Paul Barber response - Loyalty Points/Ticket Allocation Outside of Sussex

[batch_91]

Anybody living away from Sussex may be interested in my email to the man himself and his prompt reply...

Good afternoon Paul,

Further to your recent announcement regarding ID checking to clamp down on swapping fan numbers, I would like to offer some feedback as a fan living away from Sussex.

I have been living in Sheffield for most of the last decade, meaning that apart from the odd home game over christmas, I can mostly only be seen at the northern away games, usually 8 or 9 games per season. Not usually a problem, but I'm sure you can appreciate that the issue of loyalty points and tickets selling out quickly become increasingly common and will certainly be worse next season (we all hope).

I understand that fans loyalty should be prioritized, but I feel this is unfairly weighted against those that cannot attend home games. My 80-90 loyalty points per year are a fraction of the 1000 given to every season ticket holder, it means that I have no hope of attending the high demand games without resorting to using the help of a friend or relative. I find this particularly frustrating as I can only see this problem being made worse as the clubs success increases.

I would urge you to review the clubs policy on loyalty points in future, keeping in mind the ex-pat southerners flying the blue and white flag up north.

I'd also like to take the opportunity to thank you for your fantastic work being done at the club, I often enjoy listening to you speak, and the fact that we have this line of communication is a testament to the fan engagement that you have helped to foster, I consider you a strong asset to the club.

Many thanks


His reply...

Thank you for your email and kind words.

I do appreciate the points you make regarding where you live and the great efforts you still make to support the club. I have addressed many similar points from Spurs (in one of my previous roles) and Brighton fans for many, many years now. By the same token, I addressed different questions on “loyalty” when having responsibility at The FA for travelling England fans.

The reality is that no loyalty point system is perfect. There will always be compromises. Most football clubs have to weight loyalty programmes to their home support as this is where we generate the most revenue which, in turn, funds the club and, ultimately, our footballing budgets. We do not make any money from selling tickets to away matches. Our small commission barely covers our costs.

Our loyalty point system was designed by the chairman, personally. As you may be aware, Tony is a mathematician so it is finely tuned to reflect loyalty as best it can given what I have said above. Our increasing awareness off the issues we've explained and tackled this week will, I hope, start to eradicate the current mis-use of loyalty points which should help those with less points secure tickets a little more often.

You’re right, however, that should be secure promotion, there will be many matches next season when demand for away match tickets will likely exceed supply. In those situations, you never know, some people may thank the club for the actions we have taken this week to protect the integrity of the loyalty point system!

Thanks again for your support. It's very much appreciated.

Kind regards, Paul

Paul Barber
Chief Executive

 

[robinsonsgrin]

worth a try eh... but basically, tough! surely there must be a way of levying a certain amount of points on those up north with a good history of away match attendance. cant be rocket science.. appreciate potg doesnt helpl this.. but..

 

[The Gem]

You’re right, however, that should be secure promotion, there will be many matches next season when demand for away match tickets will likely exceed supply. In those situations, you never know, some people may thank the club for the actions we have taken this week to protect the integrity of the loyalty point system!

Thanks again for your support. It's very much appreciated.

Kind regards, Paul

Paul Barber
Chief Executive

So in other words, thanks but tough!!!!!

 

[Sussex Nomad]

He should be a politician the way he side steps the question.

 

[Eeyore]

Anybody living away from Sussex may be interested in my email to the man himself and his prompt reply...

Good afternoon Paul,

Further to your recent announcement regarding ID checking to clamp down on swapping fan numbers, I would like to offer some feedback as a fan living away from Sussex.

I have been living in Sheffield for most of the last decade, meaning that apart from the odd home game over christmas, I can mostly only be seen at the northern away games, usually 8 or 9 games per season. Not usually a problem, but I'm sure you can appreciate that the issue of loyalty points and tickets selling out quickly become increasingly common and will certainly be worse next season (we all hope).

I understand that fans loyalty should be prioritized, but I feel this is unfairly weighted against those that cannot attend home games. My 80-90 loyalty points per year are a fraction of the 1000 given to every season ticket holder, it means that I have no hope of attending the high demand games without resorting to using the help of a friend or relative. I find this particularly frustrating as I can only see this problem being made worse as the clubs success increases.

I would urge you to review the clubs policy on loyalty points in future, keeping in mind the ex-pat southerners flying the blue and white flag up north.

I'd also like to take the opportunity to thank you for your fantastic work being done at the club, I often enjoy listening to you speak, and the fact that we have this line of communication is a testament to the fan engagement that you have helped to foster, I consider you a strong asset to the club.

Many thanks


His reply...

Thank you for your email and kind words.

I do appreciate the points you make regarding where you live and the great efforts you still make to support the club. I have addressed many similar points from Spurs (in one of my previous roles) and Brighton fans for many, many years now. By the same token, I addressed different questions on “loyalty” when having responsibility at The FA for travelling England fans.

The reality is that no loyalty point system is perfect. There will always be compromises. Most football clubs have to weight loyalty programmes to their home support as this is where we generate the most revenue which, in turn, funds the club and, ultimately, our footballing budgets. We do not make any money from selling tickets to away matches. Our small commission barely covers our costs.

Our loyalty point system was designed by the chairman, personally. As you may be aware, Tony is a mathematician so it is finely tuned to reflect loyalty as best it can given what I have said above. Our increasing awareness off the issues we've explained and tackled this week will, I hope, start to eradicate the current mis-use of loyalty points which should help those with less points secure tickets a little more often.

You’re right, however, that should be secure promotion, there will be many matches next season when demand for away match tickets will likely exceed supply. In those situations, you never know, some people may thank the club for the actions we have taken this week to protect the integrity of the loyalty point system!

