Playoff tickets, First Leg

[metalblade]

It specifically says you must have purchase history to get a ticket for this game.

What is purchase history? they are happy for our lass (with a customer number) to spend money in the club shop but will not let her buy a ticket for this game.

 

[wizadry]

What is purchase history? they are happy for our lass (with a customer number) to spend money in the club shop but will not let her buy a ticket for this game.

Fuck knows mate, all I know is our fan base can never grow.

 

[bartman]

Fuck knows mate, all I know is our fan base can never grow.

I registered my nephew for a game this season ( Swansea)and bought a ticket on the same day. Same with my neice(Blackpool). The purchase history i think only comes in for potential sell out matches

 

[wizadry]

I registered my nephew for a game this season ( Swansea)and bought a ticket on the same day. Same with my neice(Blackpool). The purchase history i think only comes in for potential sell out matches

That’s great to hear but your Nephew and Niece might only be able to become an ardent and frequent follower of us Blades well into their 40s or even 50s if the current policy remains though.

 

[Ranmoorblade]

What is purchase history? they are happy for our lass (with a customer number) to spend money in the club shop but will not let her buy a ticket for this game.

Means they have previously bought a ticket for a game in their name.

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

The QR code email/pdf is gash IMO, should be able to save them to Google Pay/Apple Wallet and just tap them on the contactless turnstile reader.

You literally put your phone into the season ticket slot on the turnstile with the QR code showing. How is your idea any different to the actual process?

I've screenshotted the QR code to save me going through my emails at the turnstile. In principle it sounds easy.

 

[More Bladier than thou]

Hold on, my mind has just been blown! How come I never realised that?

Iam same mate i never knew. I have fond memories of lobbing Peter Schmeical at that end

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

Seen a few people in FBWorld & Twittersphere saying "I am sitting in my usual seat, any muppet trying to sit there will be told to fuck off".....

I love those twats. "Oooo you're in my piece of plastic that isn't actually mine. God forbid I have to sit elsewhere."

Yet another example of self-entitled pricks.

 

[ISZA ⚔️]

The lower tier was extended outwards in the 90’s and seats added. The upper hasn’t changed besides the cantilever roof (and removal of posts) that was done when the Westfield corner was built circa 2006.

 

[Addison]

It's absolutely true! See screenshot. And it was true for almost every game in the Premier League. Honestly I think it's amazing we sell as many tickets as we do given the number of hurdles we put up.

I ended up going to the Crystal Palace home game in 2019 (first home game back in the PL) at the last minute because it wasn't sold out. That was the first time I noticed the rule. Imagine all the potential new fans (especially kids) who might've been excited to attend a PL match (and potentially become lifelong fans) but were specifically prevented from doing so by the club!

My understanding is that the club will only allow fans to buy home tickets without a previous purchase history if it's confirmed that the away end hasn't sold out (because then there would be no reason for away fans to try and sit in the home end). In the case of that Crystal Palace game, Palace informed SUFC a couple of days before the game that they hadn't sold out their allocation and tickets were then made available to fans without a purchase history. But obviously that's too late, people have already made plans or been told they can't get a ticket, and ultimately there were loads of empty seats around me for a game which again would easily have sold out with a sensible ticketing policy.

Yes I remember for the first EPL match v Palarse they were insisting someone had to have a minimum of 500 points to buy a ticket. We had around 2k tickets unsold as a result. The response was SAG were insisting on it to stop away fans buying tickets in the Home end - as if thousands of ticketless Palarse fans would do this. They applied this to the next home game and again there were significant numbers of unsold tickets resulting in the 500 threshold being reduced down to 250 for the next game and further down throughout the season.

I don't know of any other club that allows its ticketing policy to be influenced as much as it is by a SAG to the detriment of its support. The events v Florist confirm that little seems to have changed making it very hard to attract floating supporters to the Club whilst at the same time upsetting a hard core of the fan base.

 

[nottingham blades]

This game would sell out extremely quickly if the club didn't make it so difficult for casual fans and new fans to buy tickets. I think people on this forum often find this difficult to comprehend because they themselves are very committed.

Our average home attendance was the highest in the Championship this year (26,005 when you subtract away fans, as per EFL stats on Twitter). Usually, for a big game, a club would add on quite a few thousand to their average figure with casual fans who don't attend every week, or new fans coming along for the first time. The reason we struggle to add to our average attendance, even for a massive game, is because SUFC makes it so difficult for these groups to buy tickets, to the point that they just don't attend in large numbers.

