Home credits for cup finals from 2015/16

[trustno10]

Tim Payton has just tweeted that Arsenal will be implementing a home credits scheme to allocate tickets for future Wembley games.

What are people's thoughts on this? I think it's a self-serving move at the expense of away fans and people who haven't had their season tickets for very long. It's not hard to be guaranteed a ticket under the current system; 3 away games over 3 years should be something every season ticket holder can do. I don't think it will solve the empty seats problem either given Payton is lobbying for a system where simply putting your ticket up on the exchange counts as attendance. The way to solve the empty seats problem is rescind season tickets for anyone who goes to less than 20 games. If you can't turn up to or sell your ticket to 5 or more games you don't deserve one.

Lastly, would Payton be pressing for change had he got off his arse and actually been to away games? Of course not.

[Chips and Chocolate]

Is he in the ballot then?

System is alright (ish) as it is but if a home credit system had to be implemented then you'd have to actually go through the turnstile before you get a credit not just putting yout season ticket up on TX

[Herd]

This is my argument against giving away ticket members priority over Season Ticket holders,the system is badly abused !

An awful lot of the away members seats get either sold on or worse ,backed to the club allowing the member then to cherry pick his or hers matches and get gauranteed seats for finals .

It's just plain wrong

AISA were the main ones arguing for the away scheme members to be recognised and despite sending them notices of objection they simply ignored a number of people making my argument , which is one of the reasons I dont subscribe anymore.

I actually wonder if they have many members at all now but thats another story

[QuartzGooner]

There is no perfect system, but my main change would be de-corporatising the FA Cup and giving more tickets to fans of the clubs.

The idea that people from County FAs and so on getting tickets is well out of date.

They volunteer for running local clubs and so on but as a thanks should get tickets to the Community Shield and England games, not to the final.

As for us, away credits should count double for home credits but both should count.

Any season tickets not used for a game should cause a loss of a credit, (with say a couple of unused games per season as an allowance), that way it encourages them to be loaned or sold on if the holder cannot make a game.

[nut flush gooner]

IMO if you are a season ticket holder and you go to away games, then you are perfectly entitled to expect priority for cup finals over any other category of member. Yes its not difficult to play the system, but the reality is not many gooners have taken notice of this.

Linking entitlement to home attendance of matches wont solve the problem either. It may put more bums on seats each match but when we get cup final allocations of 25k there will never be enough tickets to satisfy demand.

The idea of 1 credit for home games and 2 for away matches seems like a good idea, it will be interesting to see what arsenal announce. It should be made clear at outset ie the beginning of each season what the criteria will be.

By the way, rescinding season tickets for non attendance is complete bollocks. There are people that fly in from places like belfast and it isn't always possible to come to every game. You cant take away the right to a season ticket for people who have renewed every year even through some of the shit we have had to watch lately.

That's what ticket exchange is there for. By having a cup final credit for home attendance, will ensure more bums on seats for the minor games imo.

[northbank123]

Current system is the fairest way imo. Rewards those who splash out huge amounts up front for a ST and prioritises those that follow the team up and down the country (or at least once a season!) Whilst still allowing all other ST holders to have as reasonable chance as possible to still get one given the allocations.

Whatever system you use it is going to be manipulated by people buying tickets and letting others use them to credit farm. Unless you want to prevent people from selling or giving away their tickets, which would cause all kinds of uproar.

[MK Gould]

If this means that Silver members/Junior Gunners who end up buying a ticket for every home game are treated the same as a season ticket holder then that has to be a good thing. Although having already paid for 26 home games up front this does also sound like I might be being "forced" to also buy tickets for League Cup games that I might otherwise choose to avoid...

And would it be based on tickets purchased or actual attendance? With the exception of some European away games, there is no check that you actually used the ticket before awarding away match credits. So are we really going to penalise season ticket holders who choose not to attend a particular home game? Haven't seen the detail though, so maybe this is part of the intention.

[Herd]

Sorry but I pay for my season tickets up front through the nose every year ,in my opinion we come above everyone ! Without the season ticket holders the club would not be able to function as it provides cash in the bank before any other revenue stream kicks in.
As much as away fans are valued they dont put a red cent into the bank so sorry for me they are well down on the list .
Since the club charges for membership the next priority has to be the silver then the red members since both are charged an annual fee .

The priorities are clearly mapped out !

[Simon]

Present system seems to work fairly well IMO. Only change needed is for the FA to make more tickets available for the final to supporters of both clubs.

I was quite surprised at how few blocks were on sale to us for the final compared with the semi final. It looked like all the prime midfield blocks were reserved for the corporates etc.

[augie]

I have always felt that fans who are regularly attend away games seem to have this "superfan" view of themselves and classed themselves as the real fans (which is ridiculous when you think about the 2 fat 'mares holding the cringeworthy banner at the end of the 8-2 mauling in old shatford ). Many of these fans openly claim on here, that they skip home games and refuse to attend them so I'm not sure how they qualify to dismiss the fans who attend home games Personally I would love to attend a few away games just to see what the atmosphere is really like - I too have grown up buying into the "real fans go to away games" theory so I would like to experience it for myself just to check it out because I'm not sure that the theory is true anymore

Btw why do some fans believe that attending x number of away games makes them superior to fans attending the same number of home games ? Genuine question

[Rosicky's Right Boot]

Something has to change to combat the thousands of empty seats at every home game. Not only is it embarrassing for the club but it's downright selfish of those who have a ticket and don't bother to turn up. There are plenty of people who would gladly fill that seat for every one of those 26 home games. It was incredibly frustrating whilst on the waiting list to see empty seats littering the ground whilst every summer I got the same bollocks from the club regarding being 15,000th or whatever on the list. Either use your ticket or make way for someone who will.

