Clearly nobody has any solid information yet, but the focus does seem to be largely on price, when that is only one element of the problem. Few if any of those involved in the decision making seem to have an understanding of grass root football fans.
I know we all have to sit in our allotted sections and do as we are told. What's the betting the cheap zones will be in the corners?
I agree the membership scheme is a good idea. However, the zoning prices (whatever they end up as) will cause problems. Firstly, wherever one zone starts and another finishes will be separated by an aisle of a couple of metres. I can't see the justification in charging two prices for what will basically be the same view from seats just a few metres apart. Secondly, if the new price structure is implemented when we're only attracting gates of 15-16k, how is it going to be policed ? Stewards can't check everyone's ticket and some fans will simply move to the empty so called 'better seats' once in the stadium.
During the years on here and on CI I haven't seen anyone complain that OAPs or children can obtain cheap seats in the middle, either of East Stand or upper west.
The new system charges based on the quality of the seat, rather than who sits in it, so the cheap ones are obviously going to be the ones in the corners.
There are already seats in the West Lower that cost twice as much as the rest of the ground, all tickets are checked as you go to these seats and people don't currently try to move to them from elsewhere. Personally, I don't care that people in the block next to me are paying half what I am, it was my choice to sit in the most expensive seats, nobody forced me to sit there.
No doubt the previous arguments for charging the same for north stand as east, or away fans falling into three parts of the ground (north, corner and east) will be rewritten.
Quite true. But I was commenting on this new, not very well thought out scheme. I wanted to take my grandson in East Stand last year as my son wasn't renewing his pass due to a job change meaning he works a lot of Saturdays. Would rather he enjoyed an atmosphere not constrained by being in a family stand. Unfortunately circumstances put paid to that. However, where I was sat would have cost about £320 for myself and £46 for him, less than £400. Now it will be £27 a month each, over £600. Now, I could afford that increase but a lot can't. Anyone wishing to do the same in the middle of the East Stand will have to pay nearly £1,000. There are a lot of similar cases where people will be cheesed off as they don't want to be in a family stand. Others, like two friends of my son will be put out. They have passes in the South Stand and take the son of one of them with them. Sometimes they all go but often, due to work, one of them has to miss out. If it is the father of the young lad then his uncle will take him. As I understand it under the new set up,they will no longer be able to have all 3 of them sat together. So they either have one sat elsewhere on his own of they all move resulting in paying out more unless they are stuck in a corner. Again, they can afford this as they have their own successful business, but a lot won't be able to. I know that supposedly some changes to the original plans have been made but I can't see this new system resulting in more passes being sold, which is supposedly the object of the exercise, and if we aren't in the PL it could have serious consequences. Some may go along with it in the PL but not the Championship.
It'll be interesting if it is, because it flies in the face of previous arguments offered when I raised it before.
We're obviously yet to see what changes have been made, but it does seem that there will be the option of the cheapest passes in all stands, so people with kids won't be forced to go in the Family Stand. If two adults and a child were sat in the South, I expect they could have stayed there regardless of any subsequent changes.
Some irony there as one of the main driving factors (allegedly) for the membership scheme was the 15 to 20% of fans cheating the system and buying consession tickets (allegedly)
Have they changed things as I my interpretation of the original plan was that adults not accompanied by kids wouldn't be able to go in the South Stand? I still think that even with changes what was in essence a good idea, a membership.scheme, has been made unnecessarily complex.
That's because the intention behind the scheme is to charge children, teenagers and OAPs the same as adults. Rather than look at policing the current system properly they are taking it out on young people and OAPs. They thought they had found a simple solution, but on detailed inspection it penalised most families, so they've made it more complicated. Its still the same old wine just in a different bottle.
