Away Allocations

[Sheff Saint]

So both Aston Villa and Man City have sold out with only initial allocations taken.

I'm not sure how quickly Villa sold out but i can apprecaite being cautious for an average opponent for a game that's been moved to a Friday night and is on TV.

But City away sold out in four days! The club said they'd ask for more if they sold quickly - how quickly would they have had to have sold to ask for more?! A Saturday 3pm game against one of the best teams in the league...we always take over 1k now for any away game so this is a really disapointing call by the club.

I know the club have to make up the shortfall if we don't sell all the extra tickets but i can't imagine we'd have been far short of selling 3k. No point having these good new players on the wage bill if it's going to mean we can't afford to take a risk on a few extra tickets and we can't actually watch them.

[nta786]

4 minutes ago, Sheff Saint said:

So both Aston Villa and Man City have sold out with only initial allocations taken.

I'm not sure how quickly Villa sold out but i can apprecaite being cautious for an average opponent for a game that's been moved to a Friday night and is on TV.

But City away sold out in four days! The club said they'd ask for more if they sold quickly - how quickly would they have had to have sold to ask for more?! A Saturday 3pm game against one of the best teams in the league...we always take over 1k now for any away game so this is a really disapointing call by the club.

I know the club have to make up the shortfall if we don't sell all the extra tickets but i can't imagine we'd have been far short of selling 3k. No point having these good new players on the wage bill if it's going to mean we can't afford to take a risk on a few extra tickets and we can't actually watch them.

I'd literally just got off the phone to them about City away, really annoyed. They said club took smaller allocation with the worry this would reach general sale, and that there actually wasn't any opportunity to extend to 3,000 seats. The "wording was rolled forward and this was incorrect".

Why would the club not take an additional 1,500 seats at £30 a pop? That costs £45,000.... and to put it into perspective we pay Theo Walcott £75k a week.

After 2 if anyone can help...

[Sheff Saint]

Exactly, i know £45k is a lot of money but that is worse case, no way we'd have more than a few hundred left. If anyone has three spare that would be amazing.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Am not a season ticket holder so without a general sale am pretty much unable to go to away games. If the club took up more of an allocation it would allow me and probably others to at least have an opportunity of getting to a few away games each season. 

[Saint Garrett]

Frustrating for sure, but you can kind of understand it.  Friday night, and already haven't sold out at Leicester and Wolves.  This is the third midlands away game, and the trains are generally shit. 

I'd still rather the club just took max allocations though.

[JRM]

To be honest I'm surprised Man City sold out that quickly, we don't often take that many there in fact I think the 1500 didnt even sell out last season.

Bournemouth away on sale this week to those who have 14 aways so another tough one to get a ticket for, after that Palace away , 3pm Saturday surely we'll take full allocation for that one. 

[nta786]

35 minutes ago, JRM said:

To be honest I'm surprised Man City sold out that quickly, we don't often take that many there in fact I think the 1500 didnt even sell out last season.

Bournemouth away on sale this week to those who have 14 aways so another tough one to get a ticket for, after that Palace away , 3pm Saturday surely we'll take full allocation for that one. 

Yep. However, it looks like we have a solid 1,300 or so who have a season ticket and attend 14+ away games a year based off the criteria for Bournemouth?

How does the club then think it is reasonable to leave 200 for remaining season ticket holders and premium members?

Spurs sold out to season ticket holders with 0 aways, Leicester went on to general sale as did Wolves which perhaps swayed it. 

Really it should be all London games, Bournemouth and big 6 games we should take the full allocation available to us. 

[saintscottofthenortham]

2 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Am not a season ticket holder so without a general sale am pretty much unable to go to away games. If the club took up more of an allocation it would allow me and probably others to at least have an opportunity of getting to a few away games each season. 

Exactly this. I was a ST holder throughout the League One and Championship days and done the majority of away games. My life now means a ST would be wasted on me, but I'd still love to get to the odd away game, which without this approach by the club I've no chance.

[stevegrant]

Part of the issue is that the clubs we're travelling to tend to want us to tell them pretty early on which allocation we want - they actually seem to be a bit more flexible these days when in previous years we've definitely had loads of scenarios where we had to pick an allocation at the start and that was that, whereas now there's at least the option to get the full allocation if the initial sales are good, but the club fails to appreciate (or doesn't want to risk) that people with lots of aways often want to go to specific away games with friends who are much lower down the priority list.

Brentford was obviously a high-demand game at the end of last season - new ground, small allocation, easy to get to. That was originally on sale to ST holders with 12+ aways, but I think went all the way down to 2 or 3 in the end for the last few tickets, probably because people were keen to wait and buy in a group.

The club claim they use past sales data to determine initial allocations, but also probably take circumstances (what day the game is, whether we're playing well at the time, etc) into account. We've always tended to sell well at Villa, so I'm surprised we've not taken the full allocation there, but I assume the Friday night kickoff has driven that decision. As @JRM says, I'm surprised City has sold that quickly - we didn't even sell out there for our first game back in the PL after promotion.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

17 minutes ago, saintscottofthenortham said:

Exactly this. I was a ST holder throughout the League One and Championship days and done the majority of away games. My life now means a ST would be wasted on me, but I'd still love to get to the odd away game, which without this approach by the club I've no chance.

