Friday night

[Proper Blade]

The idea that any team who sells out their away allocation would then start buying thousands of tickets in the home end is fucking paranoid, idiotic nonsense. We're the only team in the league i know of that has this minimum loyalty point rule. It's madness. Throw in the rip-off £40 tickets and it's no wonder we sell basically no tickets on the day. And we are doing absolutely nothing to grow our fanbase.

 

[joe casey]

If we'd just drawn 5 on the bounce this place would be in meltdown so I'm suprised by their optimism considering we're 7 wins and clean sheets in a row at home. No doubt they've got quality and they've been near the top for long enough for it to not be a fluke, but I'm expecting a re-imagination of mid 2010's barcelona judging by those comments

 

[stephen lee]

yes payday tomorrow for most so should be an upturn in ticket sales but friday night doesnt help either think if it was a saturday 3pm game it would have been a near sellout

Don't agree Friday night only nightshift workers can't attend everyone else is not working ,unlike saturdays when contractors /shop workers can't attend

 

[JJBlade]

If all these friends you have who want a ticket but don’t want to sit alone like a cunt simply registered, can’t you link as friends and thus solve the problem?

Once again, the assumption is I'm talking about my friends or people I know.
I'm not

But lots of people WHO DO NOT GO TO GAMES are not aware of the rules or requirements and they are not committed enough fans to go through the process to only be able to buy one ticket.
If you make it easy for casual fans to say "Aww fuck it" they will think "Aww fuck it" That's what makes them casual.

However every single one of those casual fans should be in the stadium during these times, and they should be able to walk in, buy two, three, four tickets, get registered, understand the system and then keep coming back.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

Boxing day we have family up from all parts of the country. Some fans some not. It's a faff trying to sort everyone a ticket. Not impossible but not as easy as it could be. It will put off newer fans.

 

[Barry Butlin]

Son in Laws a West Ham season ticket holder & he can get 6 tickets no questions asked !!

 

[Gerritforud]

If all these friends you have who want a ticket but don’t want to sit alone like a cunt simply registered, can’t you link as friends and thus solve the problem?

We seem to see this same conversation with JJ every few weeks. Maybe someone from the club could intervene? And show him how to share the link for the club's ticket selling website with his "friends"... "It's a faff, but. Not impossible"

 

[Nick Jansky]

sit in a stadium on your own in a shit seat that nobody else wants surrounded by dickheads who allegedly support the same team as you slag you off because they know you're a part timer because nobody was sat in that particular seat last week

Is this something that has happened to you?

 

[Sean Thornton]

Is this something that has happened to you?

It’s beginning to make sense…….

 

[Keen Blade]

There are many posts on here suggesting contacting the ticket office along with examples of positive outcomes with the points issue. But let’s sweep that under the carpet.

I’d rather the club were trying to do something for regular supporters, ie most home games, having to pay expensive POTD prices than someone wanting a ticket just for big games, Boxing Day or whatever. Especially if they can’t be arsed to register (as pointed out a requirement for most websites). Not a perfect solution by any means but more likely to grow the fan base than concentrating on those who can’t make any effort whatsoever.

I have asked if registering friends and family on an account solves the problem for the hand holders wanting to sit together. Maybe someone can confirm.

I don't want to sweep anything under the carpet - in fact I myself have often suggested personal contact with the TO if there are special circs , particularly where one person who is registered with the required points wants to take a friend who is not.

Very good idea to do something for non-ST but regular attenders.
If we are talking about rewarding their loyalty it seems counter-intuitive to ask then to pay yet more money to join a membership scheme.

One idea might be to drop the price by , say , £3 or £5 , each time the person passes a milestone of , say , 5 , 10 , 15 , 20 games.
So first 5 at list price , next 5 discount £5 , next 5 discount £10 , and next 5 discount £15.

Your question about registering Lane virgins in F&F - in this modern world , where every online purchase involves the chore of giving personal data , I agree with you that asking a person to "open an account" with the club is not onerous.

And my belief is that once non-ST friends put each other in their F&F , it is easy for one to buy on behalf of the other(s) and each person gets their points , so the newbie will soon reach 500 , and qualify for the big games.

The trickier thing is for a ST holder to introduce a friend (virgin or not) to the Lane and sit next to him.
STs are in the best areas and surrounded by other STs , so the newbie is not going to be able to sit next to the ST holder.

In this case the ST holder will have to trade-in his seat for that game for one , probably in the BLUT , and buy the adjacent seat for the newbie.
Of course this is a bit of a faff and not a long-term solution (the ST holder being displaced from his normal seat).

 

[Sean Thornton]

I don't want to sweep anything under the carpet - in fact I myself have often suggested personal contact with the TO if there are special circs , particularly where one person who is registered with the required points wants to take a friend who is not.

Very good idea to do something for non-ST but regular attenders.
If we are talking about rewarding their loyalty it seems counter-intuitive to ask then to pay yet more money to join a membership scheme.

One idea might be to drop the price by , say , £3 or £5 , each time the person passes a milestone of , say , 5 , 10 , 15 , 20 games.
So first 5 at list price , next 5 discount £5 , next 5 discount £10 , and next 5 discount £15.

