2020/21 Season Ticket Information

[Dan]

In reality I can see them doing a ballot / lottery style approach for allocating tickets between ST Holders, that's what seems to be happening all over the continent in countries that are working to reduced capacities. I'd imagine all ST holders will be allowed to attend a handful of the games and will probably get the rest of the fixtures refunded or issued with credit notes. I can't see away fans being permitted at all either, which is a shame! 

[Whitey Grandad]

9 minutes ago, Dan said:

In reality I can see them doing a ballot / lottery style approach for allocating tickets between ST Holders, that's what seems to be happening all over the continent in countries that are working to reduced capacities. I'd imagine all ST holders will be allowed to attend a handful of the games and will probably get the rest of the fixtures refunded or issued with credit notes. I can't see away fans being permitted at all either, which is a shame! 

How would that work for anyone with a pair of tickets? There are lots of couples who sit near me and I go with my grandson. They would have to be treated as a pair.

[Dan]

No idea, but

1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

How would that work for anyone with a pair of tickets? There are lots of couples who sit near me and I go with my grandson. They would have to be treated as a pair.

No idea, a logistical nightmare for the clubs though. I would assume they will let people apply for tickets in a group of who you want to sit with, much like away games with a maximum of 4 or 6 people for example. 

Most countries seem to be doing a maximum of 100 or 500 per stand, so I wouldn't bank on you being allocated your usual seats, but with the various different pricing bands for ST's it will truly be a nightmare to arrange fairly. 

The ticket office don't get the most basic of tasks right, so this should certainly be an eye opener! 

Edited 8 July, 2020 by Dan

[angelman]

On 23/06/2020 at 21:53, angelman said:

Is the ticket office open, as I need/want to turn up in person and sort out an issue that has been on going for a couple of seasons now?

 

Does anyone know? I'm out of town and don't want to turn up to find it closed!!

[stevegrant]

1 hour ago, angelman said:

Does anyone know? I'm out of town and don't want to turn up to find it closed!!

Not a clue, but the email address is being responded to, so probably worth asking them there before travelling.

[angelman]

Good idea. Should have thought of it myself. 

 

Banged off an email, and got a reply pretty quickly.

 

 

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, angelman said:

Good idea. Should have thought of it myself. 

 

Banged off an email, and got a reply pretty quickly.

 

 

And the reply was?

[angelman]

That they'll sort out my issue, which surrounded a ST being over 65 when it should be adult (I'm kind of honest when it comes to that). Thought I had sorted it last year, as both STs were adult.

 

But as of now, still not changed. 

[whelk]

What is the renewal deadline? Assume not anytime soon? I need to sort but might as well wait until I know we are safe

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, whelk said:

What is the renewal deadline? Assume not anytime soon? I need to sort but might as well wait until I know we are safe

September I believe.

[Whitey Grandad]

13 hours ago, whelk said:

What is the renewal deadline? Assume not anytime soon? I need to sort but might as well wait until I know we are safe

We are safe now by at least two points. Like you, I am in no rush to pay.

[stevegrant]

3 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

We are safe now by at least two points. Like you, I am in no rush to pay.

3 now (probably 4 with Bournemouth's terrible goal difference) after last night's games.

[spyinthesky]

With the Covid situation unlikely to be sorted for some time and the concern of a second wave, it is difficult to second guess when the 2020/21 season will start and who, if any, will be allowed to attend games.
As has been mentioned in previous posts, attendance could be limited to season ticket holders only, spatially distanced and with opposing fans either banned or with capacity reduced.
As Covid is supposed to be spread bu coughs, sneezes, singing and load outbursts, games will be highly sanitised in every way.
 

[angelman]

I imagine we'll all have to have face masks on. How that would be enforced (given they can't make people sit down) is anyone's guess.

