Falmer pay on gate?

[Garage_Doors]

A fairweather fan speaks ...

I don't go to Withdean that much and one of the reasons I don't go is because it's too much of a kerfuffle to get tickets. This is especially true if I've made a snap decision to attend on a Saturday morning.

So we're at Falmer, playing at home against someone like Walsall or Mansfield in a bog-standard, mid-table third division game. As a fairweather fan:

1 - I can't be arsed to faff about on-line.

2 - I can't be arsed to make a phone call. Maybe I could if it was an automated system and it was QUICK (e.g. it recognised my number and let me buy a ticket with a minimum of keystrokes) but I don't want to sit in a queue.

3 - I CERTAINLY cannot be arsed to go to a remote ticket point, buy a ticket and then go onto the ground. Indeed I would baulk at the idea of having to queue twice at the stadium, once to get the ticket and once to get into the ground.

I quite like the idea of the swipecard, but the bottom line is I want it to be EASY with a minimum of effort on my part. Hopefully that will be possible.

Fair post, i thing you speak for the vast majority of the floating supporters out there that the club needs to listen to if the want to maximize the crowds at Falmer.
I fully recognise that not being able to pay on the gate is not something instigated by the club but put upon them, but it does need addressing to find a way around to make it easy so we can capture the sunny day/ nothing better to do on the day supporters.

 

[Titanic]

But that is going to be fairly typical of most potential punters at Falmer, and we'll need them if Falmer is ever going to be filled.

If you want to go to a match then those options mean it is quite simple to do so.

If you can't be arsed... you don't really want to go in the first place. Perhaps the club would be better served by some advertising or promotional activities rather than chasing a few who "can't be arsed" ?

 

[Brovion]

:US:

Eh? What point are you trying to make?

 

[Spiros]

Hardly anyone goes to their very first match already as a die-hard supporter who will go to any length to get a ticket. It's OK once fans are hooked but with Falmer the problem will be getting new faces through the gates for the first time. They'll only come if it looks easy enough. I know that I need a travel voucher or to use park and ride but only because I've had to live with it for more than 10 years now.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

To be honest the best solution is to have a ticket booth at the ground (or two or three or whatever) like Millwall do. Or the club shop at the ground like Sarfend.

 

[Whitterz]

Club cannot sell tickets within the stadium boundary. So, dare I say it, the club shop option is a no go.

 

[Whitterz]

Scenario City.

IF the swipe card scheme went ahead. Would I be able to pay up 30 minutes before kick off?, what is the score with purchasing 1 hour before kick off?

I can only assume this is what the authorities impose on us?

 

[Bozza]

To be honest the best solution is to have a ticket booth at the ground (or two or three or whatever) like Millwall do. Or the club shop at the ground like Sarfend.

Indeed, but that's what we will not be allowed to do.

Which is where those "we're not the only club that has to sell tickets - other clubs manage it OK" merchants come unstuck since most other clubs/games fall into one of the following categories...

1. Demand > Supply perpetually. Every match is a sell-out so no-one travels to the ground without a ticket with a realistic expectation of getting in. By and large this happens in the Premiership.

2. Demand > Supply occasionally. Fans know the 'big games' and will buy tickets in advance if they wish to attend.

3. Supply > Demand perpetually. Fans know they can make last-minute decisions and rock up and buy a ticket on the day, be it from the turnstile, a ticket office, a ticket kiosk or a shop.

From the off, the Albion will be in the third group, but fans will not be able to rock up at the ground and buy a ticket. That's what will make the Albion and Falmer different to "all these other clubs who sell tickets".

 

[El Presidente]

3. Supply > Demand perpetually. Fans know they can make last-minute decisions and rock up and buy a ticket on the day, be it from the turnstile, a ticket office, a ticket kiosk or a shop.

From the off, the Albion will be in the third group, but fans will not be able to rock up at the ground and buy a ticket. That's what will make the Albion and Falmer different to "all these other clubs who sell tickets".

Agree entirely, but are there genuinely thousands of fans who are going to decide at 2.30 on a Saturday afternoon to pop along to Falmer? I can see fans deciding on the morning of the match, if the club makes it easy, (and it is a big IF) they fans can still get a ticket under the existing rules, and we are now in the 21st century, so let's take advantage of technology whilst not disenfranchising the technophobic.

I suspect what is more likely to put floating fans off is transport to and from the ground, but the days of parking nearby are gone, whether we like it or not.

As for the stick that Jamie gets, if he repeatedly shows he does not know the difference between pay on the day and pay at the gate then I don't have any sympathy.

 

[Brovion]

If you want to go to a match then those options mean it is quite simple to do so.

If you can't be arsed... you don't really want to go in the first place. Perhaps the club would be better served by some advertising or promotional activities rather than chasing a few who "can't be arsed" ?

With respect you really don't understand. Read El Pres's post above about how casual fans can be turned off by the slightest obstacle of the sort that you as a dedicated fan wouldn't even consider to BE an obstacle. The remote ticket point (away from the stadium) is a complete turn-off for starters.

Please note we're only talking about bog-standard third division games. For big games (such as the game against Stockport at the end of last season) the interest threshold creeps up and thus the level of inconvienece I'm prepared to suffer in order to attend also increases.

 

[Simster]

With respect you really don't understand. Read El Pres's post above about how casual fans can be turned off by the slightest obstacle of the sort that you as a dedicated fan wouldn't even consider to BE an obstacle. The remote ticket point (away from the stadium) is a complete turn-off for starters.

