Rationale behind 'loyalty' scheme

I appreciate there will always be winners and losers whenever a decision is made, and fully understand the logic behind rewarding 1901'ers and STH's with a points premium.

I fail to see however why kids who have never been to an away game start with a 50 point advantage over people who have been blue members since the scheme was set up. The club has inferred and alluded that there would be some recognition for these people, and indeed encouraged us to buy tickets direct from the Albion in order to have a record of past purchases on the database, incurring additional costs (credit card charges etc) in doing so.

In reality it will be the usual suspects who are at Cardiff, Middlesborough, Hull, FC United etc and I am probably overracting, but at present it seems that a section of the fanbase are being kicked in the teeth for their past regular support, especially when we were a bit rubbish.

The decision was made to start with a clean slate, with the exception of Withdean STHs, who have been rewarded with 250 extra points. The new system enables those of our STHs who supported us at Withdean and now have STs at the Amex to effectively maintain their place at the front of the queue.

The club's decision was that STHs should always be our priority - as they make an investment in the club by buying a ST. However, as we have a number of STHs who regularly travel away from home, this system allows us to differentiate based on their loyalty away from the Amex, for high-demand AWAY matches.

I appreciate there are those who prefer to travel away, and may not have a ST, but the club's priority lies with its STHs.

The 50 points allocated to Young Seagulls members is aimed at encouraging young fans to support the club, by giving them a starting balance.