The Away Ticket Consultancy Meeting
Date: 28.9.16
David Michael of My Old Man Said joined Villans Steve Gough, Steve Todd and John Perks (Apologies: John Holder, Mark McFarland, Stewart Conniff & Anthony Willis) in a meeting with club representatives Nicola Keye, Bromley Davenport & Lee Preece. PC Stuart Bladen of the West Midlands Police was also in attendance.
Below are the details of another constructive meeting between supporters and the club, including news of supporters deciding on £5 off the Norwich away ticket prices and a beer vote for the Brighton game, as well as potential prices and allocations for the next four games.
General Club Update
Average away support in excess of 3,000. Amazing support considering circumstances and form.
Barnsley Report
Police report
Police reported no incidents of concern from the 3,700 fans that travelled to the game. This bodes well for future allocations, as the conduct of our fans, particularly at matches where we travel in such large numbers, will be vital to our receiving larger allocations going forward.
We have 5,600 traveling to Preston – it is vital fans make the club proud and respect the facilities and staff of the grounds we visit.
Barnsley ‘sold out’ rumours
A discussion was held over the rumours that circulated that this match had sold out. This may have derived from fans seeing the coaches to Barnsley were sold out and mistakingly passed that on as the tickets selling out. The question was asked if the club could let fans know how many are left for matches in updates?
The club is concerned that saying we have xx number left for a fixture may lead to false expectations for fans – for example, a fan making a journey for tickets assuming there will be some left (when there may not be a day or so after publicly stating what is left).
Despite this, the club have agreed to use social media to let fans know when there is still availability, and more importantly, it should be the only source fans use for confirmation the allocation has sold out.
Upcoming Away Games…
Brighton & Hove Albion
2,000 to 3,000 – dependent on sales. The group expect a good sale as many looking to stay overnight. The Friday night kick off and being live on TV may not help. Prices £25 / £20 / £10 / £5.
Leeds United
3,000 unconfirmed. Prices £32, £22, £16.
Norwich City
2,500 unconfirmed. Prices £35, £25, £20, £12. **Will now have £5 off
QPR
2,500. Prices £39, £28, £24 & £34, £24, £17.
The club suggested making this a discounted match and reducing the ticket price by £5. ** The group felt Norwich would be a better game to discount due to it being both Tuesday night and a difficult journey – the club happy to change the discount to Norwich.
Future Away Day Notes…
Brighton
Having lived in Brighton a couple of times over the years, MOMS has been to a few games at Brighton’s ground. One of the traditions of their stadium is put on a local ale of the away team and also food, so MOMS proposed to the club to contact Brighton about confirming this will happen for Villa’s visit. Brighton confirmed it was ok, so we came up with the idea of polling supporters as to which local brew it should be in the away end.
Last month, My Old Man Said collated from supporters via social media a list of suggestions. In terms of food, Balti Pies seem to be the overwhelming favourite on that front.
In terms of drink, the leading suggestions from supporters will now be entered into the below poll for the ‘Great Villa Beer Off’. The winning brew gets to star in the Villa away end at Brighton on Friday 18th November. The poll will run for the next two weeks.
Birmingham City
The decision for both clubs to reciprocally offer 2,000 tickets to each other was taken at the start of the season. The Police were not involved in this decision, but fully support it.
The reason why it is only 2000 – relates to the previous behaviour of supporters at the fixture.
The Police confirmed that NO home fans will be located above Villa fans in the Upper Tier – all Upper Tier seats are above Blues fans only.
Concern was raised of tickets going on sale (on-line) when fans were attending Barnsley, and that some tickets should have been kept back for phone sales. This was duly noted.
The club is satisfied that the vast majority of our regular away attendees have been accommodated with a ticket.
Away Scheme
Concerns were raised about the away scheme, and how some fans would abuse the system in order to obtain Blues tickets. Should anyone look to come out of the away scheme after Blues they will not get the opportunity to join the scheme in later years. The scheme exists to make it easy for those who attend every game away. Discussion was held as to whether or not any returns should be allowed.
Lions Club allocation
Discussion was held around Lions Clubs allocation of tickets for away games, particularly in relation to high demand matches such as Blues. It was discussed that there should be a loyalty scheme within the Lions Club system, to ensure regular attendees obtain the tickets, and that the allocation received is reflective of the number being taken up for other matches. The system will be reviewed.
Newcastle & Reciprocal deals
It was asked if the club had consulted with Newcastle on a reciprocal ticket deal for our matches. The club confirmed no discussion with Newcastle had taken place. Reading have been approached and the club are in discussions for a possible reciprocal deal.
MOMS was disappointed to hear that no such conversation had taken place between Villa and Newcastle, as MOMS had been informed from the Newcastle side that they maybe open to a reciprocal deal on price as a gesture to supporters (in light of recent trends, especially in the Premier League). MOMS had informed the club about this and they had said in the previous meeting it was going to be followed up.
On-line ticketing – fans with disabilities
On-line ticketing for away matches has generally been very well received. The club is looking to find a solution within the system that will allow disabled supporters who require a free carer / personal assistant ticket to also purchase on-line. At present, disabled ticketing is being ring fenced to allow telephone sales the day after a certain criteria go on sale on-line only.
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
Shame they have reduced. Number of away coaches
Can’t get one anymore , have to drive adding to the expence of following