Wandy

Yep, it's going to make the stadium a haven for day trippers. It's all very well trying to entice new fans to witness the "SJP Experience", but that very experience was created by the very people who might now be locked out. In a football stadium you need a base level of fans you can rely on in every game to help get the team through sticky patches. Again, this new system might just have removed that base level. I don't know why they couldn't just keep the que system and then also introduce a ballot alongside it. Split the available seat allocation in half, and then distribute each half via the two systems. I'm morbidly curious to see what the atmosphere is going to be like next Saturday.

That's exactly what I see happening, unfortunately. Last season's hitty-missy atmosphere might seem like a cauldron compared to what could be coming this year. I just don't see how having the rowdy elements sitting miles apart from each other is going to produce anything but a mute stadium. Would love to be wrong mind.

Let them know that not being able to select your own seat is unacceptable. Youse have decent clout with them so you might get somewhere with it.

A display about the ticketing situation?

It's not about being sat next to others, it's about being in a seat with a view you find acceptable & in amongst people who are like-minded in the nature of their support.

I wouldn't even mind if they took the money up front, as long as I get a range of seats to actually choose from.

They might have beaten you to a seat, but I'd bet that you would get another one pretty close to the one that you wanted. And for the next match you apply for you might get your exact seat. Law of averages, and all that. It's ten times better a system than one that could easily put you in the very front row...or very back row...of a stand. And you having no say in that.

The point is that the queue was the gateway to getting into the ticket selection section. There is absolutely no reason why the ballot cannot be made to be the new gateway.

It's not impossible though is it? The old system let you sit where you want, once you got through the queue. If that kind of accessibility does not come back then I seriously doubt I will be attending any more games at SJP. I'm not being dictated to as to where I'm sitting.

That's the concern. The club wreck the system but then give a little bit back to shut people up. Knowing our fanbase it will probably work too.

I can't believe people will continue to tolerate being thrown into one big category and then allow the club to decide where you sit within it. What an absolutely shite system.

I've just had a look at the ballot link, and it doesn't even tell you which areas are in each category?

Not really interested in how Wembley organise their ticketing process as its a soulless hellhole anyway. And its definitely not how it should be for a club to organise its games. Imagine going to the cinema and not being able to pre-select where you sit. If a cinema can do it then so should a football club. The ballot should just be a gateway into accessing the club's ticketing system.

So you can now refrain from being fleeced for a top whack ticket but the club still decide where you sit. Totally unacceptable. Still a complete shit show.

What is happening here is the pricing of people out by stealth. I sincerely hope that they have done this inadvertently and it wasnt premeditated.

From what I've seen its about 70/30 with the 30 supporting the decision. That's an alarming amount of support for something so awful IMO. The entire fanbase should be up in arms about it.

Yeah, facebook and twitter has been full of absolute cockends, saying if you aren't prepared to pay the £74 for a ticket then don't bother entering the ballot. Absolute cunts the lot of them.

I'm actually shocked at my own reaction to this and how much it has completely pissed me off. Not only at the club's actions but also the appallingly smug reaction to it from some of our fanbase. I might cool down over the coming days but right now it's killed any enthusiasm I had for the coming seaaon. If I dont feel on the same page as the club and our own support then I'm wondering what's the point of it all.

Asking a low income person/family to pay an extra 15% for match tickets is one thing. Telling them that they might have to pay an extra 100% if they are unlucky is quite something else. It's emotional blackmail by the club and it's inexcusable.

Yep, the same shithouses who are gloating today will be the same who castigated the fans who walked away in protest in 2019. You can just sense that these cunts are quietly enjoying the fact that some people will be priced out of games, as it will make them feel superior as a fan. Grim as fuck, quite frankly, and makes you wonder if the game today is worth following. What's the point, if the people you are rubbing shoulders with are just complete ballsacks?

It's just the usual "I'm a better fan than you" bullshit playing out in a new way. Football fans are really just cunts aren't they?

Have to agree. Modern society is properly fucking grim. No sign of the great reset coming either.

I can't remember it being this bad tbh. Maybe they were always there though & social media has just shone a light on them all.

The response to this from many on twitter & facebook from a lot of our support has been properly depressing. Basically saying if you can't afford a £74 ticket then don't bother entering the ballot. Sad to say that NUFC's fanbase now has a significant amount of absolute wankers within it.

The main criticism of this scheme isn't the price increase, it's the complete removal of being able to make a choice where you sit, and thus being forced to sit somewhere where you don't want to be. It's a worry, no doubt, because it's the first sign that these people don't understand what makes a football stadium work. That's why we need to monitor them like a hawk from here on in. But just blankly stating that this incident means that a new stadium under their control would be a bad thing is just nonsense. Ticket prices absolutely need to be scrutinised though, and are exactly what the NUST were created to help police, so I'd expect them to be monitoring them closely. The ticket pricing at matches is something that needs to be placed in the hands of the new football regulator as they are clearly out of control at most clubs. But that has nothing to do with how well the owners would handle a move to a new stadium. You are just being clouded by your bias in this instance.