Will we sell out?

[Sean Thornton]

Did you try? I also thought nobody would that late as it was far too inconvenient?



How many were refused?

How many have shown their support since?

 

[Salmon Pastures]

Have you tried speaking to the ticket office?

But that’s exactly the issue. Having to prat around, contacting, having to email, speaking to the ticket office. I am, as you are, savvy regarding all things around ticket sales. Not everyone is. Make it easier to get the peripheral fans into Bramall Lane. Bring on the ‘day trippers’. Everyone has to start somewhere.

 

[Foxy]

But that’s exactly the issue. Having to prat around, contacting, having to email, speaking to the ticket office. I am, as you are, savvy regarding all things around ticket sales. Not everyone is. Make it easier to get the peripheral fans into Bramall Lane. Bring on the ‘day trippers’. Everyone has to start somewhere.

To be fair, it's the biggest game of the season, and we're suggesting asking the place that sells the tickets, if you can have a ticket, is pratting around or somehow additionally savvy?

I agree, we should realistically do what we can to attract new (it's also why I suggested it, to try to help that), but is it really all that out there or any more difficult than buying a ticket for anything else?

 

[YES Blade]

Usually season ticket holders are given priority.

The best marketing strategy is to put them on sale the day after we’ve qualified for Wembley, whilst excitement is high.
Then let ST holders buy up to 4 (like Man City) or even 6 (like Sheff Wed).

This will create a panic (like at Sheff Wed) encouraging ST to buy in bulk.
This results in almost all the tickets being sold before it hits general sale.

Then when it does hit general sale…there’s a panic fans will miss out.
So everyone is there on the 1st day of sale desperate for tickets….this is what happened at Sheff Wed.

Compare it to us…..we leave it a full week after qualifying for the FA cup semi final….let the excitement die down.
Then out them on sale to season ticket holders only….strictly 1 ticket per person.
Many delay buying them because they want to go with different people, then there’s a complicated points system.
Bizarrely you couldn’t just buy SU tickets…you needed to be on the database and have a minimum of 500 points.

I assume the club don’t want to create a panic as they want to keep their most loyal customers happy aka the season ticket holders. It’s a pretty stupid way to run a business, risk pissing off your most loyal customers in the hope than someone’s neighbour might go to more than one match every few years.

Also, I’d imagine the ticket website would struggle to cope with everyone trying to buy tickets at the same time, United ain’t Ticketmaster!

The minimum points thing is getting boring now, the loyalty points system has been in place for over 20 years, there is no reason why an adult shouldn’t have at least 500 points over 20 years.

If they can’t be arsed to go to 3 or 4 matches over that length of time then they don’t really have any reason to complain about not getting a ticket.

Frankly I find it amazing that someone who clearly isn’t bothered about United would even care that they didn’t get a ticket!

 

[Foxy]

I assume the club don’t want to create a panic as they want to keep their most loyal customers happy aka the season ticket holders. It’s a pretty stupid way to run a business, risk pissing off your most loyal customers in the hope than someone’s neighbour might go to more than one match every few years.

They created enough panic and got pelters for the way they reserved ST holders tickets for this one in the first place, never mind throwing it open to potentially 4/5x more people than have season tickets at first sales if we make the final.

The minimum points thing is getting boring now, the loyalty points system has been in place for over 20 years, there is no reason why an adult shouldn’t have at least 500 points over 20 years.

For context, our three year old has enough points over 20x over to have bought a ticket since Tuesday afternoon. He's not going though, because Sheffield United ticket office didn't get the game moved to before his (attempted) bed time , making it all the more difficult to attract the next generation

Personally, if able to, I'd have kept an eye on sales and opened it up to general sale Wednesday onwards, to registered members, also allowing new registrations from qualifying local postcodes.

 

[Barry Butlin]

Sunderland season ticket holders can buy 3 extra tickets for their home leg, no questions asked, no details needed, I asked our ticket office why we can’t do that & they said we are governed by different rules

 

[Barry Butlin]

I assume the club don’t want to create a panic as they want to keep their most loyal customers happy aka the season ticket holders. It’s a pretty stupid way to run a business, risk pissing off your most loyal customers in the hope than someone’s neighbour might go to more than one match every few years.

Also, I’d imagine the ticket website would struggle to cope with everyone trying to buy tickets at the same time, United ain’t Ticketmaster!

The minimum points thing is getting boring now, the loyalty points system has been in place for over 20 years, there is no reason why an adult shouldn’t have at least 500 points over 20 years.

If they can’t be arsed to go to 3 or 4 matches over that length of time then they don’t really have any reason to complain about not getting a ticket.

Frankly I find it amazing that someone who clearly isn’t bothered about United would even care that they didn’t get a ticket!

You are missing the point, we are the only club of our size that can’t sell their tickets for Wembley, why would that be???

 

[Foxy]

we are the only club of our size that can’t sell their tickets for Wembley, why would that be???

Be interested to see the stats on that and comparing how they sold?