I think there are two main ways in which SUFC is deterring new and casual fans:

1) Purchase history:
For the Forest game, as for any game where the away end is likely to sell out, a purchase history is required in order to buy a ticket. This means that new fans, for example students, kids, or just anyone who hasn't been before, are literally banned from attending. The club says this is to stop away fans getting in the home end. In my opinion, this policy is an overreaction and prevents SUFC growing its fanbase. Big games are when new fans get excited about following the Blades. We are wasting that opportunity, as well as reducing our chances of selling out the stadium.

2) Website and ticketing system:
If you're used to it, it works OK. If you're not, it doesn't. The one ticket per supporter rule and the fact that every ticket has to be allocated to a registered supporter makes buying tickets for a group a confusing faff. I've previously taken extended family from Kent to a game, which meant I had to make an account for each of them on the website and add them all as friends and family before I could buy the tickets. I know some of you will think that this isn't too much effort, or that we don't need casual fans at the games anyway, but the fact is that it's complicated and time consuming and puts people off attending. I've been to games at stadiums around the country and it's nowhere near as difficult anywhere else, and this contributes to why other clubs sell out their stadiums more easily for big games.

In my opinion the club is hindering itself with these policies: reducing our financial income, inhibiting the growth of the fanbase and of course reducing the support available to the players on matchdays. Plus it's obviously a bad look for the club when there are lots of empty seats visible at a big game.

The club says Forest tickets are now on 'general sale', but this isn't true. They're on general sale if you've got a purchase history and are able/ willing to clear administrative hurdles on a clunky website. I'm an ex-season ticket holder now living outside Sheffield, so I only attend occasionally these days. Whenever I do, especially if I'm buying tickets for a group or taking someone new, I'm amazed at how difficult the club makes it!

Covered a lot there but there is still more, great post

 

[Greenwich Blade]

Gangway A upto the edge of the stand those seats were empty, from front to back,thats why they were singing ....you dint sell all yer tickets,i remember it like it was yesterday,i was sat bang opposite in the John Street stand.

But G and H Block were not empty, as can be seen on the screen grab. I can also remember it like yesterday because I was sat smack in the middle of G Block feeling violently ill. Before kick-off I was in the medical portakabin between the South Stand and Bramall Lane with the worst stomach cramps I have ever had. As the teams came onto the pitch I was walking slowly back to my seat via the cindertrack and the stewards letting me back in.

I then proceeded to watch the game whilst gradually turning green, so much so that my friends thought I was in danger of dying! Indeed, amongst others I seem to remember ZoneManWilf was with us in our regular spot. FBFD was the one who thought I was about to expire. The best match I've ever seen, and the illest I have ever felt at any match. One strange combination.

 

[Champagneblade]

I just did a quick count. I reckon 580 left.

A lot of these are restricted view. How did we manage to end up with a stadium with so many of these seats? Needs addressing.

Anyway count was:
Bramall Lane lower - 375
BL1 32
BL2 10
BL3 207
BL4 126

Family Corner (many restricted) - 97
FC 97

FEF6 12

Kop (Front/Middle) - 65
KF1 28
KM1 37

Front Rows of South Stand - 31
WA1 21
WA2 1
WA3 9

Hopefully we can sell out.

 

[Inter_blade83]

Yes I remember for the first EPL match v Palarse they were insisting someone had to have a minimum of 500 points to buy a ticket. We had around 2k tickets unsold as a result. The response was SAG were insisting on it to stop away fans buying tickets in the Home end - as if thousands of ticketless Palarse fans would do this. They applied this to the next home game and again there were significant numbers of unsold tickets resulting in the 500 threshold being reduced down to 250 for the next game and further down throughout the season.

I don't know of any other club that allows its ticketing policy to be influenced as much as it is by a SAG to the detriment of its support. The events v Florist confirm that little seems to have changed making it very hard to attract floating supporters to the Club whilst at the same time upsetting a hard core of the fan base.

I managed to get the wife a ticket to the Boxing Day game without any purchase history, so it wasn't throughout the season. Unless Watford didn't sell out, which allowed it to happen?

 

[LS16Blade]

I just did a quick count. I reckon 580 left.

A lot of these are restricted view. How did we manage to end up with a stadium with so many of these seats? Needs addressing.