I can understand circumstances preventing you from attending a few games a season, but for a lot of the empty seats at the Emirates it's the same person just not turning up time after time.

As for the home credit system, I think away credits should count more simply for the fact that they require more effort to go to. And whilst it doesn't prove you're a better fan by any means, no system is perfect and as far as I can see there isn't a better one.

[MK Gould]

I have always felt that fans who are regularly attend away games seem to have this "superfan" view of themselves and classed themselves as the real fans (which is ridiculous when you think about the 2 fat 'mares holding the cringeworthy banner at the end of the 8-2 mauling in old shatford ). Many of these fans openly claim on here, that they skip home games and refuse to attend them so I'm not sure how they qualify to dismiss the fans who attend home games Personally I would love to attend a few away games just to see what the atmosphere is really like - I too have grown up buying into the "real fans go to away games" theory so I would like to experience it for myself just to check it out because I'm not sure that the theory is true anymore

Btw why do some fans believe that attending x number of away games makes them superior to fans attending the same number of home games ? Genuine question

If you have a season ticket and live within easy distance of North London then going to home games just becomes a bit of a habit...especially if you're a kid and your dad takes you. Whereas going to an away game takes effort, both in buying the ticket and getting there. You also get far more abuse than you would ever get at a home game. So if two people go to the same number of games then I would regard the "superfan" as being the one who goes away!

I don't in any way consider myself as a "superfan", but do feel that I've earned my stripes for having seen Arsenal play in 10 countries and on over 50 different grounds. Even though a lot of season ticket holders will have been to more games than me over the last 40 years. It's also a very (very!) different experience going to, for instance, City or Spurs away than the somewhat "samey" experience of seeing them play at the Grove...

[Skooner]

It has to be about the commitment of time and money to the club. Correct me if I am wrong but if Silver members have a lot of away credits it means nothing for cup finals? Some would argue that is wrong but the difference is, if we had a bad season that silver member could, if they choose, just stop going to games half way through season whereas a season ticket holder is commited to see it out.

There are always nuiances to all situations, my Dad has been a season ticket holder since 1973 but is in the ballot with no away credits. He'd struggle at most away games as has a bad leg and wouldn't be able to stand most the time. I guess he could buy one away ticket a season (which is actually all it takes under the current system) but would seem like a waste of money and not easy to get for the majority of away matches with no credits.

[Herd]

Get real u pay for the tickets its yours to waste however distasteful that may appear to anyone !
Mine ALWAYS get used even though I havent attended personally for a while !
I repeat that the season ticket holders pay a whole season up front by 2/3 months and trust me this revenue is needed and used !
Silver and red members pay later and a pittance to what we pay and have done in my case since 1978 on my own and 1974 in the case of my Dad .
Away supporters contribute NOTHING to the clubs revenue !

Other revenue streams only kick in once a season starts,withouty us we could not have gone out and brought in quality players like yaya so no goal !

I rest my case

[augie]

I have always felt that fans who are regularly attend away games seem to have this "superfan" view of themselves and classed themselves as the real fans (which is ridiculous when you think about the 2 fat 'mares holding the cringeworthy banner at the end of the 8-2 mauling in old shatford ). Many of these fans openly claim on here, that they skip home games and refuse to attend them so I'm not sure how they qualify to dismiss the fans who attend home games Personally I would love to attend a few away games just to see what the atmosphere is really like - I too have grown up buying into the "real fans go to away games" theory so I would like to experience it for myself just to check it out because I'm not sure that the theory is true anymore

Btw why do some fans believe that attending x number of away games makes them superior to fans attending the same number of home games ? Genuine question

If you have a season ticket and live within easy distance of North London then going to home games just becomes a bit of a habit...especially if you're a kid and your dad takes you. Whereas going to an away game takes effort, both in buying the ticket and getting there. You also get far more abuse than you would ever get at a home game. So if two people go to the same number of games then I would regard the "superfan" as being the one who goes away!

I don't in any way consider myself as a "superfan", but do feel that I've earned my stripes for having seen Arsenal play in 10 countries and on over 50 different grounds. Even though a lot of season ticket holders will have been to more games than me over the last 40 years. It's also a very (very!) different experience going to, for instance, City or Spurs away than the somewhat "samey" experience of seeing them play at the Grove...

I'm not in any way trying to question your credentials as a dedicated Gooner (hence why I said that it was a genuine question) but there are an awful lot of Gooners who attend most matches at the grove and do not live close to the ground so surely their effort, time and financial commitment deserves recognition too ?

Btw do you, as a guy that has attended away games for a number of years now, feel that the "quality" of the away fans has diminished in recent years ? Things like that banner and the singing of steve o's favourite song (1 arsene wenger) has me questioning how many of those are actually die hard long term Gooners as opposed to those whose loyalty is to the manager