Hello Paul,
It is looking likely that the club could well sell all 18,400 season tickets next season, which is obviously excellent news. The policy of selling as many STs as possible will have it's critics, but I'm not one of them. However, there is one possible problem I foresee and I wonder whether the club have any plans to address it:
People are going to the Amex for the atmosphere and to be part of a new era. All the time those STHs show up, the atmosphere will be absolutely rocking. However, what concerns me is when the team's form takes a turn for the worse, and some of those STHs start not turning up, the appeal of a season ticket may wear off. We actually saw this in the first Withdean season, when the gate dipped to barely 5,000 for the Rochdale home game around Christmas with home form taking a nosedive.
For me, the solution is straight forward - a ticket exchange. The club could allow STHs to make their tix available for resale to the club and once all 900 general sale tix have been sold, these could be matched with non-ST holding fans wanting a ticket. The profit to the club wouldn't be huge (I'd guess they'd only be able to make a tenner or so on any resold ticket) but it would help maintain the atmosphere in the stadium which in the long term will surely help season ticket renewals and provide more ammunition for those appealing for an increase in ground capacity.
I believe Arsenal have a similar system in place. Would you be able to forward this suggestion, or let us know of any alternative arrangements the club have in mind to ensure one-off fans are not left out in the cold as STHs go AWOL?
It is looking likely that the club could well sell all 18,400 season tickets next season, which is obviously excellent news. The policy of selling as many STs as possible will have it's critics, but I'm not one of them. However, there is one possible problem I foresee and I wonder whether the club have any plans to address it:
People are going to the Amex for the atmosphere and to be part of a new era. All the time those STHs show up, the atmosphere will be absolutely rocking. However, what concerns me is when the team's form takes a turn for the worse, and some of those STHs start not turning up, the appeal of a season ticket may wear off. We actually saw this in the first Withdean season, when the gate dipped to barely 5,000 for the Rochdale home game around Christmas with home form taking a nosedive.
For me, the solution is straight forward - a ticket exchange. The club could allow STHs to make their tix available for resale to the club and once all 900 general sale tix have been sold, these could be matched with non-ST holding fans wanting a ticket. The profit to the club wouldn't be huge (I'd guess they'd only be able to make a tenner or so on any resold ticket) but it would help maintain the atmosphere in the stadium which in the long term will surely help season ticket renewals and provide more ammunition for those appealing for an increase in ground capacity.
I believe Arsenal have a similar system in place. Would you be able to forward this suggestion, or let us know of any alternative arrangements the club have in mind to ensure one-off fans are not left out in the cold as STHs go AWOL?