ST holders- no show recompense?

Quoted from White_shorts

That suggests to me there are a lot of selfish, inconsiderate ****s who aren't bothering to release their seats.

If you know you won't be able to attend most home games, don't buy a season ticket.

Judging by the last few home games, if I’d chosen to release my ticket there’s a chance it wouldn’t have been resold. Some folk don’t know they can’t go until mid Saturday morning.

There’s an argument that says the reallocation process could be simpler but ultimately it’s still my choice as a STH whether or not I do it.

I don’t believe the notion that they won’t consider the idea of a new stadium until we consistently sell out BP (this seems unlikely for while). Whilst it may be a reason given I’d still argue the lack of millions of pounds is still the main stumbling block and being smack bang in the middle of a cost of living crisis. We also know that building materials and the like still remain at a premium cost, not entirely sure it would be pertinent to start building one now.

There’s also the suggestion that they are exploring it but unlike the previous board who couldn’t wait to tell us another idea they’d had without anything concrete even discussed, these guys realise that isn’t help nor worth the discussion.

Many folk bought a ST off the back of a truly historic and monumental playoff campaign, the club took their money and rightly so. It was inevitable that some wouldn’t attend. There was also the risk that without a ST there’s almost be an impossibility of getting a ticket for away games. Again, this hasn’t really been the case.

Either way, the club benefitted and the fact remains, why should I feel I need some sort of compensation because I’ve decided I don’t want to go.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

I get all of the comments about non-attendance yesterday above, but do feel that exiles buying a ST as a kind of contribution to the club when only going to a few games per season, whilst entirely laudable, should be discouraged for next season. Why not have an 1878 Plus which includes a contribution to a fund for the club to offer discounted seats to local groups for lower-demand games, but also gives the same priority for away game tickets at STHs? When home games are released, 1878 members should get a couple of days priority to get the best seats available together. Yesterday, the attendance was 600 down on last year's average, yet over 6,500 tickets had been issued and the availability of seats to buy together Saturday morning was nearly all restricted view (back of the Main / back of the Osmond) as Block B of the Osmond wasn't opened. That to me is absurd.

I like the idea of some kind of 1878+ membership that has additional priority perks. For me, I usually get to somewhere in the region of 12 to 15 away games and then only a small handful of home matches, usually around 5 or so. So the idea of getting that ST just for the likes of Harrogate away on Boxing Day or playoff games seems absurd. However, I feel that I pull my weight enough in terms of getting to matches to at least have the chance of getting to these few oversubscribed ones. I get that it's not really about amount of matches attended though, the club see the STHs as the most valuable customers because they obviously bring in the most money and that's obviously fair enough. The £20 1878 seems like a bit of a lowball alternative though, I'd be happy to up that contribution quite considerably if it came with another level of priority. I guess though, ultimately they wouldn't offer exactly the same away ticket priority as STHs and that's ideally what I'd want. It's a bit deflating to be getting up at 6:30am and going to places like Weymouth away or having to leg it out of Solihull's ground to get the last possible train back to then not even be in the hat for Notts away in the playoffs. It'd be good if they could implement a proper reward system and weight away games against home games fairly somehow.

It's admirable that you get to so many away games but that doesn't contribute financially to the club. A season ticket is a significant, upfront investment of money and will always carry more weight for other tickets because the club will want to reward the behaviour they want to continue the most.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

It's admirable that you get to so many away games but that doesn't contribute financially to the club. A season ticket is a significant, upfront investment of money and will always carry more weight for other tickets because the club will want to reward the behaviour they want to continue the most.

Yeah it's true and while I definitely get that, it's still a bit harsh that away supporting loyalty doesn't really get much reward.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

It's admirable that you get to so many away games but that doesn't contribute financially to the club. A season ticket is a significant, upfront investment of money and will always carry more weight for other tickets because the club will want to reward the behaviour they want to continue the most.

I get that as well, but having 100's of empty seats in prime positions nearly every home, when a bunch of mates can't get seats together other than restricted view and deciding not to bother is also costing the club, as is the restriction on away fan numbers. As we won't be getting a new stadium for the foreseeable a modest increase in capacity at BP would seem to be the answer. In terms of tickets sold, as opposed to attendance, we will be near to 95% of home capacity on average - even on Saturday we were at 90%. Lots of clubs have built new stadiums on the back of far inferior capacity usage business cases than that, albeit with third-party funding and planning gain from retail. Donny, Rotherham and Chesterfield never filled their old grounds unless they were playing Wednesday or United.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

I get that as well, but having 100's of empty seats in prime positions nearly every home, when a bunch of mates can't get seats together other than restricted view and deciding not to bother is also costing the club, as is the restriction on away fan numbers. As we won't be getting a new stadium for the foreseeable a modest increase in capacity at BP would seem to be the answer. In terms of tickets sold, as opposed to attendance, we will be near to 95% of home capacity on average - even on Saturday we were at 90%. Lots of clubs have built new stadiums on the back of far inferior capacity usage business cases than that, albeit with third-party funding and planning gain from retail. Donny, Rotherham and Chesterfield never filled their old grounds unless they were playing Wednesday or United.

It’s important to remember that a football stadium shouldn’t be just for football. Most stadiums create revenue most days by having other revenue streams. BP just isn’t fit for purpose in that regard.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

I get that as well, but having 100's of empty seats in prime positions nearly every home, when a bunch of mates can't get seats together other than restricted view and deciding not to bother is also costing the club, as is the restriction on away fan numbers. As we won't be getting a new stadium for the foreseeable a modest increase in capacity at BP would seem to be the answer. In terms of tickets sold, as opposed to attendance, we will be near to 95% of home capacity on average - even on Saturday we were at 90%. Lots of clubs have built new stadiums on the back of far inferior capacity usage business cases than that, albeit with third-party funding and planning gain from retail. Donny, Rotherham and Chesterfield never filled their old grounds unless they were playing Wednesday or United.

I totally agree. The capacity of BP has been whittled down over the years and it is now far too low for a club of our standing.

It is surely now time to start reversing this process to allow for extra capacity when we need it; as you say it doesn't need to be bursting at the seams every week to know we need more seats.

Our gates have historically been yo yo in nature. Personally I have been in there with 23,000 and 1800, but having the capacity to take advantage of the good times is obviously important.

In the Upper where we sit I have noticed something, there are pockets of seats together that don't appear to be STH seats but are very rarely full. There are 6 behind us in row G that stand out, on Saturday there was a family sat in them but they did not have season tickets. Maybe they're booked out to sponsors but it would be good to understand.

Also the club need to be a bit more savvy about how they use the Osmond as I often think that away supporters could be a bit more compact or placed into the corner bit.  

Quoted from MuddyWaters

It’s important to remember that a football stadium shouldn’t be just for football. Most stadiums create revenue most days by having other revenue streams. BP just isn’t fit for purpose in that regard.

There is a distinct lack of venues in Gy that can accommodate large events, conferences, large weddings etc etc so the need is there if marketed correctly for a quality function suite. Plus if you build a decent stadium with plenty of parking available that also brings in additional income not just from match day parking but things like christmas markets, travelling fair grounds, circus, the list is endless if you use a bit of imagination

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Also the club need to be a bit more savvy about how they use the Osmond as I often think that away supporters could be a bit more compact or placed into the corner bit.  

The away fans need ~900 seats to meet the EFL’s requirement. There aren’t 900 seats in the corner 2 blocks.