General NUFC stuff

[r0cafella]

It’s going to be frustrating right? Demand massively outstrips supply. We should be pressuring them to get a move on with expanding or building a new ground instead of complaining about a system whereby somebody is going to lose. 

[Interpolic]

44 minutes ago, bobbydazzla said:

Am I being thick here.

 

It was a meeting about the fan experience of Ballots and how it could be improved. But on Haydn's table 2 people were Members and 6 were STH's.

 

@HaydnNUFC Did the STH's even have any experience of the ballot process and how absolutely infuriating it is trying to get tickets for home games ?

 

 

 

 

Yeah, this sounds absolutely mental Do season ticket holders just think they need to stick their oar into everything?  And why did the club select them?  This issue has fuck-all to do with them

 

Just read @HaydnNUFC's write-up, cheers for that.  Looks like some useful discussion was had but some awful ideas in there as well.  Releasing resale tickets the morning of the match?  So daft.

 

There also just seems to be a general lack of knowledge among fans about how easy it is to get resale tickets if you're persistent enough, but maybe that's why it's so easy I dunno.

[HaydnNUFC]

48 minutes ago, bobbydazzla said:

Am I being thick here.

 

It was a meeting about the fan experience of Ballots and how it could be improved. But on Haydn's table 2 people were Members and 6 were STH's.

 

@HaydnNUFC Did the STH's even have any experience of the ballot process and how absolutely infuriating it is trying to get tickets for home games ?

 

 

 

 

Yes and no. Part of me was like "why are yous here" but the away ballot was talked about briefly and the inability to choose seats and get family and mates to sit with STH was a big theme.

[TBG]

What was the general atmosphere like and why it was solely poor because of members even though they were outnumbered by season ticket holders? 

 

 

Edited February 21 by TBG

[Interpolic]

1 minute ago, HaydnNUFC said:

 

Yes and no. Part of me was like "why are yous here" but the away ballot was talked about briefly and the inability to choose seats and get family and mates to sit with STH was a big theme.

 

Was it not a big theme because the place was filled with season ticket holders?  Probably doesn't even register as a priority for the majority of members I'd assume.

[HaydnNUFC]

1 minute ago, Interpolic said:

 

Was it not a big theme because the place was filled with season ticket holders?  Probably doesn't even register as a priority for the majority of members I'd assume.

 

More than likely. The club claimed before the main discussion that they tried to get a 'mix of fans' at these workshops. Obviously on my table that was clearly not the case, unsure what it was like on other tables.

[Interpolic]

1 minute ago, HaydnNUFC said:

 

More than likely. The club claimed before the main discussion that they tried to get a 'mix of fans' at these workshops. Obviously on my table that was clearly not the case, unsure what it was like on other tables.

 

Cheers, just sounds really flawed then tbh. A workshop about member ballots where much of the discussion is about shifting the needle even further towards season ticket holders who already have a (subsidised, effectively) ticket for every match

[HaydnNUFC]

1 minute ago, Interpolic said:

 

Cheers, just sounds really flawed then tbh. A workshop about member ballots where much of the discussion is about shifting the needle even further towards season ticket holders who already have a (subsidised, effectively) ticket for every match

 

Yep. The club claim to do this at every workshop; having "all fans represented" even if issues do not directly affect them as much as it does other fans. There'll be fans from the Supporters Advisory Board, international fans et al all at the match atmosphere one next month just as there was last night and there probably was at the away fan one a few months ago.

 

You had a table full of gadgies who said they liked the ballot and suggested that entrance to STACK on a matchday when it opens could be done by a ballot, ffs.

 

It's likely all just lip service and a ticky box exercise but it did feel canny to voice my own experiences and issues with the system directly to someone at the club. Whether it goes anywhere, who knows.

[gbandit]

Entrance to STACK via ballot? Where can I sign up

[BoSelecta]

20 minutes ago, Interpolic said:

 

Yeah, this sounds absolutely mental Do season ticket holders just think they need to stick their oar into everything?  And why did the club select them?  This issue has fuck-all to do with them

 

Just read @HaydnNUFC's write-up, cheers for that.  Looks like some useful discussion was had but some awful ideas in there as well.  Releasing resale tickets the morning of the match?  So daft.

 

There also just seems to be a general lack of knowledge among fans about how easy it is to get resale tickets if you're persistent enough, but maybe that's why it's so easy I dunno.

Can you elaborate on this, what’s the method to easily get tickets on resale?

