[Albion] The "Frank Lampard's Derby Cup game - East Stand Upper + West Stand Upper OPEN

[Official Old Man]

East Upper open. Typical, 30 seconds after I buy in the back row of East Lower.

Lost your bottle didn't you.

Yep! Truth is I hate the front row and wanted something a bit further back. Back row of Lower is perfect.

 

[crodonilson]

Block S1F now appears as pink, suggesting Derby have indeed upped their allocation to 3000. There is a further 1300 in the SW corner which could be for us, them or neither as a large sterile area.

The Derby fans can be very, very boisterous putting it mildly so would expect it to be a large sterile area.

 

[nickbrighton]

This process wasn't followed for the Palace cup game, just last season, when any one of us who is in touch with fan sentiment could have told you that the crowd was going to be low.

Then for the Coventry, West Brom and FLD games, when anyone could predict demand would require at least one upper tier to be open, both upper tiers were closed when tickets were released, requiring fans to either take a seat in their non-preferred location or play seat Russian roulette.

I don't give a shit about an exact seat, but I do like to watch from an elevated position and I also prefer to stay dry where possible.

I suppose nickbrighton will say East Upper tickets are not selling well

really glad you got seats where you wanted- and I am happy that its selling well. So no drama at all. As you were all so confident it would open, (and it did and its selling well) why is it such a thing on here in the first place though? The way this (and previous threads) go on, it seems people think the club are deliberately trying to stop people going, whereas they are just using the same formula they have for past cup games-and the one where they opened it all at the start it backfired on them. I for one am really pleased it will be a reasonably full stadium, and am glad that those of you who "Bravely held thier nerve" and really showed the club who is boss by doing so have got the opportunity to get tickets way up in the gods. Now lets all hope the team win and we can do it all again for the next round

 

[chaileyjem]

Paul Barber has responded to Roger Lewis writing in the Argus today saying that not opening the whole ground at once is "idiotic".
Its quite a long answer.

Roger Lewis : AS A season ticket holder in the Upper East stand at The Amex, can someone please explain to me who took the idiotic decision not to open the upper east for the Derby FA Cup game.
The attendance at the West Bromwich Albion FA Cup fourth round game was 27,000, it is obvious that the Derby game will attract the same, if not more.
The fact that it is now the fifth round as opposed to the fourth round, add in the fact that Frank Lampard is the manager of Derby and it all points to a bumper gate, anyone with any common sense can work that out
Where is the common sense from the Albion, and why, as a season ticket holder do I have to wait until the club realise they have made another mistake (they should have learned from the WBA game) and then have to try and get a ticket in my own seat, which I could not do for the WBA game.
Surely it is not too late for the club to change their decision and open up the East upper now and allow us season tickets holders a chance to sit in our own seats.
It would be nice to hear from the club as to why they have yet again made the wrong decision, but I doubt very much they will respond.
Roger Lewis, Parkside, Shoreham

Paul Barber:

RESPECTFULLY, while I appreciate many fans have an opinion on how their football club is run, I’m not sure what qualifies Mr Roger Lewis to stridently and disrespectfully describe Brighton and Hove Albion’s staff as “idiotic” or lacking in “common sense” on these pages, but it would not appear to be much, if any, experience or knowledge of the economics or operations of a professional football club.

There are a number of reasons for not initially opening the upper areas of The Amex, and also for not guaranteeing season ticket holders their usual seats, for the forthcoming FA Cup match against Derby County, all of which the club we have previously explained in this newspaper, and through our own channels, on numerous previous occasions.

Although I do appreciate not everyone is as tuned into this information as we are, running the club on a day-to-day basis. Mr Lewis compares the Derby match with the previous cup tie against West Brom, which drew 27,001 fans, and argues Derby will also attract a “bumper gate”.

As such, Mr Lewis says, the entire stadium should be opened, and that he should be guaranteed his usual seat. But, in his haste to criticise, Mr Lewis has overlooked or ignored a number of factors.

- Unlike the West Brom match, Derby is live on TV.
- The West Brom game kicked at the popular 3pm. Derby is at lunchtime.
- West Brom sold 4,300 tickets. Derby want fewer than 1,700.
- A normal train service ran for the West Brom match. There are issues for the Derby match.
- The West Brom game was played during a normal working week. The Derby game falls during school holidays, meaning some fans will be away.
- The club had three weeks to sell tickets for the West Brom match; for Derby we have ten days.
- Finally, the West Brom match was the first at home after most people’s monthly pay day, while Derby will be the fourth successive Saturday we have had a home match at the Amex.

