[Albion] Spurs - Sat 5th Feb 8pm

[Bold Seagull]

Maybe not for you, but some are complaining about that - read back over the last few pages.

The initial fan communication "up to 9,000" was, I understand, entirely accurate at the time - no-one was being deceived, intentionally or otherwise. 9,000 tickets were, potentially, available.

Obviously that changed subsequently, and that was not communicated in any way when it should have been to allow those waiting to make a decision to buy there and then, or wait it out and take the risk.

The club have said they knew it was 5700 or the full 9000, so took the 5700 to start with. So their communication wasn't entirely accurate at all, and did deceive anyone who read it that up to 9000 would be available, not that an initial 5700 would be taken and that might well be the limit of it.

 

[dazzer6666]

I agree. If they announced we were taking an allocation of 5700 no-one would have complained. Sadly the poor communications have given the wrong impression to those who were biding their time for the later eligibility window. An avoidable faux pas.

I understand the clubs' position but they must be aware of the poor optics of this situation.

....exacerbated (again) by PB's long-winded defence of the approach and unwillingness to admit they get anything wrong at all (see also ST sharing, bottle tops, flasks etc)

Fan's Forum next week might be a bit lively

 

[Springal]

You have to admire PB probably protecting someone else at the club that has ballsed this up, but it is not a great look really - just admit a mistake has been made and we'll learn from it blah blah

 

[The Optimist]

Of course he doesn't - the club's senior team will come up with a concensus on things like this.

Fan reaction to the scheduling of this was pretty negative. I'm happy to say I didn't think we'd sell out 9,000 for this. Maybe we would or maybe we wouldn't - there's no way of knowing now, but demand has been stronger than I, and many long-time fans I know, were expecting.

Faced with the moans around the kick-off time for this, as well as the train problems, I really can't blame the club for taking the smaller allocation initially. I can blame them for not being clearer about that at the outset, and I can blame Spurs for not being very helpful as well.

I think the above is a clear summary. The only thing I would add is the risk to taking 5700 or 9000 tickets. Taking 9000 tickets risks being left with 3000 unsold and presumably £75k out of pocket (or one weeks wages to a top earner?). Taking 5700 tickets risks 3000 fans being pissed off. I know it's easy for me to say, but on balance I would have taken the 9k tickets.

 

[Bozza]

If they announced we were taking an allocation of 5700 no-one would have complained.

Yes they would!

1. When our initial allocation of 5,700 was announced there would have been loads of "Why have the club only taken 5,700 when we're entitled to 9,000? We'd easily take 9k to this one?!?"

2. When those 5,700 tickets sold out: "The club have got this horrendously wrong. Anyone could have told you we'd have sold out 9,000 for this one. Why did they not take 9,000? Why does Barber always get this stuff wrong?"

As it was, on this occasiotn, the club couldn't have anounced they were taking an allocation of 5,700 as they weren't. At the time it was the first chunk of tickets out of a potential 9,000.

So, maybe what they could have done, is:

1. Make an initial announcement of something like "We have an *initial* allocation of 5,700 tickets, which can be enlarged to 9,000 if demand is strong enough", or

2. When the club became aware that the extra 3,300 tickets were no longer available, that was communiated to fans to enable people to make their buy/wait decision.

I'm not entirely sure 1 is particularly practical as "strong demand" is still quite vague and would lead to some people waiting in hope. The second message feels like it should have been possible though.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Maybe not for you, but some are complaining about that - read back over the last few pages.



The initial fan communication "up to 9,000" was, I understand, entirely accurate at the time - no-one was being deceived, intentionally or otherwise. 9,000 tickets were, potentially, available.

We now know that changed subsequently, and that was not communicated to fans in any way. If fans had been alerted, it would have allowed those waiting to make a decision to buy there and then, or wait it out and take the risk.