[bobbydazzla]

32 minutes ago, HaydnNUFC said:

 

Yes and no. Part of me was like "why are yous here" but the away ballot was talked about briefly and the inability to choose seats and get family and mates to sit with STH was a big theme.

 

Looking forward to hearing about tables full of blokes at the fan forum workshop to discuss how the womens toilets can be be improved

 

 

 

 

Edited February 21 by bobbydazzla

[bobbydazzla]

15 minutes ago, BoSelecta said:

Can you elaborate on this, what’s the method to easily get tickets on resale?

 

Hit F5 for hours, day after day and then react like a cheetah on whizz when a ticket does finally appear

 

I wouldn't describe it as easy, but it's usually a successful way to get a ticket if you know what you're doing

 

 

 

 

Edited February 21 by bobbydazzla

[Doctor Zaius]

14 minutes ago, BoSelecta said:

Can you elaborate on this, what’s the method to easily get tickets on resale?

 

Keep checking. In the days running up to the game and the day of, keep refreshing. Loads pop up, its just getting them first.

 

Its time consuming but it can be done. 

[Interpolic]

2 minutes ago, HaydnNUFC said:

 

Yep. The club claim to do this at every workshop; having "all fans represented" even if issues do not directly affect them as much as it does other fans. There'll be fans from the Supporters Advisory Board, international fans et al all at the match atmosphere one next month just as there was last night and there probably was at the away fan one a few months ago.

 

You had a table full of gadgies who said they liked the ballot and suggested that entrance to STACK on a matchday when it opens could be done by a ballot, ffs.

 

It's likely all just lip service and a ticky box exercise but it did feel canny to voice my own experiences and issues with the system directly to someone at the club. Whether it goes anywhere, who knows.

 

Ah yeah, like I say cheers for the write-up and looks like some good discussion happened.  Hopefully some of the more sensible ideas are implemented where possible.

[SteV]

How do people feel about that idea of collating all of the resale seats and releasing them on the morning of the game?

 

Clearly it wouldn’t be ideal for all, especially those that have to travel significantly, but it would probably make touting a bit more difficult and I guess it would get rid of the endless hours of F5ing.

[BoSelecta]

12 hours ago, HaydnNUFC said:

Okay, just got home. I'll break this down into a few sections; pre-table discussion, table discussion, feedback, conclusion to make it easier for myself.  Got what I could jotted down on a notepad. Pre-table discussion is the shpeel we were all told ahead of the event, the discussion the craic on my specific table, the feedback being the club official on each table relaying what was said on their relevant table. Some ideas good, some shite.

 

Pre-table discussion

- Went into main reception as if I was about to go into executive boxes, ticked my name, went up on the lift into the Moncur Suite.

- It took a similar format to the other club workshops this year. Multiple tables full of fans, one club representative on each table, the tables discuss ideas, representative writes them down, feeds them back at the end, feedback goes up the food chain to Sarah Dodds who was there, and up.

- Feedback evolving into changes will take time.

- 4,000 applied to be at this workshop tonight, only 120 were there total.

- Club claimed to have a 'mix of fans' there, so members, STH, members of that Supporters Advisory Board, the Supporter Liaison Officer and Pete Silverstone were all there.

- However, on my table of 8, I was only one of 2 members there. The others were STH.

- There will be another workshop similar to tonight on match atmosphere in March.

- The club claimed at least "13-14 PL clubs use the same ticketing system" as we do.

- The club "anticipated problems" with the ticketing changes this season from the outset.

- The club claimed the website under the previous ticketing system of queueing "crashed a lot", which I personally think is not true as the only time I remember the site crashing is ahead of the sale for Liverpool (h) in the 2021-22 season.

- The club claim to be buying tickets from touting websites such as livefootbaltickets and then banning those purchasing accounts, but they have been 'unable to do so' for all.

- The club claim to be blocking IP addresses that monitor the club ticket site for hours on end.

- The club claim that the ballot system was introduced based upon feedback from fans last season.

- The club claim that returns from ballot winners then go to unsuccessful ballot entrees.

- The club claim it would have to take an introduction of a set window taking an hour or multiple hours to allow ballot winners to then purchase specific seats.

 

Table discussion

- As mentioned before, there were 8 on my table. Myself and one other were members. The other 6 were season ticket holders.

- Basically just ideas are floated to the club official sat on the table who writes them down, these are then fed back to everyone present on the night and then those higher up at the club.

- Points system for members for home games to reward loyalty.

- Allow the selection of seats if successful in ballot.

