The definition of "loyalty"

[Shropshire Seagull]

There has been much debate and significant controversy of late regarding the club's Loyalty Points scheme.

So, how do you think loyalty should be measured?

 

[Icy Gull]

Loyalty is a a fan who sticks with the club through thick and thin. Emptying his wallet for the club is not part of it imo.

Not sure there is a better way of allocating tickets at 21st Century Albion though.

I am sure there are plenty of loyal Albion fans who just cannot afford to go any more but if we slip back down the divisions and prices drop dramatically ( which they would have to) it is these fans the club will see through back the turnstiles as 16k currently loyal fans disappear. Imo of course.

I may have missed the point of the thread though.

 

[darkwolf666]

Loyalty is a a fan who sticks with the club through thick and thin. Emptying his wallet for the club is not part of it imo.

Not sure there is a better way of allocating tickets at 21st Century Albion though.

I am sure there are plenty of loyal Albion fans who just cannot afford to go any more but if we slip back down the divisions and prices drop dramatically ( which they would have to) it is these fans the club will see through back the turnstiles as 16k as fans disappear. Imo of course.

I may have missed the point of the thread though.

I admire your confidence that fans will return but I am not totally convinced they will this time. I know we had the massive upsurge in returning fans after Withdean, but I think the fans you speak off will become disenchanted and move onto over things - besides which you only base those that can't go on cost. What about others who are governed by distance or home situations which don't allow them to attend, but might if there was a possibility of getting a ticket occasionally.

I keep saying it, scrap the loyalty scheme, its only a money making exercise anyway, and give STHs first dibs on tickets then open the rest to ALL fans.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

The points need to be renamed.

Calling them loyalty points was a bit of an own goal as the club shouldn't presume a fan's loyalty to it.

Seagulls Points would be an alternative.

 

[Icy Gull]

I admire your confidence that fans will return but I am not totally convinced they will this time. I know we had the massive upsurge in returning fans after Withdean, but I think the fans you speak off will become disenchanted and move onto over things - besides which you only base those that can't go on cost. What about others who are governed by distance or home situations which don't allow them to attend, but might if there was a possibility of getting a ticket occasionally.

I keep saying it, scrap the loyalty scheme, its only a money making exercise anyway, and give STHs first dibs on tickets then open the rest to ALL fans.

Rightly or wrongly I base my thoughts on believing that we have about 6k die hard fans. I imagine we have added a couple of thousand more over the last few years but the vast majority of the current STHs would disappear if we slipped back down the leagues. What will be interesting is how many renew their Season Tickets next year should we survive in this division playing the turgid football on offer so far. It is far from pretty but if it's effective will fans who have only seen an entertaining Albion over the last few seasons hang around ?

I remember how the fans drifted away the last time we made the top flight and struggled, have times changed that much? Prices certainly have.

 

[The Merry Prankster]

I keep saying it, scrap the loyalty scheme, its only a money making exercise anyway, and give STHs first dibs on tickets then open the rest to ALL fans.

I've been to every away game bar about three (including tin pot cups) for about the last ten years. Why should I miss out this season because someone who has never been to an away game fancies going to Old Trafford?

 

[Perkino]

Loyalty is sticking with the club regardless, those who travelled to Gillingham deserve elite loyalty status, they should be garunteed a ticket to any match providing payment is received at least 48 hours before a game. I was not one of these supporters.

if it wasn't for these supporters who did show what true loyalty is we wouldn't have a club.

This message board was full of supporters 7/8 years ago claiming to be fans but they stated regularly "I refuse to buy a ticket at Withdean but I'll buy one once we get to Falmer" these fans are not loyal but merely joining us on the highs but will probably move on once the inevitable lows work their way back round to us.

Loyalty points should be awarded based on your support for the club and that means if someone goes to Newcastle on a cold night they fully deserve those loyalty points and when we play at Anfield they should get first refusal on those tickets.

I'm of an age where travelling across the country every other weekend is achievable due to having young children, therefore I don't accumulate lots of extra loyalty points and I cannot complain if I don't get to go to Wembley.

 

[darkwolf666]

I've been to every away game bar about three (including tin pot cups) for about the last ten years. Why should I miss out this season because someone who has never been to an away game fancies going to Old Trafford?

Why would you miss out, you would have as much chance as everyone to get a ticket?

I make the assumption you are not a STH, or you would have not made your point, which I find strange that you can go to all the away games, but don't hold a ST for home matches? I am sure there is a good reason, so my apologies in advance.

 

[sully]

The definition of "loyalty"

Loyalty is sticking with the club regardless, those who travelled to Gillingham deserve elite loyalty status, they should be garunteed a ticket to any match providing payment is received at least 48 hours before a game. I was not one of these supporters.

if it wasn't for these supporters who did show what true loyalty is we wouldn't have a club.