I don’t think the statement about 9000 tickets can be dismissed quite so lightly. People have made plans basis this being mentioned. Not the first time this season either. The club is rightly praised when things go well so should expect the flak when it doesn’t. You have mentioned elsewhere about fans commenting with hindsight but it is the club’s job to get this right. This is a sport that is awash with money for players, coaches and executives and yet by contrast it is not prepared to risk the relatively small amount of money that taking full allocations would incur.

 

[Bold Seagull]

You have to admire PB probably protecting someone else at the club that has ballsed this up, but it is not a great look really - just admit a mistake has been made and we'll learn from it blah blah

He doesn't have to blame anyone. He is a spokesperson for the club. A simple 'hands up we got this wrong, are communications were misleading to some fans and we really apologise some may have missed out on the belief more tickets would be available'. It's not like it's a huge pride swallowing moment, just a bit of a human touch needed, not corporate defense mechanisms.

 

[Hotchilidog]

So, maybe what they could have done, is:

1. Make an initial announcement of something like "We have an *initial* allocation of 5,700 tickets, which can be enlarged to 9,000 if demand is strong enough", or

2. When the club became aware that the extra 3,300 tickets were no longer available, that was communiated to fans to enable people to make their buy/wait decision.

I'm not entirely sure 1 is particularly practical as "strong demand" is still quite vague and would lead to some people waiting in hope. The second message feels like it should have been possible though.

Indeed the communication could have been different to enable people to properly make their decision on when to buy. Given that this game is aimed at the more casual away fan (or indeed first timers) and not just those who monitor the ticket situation closely I do think like something like your second option would have been more helpful.

I fully understand the club's reticence in not committing to the remaining 3,300 tickets, but I also appreciate how some fans will have misunderstood the ticket allocation.

For the record on all the Barber/angry fan spats I do think Barber is right in those arguments. Paul is an excellent chief executive but I think he could do with some help in the PR department at the moment.

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

He doesn't have to blame anyone. He is a spokesperson for the club. A simple 'hands up we got this wrong, are communications were misleading to some fans and we really apologise some may have missed out on the belief more tickets would be available'. It's not like it's a huge pride swallowing moment, just a bit of a human touch needed, not corporate defense mechanisms.

Agree with this, entirely.

When it became apparent that trains might not get you home from the game I think very few would have foreseen tickets selling like hot cakes. I'm sure i read plenty of comments like "doubt we'll take much more than 3k now" and tbh I agreed.

So ticket sales vastly exceeded expectations. Big deal, it happens.

If it was a home fixture I'm sure there would be a corporate press release about how big demand is.



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[seagurn]

All this tv money PB talks about could of been used to pay off any unused tickets. After all we go along with rubbish kick off times about time the club did something for the fans back and tbh we would sell them all imo. As long as PB gets the tv cash its alright sod us lot.

 

[Bozza]

Agree with this, entirely.

When it became apparent that trains might not get you home from the game I think very few would have foreseen tickets selling like hot cakes. I'm sure i read plenty of comments like "doubt we'll take much more than 3k now" and tbh I agreed.

So ticket sales vastly exceeded expectations. Big deal, it happens.

If it was a home fixture I'm sure there would be a corporate press release about how big demand is.

I don't think they sold like hot cakes. They sold like quite warm cakes. And my reading, is that's part of the subsequent problem.

If they'd sold like absolutely piping hot fresh-out-the-oven cakes, the Albion would have quickly jumped on the phone to Spurs, and would probably have been able to secure those extra tickets for Albion fans.

However, although demand was strong, is was not strong enough to trigger that call being made.

And here it could very possibly be circular: Maybe demand wasn't stronger because people believed they could wait. There was no preceived sense of urgency to buy, as there was belief that there were a lot of tickets waiting to be released.

 

[butchy]

Shambles.......another STH here who held off procuring with the aim of bringing guests and buying the tickets all together.......the farce made worse by the fact that as already pointed out there will likely be 10,000 - 15,000 empty seats in the stadium

 

[Dibdab]

I don't think they sold like hot cakes. They sold like quite warm cakes. And my reading, is that's part of the subsequent problem.