Your question about registering Lane virgins in F&F - in this modern world , where every online purchase involves the chore of giving personal data , I agree with you that asking a person to "open an account" with the club is not onerous.

And my belief is that once non-ST friends put each other in their F&F , it is easy for one to buy on behalf of the other(s) and each person gets their points , so the newbie will soon reach 500 , and qualify for the big games.

The trickier thing is for a ST holder to introduce a friend (virgin or not) to the Lane and sit next to him.
STs are in the best areas and surrounded by other STs , so the newbie is not going to be able to sit next to the ST holder.

In this case the ST holder will have to trade-in his seat for that game for one , probably in the BLUT , and buy the adjacent seat for the newbie.
Of course this is a bit of a faff and not a long-term solution (the ST holder being displaced from his normal seat).

General comment not aimed at you.

 

[The Crab]

I'd love to go but I can't afford it.

Same here, simple as that really

 

[Keen Blade]

Any game that the opposition is likely to sell out is usually zero loyalty points.

Anyone would have got a ticket for Tuesday.

The second part of your post completely supports the first part. the first part.

It's not the ticket selling system that's at fault, it's the many alternative, and cheaper ways, to see the game that undermines ticket sales.

When most of us started going the only way to see the game was to buy a ticket for it. (or pay at the turnstile)

I do agree that it's the telly and streams which likely have a bigger negative effect than ticket systems.

I could never give up my matchday experience even though the travelling makes it take the whole day , but others are not so bothered.

I understand that it's quite a high price to pay for a newbie who is accustomed to watching on a screen.

See my reply to Sean about doing something for non-ST regulars.

 

[The Crab]

I sympathise but I don't know what more the club can do - they will have researched their pricing formulae.

One idea which strikes me is for them to hold back the restricted view seats until the day of the game and then put them on sale for half price ?

Mate it’s not about what the club can or can’t do.

My income has been lower ever since Ms Crab died, and her money has almost run out. That’s not me looking for pity, I’ve been far more fortunate than other people in my position. Everything is going up (same for everyone I know) but it’s a simple economic fact.

If that makes me a shit blade then I guess it makes me a shit blade

 

[Keen Blade]

General comment not aimed at you.

Didn't take it that way Sean , but I just wanted to be clear that i have found the TO very helpful when friends from abroad are here

 

[Keen Blade]

You don’t need to have previously bought x number of items from any of them to buy something.

That’s the difference.

You can sign up to Deliveroo now and have your burger at your door in under half an hour. Try signing up to SUFC and getting a ticket for tomorrow night.

Good point but 500 points applies only to some games , which I accept tend to be against the bigger clubs - so a Lane virgin would have to go to a few lesser games to amass their 500

 

[vas borbokis]

There are many posts on here suggesting contacting the ticket office along with examples of positive outcomes with the points issue. But let’s sweep that under the carpet.

I’d rather the club were trying to do something for regular supporters, ie most home games, having to pay expensive POTD prices than someone wanting a ticket just for big games, Boxing Day or whatever. Especially if they can’t be arsed to register (as pointed out a requirement for most websites). Not a perfect solution by any means but more likely to grow the fan base than concentrating on those who can’t make any effort whatsoever.

I have asked if registering friends and family on an account solves the problem for the hand holders wanting to sit together. Maybe someone can confirm.

My experience is maybe twice a year then daughter's other half likes to go with me to a match. I have a ST on John St. Usually have to ring up and ask them to find 2 adjacent seats and move my ST and purchase an adjacent one. So no sitting with all the folk I've known and chatted to for years.

 

[Keen Blade]

Every one of those needs to know your address, your contact details, and your preferred payment method.

What are United asking for that they don't need?

Once you're registered on the database it's as easy to get a ticket for United as it is a takeaway from Deliveroo

I take your point about online shopping.

Do you happen to know if other clubs sell seats without collecting personal data about each person that's going to sit in them ?

Is JJ correct that he could buy any amount of tickets at the pigsty but provide only his own data and nobody else's ?

 

[Keen Blade]

I really don't think there is any evidence that the club does anything as competent as researching pricing formulae. This is the club that looked at the catering shit show, couldn't be arsed to do anything about it and gave Compass a ten year deal. They presided over the ticket selling shambles of the FA cup semi and Forest play off semi and then stopped selling season tickets last year because they thought they could make more money selling over-priced POTD tickets. I think it is far more likely that someone put a wet finger in the air and said 'How high do you think we can get away with?' Our POTD prices are far too high and the purchase process is hugely off-putting for potential new supporters.

Whilst i might agree about prices , I am not sure the system is worse than anywhere else.

Does anyone know if other Championship clubs require a separate name & individual account number to be assigned to each ticket they sell ?

 

[Sean Thornton]

My experience is maybe twice a year then daughter's other half likes to go with me to a match. I have a ST on John St. Usually have to ring up and ask them to find 2 adjacent seats and move my ST and purchase an adjacent one. So no sitting with all the folk I've known and chatted to for years.