[Charlie Wayman]

Far too many uncertainties. Even if the government "grants permission" for limited attendances the logistics of getting those few thousand fans safely into their allocated seats maintaining safe distancing seems nigh impossible to arrange. A doctor or dentist can tell me to wait in my car until he/she comes out and calls me in. That is a daft proposition for even a small football crowd. Coupled with similar problems on walk-up and leaving the ground and in the concourse and mass use of loos the only safe conclusion must be No spectators.

Should spectators be allowed then as for seat allocation, the Club need first to ascertain how many people will be allowed in, then hold the ballot of season ticket holders and only then send out invitations to renew. What is the point of asking me or you or Joe to renew before we know whether or not we'll get a seat? It smacks a bit of dishonest practice if they have use of our 700 quids for a few weeks before reluctantly handing them back.

Are there any over 65 yo's out there who will risk going anyway? 

OK, OK infection rates are low - if you believe anything this government tells us - but the risk to us oldies is not that there might be a very low risk of being infected but that there is a better than 25% chance of dying unpleasantly if we do. Not attractive odds to be sure.

Edited 10 July, 2020 by Charlie Wayman
spelling

[Shroppie]

1 hour ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Far too many uncertainties. Even if the government "grants permission" for limited attendances the logistics of getting those few thousand fans safely into their allocated seats maintaining safe distancing seems nigh impossible to arrange. A doctor or dentist can tell me to wait in my car until he/she comes out and calls me in. That is a daft proposition for even a small football crowd. Coupled with similar problems on walk-up and leaving the ground and in the concourse and mass use of loos the only safe conclusion must be No spectators.

Should spectators be allowed then as for seat allocation, the Club need first to ascertain how many people will be allowed in, then hold the ballot of season ticket holders and only then send out invitations to renew. What is the point of asking me or you or Joe to renew before we know whether or not we'll get a seat? It smacks a bit of dishonest practice if they have use of our 700 quids for a few weeks before reluctantly handing them back.

Are there any over 65 yo's out there who will risk going anyway? 

OK, OK infection rates are low - if you believe anything this government tells us - but the risk to us oldies is not that there might be a very low risk of being infected but that there is a better than 25% chance of dying unpleasantly if we do. Not attractive odds to be sure.

I'm over 65 and have renewed. I can't wait to get back but will trust my common sense and the club's safety measures.

[Chocolate Box]

I would renew if the new bloody ticket system would let me register. They keep sending me a new password but when I try to open it , it says " this site cannot be reached". Any of you more tech savvy chaps out there able to help? Not getting any response from the club.

[Whitey Grandad]

4 minutes ago, Chocolate Box said:

I would renew if the new bloody ticket system would let me register. They keep sending me a new password but when I try to open it , it says " this site cannot be reached". Any of you more tech savvy chaps out there able to help? Not getting any response from the club.

I had some emails a week or so ago telling me that I needed to take action and log in and change my password because they are updating their ticket system. I haven’t done anything yet because I forgot and quite frankly I didn’t really understand what I was supposed to do.

[richie]

42 minutes ago, Chocolate Box said:

I would renew if the new bloody ticket system would let me register. They keep sending me a new password but when I try to open it , it says " this site cannot be reached". Any of you more tech savvy chaps out there able to help? Not getting any response from the club.

If the link on the email with the temporary password sent to you does not work cut and paste the password and open up the ticket site as you normally would from your browser. (The link on my email did work)

Enter the temporary password there. That will get you into your account. Unlike almost every other website I've ever used it doesn't ask you to change your password to one of your choice at that point. You have to do that yourself elsewhere on the site.

I don't mind change but the site looks old. The previous site looked better. Maybe it will grow on me?

[Chocolate Box]

3 minutes ago, richie said:

If the link on the email with the temporary password sent to you does not work cut and paste the password and open up the ticket site as you normally would from your browser. (The link on my email did work)

Enter the temporary password there. That will get you into your account. Unlike almost every other website I've ever used it doesn't ask you to change your password to one of your choice at that point. You have to do that yourself elsewhere on the site.

I don't mind change but the site looks old. The previous site looked better. Maybe it will grow on me?