- Lack of seat selection impacts atmosphere; vocal fans can't be with mates or in vocal areas and vice versa. Criticism from owners about atmosphere post Chelsea should've been a watershed in this regard.

- A mirroring of other clubs' home ticket systems mentioned (Liverpool's package and seat selection system, Chelsea's point system were two mentioned on my table)

- Allowing to give ticket holders be that individual match tickets or ST the option of digital tickets and paper tickets/season ticket cards.

- Allow the linking of members to a STH, so that member can sit next to or at least near that STH if successful in a ballot.

 

Feedback

- Allowing members to enter multiple categories in a ballot.

- Get rid of the ballot altogether, go back to the queueing system.

- It not being right or fair that an away fan who purchased a membership 5 minutes ago has as much chance as someone who has had a membership for 10+ years.

- Clarity in the number of seats available in the ballot and the number of applicants.

- Floatation of an idea from the Supporter Liason Officer of a split between ballot tickets and tickets sold in the old queueing system; either 50-50 or 70-30 in favour of the ballot system to allow those who just want to get in by any means the chance of a ticket but also allowing those who only want to sit in specific areas of the ground the chance of buying a ticket in those areas.

- Clarity of the number of memberships, international and domestic.

- Scrapping the resale and reballoting those tickets.

- Allowing a junior membership which allows kids to sit next to their STH parents if successful in a ballot, whereas right now they could be anywhere.

- Loyalty system for members, based on either or all of how many years they have been a member, how many years they have held a ST if they have held one previously, purchase history.

- Collating all resale tickets to only go on sale at 10am the morning of the match to limit touting and giving those who are making the effort to go on the site the morning of the match to get tickets a good chance of getting one.

 

After the event finished, questions were invited to be asked to individual staff present from any supporters. I tried to speak to Silverstone 1 to 1 but someone else was chatting to him for ages. The Supporter Liaison Officer then called me over whilst I was stood in the middle of the Moncur Suite like a moron whilst waiting for Silverstone and I gave him the lowdown of my own personal experiences with the changes this season to him. He was absolutely sound, fully understood my own shpeel but all of the event was just feedback and a brainstorm of ideas. 

 

Hope this was insightful or useful.

 

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to write this up. 

[Interpolic]

7 minutes ago, SteV said:

How do people feel about that idea of collating all of the resale seats and releasing them on the morning of the game?

 

Clearly it wouldn’t be ideal for all, especially those that have to travel significantly, but it would probably make touting a bit more difficult and I guess it would get rid of the endless hours of F5ing.

 

Hate the idea personally.  Not knowing whether you've got a ticket til the day itself is absolutely crap, wherever you're travelling from. 

 

Appreciate the touting point but it's an even worse experience for fans imo, at least atm I have some degree of control over whether I go and can usually plan ahead of it a fair bit.

 

Edit - also it could never work.  Would presumably lead to more empty seats due to late ballot winners who can no longer go but have no way of resolving the issue.

 

 

Edited February 21 by Interpolic

[SteV]

Just now, Interpolic said:

 

Hate the idea personally.  Not knowing whether you've got a ticket til the day itself is absolutely crap, wherever you're travelling from. 

 

Appreciate the touting point but it's an even worse experience for fans imo, at least atm I have some degree of control over whether I go and can usually plan ahead of it a fair bit.

Yes, the not knowing aspect from a planning point of view is probably the worst thing about it.

 

I feel like there’s some merit to it though. Although at the minute can’t really think of enough tweaks to make it properly viable.

[bobbydazzla]

13 minutes ago, SteV said:

How do people feel about that idea of collating all of the resale seats and releasing them on the morning of the game?

 

Clearly it wouldn’t be ideal for all, especially those that have to travel significantly, but it would probably make touting a bit more difficult and I guess it would get rid of the endless hours of F5ing.

 

Awful idea.

 

Hundreds, possibly even thousands of people having to wait until the morning of the game to see if they can get a ticket.

 

If you don't live locally you're fucked. If you have a social life outside of NUFC you're fucked. 

 

Fuck that. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 21 by bobbydazzla

[SteV]

1 minute ago, bobbydazzla said:

 

Awful idea.

 

Hundreds, possibly thousands of people having to wait until the morning of the game to see if they can get a ticket.

 

Fuck that.

 

 

 

Would be interesting to know how many tickets do go on resale for each game.
 

Alas, all ticket data appears to be a national secret.

[jack j]

 

I pay 38 quid a month on the price freeze currently over 12 months

Look forward to it being 120 quid a month for 8 months next year...