Thanks again for your support. It's very much appreciated.

Kind regards, Paul

Paul Barber
Chief Executive

I think that away matches should have a small amount of tickets set aside for Sussex ex-pats. There has to be a provision. And if there is concern over tickets being passed on this would help a small bit.

For me, his response doesn't seem to address your concerns. An Albion 'ex-pat' living in, say, Worksop, who attends a few away games a year, should be allowed a ticket for a match in Nottingham that may sell out.

 

[spoonie]

Dear Paul and Tony How many points will we need for Villa ?

 

[Napper]

we are not spurs or England Paul !

Look at our away attendances before sending out that ridiculous message about

Arrogance barber !!

 

[Uncle Buck]

I think that away matches should have a small amount of tickets set aside for Sussex ex-pats. There has to be a provision. And if there is concern over tickets being passed on this would help a small bit.

For me, his response doesn't seem to address your concerns. An Albion 'ex-pat' living in, say, Worksop, who attends a few away games a year, should be allowed a ticket for a match in Nottingham that may sell out.

Why?

Do that and every other 'fan group' will be asking for some form of special treatment when it comes to tickets.

The system has to reward the most loyal fans, those being fans that go to home and away games.

Next should be those that have season tickets, as they are putting money into the club.

The rest have to come further down the list.

 

[bn1&bn3 Albion]

Please explain how those complaining about the system would change it? No system will ever cater perfectly for everyone, it's impossible. The club has to prioritize those fans going to home games. It's not the club's fault people live up north and are unable to make home games.

 

[rippleman]

Why?

Do that and every other 'fan group' will be asking for some form of special treatment when it comes to tickets.

The system has to reward the most loyal fans, those being fans that go to home and away games.

Next should be those that have season tickets, as they are putting money into the club.

The rest have to come further down the list.

Not sure that a fan living in the north of England is any less "loyal" than me living in Sussex. The practicalities of life means that some fans don't live locally and are unable to attend our home games. Not sure how you conclude that makes the OP less loyal to the club than you or I?

 

[Wilko]

Why?

Do that and every other 'fan group' will be asking for some form of special treatment when it comes to tickets.

The system has to reward the most loyal fans, those being fans that go to home and away games.

Next should be those that have season tickets, as they are putting money into the club.

The rest have to come further down the list.

This. I think this is about as fair as you can get in terms of priority for tickets.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

He should be a politician the way he side steps the question.

To be fair tho, PB is savvy enough to know that more likely or not his email will be widely shared on NSC. And can then be copy'n'pasted into the programme for the next game. Smooth operator. And a definite major asset to the Albion. Micro-engages par excellence. Total respect to the bloke

 

[bn1&bn3 Albion]

Not sure that a fan living in the north of England is any less "loyal" than me living in Sussex. The practicalities of life means that some fans don't live locally and are unable to attend our home games. Not sure how you conclude that makes the OP less loyal to the club than you or I?

The football club is a business. The fan being more financially loyal will be prioritized.

 

[Two Professors]

Oh well,I'm quite good at pretending to be an opposition supporter.Life goes on.

 

[Sussex Nomad]

To be fair tho, PB is savvy enough to know that more likely or not his email will be widely shared on NSC. And can then be copy'n'pasted into the programme for the next game. Smooth operator. And a definite major asset to the Albion. Micro-engages par excellence. Total respect to the bloke

Yeah I am firmly in that camp, was just a bit tongue in cheek from me really.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Not sure that a fan living in the north of England is any less "loyal" than me living in Sussex. The practicalities of life means that some fans don't live locally and are unable to attend our home games. Not sure how you conclude that makes the OP less loyal to the club than you or I?

Has to be done somehow and the fairest way is on games attended.

If I miss away games due to working away or simply cannot be arsed (Lincoln), I do not get points and that is fine.

 

[Bwian]

It isn't easy keeping everybody happy when it comes to high demand tickets. I'd like additional loyalty points for being a STH at Gillingham and Withdean to give me an edge over AMEX JCLs but it won't happen. The Club is 100% correct in rewarding people who generate most of its income. Most games 'up North' don't sell out so there's a good chance that having a Northern address will get you home tickets. Like I said, it is impossible to keep everybody happy when it involves tickets-especially high profile games.

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

 

[clarkey]

Not sure that a fan living in the north of England is any less "loyal" than me living in Sussex. The practicalities of life means that some fans don't live locally and are unable to attend our home games. Not sure how you conclude that makes the OP less loyal to the club than you or I?

Loyalty is an emotive concept, and clearly implies far more to a supporter than financial outlay. However clearly the club need a way of quantifying 'loyalty', and financial outlay/regularity of expenditure is as close as you can get to being able to do it.

 

[batch_91]

Sorry not sorry!

My boss at work is a Chelsea season ticket holder, goes to every game home and away.

He is part of an away ticket membership scheme as their tickets rarely, if ever go on general sale. Obviously we are a long way from having that type of consistent demand, but could be a way to reward the regular travellers.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

This. I think this is about as fair as you can get in terms of priority for tickets.

Not sure about that, it goes from 1080 to STH's then directly down to bronze membership and then general sale. If you go to every away game you can get up to around 450 points, if you go to every game home and away you could get up to about 900 points in theory, but if you're anywhere from 0-1000 there is no priority category for you, you're behind someone paying £22 for bronze membership.

I think it would be good to have a 200 or so point threshold in there for people who get to 15-20 games a season . Otherwise the loyalty points are pretty meaningless for non-sth. There's whole sections in the T&C about loyalty points for non-sth, how many are carried forward to next year and so on, and yet there seems to be no point to them if you haven't got a season ticket, there is just a blanket priority for bronze members regardless of how many games they go to.