Keeping ticket prices for cup matches as low as £15/£10/£5 can only be achieved by operating as efficiently as possible and by minimising the club’s costs.

Providing all season-ticket holders with access to their usual seats means opening the whole stadium, which is very expensive, without knowing if 30,000 seats will be needed. An attendance of 27,001 for WBA wasn’t achieved because all season ticket holders showed up.

Instead, many regular fans encouraged their families and friends to sit with them, with many, including kids, visiting the Amex for the first time, something that wouldn’t have happened if season ticket holders had all been guaranteed their seats.

Our ticketing and operations strategy is determined match by match as no two games at the Amex are the same. We look at a huge range of individual factors, including past experiences, but, when FA Cup rules mean we retain just 45 per cent of net revenues, we must manage all of our costs wisely.

This isn’t achieved by throwing the stadium wide open. Nothing will delight us more than to ultimately open the entire stadium for Derby’s visit.

It will mean that, once again, Albion fans have got behind their team in even larger numbers than usual. It’s just this kind of loyal support that has helped take us to the Premier League, and to the fifth round of the FA Cup for the second season running.

via https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/17422655.the-decision-over-fa-cup-tickets-is-just-idiotic/

 

[chaileyjem]

I bought 4 tickets in ESU this morning. Don't like sitting lower down.

 

[Wozza]

Paul Barber has responded to Roger Lewis writing in the Argus today saying that not opening the whole ground at once is "idiotic".
Its quite a long answer.

Roger Lewis : AS A season ticket holder in the Upper East stand at The Amex, can someone please explain to me who took the idiotic decision not to open the upper east for the Derby FA Cup game.
The attendance at the West Bromwich Albion FA Cup fourth round game was 27,000, it is obvious that the Derby game will attract the same, if not more.
The fact that it is now the fifth round as opposed to the fourth round, add in the fact that Frank Lampard is the manager of Derby and it all points to a bumper gate, anyone with any common sense can work that out
Where is the common sense from the Albion, and why, as a season ticket holder do I have to wait until the club realise they have made another mistake (they should have learned from the WBA game) and then have to try and get a ticket in my own seat, which I could not do for the WBA game.
Surely it is not too late for the club to change their decision and open up the East upper now and allow us season tickets holders a chance to sit in our own seats.
It would be nice to hear from the club as to why they have yet again made the wrong decision, but I doubt very much they will respond.
Roger Lewis, Parkside, Shoreham

Paul Barber:

RESPECTFULLY, while I appreciate many fans have an opinion on how their football club is run, I’m not sure what qualifies Mr Roger Lewis to stridently and disrespectfully describe Brighton and Hove Albion’s staff as “idiotic” or lacking in “common sense” on these pages, but it would not appear to be much, if any, experience or knowledge of the economics or operations of a professional football club.

[SNIP]

The "sit in my seat" from some fans is clearly nonsense.

I don't think PB's reply covers why the club doesn’t at least open ESU on day one of sales. Surely they can predict a 18k+ crowd?!

The rush of sales in ESU today has PROVED many fans simply want to sit in upper. (No-one's rushing because of Saturday's result).

Anyway, you can't knock the pricing. Or the option to buy +3 tickets. Most of the FA Cup ticket policy is spot on.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

It's quite a long answer.

 

[WATFORD zero]

I'm going to have a change from the north and wait for the WSU.

I'd go for ESU but if it's a tight match, I can get a bit carried away with my werther's and I'm worried there could be complaints and I'll get banned

 

[Moshe Gariani]

Love Barber's "Leave it to the professionals" barrage.

All basic factors that NSC would have covered within 5 minutes of starting a thread on the topic. Apparently that justifies £600K p.a. ...

 

[Guinness Boy]

I can understand (and could before PB's latest Headmaster's Missive) why the club does it but for me, as a WSU regular, it still makes for a very odd day out. When choosing the WSU for my season ticket there were two major reasons. Firstly the view. I like being side on, high up. I got used to it at Withdean and I find most of the views in away ends these days barely adequate. The WSU is even better than many in that it has perfectly clean sightlines. Even at the back you can see the tactics of the game develop and pass options and movement that you literally cannot pick up behind the goal. However, with many old Goldstone / Withdean regulars in the 40-50 age bracket signing up for the stand I also knew it would contain "my" people with many good friends, and an atmosphere that was noisy enough without being bonced around or having beer chucked on us. We held out for the WSU for West Brom and the dynamics were completely changed - full of tourists and confused looking mums there under protest. Queues for refreshement literally full of people taking five minutes to decide if little Johnny wanted a hot dog and whether £4.50 for a beer was reasonable.

