Away end lower tier Bolton match

[HeCanDoMagic]

At around 2.15 on Saturday (while you lot were all in t'pub) Gary Sinclair announced that 'fans wishing to go to the Bolton game should get their tickets asap as it's heading for a sell-out.'

And Gary Sinclair would never over exaggerate anything would he...!

Hope he's right though - there was a proper buzz about the place on Saturday.

 

[Sheffsteel]

It will really interesting if we sell the 2,100 in the lower tier.

Wonder if the SY Police would allow us to release 900 more seats by removing the netting.
And if they sell out would we be able to remove the netting from the bottom of the South stand?

Let's face it....why have netting to separate Blades from Blades ha ha

 

[Jon P]

Music to my ears. Bolton fans fuming too. Let's give them hell satday

 

[RammyBlade]

Looking on Bolton's website it says sold out and that they have sold around 2200 tickets

 

[nicksufc]

That really is a ludicrous amount of segregation - we could halve that for a start for 100/200 extra seats. The fact that we're sending 4,200 tickets to Bolton then asking for half of them back is pretty chaotic to say the least. Why don't we finally get a plan sorted for next season? Just stick away fans in the lower tier like before, makes so much sense. At least for the Bolton game we got to the right decision in the end and pissed Bolton off in the process. Win win.

 

[MobileBlade]

That really is a ludicrous amount of segregation - we could halve that for a start for 100/200 extra seats. The fact that we're sending 4,200 tickets to Bolton then asking for half of them back is pretty chaotic to say the least. Why don't we finally get a plan sorted for next season? Just stick away fans in the lower tier like before, makes so much sense. At least for the Bolton game we got to the right decision in the end and pissed Bolton off in the process. Win win.

It is when you consider that one of the entrances into the top corner is through the G entrance in the middle of the netting. With that in mind, it would have to be the United side of the netting that would given the extra seats not the away side.

 

[Northyorksblade]

oh dear, I see plenty of objects being thrown over on Saturday

 

[Linz]

To be fair, it looked as though we'd netted off up to what tickets they'd sold on the bottom tier. There was no pay on the day so we knew in advance how many we were expecting.

As I said in the other thread, we're only required to give 2000 tickets to the away team while ever we are in the Football League. If they can be comfortably housed in the lower tier, then I would hope the club would be asking questions of the Safety Advisory Group now as to having the upper tier for Blades and offering season tickets up there as we used to - obviously on the understanding that should we get into the Premiership, the BLUT would again become unavailable.

 

[Tyler Durden]

They took advantage of our big support by charging a cuntish fee in august

Fitting that we should take advantage of their wank support by halving their allocation.

Well played United.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

If means the Kop won't be packed to the rafters, so fans won't be crushed in a small area at half time in the inadequate concourse areas. I expect over 1000 home fans who would have sat in the corner wings and part restricted view of the Kop to relocate to the BL bottom tier.

I would have been tempted by that – I decided to buy mine before the Scunthorpe game and will be heading to the Westfield corner for the first time instead. Never been on either tier of the Bramall Lane end.

 

[Sean Thornton]

There's an amazing number of people on their forums who were "going to get them today" although many are blaming their own ticket office who presumably didn't want to get stuck with them.

 

[bladesmanluke]

We'll get 30,000 in for this

 

[Tyler Durden]

There's an amazing number of people on their forums who were "going to get them today" although many are blaming their own ticket office who presumably didn't want to get stuck with them.

Also a record-breaking number of posts referring to us as 'Sheffield'.

Suggest we exclusively call them Horwich or Leigh from now on.

Roygbiv please consider this in your View From threads, ta.

 

[Sheffsteel]

I would have been tempted by that – I decided to buy mine before the Scunthorpe game and will be heading to the Westfield corner for the first time instead. Never been on either tier of the Bramall Lane end.

I sit in the Westfield corner, it's an absolutely fantastic view but tends to have a terrible atmosphere with hardly anyone singing.

However must admit against Scunthorpe it was really noisy, by far the best atmosphere of the season up there.

 

[Linz]

... although many are blaming their own ticket office who presumably didn't want to get stuck with them.

That's the thing. We were well within our rights to ask for them back, just as they would have been well within their rights to tell us to go forth.

It makes me wonder whether we were intending on charging Bolton for the whole lower tier whether they sold it or not. Which I'm not entirely sure is allowed...

34.2.2 Clubs are required to sell tickets for their away matches if required to do so by the Home Club and similarly Home Clubs are required to supply tickets for their Home Matches to the Away Club for sale by the Away Club to its supporters if so requested by the Away Club. These tickets are to be made available on a sale or return basis and must be ordered by the Away Club at least five weeks before the League Match to which they relate. The Home Club must deliver those tickets to the Away Club at the latest four weeks before the League Match to which they relate. Where any match is arranged at shorter notice the above steps shall be taken as soon as is reasonably practicable. Visiting Supporters should also have the same opportunity to take advantage of pre-booking discounts that apply to home supporters.
Read more at http://www.efl.com/global/section5.aspx#oIq00pHHY9GiTply.99

 

[LJBlade]

I sit in the Westfield corner, it's an absolutely fantastic view but tends to have a terrible atmosphere with hardly anyone singing.

However must admit against Scunthorpe it was really noisy, by far the best atmosphere of the season up there.

The Westfield Corner is the best view in the ground which is why I generally disagree when people suggest we should put the away fans in there

 

[s4-blade]

Here's an idea, why can't we stick the away fans in the corner stand, minimise the segregation needed and have the entire Bramall Lane end for home fans. Blades all four sides of the ground, better atmosphere and also keeps the plod happy. No brainer.

 

[s4-blade]

The Westfield Corner is the best view in the ground which is why I generally disagree when people suggest we should put the away fans in there

As a former frequenter, I would suggest the BL upper is a better view than the corner as well as a better atmosphere.