Please note we're only talking about bog-standard third division games. For big games (such as the game against Stockport at the end of last season) the interest threshold creeps up and thus the level of inconvienece I'm prepared to suffer in order to attend also increases.

If you're getting there by train, then a remote ticket point on the platform is of no inconvenience at all really. (unless you have to take your stupid plastic card along with you of course)

 

[El Presidente]

With respect you really don't understand. Read El Pres's post above about how casual fans can be turned off by the slightest obstacle of the sort that you as a dedicated fan wouldn't even consider to BE an obstacle. The remote ticket point (away from the stadium) is a complete turn-off for starters.

Please note we're only talking about bog-standard third division games. For big games (such as the game against Stockport at the end of last season) the interest threshold creeps up and thus the level of inconvienece I'm prepared to suffer in order to attend also increases.

If you could order the ticket and a text was sent to your phone that could be swiped it would make life a lot easier. I presume the technology is out there.

My beef with Citeh (and I am a fairweather fan of them) was that I thought they were ripping me off for being a casual watcher. They have suffered with poor attendances in the last few years too.

 

[Titanic]

With respect you really don't understand. Read El Pres's post above about how casual fans can be turned off by the slightest obstacle of the sort that you as a dedicated fan wouldn't even consider to BE an obstacle. The remote ticket point (away from the stadium) is a complete turn-off for starters.

Please note we're only talking about bog-standard third division games. For big games (such as the game against Stockport at the end of last season) the interest threshold creeps up and thus the level of inconvienece I'm prepared to suffer in order to attend also increases.

I understand only too well... however, I disagree with the basic premise.

If people really want to come, the ticket purchase methods are not exactly rocket science in todays world.

A website, a telephone, a ticket office in town... plus whatever the options to buy at park & ride or stations.

If that puts them off, then they were pretty unlikely to come anyway.

Also there will be a blaze of publicity as the stadium opening approaches, more than likely some special offers etc...

if after all that people "can't be arsed" then frankly what can you do... send a taxi round with their gold-plated tickets??

 

[Brovion]

If you're getting there by train, then a remote ticket point on the platform is of no inconvenience at all really. (unless you have to take your stupid plastic card along with you of course)

No, I live at Fiveways so I shall either walk down to Sainsburys at the Vogue Gyratory (stopping off for a pint at the Hollingbury on the way) and catch the 25, or I shall walk over Hollingbury golf course and down through Wild Park. Can't imagine there being any ticket machines on either route.

...
if after all that people "can't be arsed" then frankly what can you do... send a taxi round with their gold-plated tickets??

I was going to say that! To exaggerate the point: if we were playing Man U in the 5th round of the FA Cup I'd camp outside the ticket office for two days in order to get a ticket. If we were playing Ragarse Rovers on a February evening to see who goes three points above the relelgation zone then I'd expect the club to send round a ticket on a silver platter. Otherwise, no, I can't be arsed.

 

[Bozza]

If we were playing Ragarse Rovers on a February evening to see who goes three points above the relelgation zone then I'd expect the club to send round a ticket on a silver platter.

So not gold then? You're moving in the right direction...

 

[Titanic]

...I was going to say that! To exaggerate the point: if we were playing Man U in the 5th round of the FA Cup I'd camp outside the ticket office for two days in order to get a ticket. If we were playing Ragarse Rovers on a February evening to see who goes three points above the relelgation zone then I'd expect the club to send round a ticket on a silver platter. Otherwise, no, I can't be arsed.

So it's not the ticketing process... it's the product (and the associated price) - including the less-than totally convenient travel restrictions.

That's why I don't buy into this 'pay at the gate' argument... there are far more important issues to get right.

 

[Easy 10]

The cinema method works quite well.
Phone up, negotiate through a couple of recorded menu options to select tickets, pay with your card, get to the ground, insert said card in machine, and have the machine spool your ticket(s) to you.

Course, you'd need a secret password to quote on the train/park & ride to prove you'd paid for a ticket to pick up at the ground. I suggest we start with "Moist".

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Maybe when the club are ensconced at Falmer, some smart legal minds can be hired to challenge the No Pay On The Gate rules. Or at least to find some loopholes e.g. buy a super deluxe programme at the ground for £25 and get a free match ticket.

But its a matter of adhering to the normal planning bullshit til then.

 

[Titanic]

The cinema method works quite well.
Phone up, negotiate through a couple of recorded menu options to select tickets, pay with your card, get to the ground, insert said card in machine, and have the machine spool your ticket(s) to you.

Course, you'd need a secret password to quote on the train/park & ride to prove you'd paid for a ticket to pick up at the ground. I suggest we start with "Moist".

or more simply, the ticket / credit card gizmo could be at the train station or the park & ride? (perhaps that limits options for bus users - but would cover a decent proportion of travel options).

Isn't that what they are already talking about doing??

 

[drew]

It beggars belief the amount of crap on this thread. People who seem prepared to spend hours trawling through a football forum website, typing lengthy diatribes about the club and then turn around and point out they can't be arsed to spend 5 minutes on the club website to buy their tickets before setting off for the ground to collect them. Brovion had been bleating on about it but then points out that he would walk a long way to get to the ground anyway.

Do half of you on here have punkawallahs to wipe your arse for you just because at that particular time you just can't be bothered.