I know we've got to bring on the fans of the future and I agree the club got the pricing spot on but do they all have to go in MY stand? Yes, I'm being precious about it but, as per above, I chose that specific stand for a reason and now, for any big cup game (which should really be an event rather than a sideshow) I find myself shuttled out away from my mates and with a worse view for, essentially, economic reasons.

I don't think Roger Lewis has quite got the hang of the polite complaint but I'm not sure I like the tone of PB's response.

 

[Springal]

I can understand (and could before PB's latest Headmaster's Missive) why the club does it but for me, as a WSU regular, it still makes for a very odd day out. When choosing the WSU for my season ticket there were two major reasons. Firstly the view. I like being side on, high up. I got used to it at Withdean and I find most of the views in away ends these days barely adequate. The WSU is even better than many in that it has perfectly clean sightlines. Even at the back you can see the tactics of the game develop and pass options and movement that you literally cannot pick up behind the goal. However, with many old Goldstone / Withdean regulars in the 40-50 age bracket signing up for the stand I also knew it would contain "my" people with many good friends, and an atmosphere that was noisy enough without being bonced around or having beer chucked on us. We held out for the WSU for West Brom and the dynamics were completely changed - full of tourists and confused looking mums there under protest. Queues for refreshement literally full of people taking five minutes to decide if little Johnny wanted a hot dog and whether £4.50 for a beer was reasonable.

I know we've got to bring on the fans of the future and I agree the club got the pricing spot on but do they all have to go in MY stand? Yes, I'm being precious about it but, as per above, I chose that specific stand for a reason and now, for any big cup game (which should really be an event rather than a sideshow) I find myself shuttled out away from my mates and with a worse view for, essentially, economic reasons.

I don't think Roger Lewis has quite got the hang of the polite complaint but I'm not sure I like the tone of PB's response.

I do think Paul Barber gets a hard time unnecessarily a lot of the time but I do think he is wrong on this, and again the demand for this game will show that. ESU has sold like hot cakes since going on sale and I'd bet WSU will be open shortly for another big crowd.

At a minimum they should have opened WSL, ESL, ESU (for TV camera purposes), NS from day 1. I would have put a lot of money on that lot pretty much selling out. It's time like this I realise how disconnected the board are from fans.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Paul Barber has responded to Roger Lewis writing in the Argus today saying that not opening the whole ground at once is "idiotic".
Its quite a long answer.

Roger Lewis : AS A season ticket holder in the Upper East stand at The Amex, can someone please explain to me who took the idiotic decision not to open the upper east for the Derby FA Cup game.
The attendance at the West Bromwich Albion FA Cup fourth round game was 27,000, it is obvious that the Derby game will attract the same, if not more.
The fact that it is now the fifth round as opposed to the fourth round, add in the fact that Frank Lampard is the manager of Derby and it all points to a bumper gate, anyone with any common sense can work that out
Where is the common sense from the Albion, and why, as a season ticket holder do I have to wait until the club realise they have made another mistake (they should have learned from the WBA game) and then have to try and get a ticket in my own seat, which I could not do for the WBA game.
Surely it is not too late for the club to change their decision and open up the East upper now and allow us season tickets holders a chance to sit in our own seats.
It would be nice to hear from the club as to why they have yet again made the wrong decision, but I doubt very much they will respond.
Roger Lewis, Parkside, Shoreham

Paul Barber:

RESPECTFULLY, while I appreciate many fans have an opinion on how their football club is run, I’m not sure what qualifies Mr Roger Lewis to stridently and disrespectfully describe Brighton and Hove Albion’s staff as “idiotic” or lacking in “common sense” on these pages, but it would not appear to be much, if any, experience or knowledge of the economics or operations of a professional football club.

There are a number of reasons for not initially opening the upper areas of The Amex, and also for not guaranteeing season ticket holders their usual seats, for the forthcoming FA Cup match against Derby County, all of which the club we have previously explained in this newspaper, and through our own channels, on numerous previous occasions.

Although I do appreciate not everyone is as tuned into this information as we are, running the club on a day-to-day basis. Mr Lewis compares the Derby match with the previous cup tie against West Brom, which drew 27,001 fans, and argues Derby will also attract a “bumper gate”.