Thanks Richie, I will try that tomorrow, Too much vino collapso tonight. Why do they make life so complicated.

[Charlie Wayman]

19 hours ago, Shroppie said:

I'm over 65 and have renewed. I can't wait to get back but will trust my common sense and the club's safety measures.

Fair enough, everyone will have to make their own call on this. One's chances of getting a ticket in a ballot may be only about 16% anyway so there is a bit of a safety net for even those who are prepared to risk it but may have second thoughts when the time comes.. 

The club will do their best to follow any guidelines the government's experts recommend but as we have seen across a broad spectrum of re-opening businesses the devil is in the lack of detail. No two stadia are the same so every club will be left with many practical decisions to be made locally like (say) removing all seats that are not to be occupied making safe access easier and mis-use more difficult etc, etc..

You need only to recall what happened on Bournemouth beach a couple of weeks ago to realise that your average football crowd with a few beers inside them will ignore any advice or warnings given to them. Once it's game on it will be a free-for-all!

 

 

[beatlesaint]

45 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Fair enough, everyone will have to make their own call on this. One's chances of getting a ticket in a ballot may be only about 16% anyway so there is a bit of a safety net for even those who are prepared to risk it but may have second thoughts when the time comes.. 

The club will do their best to follow any guidelines the government's experts recommend but as we have seen across a broad spectrum of re-opening businesses the devil is in the lack of detail. No two stadia are the same so every club will be left with many practical decisions to be made locally like (say) removing all seats that are not to be occupied making safe access easier and mis-use more difficult etc, etc..

You need only to recall what happened on Bournemouth beach a couple of weeks ago to realise that your average football crowd with a few beers inside them will ignore any advice or warnings given to them. Once it's game on it will be a free-for-all!

 

 

Where have you plucked this 16% figure from? Especially when you go on to say no two stadia are the same.

Edited 11 July, 2020 by beatlesaint

[Shroppie]

I've heard there might be hopes of getting in 10000, but if you assume every other row taken out, and one seat in three used along the rows, that's 1/6 of capacity, or 16%

You've also got to consider spacing in the concourse.

Edited 11 July, 2020 by Shroppie

[The Cat]

People who live in the same house don't need to leave seats in-between though. Me and my 2 kids can take up 3 seats rather than 9.

[Dan]

13 hours ago, Shroppie said:

I've heard there might be hopes of getting in 10000, but if you assume every other row taken out, and one seat in three used along the rows, that's 1/6 of capacity, or 16%

You've also got to consider spacing in the concourse.

I know the chairman of a National League North side and the figure that is being rumoured to be used initially is 10% of the stadium capacity. 

[Shroppie]

12 hours ago, The Cat said:

People who live in the same house don't need to leave seats in-between though. Me and my 2 kids can take up 3 seats rather than 9.

But I think the logistics of variable spacing to take account of household groups is probably impossible.

[Whitey Grandad]

2 hours ago, Dan said:

I know the chairman of a National League North side and the figure that is being rumoured to be used initially is 10% of the stadium capacity. 

At 10% what is the point?

A waste of time.

[Whitey Grandad]

2 hours ago, Shroppie said:

But I think the logistics of variable spacing to take account of household groups is probably impossible.

I have a pair of adjacent seats. It’s a case of both or neither. The same goes for most of those who sit around me. Most of us came from the same seating area at The Dell. We collected names and details and chose our seats at St Mary’s accordingly.

[Charlie Wayman]

2 hours ago, Shroppie said:

But I think the logistics of variable spacing to take account of household groups is probably impossible.

 

53 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

At 10% what is the point?

A waste of time.

Your attitude is perfectly understandable but the comfortable past can no longer be a guide to the future. The more one thinks about the realities of the situation, the more we come to appreciate how difficult and controversial it will be.