If they'd sold like absolutely piping hot fresh-out-the-oven cakes, the Albion would have quickly jumped on the phone to Spurs, and would probably have been able to secure those extra tickets for Albion fans.

However, although demand was strong, is was not strong enough to trigger that call being made.

And here it could very possibly be circular: Maybe demand wasn't stronger because people believed they could wait. There was no preceived sense of urgency to buy, as there was belief that there were a lot of tickets waiting to be released.

But that is probably because the comms led people to believe they could wait to eat their cakes with their mates who were still waiting to be allowed into the bakers shop.

 

[Bold Seagull]

I don't think they sold like hot cakes. They sold like quite warm cakes. And my reading, is that's part of the subsequent problem.

If they'd sold like absolutely piping hot fresh-out-the-oven cakes, the Albion would have quickly jumped on the phone to Spurs, and would probably have been able to secure those extra tickets for Albion fans.

However, although demand was strong, is was not strong enough to trigger that call being made.

And here it could very possibly be circular: Maybe demand wasn't stronger because people believed they could wait. There was no preceived sense of urgency to buy, as there was belief that there were a lot of tickets waiting to be released.

The other possibility is they never had any intention of taking the 3300 tickets in the first place because they simply didn't want to be left with any. They went with 9k in comms because they know that's the FA rules and why risk a bit of a backlash on only taking 5700 when they probably felt we wouldn't sell all the 5700 anyway. Just leaving it quiet no one would be none the wiser. The perfect scenario for them would have been to have sold 5500 by the end of this week and not even announce they had let the 3300 go, and have a couple of 100 left to shift between now and the game.

What has backfired is demand, and they're now left justifying the call, not communicating this reduced 5700 limit to fans in the first instance, and now blaming slowish demand, Spurs etc. That's my take on it. I don't blame them only taking 5700, even now agree they'd struggle to sell a decent portion of 3300 further tickets, but just remember it's fans you're communicating to and a bit of honesty is needed, even if you have to take a bit of criticism for only taking 5700, at least that is the clear and honest route.

 

[Bozza]

But that is probably because the comms led people to believe they could wait to eat their cakes with their mates who were still waiting to be allowed into the bakers shop.

Agreed-ish.

So if the communication said "If you all buy your tickets quickly when they go on sale, we'll be able to get some more", what would the "waiters" have done?

If they want to eat cake with their mates, do they buy quickly to trigger more tickets becoming available, or do they wait and risk missing out?

 

[Iggle Piggle]

You lot are making me hungry talking about Cakes and Bakers.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

deleted

 

[Bozza]

The other possibility is they never had any intention of taking the 3300 tickets in the first place because they simply didn't want to be left with any.

I'm personally satisfied that is not the case. I don't expect anyone to take any notice of what I say however.

 

[matski_98]

FWIW I've never missed an away game I wanted to go to, even when they've sold out. Ticket returns *always* come back up in the week before and I suspect there will be quite a few returns this time as well given the large initial allocation. Doesn't help the non season ticket holders but for those desperate to go there is still hope.

 

[chimneys]

I'm not sure the club taking 5700 tickets is the issue, the issue is the club not communicating in anyway whatsoever it maybe limited to 5700 from an allocation of 9000.

That is shocking really because fans with STs or a high number of loyalty points have waited because they could buy tickets with mates or family who never normally come and they've been sold down the garden path.

Not a single club communication mentioned tickets might be limited to 5700, all they said was up to 9k available. Really shoddy. Even now, no apology or acceptance of getting this wrong.

If PB can answer individual fan emails and tweets, I think he can check over the wording of club communications at an important moment in the club's season.

This with bells on! Even those trying to defend the club pretty much all state they ballsed up on the communication front!

And for it to be suggested we should have interpreted as to all possibilities when the club statement stated "may take", and bought early accordingly, is frankly ridiculous!