As such, Mr Lewis says, the entire stadium should be opened, and that he should be guaranteed his usual seat. But, in his haste to criticise, Mr Lewis has overlooked or ignored a number of factors.

- Unlike the West Brom match, Derby is live on TV.
- The West Brom game kicked at the popular 3pm. Derby is at lunchtime.
- West Brom sold 4,300 tickets. Derby want fewer than 1,700.
- A normal train service ran for the West Brom match. There are issues for the Derby match.
- The West Brom game was played during a normal working week. The Derby game falls during school holidays, meaning some fans will be away.
- The club had three weeks to sell tickets for the West Brom match; for Derby we have ten days.
- Finally, the West Brom match was the first at home after most people’s monthly pay day, while Derby will be the fourth successive Saturday we have had a home match at the Amex.

Keeping ticket prices for cup matches as low as £15/£10/£5 can only be achieved by operating as efficiently as possible and by minimising the club’s costs.

Providing all season-ticket holders with access to their usual seats means opening the whole stadium, which is very expensive, without knowing if 30,000 seats will be needed. An attendance of 27,001 for WBA wasn’t achieved because all season ticket holders showed up.

Instead, many regular fans encouraged their families and friends to sit with them, with many, including kids, visiting the Amex for the first time, something that wouldn’t have happened if season ticket holders had all been guaranteed their seats.

Our ticketing and operations strategy is determined match by match as no two games at the Amex are the same. We look at a huge range of individual factors, including past experiences, but, when FA Cup rules mean we retain just 45 per cent of net revenues, we must manage all of our costs wisely.

This isn’t achieved by throwing the stadium wide open. Nothing will delight us more than to ultimately open the entire stadium for Derby’s visit.

It will mean that, once again, Albion fans have got behind their team in even larger numbers than usual. It’s just this kind of loyal support that has helped take us to the Premier League, and to the fifth round of the FA Cup for the second season running.

via https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/17422655.the-decision-over-fa-cup-tickets-is-just-idiotic/

I hope 'Roger Lewis' is a pseudonym, or he's now got a little post-it note on his Season Ticket file, and a stadium CCTV camera trained on his seat...

 

[Mellotron]

I know we've got to bring on the fans of the future and I agree the club got the pricing spot on but do they all have to go in MY stand?

But it's not "your" stand for Cup games, is it? Nowhere on your Season Ticket signup info does it suggest anything about you getting your seat for Cup games. It's not your seat, your stand, your anything for Cup games.

It's your seat for League games. I'm confused why you would think otherwise?

 

[Eric Youngs Contact Lense]

I too would ideally like to sit in my usual seat but can't.. Oh well. The Club have a few years experience to draw on now and their approach to matches will be informed by past buying patterns and as PB points out other conditions that affect take up. To continue to manage it this way, whilst mildly frustrating to me, clearly makes sense to the Club who need to make as much money as possible out of it.. actually provides more opportunity for me to actually sit with mates who for varying reasons have season tickets all over the ground..

 

[Easy 10]

I'm not particularly precious about sitting in my season ticket WSU seat, I like the opportunity of trying out different areas of the stadium. Didn't much like the WSL though, I definitely prefer an elevated view, so you can properly see the patterns of play developing. Happy to be making my first visit to the ESU on Saturday.

 

[Guinness Boy]

But it's not "your" stand for Cup games, is it? Nowhere on your Season Ticket signup info does it suggest anything about you getting your seat for Cup games. It's not your seat, your stand, your anything for Cup games.

It's your seat for League games. I'm confused why you would think otherwise?

What I mean is literally no one else I knew was in the WSU for West Brom. It was full of shiny new scarves and people asking the way to the loos. No issue with newbies but they all seemed to have booked at the last minute and be in one stand. Back when we were a lowly Championship side you could (because I did) have first dibs on your own seat for big cup games. I sat in my own seat for the Arsenal (x2) and Newcastle games for example. The opening of stands on a gradual basis is a recently new thing. Like everything else Premier League Ready it's the club changing things by stealth.

The irony, as with the ST price increase, is that now we're rolling in TV money and making a profit, whereas back then we needed the cash like you can't imagine.

 

[Bozza]

I don't think Roger Lewis has quite got the hang of the polite complaint but I'm not sure I like the tone of PB's response.

Does anyone think Roger Lewis actually exists?