The Club could set out some stands as double-seaters and others as singles and build safe distancing around them which will impact the total numbers able to attend. Remember 'though that whatever they do they will try to maximise the numbers they can fit in for financial reasons so there will be some midnight oil to be burned by modellers. I know they have done this sort of work for cinemas so those models might be adaptable to football grounds. Those successful in a ballot are unlikely to have any choice of where they sit:  they might run a new ballot every week to allow more people to be involved but what a nightmare that would be to administer.

If you really want to see the Saints in action best not to be too rigid in your mindset of rejecting options that don't suit you.

 

My original point was in effect "why bother" with an exercise that would likely be loss-making anyway.

[Whitey Grandad]

3 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

 

Your attitude is perfectly understandable but the comfortable past can no longer be a guide to the future. The more one thinks about the realities of the situation, the more we come to appreciate how difficult and controversial it will be.

The Club could set out some stands as double-seaters and others as singles and build safe distancing around them which will impact the total numbers able to attend. Remember 'though that whatever they do they will try to maximise the numbers they can fit in for financial reasons so there will be some midnight oil to be burned by modellers. I know they have done this sort of work for cinemas so those models might be adaptable to football grounds. Those successful in a ballot are unlikely to have any choice of where they sit:  they might run a new ballot every week to allow more people to be involved but what a nightmare that would be to administer.

If you really want to see the Saints in action best not to be too rigid in your mindset of rejecting options that don't suit you.

 

My original point was in effect "why bother" with an exercise that would likely be loss-making anyway.

All very understandable but what incentive is there in these prospects that would encourage me to splash out £1320 in advance for something that we might not be able to use?

[Shroppie]

6 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

 

Your attitude is perfectly understandable but the comfortable past can no longer be a guide to the future. The more one thinks about the realities of the situation, the more we come to appreciate how difficult and controversial it will be.

The Club could set out some stands as double-seaters and others as singles and build safe distancing around them which will impact the total numbers able to attend. Remember 'though that whatever they do they will try to maximise the numbers they can fit in for financial reasons so there will be some midnight oil to be burned by modellers. I know they have done this sort of work for cinemas so those models might be adaptable to football grounds. Those successful in a ballot are unlikely to have any choice of where they sit:  they might run a new ballot every week to allow more people to be involved but what a nightmare that would be to administer.

If you really want to see the Saints in action best not to be too rigid in your mindset of rejecting options that don't suit you.

 

My original point was in effect "why bother" with an exercise that would likely be loss-making anyway.

I think the reason they'll bother is that at some point they have to take steps to start getting fans back in, and it can't be a sudden return to the old normal. It's also a matter of keeping fans' goodwill.

It would take an interesting bit of software to allow family group sales and constantly adjust, putting in social distancing and working out where the next sale can go, and I suspect that's beyond what we'll see

I agree that you'll get no choice of seat if you're luck enough to get in.

[haddock22]

As my ldealings with saints box office over the years is at best variable in their responses to any problems regarding selling tickets, Does anyone really believe they would come up with a solution that would make people happy ,I cant believe they would so will wait and see what happens til i renew season tickets

[Kenilworthy]

Interesting that Le Havre had a crowd of 5,000 for their friendly with PSG yesterday. That is 20 percent of their capacity. Suggests that around 6,000 might be feasible for St Mary's for the start of the season. I wonder if anything like 6,000 have renewed yet?

[suewhistle]

On the question of renewing I wonder how much our form since the restart will help take up? It was all pretty dismal before lock down but I feel much more optimistic about next season now. I probably will renew but wait for another credit card statement day to pass. It's a big chunk even if we get refunds for the games we can't attend. At least if you can't make games because of work or other commitments it'll probably be easier to lend your ticket. Last winter there wasn't much interest in mine when I went on holiday..

[Charlie Wayman]

On 13/07/2020 at 16:45, haddock22 said:

As my ldealings with saints box office over the years is at best variable in their responses to any problems regarding selling tickets, Does anyone really believe they would come up with a solution that would make people happy ,I cant believe they would so will wait and see what happens til i renew season tickets

They can't win whatever they do, even the 'lucky' ones who get drawn in the ballot will moan about the seat they've been allocated. 

