This Drift Towards Resentment Of The 1901 Club

Tom Hark Preston Park · Nov 6, 2010

As epitomised by posts such as this...

Don Quixote said:
Who are these 1901 scum bags?

Is this what the club envisaged? Seems to me things are getting seriously out of hand. Fan hating fan before the stadium's even built? Is this really the culmination of all the years of fighting for a new home for the Albion? Ruffian Beer n Burgers Fans vs. Smart Casual Fine Dining Experience?

It's the Albion Civil War that is threatening to blow us apart IMHO. Whatever happened to the spirit of Fans United?

Clear the air debate anyone?

timbha · Nov 6, 2010

three groups of 1901 club members:

corporate, now see Albion experience as pleasure not punishment for clients
long suffering fans looking for some comfort
johnny come lately (but watched in 1983 and have been busy on Saturdays since then)

seagullsovergrimsby · Nov 6, 2010

There will be an element of antagonism towards 1901 members because they are being pigeon holed as the paté de foie gras and taittinger brigade.

tedebear · Nov 6, 2010

Sorry but its a little pathetic that in this day and age our fans can't appreciate that the club needs to make money. And if that means attracting more people to the 1901 club by offering incentives for their money, then our fans are blinkered. Yes we've been through the mire, but our club is still a business concern. Sorry to the uber STH's or away fans who deserve first dibs for every away game but it isn't going to happen anymore. Maybe the club should introduce seagulls points, so the more games you attend you can get a discount off your ticket or your burger or you replica kit. But putting lower paying fans in front of higher paying fans is never going to work for anyone.

Besides, how many of the 1901 club are actually going to travel? I'd guess a small amount, I may be wrong, but thats my guess.

Bry Nylon · Nov 6, 2010

Timbha's question to the Ask the Club forum nailed it for me.
It will be interesting to read Insider's reply. Except it will will probably be something along the lines of "Thanks. I'll pass that on."

Anyway, for what it os worth, here is Timbha's question to ATC:

"Insider - every time we pick up the Argus, Match Programme, etc there's something about the 1901 Club and how successful it is, so much so that another 400 seats are being made available. This coupled with the team's success seems to have delayed the announcment of ST details from September, to the Autumn, to October, and now to by Christmas.

This is alienating the hard core of fans who cant afford 1901 prices, dont want to sit in the 1901 club, just want an ordinary ST.

It would help and dampen the frustration if the club could soon provide details of ST priorities, eg according to length of time people have held STs, and the costs.

I'm getting a bit fed up of reading about people/firms who "have always supported the Albion" and "from next August will be able to free up every other Saturday to go the Falmer".

AMEXican Wave · Nov 6, 2010

Have nothing against the 1901s myself, just wish they hadn't been given priority for away games. Not sure why it was done, and why it was necessary as the package was good enough anyway without offering this.

Might be good though if the club could offer a sort of '1901 away' club, so that other supporters who may be more interested in away days can get the same priority.

Spider · Nov 6, 2010

tedebear said:
Sorry but its a little pathetic that in this day and age our fans can't appreciate that the club needs to make money. And if that means attracting more people to the 1901 club by offering incentives for their money, then our fans are blinkered. Yes we've been through the mire, but our club is still a business concern. Sorry to the uber STH's or away fans who deserve first dibs for every away game but it isn't going to happen anymore. Maybe the club should introduce seagulls points, so the more games you attend you can get a discount off your ticket or your burger or you replica kit. But putting lower paying fans in front of higher paying fans is never going to work for anyone.

Besides, how many of the 1901 club are actually going to travel? I'd guess a small amount, I may be wrong, but thats my guess.

What a pile of absolute tosh. Having a corporate'"luxury" section is one thing, but an average fsn has every right to feel aggrieved if this becomes a large proportion of the stadium's capacity. What they can feel more aggrieved about is if they can't get away tickets because the 1901ers who simply fancy a big day out once a season. Not sure if this is going to be the case but both seem to be major concerns of the average Joes like us.

Also, sorry, but the people the club relies on are the ones who kept it going through the wilderness years, not the people who have a bit of cash to burn and will f*** off if we get relegated back down a league or two.

Seasider78 · Nov 6, 2010

Makes no sense to piss off your most loyal customers so let's hope the club do something sensible to award our current STH at falmer rather than chasing the quick £

tedebear · Nov 6, 2010

Spider said:
What a pile of absolute tosh. Having a corporate'"luxury" section is one thing, but an average fsn has every right to feel aggrieved if this becomes a large proportion of the stadium's capacity. What they can feel more aggrieved about is if they can't get away tickets because the 1901ers who simply fancy a big day out once a season. Not sure if this is going to be the case but both seem to be major concerns of the average Joes like us.

Also, sorry, but the people the club relies on are the ones who kept it going through the wilderness years, not the people who have a bit of cash to burn and will f*** off if we get relegated back down a league or two.

Wind your neck in. I didn't say you didn't have the right to feel aggreived at all. Just that you should understand that the club needs to make money. This is a debate that can be had at any new stadium up and down the country and there will NEVER be agreement about the split of higher cost and lower cost tickets and who is more valuable. NEVER.

Bob! · Nov 6, 2010

AMEXican Wave said:
Have nothing against the 1901s myself, just wish they hadn't been given priority for away games.

I thought the Club was moving towards a 'points system' for priority for the big games once we get to the Amex.

Along the lines of 2 points for a home game, 1 point for an away game. That way ST & 1901ers that don't go to away games would be behind anyone that went to all the home games (whether ST, 1901 or pay by game) and also went to away games. simples.

The Peanut Roaster · Nov 6, 2010

The big mistake for me was adding the extra 400 seats, which will leave less for us 'pie eating ruffians'.

Like me, a PR disaster.

