The Away Ticket Consultancy Meeting: 07/12/16
MOMS’ David Michael joined Steve Gough, Anthony Willis and John Holder (Apologies: John Perks, Steve Todd, Mark McFarland & Stewart Conniff) as the fan representatives at the latest away fan consultancy meeting with club representatives Bromley Davenport & Lee Preece. PC Stuart Bladen of the West Midlands Police was also in attendance.
General Club Update
33,500 Villa fans on the road so far this season. Away support has been tremendous.
Current sales
- Norwich 1,513 sold out of 2,008 allocation
- QPR sold out 3,154
- Cardiff 2,989 sold out of 3,394 allocation. SOLD OUT
- Wolves 1,251 sold out of 2,800 allocation
[Correct at 7pm 7.12.16]
Follow @AVFCSupport on Twitter will see away ticket sales updates.
Next matches – all ticket prices to be confirmed:
Brentford allocation 1,600
Brentford prices tbc
- Adults £25-£30
- Over 65 £17 to £22
- 18-24 year olds £25-£30
- Under 18 £8
Nottingham Forest allocation 2,001
Nottingham Forest prices tbc
- Adults £26
- Over 65 £18
- Under 18 £14
Newcastle United allocation 3,200
Newcastle United prices tbc
- Adults £32*
- Students £26
- Juniors & Seniors £16
With regards to allocations for future matches, Cardiff was a good example of the club receiving more tickets beyond the initial allocation. Cardiff liaised with West Midlands Police on the conduct of our fans so far this season, and the positive feedback they received helped us receive additional tickets.
Brentford presents an issue for those on the away scheme as the allocation includes both seating and standing. It was felt the best approach was for the ticket office to individually contact away scheme members and offer them the choice, as opposed to automatically assuming away scheme members would only want seats. By asking up front, it would avoid fans having to send tickets back and exchange.
Spurs FA Cup
It was too soon at the meeting to discuss the allocation for Spurs away in the FA Cup, as we were waiting to liaise with Spurs on possible allocation & prices. It is expected to be 3000+. The game is set to be live on BBC 1 on Sunday, January 8th at 4pm.
Away Subsidy
The club asked the question what the group felt we should do with the £50k subsidy put aside for this season. At present, only Norwich has been used so far – £5 subsidy per ticket. With sales of 1,500 this equates to £7.5k used so far (Norwich still on sale so this will increase).
Possible Newcastle Subsidy
* The group felt strongly that the club should look to heavily subsidise the ticket price for Newcastle away, given that the match has been moved to a Monday evening. If either club is playing in the FA Cup Round 5 (the match would be rescheduled) it is still likely to take place mid-week. As with previous discussions around subsidy, the group felt that the subsidy should focus on ticket price as opposed to any transport measures.
Leeds Congestion Issues
There were numerous issues encountered at Leeds Away, including issues around congestion, confusion regarding whether fans were using Upper or Lower level, duplicated seats & stewarding. A number of fans have contacted the Villa regarding their experience and some have contacted Leeds direct. The various issues have been noted should we play at Elland Road in the future.
Brighton Train Pain
The group felt the patience and good humoured conduct of Villa fans who experienced travel issues after the Brighton match should be noted. As per communications posted on social media from the CEO at Brighton, some fans had a very difficult experience, but reacted with patience to the difficulties they experienced.
Smoke Bombs
The issue of smoke bombs being used in concourse areas was discussed. West Midlands Police confirmed that anyone entering the stadium with or using smoke devices will find themselves arrested & prosecuted. The devices often used at football matches are not regulated, and are not designed to be activated at football grounds.
Smoking
The number of fans smoking in toilets at away matches was raised. Feedback was noted by West Midlands Police. At Leeds United, eight fans were ejected for smoking. Whilst it is not always feasible to deal with smokers in the toilets themselves, anyone smoking runs the risk of being ejected at any stadium. Where possible, but only when the infrastructure of the stadium allows, clubs do look to provide smoking areas at half-time.
Why clubs can’t provide a smoking area to avoid unecessary ejections was raised. Security concerns was the root of the difficulty of providing such areas – i.e. opening stadium doors to let smokers out.
Coach Parking
The club was asked if it could help identify what stadiums may charge for coach parking, and if so, what the charge would be. There are also matches where the driver has to stay with the coach, which is also useful information to know in advance.
PC Stuart Bladen is happy to help with this information where possible – please contact him on bladen@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk. You can also follow @WMPVillaFC on Twitter for matchday information. The club will also look to link (via our social media) to any information provided by clubs’ Supporter Liaison Officers.
Other News
The EFL have contacted the club in relation to their planned promotional activity to accompany the ’10 in 10’ run of consecutive days of televised games on Sky Sports from Friday 9th December to Sunday 18th December.
The rationale for implementing ’10 in 10’ in partnership with Sky was to create a specific window of exposure in the season dedicated to EFL and its Clubs, and which could act as a platform to promote attendance-driving messages. Against this objective we have agreed a joint initiative between the EFL, Sky, and Sky Bet to offer 25 fans of the away club for each televised game with a VIP experience including transport to and from the game via a ’10 in 10’ branded luxury bus. The activity highlights the desire of both Sky and Sky Bet to give something back to the core dedicated fans. The club will be contacting our most regular travellers on our Official Away Coaches to offer them a free upgrade for either Norwich or QPR, as the VIP luxury bus will be available for both matches.
Next meeting to be scheduled early February 2017.
If you have any issues regarding away tickets or away games, please drop us a line at contact@myoldmansaid.com or reach out on social media – @oldmansaid