Anyway count was:
Bramall Lane lower - 375
BL1 32
BL2 10
BL3 207
BL4 126

Family Corner (many restricted) - 97
FC 97

FEF6 12

Kop (Front/Middle) - 65
KF1 28
KM1 37

Front Rows of South Stand - 31
WA1 21
WA2 1
WA3 9

Hopefully we can sell out.

…And this fact reveals yet another peculiarity with how tickets are sold at the Lane.

There were various times yesterday when the Kop, South Stand and John Street were showing as sold out, and the number of available seats was down at 350 or so.

Then lo and behold, when the ticket office is about to close for the evening, some more blocks of seats are ‘unlocked’ online, availability appears all around the ground and the number of empty seats goes up again.

In the meantime, though, fans who may have preferred to go on the Kop, South Stand or John Street had all day been funnelled into the Lane lower tier as the supposed only option. Bizarre.

What normal organisation wouldn’t just make every single possible seat available for purchase from day 1 of selling?

I suspect that there are still more blocks waiting to be unlocked at the south side of the Kop, so the chances are there will be empty seats in that area tomorrow.

 

[Blade.com]

Is that first point true? Surely there must be a way for people with no purchase history to buy tickets, otherwise how do we generate new fans? Or have the club imposed extra restrictions just for this game?

There’s lots of ways to start a purchase history, Carabo ( or whatever it’s called)cup games, early rounds of the FA cup or games that are cat B or C games when the attendance doesn’t reach over 10,000. Granted the club seem to have made a mess of the whole thing but surely someone who only ever goes to these big games must understand they are bottom of the list for tickets.
It’s fairly easy , register with the club, name and address, D-O-B and purchase a ticket . Season ticket holders can add Family and Friends make a purchase , your on the clubs list for tickets. Don’t think it’s a case of not trying to get new fans involved more like this game is the wrong time to start getting them interested. For some reason the club have cut the attendance down to less than the seasons average making it more of a bun fight for tickets than normal.

 

[sufcboy95]

Absolute piss poor not being able to sell out at a reduced capacity at £20.

 

[S64 Blade]

Yes I remember for the first EPL match v Palarse they were insisting someone had to have a minimum of 500 points to buy a ticket. We had around 2k tickets unsold as a result. The response was SAG were insisting on it to stop away fans buying tickets in the Home end - as if thousands of ticketless Palarse fans would do this. They applied this to the next home game and again there were significant numbers of unsold tickets resulting in the 500 threshold being reduced down to 250 for the next game and further down throughout the season.

I don't know of any other club that allows its ticketing policy to be influenced as much as it is by a SAG to the detriment of its support. The events v Florist confirm that little seems to have changed making it very hard to attract floating supporters to the Club whilst at the same time upsetting a hard core of the fan base.

Agree on all points surrounding this.

We must be the club in the country where it’s most difficult to purchase a ticket/makes selling them overly complicated.

I’ll throw in there this slow release of seats In the home end. For the game tomorrow it’s basically been sold out 3/4 times, only for another pocket of tickets to appear. Can you imagine going to the theatre or something, buying one of the last seats in a not-so-good of a spot, only for more tickets in a better position to pop up the following day? You’d be fuming. (Edit: just seen LS16Blade post on this!)

 

[Nesh Blade]

There’s lots of ways to start a purchase history, Carabo ( or whatever it’s called)cup games, early rounds of the FA cup or games that are cat B or C games when the attendance doesn’t reach over 10,000. Granted the club seem to have made a mess of the whole thing but surely someone who only ever goes to these big games must understand they are bottom of the list for tickets.
It’s fairly easy , register with the club, name and address, D-O-B and purchase a ticket . Season ticket holders can add Family and Friends make a purchase , your on the clubs list for tickets. Don’t think it’s a case of not trying to get new fans involved more like this game is the wrong time to start getting them interested. For some reason the club have cut the attendance down to less than the seasons average making it more of a bun fight for tickets than normal.

I’ve always found phoning or going into the ticket office and explaining the circumstances around why you’d like to buy a ticket for someone without a purchase history that they’re usually accommodating. But yes, attending cup games is the best way to build up a few points on a customer number. My view is they should increase the loyalty points available for cup games to incentivise those ‘Kops not open’ moaners to get down

 

[WORKSOPBLADE]

I just did a quick count. I reckon 580 left.

A lot of these are restricted view. How did we manage to end up with a stadium with so many of these seats? Needs addressing.