Spider · Nov 6, 2010

tedebear said:
Wind your neck in. I didn't say you didn't have the right to feel aggreived at all. Just that you should understand that the club needs to make money. This is a debate that can be had at any new stadium up and down the country and there will NEVER be agreement about the split of higher cost and lower cost tickets and who is more valuable. NEVER.

But the club wil have already made money from the initial allocation of 1901 club (I assume this was budgeted rather than just a random number), so the additional sales are only going to piss of normal fans who can't get in. I don't understand why normal STs aren't already on sale, after which more 1901 can be accomadated if available. It's probably not a major problem yet, but you must admit it is somewhat annoying watching the stadium fill up with the rich folk, many of whom will not be regulars at Withdean, whilst everyone else just waits to see how many tickets will be left.

Silent Bob · Nov 6, 2010

Bry Nylon said:
Timbha's question to the Ask the Club forum nailed it for me.
It will be interesting to read Insider's reply. Except it will will probably be something along the lines of "Thanks. I'll pass that on."

Anyway, for what it os worth, here is Timbha's question to ATC:

"Insider - every time we pick up the Argus, Match Programme, etc there's something about the 1901 Club and how successful it is, so much so that another 400 seats are being made available. This coupled with the team's success seems to have delayed the announcment of ST details from September, to the Autumn, to October, and now to by Christmas.

This is alienating the hard core of fans who cant afford 1901 prices, dont want to sit in the 1901 club, just want an ordinary ST.

It would help and dampen the frustration if the club could soon provide details of ST priorities, eg according to length of time people have held STs, and the costs.

I'm getting a bit fed up of reading about people/firms who "have always supported the Albion" and "from next August will be able to free up every other Saturday to go the Falmer".

That hits the nail on the head.

Don't think anyone begrudges the corporates or ordinary fans that want to go for this option, or even any JCLs really (we need some after all).

But with more 1901 places being created (and a new facility on a supposedly unused part of the stadium??) you wonder how many decent seats will be left for the rest of us, and the news or speculation that 1901 club will get priority for away games doesn't help. It starts to seem like the 1901 club isn't just a luxury for some, if you're not in it you're a second class citizen. I think the club could easily dispel this, and it may happen when the season ticket details come out.

Also no one wants us to have a mini Wembley with large parts of the ground not filled because people are there for the prawn sandwiches not the football.

Springal · Nov 6, 2010

Spider said:
But the club wil have already made money from the initial allocation of 1901 club (I assume this was budgeted rather than just a random number), so the additional sales are only going to piss of normal fans who can't get in. I don't understand why normal STs aren't already on sale, after which more 1901 can be accomadated if available. It's probably not a major problem yet, but you must admit it is somewhat annoying watching the stadium fill up with the rich folk, many of whom will not be regulars at Withdean, whilst everyone else just waits to see how many tickets will be left.

'rich folk' :facepalm:

seagullsovergrimsby · Nov 6, 2010

Silent Bob said:
Also no one wants us to have a mini Wembley with large parts of the ground not filled because people are there for the prawn sandwiches not the football.

Prawn Ciabatta (with side salad) @ £8.95 :thumbsup:

tedebear · Nov 6, 2010

Spider said:
But the club wil have already made money from the initial allocation of 1901 club (I assume this was budgeted rather than just a random number), so the additional sales are only going to piss of normal fans who can't get in. I don't understand why normal STs aren't already on sale, after which more 1901 can be accomadated if available. It's probably not a major problem yet, but you must admit it is somewhat annoying watching the stadium fill up with the rich folk, many of whom will not be regulars at Withdean, whilst everyone else just waits to see how many tickets will be left.

I don't understand why normal ST's aren't on sale yet either. Of course the club will have made money from the initial allocation but you have to appreciate the business need to attempt to get more out of the 1901 club given its initial success. Surely thats good business sense?

Do you think though that we will go from Withdean (8k), to filling Falmer in one step though (approx 22.5k)?

Springal · Nov 6, 2010

Can I ask, those that are complaining are you likely to be casual attendees, or season ticket holders? And if season ticket, what is the maximum you'd be prepared to spend ?

timbha · Nov 6, 2010

tedebear said:
I don't understand why normal ST's aren't on sale yet either. Of course the club will have made money from the initial allocation but you have to appreciate the business need to attempt to get more out of the 1901 club given its initial success. Surely thats good business sense?

Do you think though that we will go from Withdean (8k), to filling Falmer in one step though (approx 22.5k)?

....but dont want to move from a decent seat at Withdean to cattle class at Falmer (whilst paying top whack)

Tom Hark Preston Park · Nov 6, 2010

Silent Bob said:
It starts to seem like the 1901 club isn't just a luxury for some, if you're not in it you're a second class citizen. I think the club could easily dispel this, and it may happen when the season ticket details come out.

Agree. Most of the disgruntlement appears to be of the club's making. Seems to me they could do with 're-evaluating the core demographic' or whatever spin jargon they are using. The club's business model seems to assume that the Corporates will be there, forever and in large numbers. When just a cursory glance at the new Wembley confirms that the Corporates don't give a shit.

Giraffe · Nov 6, 2010

The Peanut Roaster said:
The big mistake for me was adding the extra 400 seats, which will leave less for us 'pie eating ruffians'.

Like me, a PR disaster.

I totally agree. I think when people saw the plans for Falmer and the first pictures of it lots of current long term season tickets would have earmarked the middle tier in the west stand. Then the club said this was going corporate, fair enough. So back of the lower tier then near the dig outs? No that's corporate as well. So for many months people will be targeting half way in the East Stand. Nope they've gone now. I think people who have been season ticket holders through all of the dark days deserve better.

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This Drift Towards Resentment Of The 1901 Club

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