 

[Barry Butlin]

Don’t understand your point, if we keep the current system, we wont sell our allocation?? So don’t understand what you’re saying?

 

[Foxy]

Don’t understand your point, if we keep the current system, we wont sell our allocation?? So don’t understand what you’re saying?

Well then, if others of a similar size are doing it so well, why wouldn't we want to directly compare what they did?

I'll be buying mine as soon as it comes on sale if we get there, so I'm not really the target audience for change.

 

[Barry Butlin]

Bristol City & Coventry City would have both. Sold 40k & we won’t & they aren’t bigger clubs than us

 

[Barry Butlin]

Well then, if others of a similar size are doing it so well, why wouldn't we want to directly compare what they did?

I'll be buying mine as soon as it comes on sale if we get there, so I'm not really the target audience for change.

Lets leave it as it is then & have blocks of empty seats

 

[Foxy]

Lets leave it as it is then & have blocks of empty seats

I never said we should, I asked what the stats on what they'd sold were and was interested in what they were all doing to ensure they sold more than we will do if we get there.

 

[Davalon]

Would that be like hull when we had over 40 k there or Huddersfield when we had over 35k or man city when we had 32 k palace when we had 35k there or Wednesday when there was 35k there take your pick

We had nowhere near those numbers for Hull, Huddersfield, and Palace.

 

[54yrblade]

Should hope we sell out, poor if not, if we’re to be a big club need to act like one.

Sadly, we're not a big club, other than in the city. Our ability to get to big club status depends on how long we can yo-yo between here and the PL, how much cash our new owners want to throw at it and their medium to long term strategy.

The next 3 months will be really interesting.

 

[LS16Blade]

Promised myself last time at Wembley I’d pay for better seats next time but at those prices I’ll settle for the cheapo ones again.

Don’t fall for the expensive tickets, CrookesBlade. In my experience, the FA’s grandiose claim that ‘there aren’t any bad views in Wembley’ should really be a rather more modest claim that ‘no seats have a worse view than any other seat’.

Burnley - Sat towards the back of the lower tier behind the goal. Had to watch the game on the big screen when the action was at the other end of the ground.

Huddersfield - Sat towards the back of the lower tier on the side of the pitch, just to the side of the dug-outs. Couldn’t see what was happening when the action was on the other flank and no escape from the sun. Absolutely baked.

Hull - Marginally the best. Towards the front of the upper tier on the dug-out side of the pitch. Nicely shaded and a reasonable view of the pitch albeit still a bit detached.

Man City - Mid-way in the upper tier behind the goal. Reasonable view of the pitch but no atmosphere as the distance away made it feel completely detached from the action on the pitch.

 

[RecordBreakers]

Don’t fall for the expensive tickets, CrookesBlade. In my experience, the FA’s grandiose claim that ‘there aren’t any bad views in Wembley’ should really be a rather more modest claim that ‘no seats have a worse view than any other seat’.

Burnley - Sat towards the back of the lower tier behind the goal. Had to watch the game on the big screen when the action was at the other end of the ground.

Huddersfield - Sat towards the back of the lower tier on the side of the pitch, just to the side of the dug-outs. Couldn’t see what was happening when the action was on the other flank and no escape from the sun. Absolutely baked.

Hull - Marginally the best. Towards the front of the upper tier on the dug-out side of the pitch. Nicely shaded and a reasonable view of the pitch albeit still a bit detached.

Man City - Mid-way in the upper tier behind the goal. Reasonable view of the pitch but no atmosphere as the distance away made it feel completely detached from the action on the pitch.

Couldn't agree with this more.. I've sat in various locations around the ground and non of them are great. You either to far away , getting baked by the sun (Burnley) that was shocking or totally away from the atmosphere. It's pretty to look at but I just find it a bit meh. I will be going tho IF we get there as that's what we do we follow our team. I couldn't care less if I'm sat with mates family or not and I couldn't care less whether we sell out or not.

 

[RecordBreakers]

My soon to be son in law, who I'm trying to convert to a Blade, wanted to come with us on Monday night, but I can't buy him a ticket because he's only got 100 loyalty points, not the required 150. It's obviously not going to be a sell out, so I just don't understand it.

Worth giving the ticket office a call worst they can say is no, you could also say if they let him buy a ticket then he will have the required points? Reverse phycology.

 

[YES Blade]

Don’t fall for the expensive tickets, CrookesBlade. In my experience, the FA’s grandiose claim that ‘there aren’t any bad views in Wembley’ should really be a rather more modest claim that ‘no seats have a worse view than any other seat’.

Burnley - Sat towards the back of the lower tier behind the goal. Had to watch the game on the big screen when the action was at the other end of the ground.

Huddersfield - Sat towards the back of the lower tier on the side of the pitch, just to the side of the dug-outs. Couldn’t see what was happening when the action was on the other flank and no escape from the sun. Absolutely baked.

