The corporate/premium seats have not been given to anyone. They have been sold at very high prices. The income from those is the only reason we can afford to build a new stadium.
I do not doubt that but members have to pay simply for the chance to be able to buy a ticket.
The was a lillywhite and a Bronze membership. The first set of tickets went to season ticket holders, then bronze members got 2 days then lillywhite members got a couple of days then (if any were left) they went on general sale. If there are only 7,000 tickets available for members then a lot of genuine supporters are going to be disenfranchised.
If we are in the CL next season thousands of members will not get to see the games.
If we end up in the EL next season there will be plenty of empty seats ... there were ALWAYS empty seats at WHL for EL matches when we could only fit 36,000 in. Do the club think/hope/expect members to trot up and take up the places of those who can not be bothered as they aren't fans?
Maybe the rise in season ticket holders will mean there will be enough seats for long standing members but it is worth remembering what has happened at Arsenal. They always had a bigger ground than us since the 1980s. They thought they'd sell out their 60,000 ground...yet it always has thousands of empty seats bar a handful of games per season. Season ticket holders are unable to sell their tickets cos members stopped being members cos they felt taken for granted and felt they were bring bled dry.
I do not expect a ticket for every match but I do expect my loyalty to be rewarded.
Me and my daughter's have been going regularly since 2005. We went to most EL matches, most Lesgue cup games and most of the grade C matches. I have missed just 2 games at Wembley. Personally I think loyalty points should decide who gets tickets for the big matches (such as the 1st game this season, CL games and grade A matches).
Loyalty points are used to decide semi final and final tickets so, in my opinion should be used as above. I do not mind those with more loyalty points bring prioritised by I do think it's unfair that many of us will either lose out in a ballot or by simply not bring in a job that allows us to log onto a computer or to be on a phone at 10 or 11am to try and buy them to some one who has only just signed up as a member and has only attended a match or two if any.