Anyway count was:
Bramall Lane lower - 375
BL1 32
BL2 10
BL3 207
BL4 126

Family Corner (many restricted) - 97
FC 97

FEF6 12

Kop (Front/Middle) - 65
KF1 28
KM1 37

Front Rows of South Stand - 31
WA1 21
WA2 1
WA3 9

Hopefully we can sell out.

Front Rows of South Stand - 31
WA1 21
WA2 1
WA3 9

Think that’s family stand not SS.

 

[Davalon]

Considering our crowds this season and the very good pricing for this game, do people not think that without the fiasco this week we wouldn't have easily sold out.

I appreciate there are some comments which make you feel like some are cutting their nose off to spite their face but clearly some have been massively inconvenienced.

It's been a shitshow by the club.

 

[Bladeloyal]

Front Rows of South Stand - 31
WA1 21
WA2 1
WA3 9

Think that’s family stand not SS.

These are the seats reserved usually for disabled carer's not usually sold to the general public

 

[Cheesebored]

We must be the club in the country where it’s most difficult to purchase a ticket/makes selling them overly complicated.

How many of the other 91 league clubs websites have you been on?

 

[Sandygate Blade]

These are the seats reserved usually for disabled carer's not usually sold to the general public

Are these now on sale to anyone?

 

[finlaytheblade]

Considering our crowds this season and the very good pricing for this game, do people not think that without the fiasco this week we wouldn't have easily sold out.

I appreciate there are some comments which make you feel like some are cutting their nose off to spite their face but clearly some have been massively inconvenienced.

It's been a shitshow by the club.

It is disappointing Davalon! It's as though the prince is quite happy to upset the punters to keep the cost of stewards or police down.
No way could 2000+ florist fans not be controlled by the proper stewarding .
There were enough to keep control at the Fulham game ! That plus maybe a few more would have been sufficient .
If this yank takes over maybe he will be interested in sorting problems like this.
As I said in a previous post the lack of communication between management and fans is dire ! It has to change and maybe a change of ownership will do this! Americans if nothing else usually maximise profit streams as long as they don't push tickets sky high.
Growing the fan base and keeping them onside is the way to go.

 

[S64 Blade]

How many of the other 91 league clubs websites have you been on?

I’m not referring to the website. I’m referring to the often pointless loyalty point/membership requirements for home games and the drip feeding of available seats.

 

[Cheesebored]

I’m not referring to the website. I’m referring to the often pointless loyalty point/membership requirements for home games and the drip feeding of available seats.

Ok, so how many of the other 91 league clubs have you ever tried to get a play off ticket for that gives you the knowledge of how their tickets are allocated, to whom and at what rate? I'll have a guess at none.

 

[west_yorks_blade]

Absolute piss poor not being able to sell out at a reduced capacity at £20.

If you have read this thread, you will know how this could occur.

 

[blackydog]

IIRC Forest fans got into John St this season. I was in the JS concourse second half having a pint, and a load of stewards went flying towards gangway G. Brought someone out with them, and there was a bit of an altercation between Forest fan(s), some blades and the stewards.
After ejecting said Forest fan, no-one else was allowed to leave for a bout 10-15 mins.
Every reason to suspect it would happen again.

 

[yorkshirecoast]

There’s lots of ways to start a purchase history, Carabo ( or whatever it’s called)cup games, early rounds of the FA cup or games that are cat B or C games when the attendance doesn’t reach over 10,000. Granted the club seem to have made a mess of the whole thing but surely someone who only ever goes to these big games must understand they are bottom of the list for tickets.
It’s fairly easy , register with the club, name and address, D-O-B and purchase a ticket . Season ticket holders can add Family and Friends make a purchase , your on the clubs list for tickets. Don’t think it’s a case of not trying to get new fans involved more like this game is the wrong time to start getting them interested. For some reason the club have cut the attendance down to less than the seasons average making it more of a bun fight for tickets than normal.

I agree people with no purchase history should have less priority than those with, but the fact is we have over 500 seats left the day before the match. At this point I think we should be selling to anyone who isn’t banned. Insisting on purchase history at this stage is stupid. In the unlikely event a Forest fan buys a ticket in the home end and gets mouthy, it’s likely they will regret it and I doubt they’d do it again.

Not selling out would be embarrassing, particularly given we’ve been the best supported team in the Championship all season, and will just give people a stick to beat us with.