Torquay United Fans Forum

by **wodger of awabia** » 27 Dec 2013, 13:56

brucie wrote:Irrespective of the ticketing issue making these games all ticket is destroying football. The crowd was pathetic really for a boxing day local derby.
Really its Health and Safety gone mad. Perhaps I can see the logic of making the game all ticket to away fans but they only sold half their allocation.
There wasn't a hint of trouble - there won't be on sunday.
Who actually makes the decision that you cannot purchase tickets on the day of the game - is it the police or is it the club? - for a club that is attracting 3 or 4 thousand its a nonsense.
If you need to control numbers then why an earth couldn't you sell tickets for the game up to kick off time?
If people could have turned up and got in yesterday the gate would have probably increased by hundreds.

I.M.O. the problem is the lower league club chairmen won't "take on" the local Police Commander if he "suggests" an all ticket match & an early lunchtime start. The club have to insure that there are sufficient staff inside the ground to ensure public safety in accordance with their safety certificate, this is not the responsibility of the Police.

by **Sunnysideup** » 27 Dec 2013, 13:33

brucie wrote:And can someone explain to me why I have to pay two pounds extra buying a ticket online - really the whole thing is a farce.

Have you tried buying a ticket from somewhere like ticketmaster??

by **brucie** » 27 Dec 2013, 13:23

And can someone explain to me why I have to pay two pounds extra buying a ticket online - really the whole thing is a farce.

by **brucie** » 27 Dec 2013, 13:22

Your right the whole thing is a complete and utter frigging joke. I have just spent 35 minutes on the phone to Plainmoor - guess what noone can be arsed to answer the bloody thing. And there supposed to be selling tickets for feck sake.
No doubt whoever is suppposed to be manning the phone has pissed off for lunch.
I have actually now managed to order the tickets using the online facility - that took me another half an hour.
The whole thing needs reassessing completely - the tannoy announcer at Fridays game kept banghing on about how it was not possible to buy a ticket for the Exeter game on the day - its a joke when the ground is half full for these games. The club should be lookking for ways to sell tickets on the day not putting people off
How much money are we losing when noone is answering the phone. If people are turning up on the day and being turned away its a disgrace.
Do we actually want the income or not - those in charge such as Andrew Candy are sat on their arses congratulating themselves on what they have done with the online ticketing system but are assuming that everyone who wants to buy a ticket will use it.
They just cannot see that noit everyone will do so.

by **Swanny** » 27 Dec 2013, 13:11

I really hope the board re-assess the ticketing arrangements next season as not selling tickets on the day has killed the casual supporter. At every all ticket match I've been to this season I've seen supporters without tickets turned away. The club has lost thousands of pounds as a result as well as better atmospheres at the big games. Look at the crowds for Portmouth, Plymouth and Bristol Rovers and they are simply awful. You would think we are Accrington!

I think the online ticketing is impressive and will suit some who want a particular seat and guanantee of getting in but it is not everyones cup of tea. Lots of people, including myself, like to do things on the spur of the moment and how they feel at the time. For example if I fancy going to the cinema I do not expect to have to pre-book it. And for a league 2 match I expect the same especially as it's hardly going to be a sell-out. Besides do you really want to have queue up twice? At each game before a match I notice a really long queue outside the ticket office and is a right turn-off for many supporters.

Can someone confirm if you pay a surcharge if you order online? I believe you only pay a surcharge if you get the tickets posted to you but could someone confirm if this is true or not.

by **wivelgull** » 27 Dec 2013, 11:57

As always, brucie is correct. When you remember the Boxing Day crowds of the past, and compare them with the pathetic 3400+ yesterday, then there is clearly something wrong. I think it is unreasonable and silly police demands that is the cause (and, of course, the dreadful football served up this season).

by **Gullscorer** » 27 Dec 2013, 11:51

Quite agree Brucie. Why can't the club do what National Express do? Go to the website, check availability, order and pay for your ticket (credit or debit card), then print it out. Or make a phone call, check availability, order and pay for your ticket, then go and pick it up, right up to departure time. You don't even need a ticket; just the unique Identification Number, which you can note at the time you order, then give this number to the coach driver. Simple.