[angelman]

On 15/07/2020 at 09:59, suewhistle said:

On the question of renewing I wonder how much our form since the restart will help take up? It was all pretty dismal before lock down but I feel much more optimistic about next season now. I probably will renew but wait for another credit card statement day to pass. It's a big chunk even if we get refunds for the games we can't attend. At least if you can't make games because of work or other commitments it'll probably be easier to lend your ticket. Last winter there wasn't much interest in mine when I went on holiday..

Maybe. I renewed as I like to escape my Mrs from time to time, even to watch shit football. 

[SaintRichmond]

What is the deadline for Existing STH's please

 

[Whitey Grandad]

3 hours ago, SaintRichmond said:

What is the deadline for Existing STH's please

 

September 1st from what I remember.

[Saint_clark]

The new prices are still too high to tempt me back, even though my finances are now sorted (only gave it up because I found myself skint unexpectedly). 

[Charlie Wayman]

On 16/07/2020 at 11:10, angelman said:

Maybe. I renewed as I like to escape my Mrs from time to time, even to watch shit football. 

No doubt a feeling reciprocated by your long suffering wife 🤗

[angelman]

5 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

No doubt a feeling reciprocated by your long suffering wife 🤗

Maybe, but she's very lucky to have me as a husband.

[Charlie Wayman]

19 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

The new prices are still too high to tempt me back, even though my finances are now sorted (only gave it up because I found myself skint unexpectedly). 

It's a tough call even so.

Will they let people in at all?

Will there be a ballot?

If successful, will you like the seat they allocate to you?

How will you feel if you see somebody else sitting in your usual seat because that's how the allocation worked out?

Then there's the risk!

 

All in all best left for a year until things hopefully return to normal even if it means giving up your usual seat.

[bpsaint]

Shows in October and November that I have tickets for are starting to get postponed now as it’s looking like full stadia and arenas are some way off - going to be very surprised if I see the inside of St Mary’s again this year.

Can only assume that if there are limited capacities and ticket ballots that it will have to be home fans only and that percentages allowed in will be the same regardless of team/stadia?

[Saint_clark]

The worry for me is if they're letting people into the grounds, what will happen with games being in TV? 

[Whitey Grandad]

I renewed my two tickets today and asked the young man in the office if he had any more information about what is going to happen. He confirmed that the season will start behind closed doors initially and that they are waiting on the government as to what will happen in October. 

He said there might well be a ballot and I asked if this would handle pairs of seats such as mine. He said that this has not yet been decided but that it might possibly go by purchase orders.

Refunds for any matches you are not allowed to go to, of course.

Edited 24 July, 2020 by Whitey Grandad

[benjii]

The atmosphere will be absolutely terrible as well. It'll be like a pre-season friendly.

Frankly, most people buying ST'S are probably just loaning the club money. Really can't see the point, myself.

[The Cat]

55 minutes ago, benjii said:

The atmosphere will be absolutely terrible as well. It'll be like a pre-season friendly.

Frankly, most people buying ST'S are probably just loaning the club money. Really can't see the point, myself.

I just want to be at the side of a pitch watching football. Don't care how many people are there or if the atmosphere is crap. 

Hopefully fans will be allowed at non-league games in September. Can't wait.

[spyinthesky]

Presumably no away fans will be allowed, at least from the start on 12th September?

[stevegrant]

16 minutes ago, spyinthesky said:

Presumably no away fans will be allowed, at least from the start on 12th September?

Would expect the first three weeks to be behind closed doors. After that, it'll be reduced capacity with no away fans, and they'll gradually ramp up the % allowed in every few weeks, assuming the infection rate is under control.

[davefoggy]

Following the hysteria and scaremongering when all those people turned up on Bournemouth beach, a month on and there has not been a spike in cases as suggested at the time. So, what are the real risks of getting back to normal and opening the stadiums again, given the very small number of cases in our area? Or are we gong to continue to live in fear, fuelled by the mainstream media?