My lad is desperate to get to an away game, as it stands it's not going to be possible. Like you, circumstances prevent me from getting a season ticket. I get the fact that season ticket holders will also come first at any club, but I still go to St Mary's as much as I can, I just feel taking up maximum allocations will allow more people like me to go away.

[NorthLondonSFC]

 The 19/20 season before Covid we were doing the exact same, Chelsea Boxing day & 2-1 win away at Leicester sticking out in memory of people being pissed that the allocation was smaller. I think post Covid we started to take full allocations in most places but it does appear now that the club are going back to their old ways. We should have really sold out Wolves but for those that did the trip last season was probs enough to put anyone off. Villa & Leicester both understandable due to strikes/Friday. When was the last time we sold out City away? Have we ever? Even first game back in the Prem wasn't a sell out there, United usually more favored so I can see where the club is coming from when making these decisions. 

[LaptopSaint]

I don't have a season ticket but in the 18/19 season I went to every away game - that clearly wouldn't be possible now. I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale to members and the only ones I had to source elsewhere (spares on here actually) were Bompey (ground as big as a shed) and West Ham (forgot they were on sale).

This season I would definitely have gone to Spurs and City but no chance given the size of allocation. Pretty sure the club are missing a trick here. Leicester was fun though. 

[Give it to Ron]

2 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

My lad is desperate to get to an away game, as it stands it's not going to be possible. Like you, circumstances prevent me from getting a season ticket. I get the fact that season ticket holders will also come first at any club, but I still go to St Mary's as much as I can, I just feel taking up maximum allocations will allow more people like me to go away.

Have a look at Fulham away they have a ‘neutrals’ stand or did last time. Only issue price won’t be capped but it’s a great away day and easy to get tickets 

[LaptopSaint]

2 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

Have a look at Fulham away they have a ‘neutrals’ stand or did last time. Only issue price won’t be capped but it’s a great away day and easy to get tickets 

Yes, and right next to the away support if i remember rightly.

 

[Give it to Ron]

It seems they may have stopped it due to numbers of home wanting to go

 

. Owing to capacity constraints, the stand is now split into Home and Away fans only. 

[Saint Garrett]

54 minutes ago, LaptopSaint said:

Yes, and right next to the away support if i remember rightly.

 

Yup - and new years eve this season. should be a good night out afterwards !

[allsa001]

2 hours ago, LaptopSaint said:

I don't have a season ticket but in the 18/19 season I went to every away game - that clearly wouldn't be possible now. I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale to members and the only ones I had to source elsewhere (spares on here actually) were Bompey (ground as big as a shed) and West Ham (forgot they were on sale).

This season I would definitely have gone to Spurs and City but no chance given the size of allocation. Pretty sure the club are missing a trick here. Leicester was fun though. 

I would like to get to as many away games possible. Been to Leicester and wolves this season so far. Would defo had gone to spurs if I could have gotten a ticket, and would have also gone to man City. Very annoying that I can't get tickets

[Simo is back]

1 hour ago, allsa001 said:

I would like to get to as many away games possible. Been to Leicester and wolves this season so far. Would defo had gone to spurs if I could have gotten a ticket, and would have also gone to man City. Very annoying that I can't get tickets

My lad is trying to get as many games in before he goes off to join the army and couldn't get one for villa or spurs either so I think that'll be it for him for a while now .

[IFHP]

Is this not the sort of thing a decent fans group should bring up .

unfortunately we have or did have the Saints voice who as far as I can tell is just closed group who have or did have meatings with the club but did not tell anyone when they were , what was being discussed or if any other fans ( who they were supposed to represent according to their profiles ) wanted to bring something up . 

[Saint_clark]

Haven't the club taken the reduced allocations at games for years now? I suppose the thinking is that even if they sell out a full allocation they're still only making their money back, whereas anything less than a sellout and the club is losing money. Still frustrating as hell though - why don't they sell pre-tickets or something where people put a deposit down for a game a week before it goes on sale so they know what allocation they will fill?

[JRM]

Crazy thing for Villa is I think they just leave the upper tier empty and don't even sell it to their own fans so the whole thing is fairly pointless. Just give us all of it and see how many we can sell. 

Man City will sell the upper tier "away bit" but I'm sure this will make general sale easy enough to buy in the home end for anyone who wants to do that. 

[The Cat]

38 minutes ago, JRM said:

Crazy thing for Villa is I think they just leave the upper tier empty and don't even sell it to their own fans so the whole thing is fairly pointless. Just give us all of it and see how many we can sell. 

Man City will sell the upper tier "away bit" but I'm sure this will make general sale easy enough to buy in the home end for anyone who wants to do that. 

We always sell out Villa so this seems very bizarre even for a Friday night game. Going to look very shit on TV if the upper tier is empty.

