong in failing even to look for a system that rewards non-STH supporters who regularly go to away games and also non-STH supporters who regularly buy tickets on a match-by-match basis at Withdean.

The system that was introduced for the Orient game is WORSE than the one that applied for the West Ham game.

I'd also be interested to know why Ernest and Mona think that me criticising the Club in this way qualifies me as a "club lap dog".

 

[BensGrandad]

How do the club kniow who goes regularly to away games. Could they tell you how many I have been to this season.

The only way they will know is they get every club to make it all ticket for away fans for Brighton matches. Tickets only available through BHA.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

How do the club kniow who goes regularly to away games. Could they tell you how many I have been to this season.

The only way they will know is they get every club to make it all ticket for away fans for Brighton matches. Tickets only available through BHA.

They can (and do) offer away tickets through the BHA Ticket Office for most games. If they recorded sales and introduced a points system based on that method of purchasing away tickets, more people would buy through the Club Ticket Office to gain points and get priority for big games.

They could also record match-by-match sales of home tickets and allow regular non-STHs to accumulate points.

This wouldn't deal with situations where away clubs sold tickets ONLY on the gate, but, even in this division, those games are a minority. We won't get a PERFECT system. I'm simply arguing for a BETTER system.

 

[BensGrandad]

The first thing that has got to happen is either scrap the existing AMS scheme or bring in a supplementary one that carries greater priority. It is ludicrous to have an AMS scheme with 24,000 members which is 4 x our average home gate for which Withdean cannot be blamed because it was not much higher in the latter years at The Goldstone.