 

[Linz]

Here's an idea, why can't we stick the away fans in the corner stand, minimise the segregation needed and have the entire Bramall Lane end for home fans. Blades all four sides of the ground, better atmosphere and also keeps the plod happy. No brainer.

The corner stand being the Westfield Corner?

In which case, we wouldn't be able to as it exits into the South Stand.

 

[I should coco]

Suggest we exclusively call them Horwich

Isn't there a danger we could confuse them with the mighty 'Horwich RMI' though?

Safest thing would be to call them 'North Manchester' or 'West Bury'.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Isn't there a danger we could confuse them with the mighty 'Horwich RMI' though?

Safest thing would be to call them 'North Manchester' or 'West Bury'.

'Chernobyl West' might work.

 

[s4-blade]

The corner stand being the Westfield Corner?

In which case, we wouldn't be able to as it exits into the South Stand.

I'm sure there's an exit straight onto Bramall Lane isn't there?

 

[Linz]

I'm sure there's an exit straight onto Bramall Lane isn't there?

There is, but there are rules for how many exits v. how many people in the stand. We wouldn't be able to fill it with away fans and force them all to use one exit.

 

[Sheffsteel]

To be fair, it looked as though we'd netted off up to what tickets they'd sold on the bottom tier. There was no pay on the day so we knew in advance how many we were expecting.

As I said in the other thread, we're only required to give 2000 tickets to the away team while ever we are in the Football League. If they can be comfortably housed in the lower tier, then I would hope the club would be asking questions of the Safety Advisory Group now as to having the upper tier for Blades and offering season tickets up there as we used to - obviously on the understanding that should we get into the Premiership, the BLUT would again become unavailable.

Assuming we are back in the Championship next season.
It's NOT a simple decision to just give away fans the bottom tier.
The average price for away fans seems to be about £32 in the Championship, that's a big jump from what we currently charge away fans.

If we charged £32 then there would be a 2-3,000 demand from many clubs.
If we charge £26 then there'd be a 3-4,000 demand from many clubs
If we charge £36+ then there'd be a 1-2,000 demand from many clubs.

So if we ony offer away clubs the bottom tier, normally hold 2,990 but with netting is restricted down to 2,100, market forces shows we can be creative with pricing.

Would imagine we'll have a few category A and even A* in the Championship for the 1st season back
But the problem is Home fans must also be charged the same premium prices.
You wouldn't get many Blades paying £36 for the upper tier to watch Championship football.

SU can copy many clubs to get round this rule.
We may introduce a membership scheme where it's a whopping £10 reduction off match day prices.
So when we play Wednesday it's £36 for their fans and effectively £26 for Blades if they are members.

Alternatively we could keep prices below £30 and we offer 4,200 (both tiers to away fans) because several clubs could bring 4,000 in the Championship if we are one of the cheapest away days in the Championship. Unfortunately SY Police don't want large away numbers and would increase policing costs meaning it's not as profitable as people think.

Personally I think our matchday prices will shoot massively to £30 to £35 next season in the Championship
BUT there will be massive discounts on season tickets and memberships so for "proper fans" the increase will be fairly modest. The large increase is just a method to fleece away fans and to deter away numbers from travelling.

I really believe the Authorities want to restrict away fan numbers so only the wealthy and older crowd can afford the luxury. They see this group as better behaved than young lads on low incomes.

 

[Sean Thornton]

That's the thing. We were well within our rights to ask for them back, just as they would have been well within their rights to tell us to go forth.

It makes me wonder whether we were intending on charging Bolton for the whole lower tier whether they sold it or not. Which I'm not entirely sure is allowed...

I may be wrong but isn't the general deal that if the away club requests tickets over and above the minimum permitted allocation they have to pay for them, sold or not?

 

[Linz]

I may be wrong but isn't the general deal that if the away club requests tickets over and above the minimum permitted allocation they have to pay for them, sold or not?

I dunno... nowt in the rules about that.

 

[nopigfansintown]

As far as I understand it, the Bolton Wanderers board had the opportunity to effectively give us the money for the tickets whether sold or not -thus guranteeing the tickets for their fans. They chose not to. We are therefore within our rights to sell the tickets to our own fans, and it's sound business sense to, if we calculate that we're just as likely to sell them

 

[S64 Blade]

Great move by the club.

I saw one Bolton fan arguing that they were waiting for pay day. I was under the impression that dole money was paid every two weeks, so still enough time to have purchased prior to today.

 

[Karaoke Blade]

As far as I understand it, the Bolton Wanderers board had the opportunity to effectively give us the money for the tickets whether sold or not -thus guranteeing the tickets for their fans. They chose not to. We are therefore within our rights to sell the tickets to our own fans, and it's sound business sense to, if we calculate that we're just as likely to sell them

And I suspect in Bolton's financial state they did'nt want to risk having to pay for unsold seats!

 

[Linz]

Assuming we are back in the Championship next season.
It's NOT a simple decision to just give away fans the bottom tier.
The average price for away fans seems to be about £32 in the Championship, that's a big jump from what we currently charge away fans.

If we charged £32 then there would be a 2-3,000 demand from many clubs.
If we charge £26 then there'd be a 3-4,000 demand from many clubs
If we charge £36+ then there'd be a 1-2,000 demand from many clubs.

So if we only offer away clubs the bottom tier, normally hold 2,990 but with netting is restricted down to 2,100, market forces shows we can be creative with pricing.

But those figures aren't backed up by the kinds of numbers travelling to away games in the Championship. The stats for last season can be found here:

http://the72.co.uk/54224/championship-average-attendance-2015-2016/

The average away attendance didn't top 2700.... nowhere near your 3000+ estimate.