 

[Giraffe]

Paul Barber has responded to Roger Lewis writing in the Argus today saying that not opening the whole ground at once is "idiotic".
Its quite a long answer.

Roger Lewis : AS A season ticket holder in the Upper East stand at The Amex, can someone please explain to me who took the idiotic decision not to open the upper east for the Derby FA Cup game.
The attendance at the West Bromwich Albion FA Cup fourth round game was 27,000, it is obvious that the Derby game will attract the same, if not more.
The fact that it is now the fifth round as opposed to the fourth round, add in the fact that Frank Lampard is the manager of Derby and it all points to a bumper gate, anyone with any common sense can work that out
Where is the common sense from the Albion, and why, as a season ticket holder do I have to wait until the club realise they have made another mistake (they should have learned from the WBA game) and then have to try and get a ticket in my own seat, which I could not do for the WBA game.
Surely it is not too late for the club to change their decision and open up the East upper now and allow us season tickets holders a chance to sit in our own seats.
It would be nice to hear from the club as to why they have yet again made the wrong decision, but I doubt very much they will respond.
Roger Lewis, Parkside, Shoreham

Paul Barber:

RESPECTFULLY, while I appreciate many fans have an opinion on how their football club is run, I’m not sure what qualifies Mr Roger Lewis to stridently and disrespectfully describe Brighton and Hove Albion’s staff as “idiotic” or lacking in “common sense” on these pages, but it would not appear to be much, if any, experience or knowledge of the economics or operations of a professional football club.

There are a number of reasons for not initially opening the upper areas of The Amex, and also for not guaranteeing season ticket holders their usual seats, for the forthcoming FA Cup match against Derby County, all of which the club we have previously explained in this newspaper, and through our own channels, on numerous previous occasions.

Although I do appreciate not everyone is as tuned into this information as we are, running the club on a day-to-day basis. Mr Lewis compares the Derby match with the previous cup tie against West Brom, which drew 27,001 fans, and argues Derby will also attract a “bumper gate”.

As such, Mr Lewis says, the entire stadium should be opened, and that he should be guaranteed his usual seat. But, in his haste to criticise, Mr Lewis has overlooked or ignored a number of factors.

- Unlike the West Brom match, Derby is live on TV.
- The West Brom game kicked at the popular 3pm. Derby is at lunchtime.
- West Brom sold 4,300 tickets. Derby want fewer than 1,700.
- A normal train service ran for the West Brom match. There are issues for the Derby match.
- The West Brom game was played during a normal working week. The Derby game falls during school holidays, meaning some fans will be away.
- The club had three weeks to sell tickets for the West Brom match; for Derby we have ten days.
- Finally, the West Brom match was the first at home after most people’s monthly pay day, while Derby will be the fourth successive Saturday we have had a home match at the Amex.

Keeping ticket prices for cup matches as low as £15/£10/£5 can only be achieved by operating as efficiently as possible and by minimising the club’s costs.

Providing all season-ticket holders with access to their usual seats means opening the whole stadium, which is very expensive, without knowing if 30,000 seats will be needed. An attendance of 27,001 for WBA wasn’t achieved because all season ticket holders showed up.

Instead, many regular fans encouraged their families and friends to sit with them, with many, including kids, visiting the Amex for the first time, something that wouldn’t have happened if season ticket holders had all been guaranteed their seats.

Our ticketing and operations strategy is determined match by match as no two games at the Amex are the same. We look at a huge range of individual factors, including past experiences, but, when FA Cup rules mean we retain just 45 per cent of net revenues, we must manage all of our costs wisely.

This isn’t achieved by throwing the stadium wide open. Nothing will delight us more than to ultimately open the entire stadium for Derby’s visit.

It will mean that, once again, Albion fans have got behind their team in even larger numbers than usual. It’s just this kind of loyal support that has helped take us to the Premier League, and to the fifth round of the FA Cup for the second season running.

via https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/17422655.the-decision-over-fa-cup-tickets-is-just-idiotic/

He makes some very good points in this, hard to argue with the rationale.

 

[Giraffe]

Does anyone think Roger Lewis actually exists?

No coincidence that an anagram of Roger Lewis is E.G Lower Sir

Or Lower Regis which is probably where everyone will be sitting.

 

[Official Old Man]

when FA Cup rules mean we retain just 45 per cent of net revenues, we must manage all of our costs wisely
Does this mean we made no money from the gate receipts at WBA. Having opened the whole ground it must have cost a fortune. A case of getting it wrong.