So everyone knows (pretty much?) what our owners are like and how we've been fortunate enough not to have to put up with how it could have been - Blackpool, Birmingham, Hull, Cardiff etc where the owner doesn't really care about the club but purely sees it as an investment/'fuck the fans' attitude.
Anyway, for all the good our owners have done over the years and where they've taken us since taking over 10 years ago, and for what they've been through with Vichai's death a couple of years ago after the PL win, they've properly dropped a bollock in last couple of days with their Season Ticket scheme for this coming season.
Basically:
Season-Ticket Holders (STH) have to pay a £70 initial payment by 8th Sept to be included in a ballot for the ability to be able to watch matches (when it becomes possible)
The £70 is non-refundable should there be no games at all that can take place with full capacity
Should you be successful in the ballot, you'll be given a seat that could be more expensive than your normal ST seat (I thought that given seats would be spaced out, it would just be a flat rate across the ground?). Or it could have been pro-rata up against the cost of your usual ST price?
The £70 isn't discounted off any future fee we have to pay for our Season Tickets. It's only discounted off any ST price should any games take place at full capacity.
The £70 isn't credited towards next season's Season Ticket.
You could lose your Season Ticket if you don't pay the £70. The club haven't made this clear but it seems like they're willing to risk losing fans that have been coming & going for years, decades even. This really doesn't sit right with me, especially with how fans stayed loyal for how shit our club was 10-15 years ago.
The games you get to see are actually in a 'ballot cycle'. Dependant on how many take up this new scheme for this season, you probably can't go to all games.
Then when you look at what other clubs are doing, it makes our plans look weak and unfair.
Man City (granted their revenue streams are vastly different so perhaps could be excused for forgoing the costs for fans...)
We understand some supporters may not wish to, or be able, return to the stadium immediately, or at any time during the 20/21 season. If that is the case, you do not need to contact the Club and we will consider your seasonal membership ‘deferred’. Please note, you will retain the option to renew your Seasoncard for the 21/22 season or at any such time that we may offer Seasoncards during the 20/21 season.
Brighton:
They continued their DD scheme until September. Any costs paid, if fans did renew, would be used as a credit for any games fans choose to go to when fans are allowed back in stadiums.
Just seems our club have over-thought what to do and in the process, almost fucked fans over. What if someone has been an STH for 20+ years? And now they've had to shield/isolate and don't feel safe to go, but also can't afford £70 right now to secure their ST for future seasons? That's their support gone and they probably feel quite disillusioned at the situation they face.