Hull - Marginally the best. Towards the front of the upper tier on the dug-out side of the pitch. Nicely shaded and a reasonable view of the pitch albeit still a bit detached.

Man City - Mid-way in the upper tier behind the goal. Reasonable view of the pitch but no atmosphere as the distance away made it feel completely detached from the action on the pitch.

I’ve also sat on all three tiers at Wembley….

Top tier - too high up, feel detected from the game, so it’s the worst view for me.

Bottom tier - ok view, better than top as you feel like you’re part of it but the stand angle isn’t great so even sitting at the back means you can’t see the opposite goals great.

Middle tier - I got a freebie once to sit there for an England match. Fantastic view

I think we all know why the middle tier is an amazing view and the other two are average at best!

 

[RecordBreakers]

I assume the club don’t want to create a panic as they want to keep their most loyal customers happy aka the season ticket holders. It’s a pretty stupid way to run a business, risk pissing off your most loyal customers in the hope than someone’s neighbour might go to more than one match every few years.

Also, I’d imagine the ticket website would struggle to cope with everyone trying to buy tickets at the same time, United ain’t Ticketmaster!

The minimum points thing is getting boring now, the loyalty points system has been in place for over 20 years, there is no reason why an adult shouldn’t have at least 500 points over 20 years.

If they can’t be arsed to go to 3 or 4 matches over that length of time then they don’t really have any reason to complain about not getting a ticket.

Frankly I find it amazing that someone who clearly isn’t bothered about United would even care that they didn’t get a ticket!

It's also getting boring/annoying that certain people who run coaches have envelopes full of tickets to sell on. I have been told that apparently this is going to be stopped from next season.

 

[nopigfansintown]

Speed is of the essence if we go through. Season tickets and members, then everyone else. If United play Sunderland it needs to happen before they sell out as then there'll be a genuine reason not to do it:- you'd risk them being in our end, or taking any extra allocation because we're too slow. You also need to get it done asap so people can make plans. One or two days before the game is far too late

If it's a big issue advise that new customer accounts with the requisite points can be made by phoning up the ticket office with the correct amount of qualifying points added to a new or existing account gratis. This way you can bump the database up with new members and hopefully increase the fanbase when these issues inevitably happen again when/ if promoted. A Wembley trip should be a great way to sell merchandise and grow the fanbase. I have three none regulars wanting to go...

One of them went to Burnley at Wembley (my mum). She has 400 points and is 67 this year. She watched the Bristol City game in her front room and is feeling inspired .

 

[nopigfansintown]

I’ve also sat on all three tiers at Wembley….

Top tier - too high up, feel detected from the game, so it’s the worst view for me.

Bottom tier - ok view, better than top as you feel like you’re part of it but the stand angle isn’t great so even sitting at the back means you can’t see the opposite goals great.

Middle tier - I got a freebie once to sit there for an England match. Fantastic view

I think we all know why the middle tier is an amazing view and the other two are average at best!

I did pitch side on the halfway line and felt it a rip off. High up on the bottom tier (near the corner flag) was the best view I've had (Huddersfield and Hull). Man City behind the goal about halfway up the lower tier was great. I seem to remember that worked out the best value for money between cost and view.

I attended a fight on the upper tier and the action seemed a million miles away. You're essentially just there for the atmosphere.

The issue when purchasing is that colours are mixed in totally different areas of the stadium. Pink might be, say, behind the goal and on halfway. Unless you ask specifically and they aren't having to sell in order it's pot luck.

 

[ancientblade]

Would that be like hull when we had over 40 k there or Huddersfield when we had over 35k or man city when we had 32 k palace when we had 35k there or Wednesday when there was 35k there take your pick

we only sold 27k for the huddersfield play off final and pretty sure only 35k for hull

 

[chesblade]

Just hope that when they do go on sale there is no system mess up like has happened in the past

 

[alcoblade]

I tried booking on the website tonight and it just wouldn't allow it. Are the ticket office allowed to bend the rules if I give them a call in the morning do you think?

Yes, they just did for me (buying for a friend). Unfortunately i was "No4" in the queue, and that took about an hour - which would put many off.

 

[Broomhall Blade]

What, to anyone at all who wants one?

Yep my cat wants one.

 

[bladesmanluke]

We had nowhere near those numbers for Hull, Huddersfield, and Palace.

Correct. Most we've ever taken (at least in my time) was about 37k to Burnley on our first trip to the new stadium in 09. Then about 28k to Huddersfield, about 33k to Hull, 32k to City.

We'll not get a practical sell out like Burnley again as it was a novelty at the time and ticket restrictions were less stringent from what I remember.

 

[Guesty]

We are very much a big club. Just not a massive club.

We're bigger than that Chris - we're large.

 

[More Bladier than thou]

Email the TO. They always have replied to me within 2 hours. And they also can and will upload points to people with no points to get them started. Or just pop in. They are understanding and helpful to those with no points.

 

[HuddersfieldBlade]

Let’s talk about Wembley tickets when we get through Mondays game.