by **brucie** » 27 Dec 2013, 09:07

Irrespective of the ticketing issue making these games all ticket is destroying football. The crowd was pathetic really for a boxing day local derby.
Really its Health and Safety gone mad. Perhaps I can see the logic of making the game all ticket to away fans but they only sold half their allocation.
There wasn't a hint of trouble - there won't be on sunday.
Who actually makes the decision that you cannot purchase tickets on the day of the game - is it the police or is it the club? - for a club that is attracting 3 or 4 thousand its a nonsense.
If you need to control numbers then why an earth couldn't you sell tickets for the game up to kick off time?
If people could have turned up and got in yesterday the gate would have probably increased by hundreds.

by **AustrianAndyGull** » 26 Dec 2013, 12:58

I think the argument will run and run as regards the best policy for selling tickets as there are some disagreements about it on this thread. Personally I'm in the camp that the club do more than enough to enable us to buy tickets but I can see ways in which many of you highlighted which could make it even easier for those not happy. It's just a question of whether the club could incorporate these other methods viably in their arrangements. For example, the club closing early on Christmas Eve. Could this have been avoided and how? Maybe if the club did some market research for future things like this amongst fans to get their opinions then maybe they can see if it's a serious enough issue to be acted upon.

by **Gullscorer** » 26 Dec 2013, 12:44

My original view was that the game should not have been all-ticket. But now I've come round to thinking that the problem is not being all-ticket, but rather it's the way in which the tickets are sold, the restrictions on availability. In the modern age of internet and telephone communication, it should be quite possible for anyone to check availability almost up to kick-off time without having to make speculative last-minute trips to the ground, so there should be no need for the club to ban sales on the day. Whether or not it's a club decision or one made on police advice (and police advice is usually interpreted as an order), for a ground with a capacity of about 6000 it is indeed ridiculous.

by **Parry** » 26 Dec 2013, 12:24

A few hundred fans will have been put off today because of this ticketing. Stupid from a club who are desperate for the cash.

by **Gullscorer** » 26 Dec 2013, 12:08

I may be wrong, because I've not been to the theatre for years, but I believe theatre shows are always all-ticket, and any unsold tickets can still be sold right up to the time of performance; it only needs a phone call to the theatre to check the situation.

So if theatres can do this, why should it not be possible to phone a football ground on the day to see if there are any tickets remaining, and purchase and pick up prior to the game? Seems to me that football clubs are turning away much potential income, particularly on days like today. No doubt Plainmoor today will be about three-quarters full at most.

by **Richinns** » 26 Dec 2013, 11:27

I am with Shane on this.

I would expect the club shop and tickets for purchase to be available until 5pm Christmas Eve. Every other retail business are so why not the clubs?

That said - they weren't so may be the club can look at this in the future but for now is it not better left and lets all move forward and hope for another decent performance and three points today.

by **AustrianAndyGull** » 26 Dec 2013, 10:52

Fonda wrote:With respect Andy, that's a crock of shite and barely deserves a response. Support Argyle because they're 'bigger and have 'better infrastructure'? I'm not a child. I support Torquay because I was born and bred here. You have managed to stumble upon the issue though - the club are playing on the conscience of supporters. Taking advantage because we're not just 'customers' we're 'supporters'. Well, whilst that might work for the die-hards, it's not destined to entice any latent support.

Haha, no worries Fonda.

Was a bit of a petulant response I admit.

Agree wholeheartedly with your last point though. Although the club do promote themselves to potential fans I have always felt they don't even scratch the surface and they don't offer enough to the potential fans they get inside the ground to a game either. The matchday experience is pretty bad from the catering upwards and I don't want to criticise uneccessarily but I always feel they know most of the regulars will pay and accept any old sh*te right across the board because they are 'fans' and will come regardless. Without a radical change in direction, someone with a 5th of the ideas of Sir Alan Sugar and the energy of Louis Spence heading our marketing and matchday experiences then we'll never get any new fans in who aren't kids of current fans. That's how I see it.

by **Fonda** » 26 Dec 2013, 10:40

With respect Andy, that's a crock of shite and barely deserves a response. Support Argyle because they're 'bigger and have 'better infrastructure'? I'm not a child. I support Torquay because I was born and bred here. You have managed to stumble upon the issue though - the club are playing on the conscience of supporters. Taking advantage because we're not just 'customers' we're 'supporters'. Well, whilst that might work for the die-hards, it's not destined to entice any latent support.

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