[Hodds37]

Used to be surprised by this sort of action by saints ticket office but not anymore, they've been like this for years.

So risk adverse and prefer not to lose a few pennies rather than having more supporters and in the process stopping the potential of new fans going to away games. Very short sighted.

Makes it near impossible to go unless your a season ticket holder too and regular to away games. 

[LGTL]

23 hours ago, nta786 said:

Yep. However, it looks like we have a solid 1,300 or so who have a season ticket and attend 14+ away games a year based off the criteria for Bournemouth?

How does the club then think it is reasonable to leave 200 for remaining season ticket holders and premium members?

Spurs sold out to season ticket holders with 0 aways, Leicester went on to general sale as did Wolves which perhaps swayed it. 

Really it should be all London games, Bournemouth and big 6 games we should take the full allocation available to us. 

I’d say we don’t have close to 1300 with 14+ aways. Expect Bournemouth will go down to 12/11 aways. 

[tunit]

So frustrating that they only offer 1300 for this fixture in their shed. But we have to offer them at least 3000 when they come here. Doesn't really seem fair at all. We could sell out their whole ground if it was offered to us.

[IFHP]

1 hour ago, tunit said:

So frustrating that they only offer 1300 for this fixture in their shed. But we have to offer them at least 3000 when they come here. Doesn't really seem fair at all. We could sell out their whole ground if it was offered to us.

I'm sure they could sell out 10000 + at St Mary's if we offered them too especially  as its their big local Derby

% wise its the near enough same amount. The bigger difference is at the lager grounds where the likes of Arsenal, Spurs, Man Utd etc. only have to offer us 3000 out of 60000+ capacity's stadiums - the same we have to give them in a 30000 capacity stadium.

[Lord Duckhunter]

2 hours ago, LGTL said:

I’d say we don’t have close to 1300 with 14+ aways. Expect Bournemouth will go down to 12/11 aways. 

It’s not a question of how many games an individual  has attended, but how many times their number has been used. I suspect it won’t go lower than 13 

Edited 13 September, 2022 by Lord Duckhunter

[saintscottofthenortham]

23 hours ago, LaptopSaint said:

I don't have a season ticket but in the 18/19 season I went to every away game - that clearly wouldn't be possible now. I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale to members and the only ones I had to source elsewhere (spares on here actually) were Bompey (ground as big as a shed) and West Ham (forgot they were on sale).

This season I would definitely have gone to Spurs and City but no chance given the size of allocation. Pretty sure the club are missing a trick here. Leicester was fun though. 

Are you still getting a fair share just as a member?

[Saint Garrett]

45 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

It’s not a question of how many games an individual  has attended, but how many times their number has been used. I suspect it won’t go lower than 13 

283 tickets available right now, just counted. Soon to be 281 as I'm about to buy 2!

[stevegrant]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

It’s not a question of how many games an individual  has attended, but how many times their number has been used. I suspect it won’t go lower than 13 

Brentford at the end of last season, at a brand new ground in an easy-to-reach location at the start of summer, went down to about 5 aways, Bournemouth will probably be similar. Midweek games are always harder for people to justify for various reasons.

[LGTL]

1 hour ago, Saint Garrett said:

283 tickets available right now, just counted. Soon to be 281 as I'm about to buy 2!

I made it just under 400 a few moments ago, still loads of availability in all blocks except 22. So take out 10% that the club never put on sale in the first place, approximately 2/3 of tickets will go to people with 14+. More then I thought with that number to be honest, expect LD is correct a couple of posts up. Expect it might trickle down a couple more brackets but maybe not as low as some think. I remember applying for this game via letter back in 2011 🤣

[Saint Garrett]

1 hour ago, LGTL said:

I made it just under 400 a few moments ago, still loads of availability in all blocks except 22. So take out 10% that the club never put on sale in the first place, approximately 2/3 of tickets will go to people with 14+. More then I thought with that number to be honest, expect LD is correct a couple of posts up. Expect it might trickle down a couple more brackets but maybe not as low as some think. I remember applying for this game via letter back in 2011 🤣

Maybe I missed a block, or maybe they've just released a few more on the site. I'd be surprised if it's not sold out by the end of the week, with only 1300 ticekts.

[LaptopSaint]

3 hours ago, saintscottofthenortham said:

Are you still getting a fair share just as a member?

Leicester and Wolves Ok, and I think Villa would have been but I couldn't make this Friday. I reckon a lot of the London games will be difficult, but we'll see! 

[Nieldy]

Disappointed couldn't get a ticket for the Man city game as I live in North Wales,so a local game for me.Joined up a premium member to get tickets.I have managed all the other away games no problem.Does seem a little low the amount of tickets.Thing is thou there are plenty of tickets available in the home section,so might just have to do that.

[Noodles34]

On 13/09/2022 at 14:12, stevegrant said:

Brentford at the end of last season, at a brand new ground in an easy-to-reach location at the start of summer, went down to about 5 aways, Bournemouth will probably be similar. Midweek games are always harder for people to justify for various reasons.

you called that wrong Steve, its sold out on 11, managed to scape one myself.