Interpolic

worra cunt

It makes perfect sense that this is happening with the tight ticket criteria and the clampdown on IDs etc. I went to quite a few aways in the 2010s in particular and I never bought a ticket from the club or even knew where the ticket came from. Our group was young, drunk and loud, and I'd imagine there were plenty in the exact same scenario. Closing off the sale/attendance of literally everything to an ageing and likely entitled group of spectators (rather than supporters) is clearly going to lead to this. I'm not saying all STHs are llke that and there'll still be plenty going who are very vocal in their support but gatekeeping tickets this way is so disappointing. Much like the cup final, why can't a certain percentage of tickets be sold to active members? Why is the system so geared towards "the rich getting richer" in terms of season tickets, points etc?

Is he fuck wouldn't expect him to. I'm long past being angry about this and had accepted I wouldn't get a ticket. The point I was angry was when the criteria was announced and going to almost all games this season and last (inc all cup games) meant nowt.

To me these are 2 completely conflicting statements, fair enough if I've misunderstood.

But this doesn't apply to the almighty STH? We're going around in circles

Why is this an issue for us and not for the likes Liverpool, do you think? Do we have a bigger problem with touting? Genuine question.

That is what people are suggesting. How is it fair for members who attend every game to get thrown into that pot? They got zero recognition for all the games they went to, unlike STHs. And they paid more money, spent more time, created more inconvenience for themselves in the process.

Eh I don't see how this logic holds whatsoever for not prioritising members who have been to more games, i.e. the same treatment as STHs. You think they thought there were dodgy memberships who have somehow managed to attend all cup games, therefore they'd just lump them in with anyone who'd shown a passing interest? I'd say including those who'd applied for only one cup ballot makes the likelihood of that way higher, there may even be fans of other clubs like Arsenal who were able to apply given the criteria.

To give the club some credit, I was moaning the other day that they've backtracked on members getting tickets and that doesn't appear to be entirely the case. So fair play for letting a few members go. That comes with a huge minus though mind - look at how staggered the criteria is for STHs, different pots for different levels of commitment to the cup games giving different levels of priority. And look at pot 6. Members who may have been to every game this season through pure effort and much frustration thrown in with STHs who went to no cup games and any member who applied for a cup ticket. I said it was an insult then and I'm still saying it's an insult. When you spend so much time, effort and money, moving your life around just to get tickets for each game, and the result is zero recognition for it, you feel like a second class fan and it puts you off bothering to the same degree anymore tbh. Not that they'll mind.

I will have gone to more games than my brother aye, I went to all cup games and he definitely missed at least a couple. I was referring to the pot criteria, I'd be very surprised if they've applied logic beyond that.

genuinely only checked this thread to see if @bobbydazzla got a ticket. It will be a poorer occasion without the fastest fingers in the north east in the ground. I didn't get a ticket, me brother (also a member) did. Still can't believe they gave no favour whatsoever to more active members but it is what it is.

This is what I did mind - left, right, goodnight, sparked the cunt oot, everyone clapped, I took a bow. Had no choice.

were you in Platinum Club? Had an identical experience there at the Wolves game.

Hopefully he's seen sense and we're going down the redevelopment route

As a member, there are definitely cup games I'd have considered giving a miss if I realised I'd be thrown in the no-chance pot with people who've applied for one ballot. Wimbledon, Bromley etc. Wonder if this will have an effect on attendances going forward, although it seems the vast majority of STHs will be on the cup scheme and a lot of people take their kids to cup games, so perhaps not.

Yeah I realise that they can't satisfy everyone when demand exceeds supply, but for them to go from giving members what I would call a pretty modest gesture of 1k tickets to 0 tickets is quite a shift and imo should be explained.

Found this from around the time of the Carabao Cup final 2 years ago. 3% of tickets were allocated to members, so probably only about 1k but I recall an almighty fuss about it from STHs. I also remember a narrative from the club that they wanted to achieve a decent cross-section of support being able to attend, including some members. If that 3% has dropped (which it seems it inevitably has, probably to 0%) then the whingeing of STHs was taken on board and fuck members. I'm also almost certain that members were divided more fairly into pots than anyone who applied for a ballot for one game and nowt else as well. Why the change in approach? Why the disparity with other clubs' cup final ticketing policies? Why is the whole thing such a closed shop? Why was there such a lack of transparency for 2 whole years that buying cup tickets as a member would give you fuck-all chance of a cup final ticket, instead of a remote one?

There's an extra step to this now, which is the members' general sale. That's generally your best bet of getting tickets. I've not missed a game I could get to this season, other than the Arsenal semi because the club fucked up. The likes of bobbydazzla getting to every game as a member, that's no accident. It's effort and time and hassle and additional cost vs what season ticket holders have to do. For someone to do that and be put in the same no-chance pot as someone who has applied for one ballot is a total insult.

I went to quite a lot of aways in the 2010s in particular when I was living in London, and never had a clue who the ticket came from. There'll be loads who went to far more than me with nothing to show for it and no way of ever getting back in.

They should be transparent about it at least. I've gone to every cup game except Arsenal when the club fucked the ticketing up, with the hope that it might give me a minimal chance of a ticket in this situation. But the club won't even give active members that.

Almost 100% sure members were treated a hell of a lot better than this last time. Many cases of season ticket holders missing out in favour of members, which doesn't seem possible at all this time. There had been less home ties to use to stagger the pots, worth considering. Some season ticket holders kicked off about the fact they could lose out to members last time so it seems to me that has been taken on board.

Absolutely spot on. Appalling treatment of members who attend lots of games. Cannot believe it's this bad.

I guess it depends on the fanbase and their prior circumstances. Highbury and WHL were shitholes so they needed to move or redevelop. Arsenal are already exploring moving from the Emirates.

Thanks for asking the question respectfully vs One is a proper football ground and on a good day when the crowd is up for it, it can still give you the chills. The other one has been made for a bit of football, a bit of NFL, a few gigs. The new one looks like a spaceship/shopping mall hybrid and the atmosphere/experience is by all accounts very artificial despite us being told for a decade before it would be the one that bucked the trend. I don't care about extra room in the concourse or micro breweries or other gimmicks, I'm there to see the match in a way that is somewhat comparable to how I always have. Nobody's ever answered my question about a new ground that's been built in the UK that generates a decent atmosphere, I assume that's because it doesn't exist. But no I have no sense for valuing what we'd be giving up and for this.