 

[TheGuv]

1 hour ago, jack j said:

 

I pay 38 quid a month on the price freeze currently over 12 months

Look forward to it being 120 quid a month for 8 months next year...

 

With inevitable price rises in future.

 

I called this last summer with the membership ballot shit. Slowly it’ll dawn on more when it happens to ST holders too. They honestly could be undoing a lot of good will moving forward. 

[LFEE]

52 minutes ago, TheGuv said:

With inevitable price rises in future.

 

I called this last summer with the membership ballot shit. Slowly it’ll dawn on more when it happens to ST holders too. They honestly could be undoing a lot of good will moving forward. 

Weirdly it might help shed all those who joined post Rafa and the less committed who seem to leave in their droves come 80-85mins…

 

With regards to STH having a say last night speaking as one in our defence we’ve lost the right overnight without any warning of the “chance” to buy a ticket so not going to the game alone. So single STH like myself have lost a lot in the match day experience also.

 

Im not allowed by the club to even buy a membership to restore that “chance” of a ticket.

 

I’d also imagine due to their/our experience of previous incarnation STH’s would be the biggest collective voice for wanting the ability to choose your seat return.

 

I appreciate the ballot in theory is for members but it’s highly naive to think it how it operates doesn’t concern STH’s too. Made total sense by the club to invite them also.

 

 

[Interpolic]

3 minutes ago, LFEE said:

I appreciate the ballot in theory is for members but it’s highly naive to think it how it operates doesn’t concern STH’s too. Made total sense by the club to invite them also.

 

A small proportion perhaps, any more than that - No.  This was supposed to be about members who don't have season tickets, and how to serve them better.

 

It's pretty tone-deaf to be moaning about not being able to get extra tickets as a season ticket holder, when demand far outstrips supply and members have to feed off scraps as it is.  I know it was taken away but it's obvious why it was.

[Interpolic]

These are the notes on the NUST website, about the workshop:

 

Ballot Working Group Supporter Event - Summary NUST had multiple board members in attendance both in person and online.

 

The key takeaways based on feedback from the club and attendees were:

 

• Transparency is key. Members would like to see the number of seats available in each section, success rates, number of entries for each ballot, total number of members etc.
• Members would like the ability to choose where they sit both for their access needs and to be able to sit with family/friends. This was particularly relevant for ambulant disabled fans and for those with young children where the parent has a season ticket and the child does not.
• There were discussions on rewarding members for loyalty/purchase history in the same way that away game attendance is rewarded. This could be done through a weighted ballot or a tiered membership system.
• There were discussions on preference of previous 10am member sale system versus the ballot with a suggestion raised around having a hybrid system in the future ie. ballot for certain percentage of tickets followed by general sale for remaining tickets and possible resale close to kick off for last minute returns.
• Frustrations were raised about the current resale process. There were suggestions that those unsuccessful in the ballot could be randomly allocated to a waiting list for returned tickets.
• Members would like notification if unsuccessful in a ballot to reduce anxiety on ballot draw day. The club fed back that their system can’t currently automate this, but it is the most requested feature from all the clubs who use the same provider so may be a future development.
• There was discussion around the possibility of club-controlled weighting of ballot results based on an individual’s success rate. So, for example, if successful in one ballot you would move to the bottom of the list or become ineligible for the next ballot. Conversely, there could be positive weighting of those who have been unsuccessful for a number of ballots.
• The ability to enter a ballot by price cap instead of seat category or the ability to enter more than one seat category was requested. The club said this was a possibility but would lead to another step in the ballot process with time constraints if you were successful in the ballot and then needed to log in and select your seat within a set timeframe.
• There was suggestion from the floor for a system to guarantee at least one game per season for members.
• Tables discussed unlimited memberships – many members felt they should be limited going forward. § Ideas on the introduction of an NUFC App for all functions in one place eg. Account, Ticket Sales, Ballot Entry etc.
• Ideas on how to prevent touts/bots/away fans from purchasing tickets. The club reiterated that they have bought third party tickets from resellers in recent months and all have been fake. They have put in increased measures to prevent bots and the challenge is to stay ahead of the game.
• Members who also attend Newcastle United Women’s games requested a better system for purchasing NUW home tickets.

 

The club will be holding a workshop in March focusing on match day atmosphere. NUST look forward to working with the club to ensure the opinions presented by supporters at this workshop are listened to and acted upon to improve the experience of Newcastle United members. It was great to meet everyone we had the pleasure of chatting to.