Not the clubs fault that there’s no adjacent seat next to your normal one.

Does your daughter’s other half have points?

 

[John Cutsbushes]

Have to say, the crowd was pathetic last night.

Hopefully the ref makes a couple of bad decisions early on, it's the only thing that fires our lot up.

The worst thing for me Tuesday was hearing the Oxford fans singing the Starman song and no Blades carried it on.
Then 'There's only one Georgie Baldock'
Again nothing
Poor

 

[Keen Blade]

The idea that any team who sells out their away allocation would then start buying thousands of tickets in the home end is fucking paranoid, idiotic nonsense. We're the only team in the league i know of that has this minimum loyalty point rule. It's madness. Throw in the rip-off £40 tickets and it's no wonder we sell basically no tickets on the day. And we are doing absolutely nothing to grow our fanbase.

Is does seem odd that we are top of the league and have 23k STs but can't sell out the remaining 5k decent seats to POTD customers.
How many other clubs have no minimum points rule for home games ?
If it is most of them apart from us , I suggest you bring this up with the fan-liaison people at the Lane.

Maybe it's the piggy council or SYP but if there are different rules at the pigsty , this needs investigating

 

[John Cutsbushes]

Well how do clubs like Derby fill their ground ?
I can't believe that people there are any different.
So what's the club doing that we aren't ?

They have more fans
Our attendances have been pathetic this season
There's always an excuse not to go to games
Can't believe tomorrow isn't a sell out, and people say we should make our ground bigger!

 

[Sean Thornton]

Is does seem odd that we are top of the league and have 23k STs but can't sell out the remaining 5k decent seats to POTD customers.
How many other clubs have no minimum points rule for home games ?
If it is most of them apart from us , I suggest you bring this up with the fan-liaison people at the Lane.

Maybe it's the piggy council or SYP but if there are different rules at the pigsty , this needs investigating

Following their win over Plymouth, their huge local fan base and the ability to buy as many tickets as they want, how come the Grunters gates aren’t far higher?

 

[Keen Blade]

Once again, the assumption is I'm talking about my friends or people I know.
I'm not

But lots of people WHO DO NOT GO TO GAMES are not aware of the rules or requirements and they are not committed enough fans to go through the process to only be able to buy one ticket.
If you make it easy for casual fans to say "Aww fuck it" they will think "Aww fuck it" That's what makes them casual.

However every single one of those casual fans should be in the stadium during these times, and they should be able to walk in, buy two, three, four tickets, get registered, understand the system and then keep coming back.

I understand your sentiments and I too hate to think that growth in our fanbase , when we are playing so well , is constricted by our own systems.

I also appreciate , having been involved in sales , the inertia of the person who hasn't yet tried the product.

Our future depends on future fans.

Have you specifically checked at the pigsty that you can register just yourself and then buy an unlimited number of tickets for unnamed people , because I find that surprising.

Also , do they NEVER impose any kind of restriction like our 500 points when the game is against clubs with big followings like us , Weeds, Derby & Mackems ?

 

[Keen Blade]

Boxing day we have family up from all parts of the country. Some fans some not. It's a faff trying to sort everyone a ticket. Not impossible but not as easy as it could be. It will put off newer fans.

In the age of tickets by email to print or tickets on phones , what happens when you buy eg 6 tickets on F&F ?

Does one email come to the buyer or do 6 emails get sent ?

If one email , can the buyer forward it to the other 5 ?

If so , is each ticket named , so that each of the other 5 knows which ticket to print or download to his phone ?

Clearly you don't want confusion at the turnstile !

 

[Keen Blade]

Son in Laws a West Ham season ticket holder & he can get 6 tickets no questions asked !!

Not surprising really as they were gifted a massive stadium by me and other taxpayers , which they can exploit by selling to London tourists for £high

 

[Keen Blade]

Mate it’s not about what the club can or can’t do.

My income has been lower ever since Ms Crab died, and her money has almost run out. That’s not me looking for pity, I’ve been far more fortunate than other people in my position. Everything is going up (same for everyone I know) but it’s a simple economic fact.

If that makes me a shit blade then I guess it makes me a shit blade

Of course it doesn't.
The sad movement of football from working class to middle class prices is another whole subject.
I hope you manage to see us on TV.

 

[Keen Blade]

The worst thing for me Tuesday was hearing the Oxford fans singing the Starman song and no Blades carried it on.
Then 'There's only one Georgie Baldock'
Again nothing
Poor

What a lovely gesture from them.
He played 39 games for them in 15/16 on loan from MKDons.
I wonder where you were sitting and whether the kop could hear them ?
I couldn't be there on Tuesday.
I'm amazed our lot didn't acknowledge their respect.

 

[John Cutsbushes]

What a lovely gesture from them.
He played 39 games for them in 15/16 on loan from MKDons.
I wonder where you were sitting and whether the kop could hear them ?
I couldn't be there on Tuesday.
I'm amazed our lot didn't acknowledge their respect.

I was on John Street Tuesday
Bang on halfway
Maybe the kop didnt hear them to be fair
I sang along in my own way