Away membership

Ok Cards on the table yes i like this discussion, as an "Exile" i like many like me come and join the "Black & White Army" travelling faithful at away games.
For me to go to the Amex I had to go hospitality at a cost of £210 lucky my wife was in agreement.(Table 11 great company)
Yes i live down South and no the streets are not paved with gold , Surrey has foodbanks too ,and so i have to be selective to what games i can go to keeping an eye on the old Pounds Shillings and Pence! Petrol etc or train ticket.
So yes please under new management  i would like to see some reward scheme for "Exiles" which in turn could rally more away support as it stands i have 45 points this season so far.
Sorry i have no buisness training etc to give clout to this to make it work.
See you at Crawley & Stevenage..UTM.

Two counter arguments to this...

1. Priority for all ticket sales is a selling point for season tickets. Why would the club want to devalue their main source of income?
2. How many games have not got past the STH-only sales period over the years? Only one (Brighton)

Quoted from pizzzza

Two counter arguments to this...

1. Priority for all ticket sales is a selling point for season tickets. Why would the club want to devalue their main source of income?
2. How many games have not got past the STH-only sales period over the years? Only one (Brighton)

Also notts and Wrexham in playoffs

Quoted from pizzzza

Two counter arguments to this...

1. Priority for all ticket sales is a selling point for season tickets. Why would the club want to devalue their main source of income?
2. How many games have not got past the STH-only sales period over the years? Only one (Brighton)

Notts and Wrexham in the playoffs too. I think Lincoln and Scunny might have a few times too. Shrewsbury away when it was Macca's last match in a Town shirt. Harrogate this season on Boxing Day.

Quoted from DB

Somebody above mentioned that the club does not benefit financially from the sale of away tickets. Why not have an away membership club, linked to a points system at, say, £50?

For this, you get the first allocation of all away game tickets including the cup. As points mass up those at the top get in first as it stops others who join just to get cup tickets from jumping the queue. At end of the season, the club then give bonus points to , say, the top 1,000 to start the following season.

The club receives an income and regular away fans get priority tickets.

They already do 1878 at £20, no points involved though but you could add that system to it, but obviously it would still have to be behind season ticket holders. Can't see how you could devalue the ST (cost £300 or whatever) by prioritising a much cheaper product over it.

Quoted from Son of Cod

Notts and Wrexham in the playoffs too. I think Lincoln and Scunny might have a few times too. Shrewsbury away when it was Macca's last match in a Town shirt. Harrogate this season on Boxing Day.

Hartlepool too, this season. It happens, and in the event we kick-on like we all hope we will next season, it will happen more frequently. It’s a problem that requires a solution, a solution that already exists given all clubs in the Premier League and most in the Championship have a system in place.

I’ve had a season ticket for the last 20 years, and routinely make about 15 home games and 6 or 7 away games throughout the season. I’d do more, but living almost 2 hours away and having to drag the wife and kids back Town with me every other week throughout the season means it’s not feasible unless I want to wind up in a divorce court.

It’s funny though. In the past, buying a season ticket when you knew you couldn’t go to every game was a noble thing to do. My number one reason, above convenience and the prospect of getting tickets for the occasional big cup game or local derby, was to help support the club financially.

But, evidently, a lot has changed in the last 12 months and there may be different motivations for buying a season ticket. I consider myself fortunate and privelaged to have been at Notts County, Wrexham, Brighton and, to a much lesser extent, Hartlepool. The only game I had trouble getting a ticket for was Harrogate, when I at least managed to make it into the home end.

I didn’t do anything wrong. As a season ticket holder, a long standing one at that, I met the necessary criteria to buy a ticket. But then I ask myself; was it fair that I (and others like me) made it to the Racecourse that fateful day when others who had done maybe 40+ games that season were unable to get a ticket? Hands up, it wasn’t.

There needs to be a better, fairer system. Fundamentally, having a season ticket has to be the first criteria. It’s the club’s single biggest source of income, and it has to be given some kind of incentive. Beyond that though, there need to be additional points awarded for actual attendance at home games and of course travelling to and attending away games. You would hope that would go some way to solving the empty, prime seats at BP which has been a source of dismay at times this season.

Having a staggered release of away tickets also solves the issue of the ticket system falling over with everyone trying to get on at once. It would probably encourage me to to take a couple of additional risks in terms of marital breakdown and make a few extra games, home and away.

For most people with a season ticket attending most home games and a handful of away games, it should enough to guarantee a ticket to any big away cup games or play-off fixtures. Realistically, it can’t be too difficult to be in the top 2,000 “most loyal” fans. Harrogate and Hartlepool, should they stay up, might still be tricky but it’s only right that those that go home and away virtually every week get first dibs.

It’s not rocket science, and something akin to this really does need to be introduced ahead of next season. All the signs point to it being a good one.

Like I said above alongside other ticketing policies it should be explored. Alongside this we should be looking at what the wider CRM opportunity looks like as I’m not sure we’re anywhere close to maximising it.

I work with a lot of people who used to work for Boots a few of them worked in their CRM team who look after their points card proposition. What they do is on a massive scale compared to what we’d do but be careful what you wish for as when taking about it to one of my colleagues it won’t be cheap in terms of set up and running costs with what would be a 3rd party supplier.

If you asked me should we do this ahead of offering the likes of  Evan Khouri a new deal, an extension for say Green or 3 first year pros coming on board  because the cost will have to come from somewhere I’d say no.

It needs exploring but STH will always have some form of priority to other groups as it’s one of the main USP’s for the income stream that has the biggest impact on the playing budget ever season.

Season ticket holders always should have first dibs on away tickets...

Quoted from TwoLeftFeet

Season ticket holders always should have first dibs on away tickets...

Looking at some of the away allocations many season ticket holders are missing out too.

There's not really that much issue to get tickets other than a few games a season. Harrogate? Anywhere else other than the cup games that there's been a mad rush? Even Bradford has got to general sale, Mansfield didn't sell out.