That was a long time ago and I'm not sure even then that I had any way of proving I went. There was no necessity to buy for any game in advance back then!


The only thing I don't like about the current system is that it completely excludes non-season ticket holders. I'm not sure how it could be fairer, but there is an incentive now to purchase and not attend in order to maintain position.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Strange poll. How do you achieve actual attendance, without the financial support of buying a ticket?
Don't say buying from a friend or tout.

 

[happypig]

Why do you get loyalty points for buying a ticket but not for buying pies, pints, merchandise etc ?

 

[darkwolf666]

Loyalty is sticking with the club regardless, those who travelled to Gillingham deserve elite loyalty status, they should be garunteed a ticket to any match providing payment is received at least 48 hours before a game. I was not one of these supporters.

if it wasn't for these supporters who did show what true loyalty is we wouldn't have a club.

This message board was full of supporters 7/8 years ago claiming to be fans but they stated regularly "I refuse to buy a ticket at Withdean but I'll buy one once we get to Falmer" these fans are not loyal but merely joining us on the highs but will probably move on once the inevitable lows work their way back round to us.

Loyalty points should be awarded based on your support for the club and that means if someone goes to Newcastle on a cold night they fully deserve those loyalty points and when we play at Anfield they should get first refusal on those tickets.

I'm of an age where travelling across the country every other weekend is achievable due to having young children, therefore I don't accumulate lots of extra loyalty points and I cannot complain if I don't get to go to Wembley.

I was a regular at Gillingham, can I claim my elite status! Oh, did I forget to mention I only live 8 miles from Priestfield...

 

[darkwolf666]

Strange poll. How do you achieve actual attendance, without the financial support of buying a ticket?
Don't say buying from a friend or tout.

I guess that allows for those that give the club money by buying tickets, but don't actually attend - very altruistic of them.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

---

 

[AmexRuislip]

Loyalty is a a fan who sticks with the club through thick and thin. Emptying his wallet for the club is not part of it imo.

Not sure there is a better way of allocating tickets at 21st Century Albion though.

I am sure there are plenty of loyal Albion fans who just cannot afford to go any more but if we slip back down the divisions and prices drop dramatically ( which they would have to) it is these fans the club will see through back the turnstiles as 16k currently loyal fans disappear. Imo of course.

I may have missed the point of the thread though.

Excellent post, in a nutshell

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Why would you miss out, you would have as much chance as everyone to get a ticket?

[MENTION=33649]darkwolf666[/MENTION] If the loyalty scheme were scrapped (as you advocate) then the probability of [MENTION=5001]The Merry Prankster[/MENTION] missing out on tickets to Old Trafford would be massively increased. He is clearly a season ticket holder otherwise the question wouldn't arise as he wouldn't get tickets anyway. His question is valid. Why should he miss out to someone who has a season ticket, never bothered going away before and gets lucky in a 23000 ticket lottery.

 

[Mackenzie]

Loyalty to me is living 200 miles from Brighton and going as often as finances and ticket availability allows, watching or listening to every match I can't attend and bringing up my three children as staunch Albion supporters. I'll get a ticket where I can, I don't begrudge those in front of me in the pecking order, but I'm just as loyal to our club as anyone.

That's my person definition, and I'm sure there are thousands with similar stories.

 

[Goldstone1976]

I think that "loyalty" is impossible to define. From countless "but what about my circumstances, which are ..." posts on here over many years, loyalty is quite often promoted as "someone who has my circumstances", thus giving rise to hundreds, if not thousands of different definitions.

For this reason, I agree with the suggestion to rename the points to something less emotive; just about anything would be less emotive than "loyalty".

The club have devised a scheme that has logic and some degree of fairness; personally, I don't think it's fundamentally flawed in principle, it just needs some tweaking to ensure it works the way it's intended to. Given what I've said earlier about the definition of loyalty, it's inevitable that some fans will feel that the scheme is fatally flawed. Change it radically, and all you do is satisfy one group of fans at the expense of a whole different group.

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

Agreed Loyalty Points is far too emotive a term. Needs something that encapsulates what's really going on here.

Bargaining Points? Sorted.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Rightly or wrongly I base my thoughts on believing that we have about 6k die hard fans. I imagine we have added a couple of thousand more over the last few years but the vast majority of the current STHs would disappear if we slipped back down the leagues. What will be interesting is how many renew their Season Tickets next year should we survive in this division playing the turgid football on offer so far. It is far from pretty but if it's effective will fans who have only seen an entertaining Albion over the last few seasons hang around ?

I remember how the fans drifted away the last time we made the top flight and struggled, have times changed that much? Prices certainly have.

That is total bollocks.

As is this thread.