The FA Cup (Other football)

[Olneythelonely]

It isn’t just season ticket holders that turn up for games though.

However, I do think season ticket holders absolutely should get first choice on tickets.

[john2710]

So the possible scenario, should we get there & if Cup Final tickets follow the same criteria as Preston, is that an Under 12 can spend £20 on a membership, £30 on 3 FA Cup games & get priority over a season ticket holder who couldn't make 1 FA Cup game. Surely even Heck isn't delusional enough to think that's going to be acceptable.

The Preston tickets went in minutes & the club would have known it was never going to get down to Members with 3 FA Cup tickets. I think it's been set down as a marker for what will happen in the future.

[Drummond]

So the possible scenario, should we get there & if Cup Final tickets follow the same criteria as Preston, is that an Under 12 can spend £20 on a membership, £30 on 3 FA Cup games & get priority over a season ticket holder who couldn't make 1 FA Cup game. Surely even Heck isn't delusional enough to think that's going to be acceptable.

The Preston tickets went in minutes & the club would have known it was never going to get down to Members with 3 FA Cup tickets. I think it's been set down as a marker for what will happen in the future.

Or a member who is on the waiting list but attends every game, league and cup, paying full ticket price, could be argued as being more loyal than a season ticket holder just attending league matches. Who should get priority for tickets then?

[cdbearsfan]

Under this system someone who attends three FA Cup games gets priority over someone who pays to attend nineteen league games, six Champions League games, a League Cup game and two FA Cup games.

That's clearly ridiculous, whichever mental gymnastics you attempt to justify it.

[amfy]

Whilst I can sympathise with the point you raise. The conditions are clear, both for ST holders and members, and it's how it's always been.

If they want to bring in an attendance points system, that's fine by me, but that's not what happened here and they also need to give notice if they're going to do that.

[Drummond]

Under this system someone who attends three FA Cup games gets priority over someone who pays to attend nineteen league games, six Champions League games, a League Cup game and two FA Cup games.

That's clearly ridiculous, whichever mental gymnastics you attempt to justify it.

There no need to use hyperbole and veiled insults thanks.

I asked a question, because I can see the issue from both sides.

My point is valid, as is yours. Trying to work out a system that's fair is hard isn't it?

I had a season ticket for years, when we were shit, so never got additional benefits from it. Plenty of others did too, and now feel aggrieved that when we're getting good again that it may not prove to be the benefit it was in the past. I get that.

There always going to be someone who feels annoyed and aggrieved in these situations. The question for the club is who are they prepared to annoy?

[Drummond]

Whilst I can sympathise with the point you raise. The conditions are clear, both for ST holders and members, and it's how it's always been.

If they want to bring in an attendance points system, that's fine by me, but that's not what happened here and they also need to give notice if they're going to do that.

"Ticket access for cup fixtures is announced on a match-by-match basis"

Was the quote from earlier. Now it's biting it perhaps comes to the fore, having not been mentioned before as far as I remember.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, I can see why people may be upset, but the club will use it to their advantage.

If it's about outlay, does a member who who attends all Champions League games at £94 each (so close to £700) have more or less right to a Champions League Final ticket than a season ticket holder who didn't attend any?

If it's about principle, perhaps the principle needs to change.

If it's about length of season ticket retention, then perhaps.

Is this about commitment and loyalty, affordability, financial commitment, etc?

It's similar to the away ticket scheme isn't it? Often people only retain their option because of the perceived perks and access. We may be about to see some real shake up.

I hope we don't lose loyal supporters as a result but fear it may happen.

[Clampy]

I can kind of see why they are trying to accommodate the members but telling ST holders they have priority when it comes to away tickets then all of a sudden saying to them 'actually, because you've missed one cup game, you don't' is pretty shit really.

[London Villan]

The other side of this is how little we've bothered about the cups in the last few seasons, putting out weak teams and generally not taking it seriously, it's understandable why season ticket holders have been reluctant to attend. I know that is the case in our group.

[Max Villan]

There's no guarantee we even get to the final anyway tbh, all we can hope is that club have listened if we do, i doubt it though.

I bet season ticket holders will be purchasing these tickets and not attending them next season.

[amfy]

I deliberately didn't go to any Champions Legue games in the group stage as a protest at pricing & more about the pricing for non ST holders than ST holders. Last night was the first for me & it was actually really hard to miss the others & hold on to the principle I set. The price structure remained the same as the group stages and maybe the number of ST holders who weren't prepared to pay it registered somewhere?

The person without a ST who filled the gap left by me would have paid 4 x £90 - £360. My ST was £640.

I knew by not attending I was giving up any chance of a ticket away or for a final if we somehow made it. For The Champions League, allocations are so small that only a few people are getting near it anyway. Neither me nor the person who went to all 4 without a ST are going (at least not down any legit route)

There isn't a 'final' for the league. If we won it, it'd probably be on an Awayday knowing my luck, so the way forward is clearly to just go to the cup games.

For me the big thing is the arbitrary nature of 'all or nothing'. We've had it for ages for awaydays, but now for the cup as well, and I would argue that some vague statement about 'attendance may be used in criteria' is any kind of notice that the way tickets have been allocated all my life is about to change.

I feel like I'm being treated like a bandwagon jumper who's only interested in the cup now we've got somewhere in it. I missed one FA cup game. One.

[Drummond]

I completely understand where you are. I really do.

My price comparison was based on someone attending all the home Champions League games, 4 group, R16, QTR, SF. So a total of £672.

The issue is one of transparency. If the way things are done is changing then they should inform everyone at the beginning, not part way through, so everyone can make an informed choice.

[amfy]

Exactly- I would have had a ticket for West Ham and potentially left my seat empty if I'd known (or emailed it to Matt! 🤣)

[cdbearsfan]

Under this system someone who attends three FA Cup games gets priority over someone who pays to attend nineteen league games, six Champions League games, a League Cup game and two FA Cup games.

That's clearly ridiculous, whichever mental gymnastics you attempt to justify it.

There no need to use hyperbole and veiled insults thanks.

I asked a question, because I can see the issue from both sides.

My point is valid, as is yours. Trying to work out a system that's fair is hard isn't it?

I had a season ticket for years, when we were shit, so never got additional benefits from it. Plenty of others did too, and now feel aggrieved that when we're getting good again that it may not prove to be the benefit it was in the past. I get that.

There always going to be someone who feels annoyed and aggrieved in these situations. The question for the club is who are they prepared to annoy?

Wasn't intended to be insulting so apologies. The circumstance you mentioned isn't what's happening. I think if they prioritised people who have been to every game that's a different matter. But they aren't, they're prioritising people who have been to three games ahead of people who have been to any number between two and twenty-six if they happen to have been to the three FA Cup games.

[andyh]

Many people didn’t attend the West Ham FA cup game because the club screwed them over by giving West Ham the whole of the upper DE.
Why the club made that decision is utterly disgraceful, but the impact is that people who didn’t purchase a ticket for elsewhere in the ground that night, might miss out because of something the club did.