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Kingsland Closed for the FA Cup


Whitey Grandad

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I went out of my way to go to the ticket office this morning to get my usual seat for the FA Cup 3rd round only to be told that the Kingsland was closed for this game. The desk clerk said 'it's only Rotherham and it's two days after the new year so we only expect 16,000 and the Kingsland is a big block'. What kind of thinking is this? I and thousands of others come to watch Saints, not the opposition. On that basis I wouldn't have bought two season tickets for League 1. And the prospectus said that we would have priority for our seat for cup games, but that never seems to be the case. I walked away without buying a ticket and I was not the only one to do so. The OS is unclear on this merely stating that 'only certain blocks in the Kingsland will be open'. I post this as a warning to any season-ticket holder in the Kingsland not to bother to try and buy their regualr seat.

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Arh ...dont worry about it. This was always going to raise its ugly head the moment NC and ML did things that had been done before to 'save money' - We have to remember that ML and NC want teh cluib to be self financing - yes they may drop a few quid in for playesr but daya to day operations need to well managed and realistic - and thta means reducing costs if only 16k are likley to show up... All I woudl say is this. If fans buy early and there is the demand, it will be easier for them then to add one block at a time as the demand increases - common sense really.

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Arh ...dont worry about it. This was always going to raise its ugly head the moment NC and ML did things that had been done before to 'save money' - We have to remember that ML and NC want teh cluib to be self financing - yes they may drop a few quid in for playesr but daya to day operations need to well managed and realistic - and thta means reducing costs if only 16k are likley to show up... All I woudl say is this. If fans buy early and there is the demand' date=' it will be easier for them then to add one block at a time as the demand increases - common sense really.[/quote']

Understandable but flawed in my opinion. The fans who would buy early are the same fans who will wait until the Kingsland centre is opened, which it won't be because not enough fans will have bought tickets. Surely the better option would have been to start with the Kingsland and Itchen centres and then spread out from there? As I said before, if you have a season ticket in the Kingsland then don't bother trying to buy it because you can't.

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The designated seat can be changed even for league games at the club's discretion but they guarantee a seat of equal value in lieu under rule 6 in the front of the ticket.

 

I fully sympathise, as I would be disappointed if I couldn't get my usual seats. I can understand the JPT and the Carling Cup but I would have thought the club would have been a bit more circumspect with the FA Cup.

 

I think that the way the team is now playing together with the results would have more of an influence on how many go rather than who we are playing. After all it is a Saturday match.

 

I would have thought if we have a good run, that the gate would be getting close to 20000. By closing sections of the ground the club are themselves limiting the gate. If the Kingsland and Chapel are reopened it will bring a lot of extra work as those with tickets will want to change back, although I can't see that happening. More like opening blocks next to the Northam corner.

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On the few occasions that this sort of thing crops up I look upon it as an opportunity to explore other parts of the ground and get a different perspective of the game !

IMHO it is no big deal and if it is good for the club then it will be good for me in the long term !

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Kingsland is not visible when the goals are shown on TV, hence they've closed it, so it improves the perception of SFC to the TV audience.

 

Ultimately, if enough people go to the game, the Kingsland will have to open. The Club should still be encouraging people to go on the OS as the prices are pretty good.

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Jesus

 

what an utterly pathetic reason not to get a ticket

you should feel silly

It isn't and I don't.

I have two season tickets in prime position on the halfway line and I have had them since we moved to St. Mary's. If I wanted to sit behind the goal then I would have bought season tickets there. My big complaint is that I wasted 45 minutes this morning going out of my way so as to be reasonbly sure of getting my usual seat and it was a waste of my time which is very valuable to me, and I was not the only whose time was wasted this morning. There is no mention of any of these wholesale closures on the OS. Those of you who only attend the occasional match may not care where you sit or who you sit next to but we season ticket holders who have been supporting the club financially through thin and thin like the comradeship and familiarity of our matchday routine. As I say, I should have thought that the club would start with opening the Itchen and Kingsland and then progress from there, as they have done in previous matches where a low trurnout was expected.

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It isn't and I don't.

I have two season tickets in prime position on the halfway line and I have had them since we moved to St. Mary's. If I wanted to sit behind the goal then I would have bought season tickets there. My big complaint is that I wasted 45 minutes this morning going out of my way so as to be reasonbly sure of getting my usual seat and it was a waste of my time which is very valuable to me, and I was not the only whose time was wasted this morning. There is no mention of any of these wholesale closures on the OS. Those of you who only attend the occasional match may not care where you sit or who you sit next to but we season ticket holders who have been supporting the club financially through thin and thin like the comradeship and familiarity of our matchday routine. As I say, I should have thought that the club would start with opening the Itchen and Kingsland and then progress from there, as they have done in previous matches where a low trurnout was expected.

 

I'm a ST holder, I love my seat. But if the club announce a stand closure for ONE game which makes sense, then I have no problem with going somewhere else.

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One of the problems is that many Kingsland regulars (of which I am one) will have nowhere else to go. The Itchen will be sold out, and a ticket in the Northam will mean standing up for most of the match/the entire game - something many of us would love to do (as we used to in the Good Old Days) but simply can no longer manage.

 

So they won't buy a ticket and the club will assume, not unreasonably, there is little damand.

 

A problem with no easy solution. I've handled it by buying a ticket in the Itchen but the race will be to the swift.

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I went out of my way to go to the ticket office this morning to get my usual seat for the FA Cup 3rd round only to be told that the Kingsland was closed for this game. The desk clerk said 'it's only Rotherham and it's two days after the new year so we only expect 16,000 and the Kingsland is a big block'. What kind of thinking is this? I and thousands of others come to watch Saints, not the opposition. On that basis I wouldn't have bought two season tickets for League 1. And the prospectus said that we would have priority for our seat for cup games, but that never seems to be the case. I walked away without buying a ticket and I was not the only one to do so. The OS is unclear on this merely stating that 'only certain blocks in the Kingsland will be open'. I post this as a warning to any season-ticket holder in the Kingsland not to bother to try and buy their regualr seat.

 

Stop being so b****y precious and get your a**e down there. Jesus!

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I bought 5 tickets this morning for the FA Cup. Our season tickets are in Kingsland Centre pretty close to the half way line. They told me Kingsland is closed (at the moment) although I think I knew this anyway as I'm sure I saw it on the OS. I therefore bought 5 in the Itchen as close as to the centre line as I could get them. I don't really see the problem. Get in quickly enough and you'll get a pretty good seat albeit not your usual one.

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The Itchen will not be sold out, and if you wanna sit down in the Northam buy from rows A to M.

I promise you it is not a case of stting down all game in those rows.It is up down, up down all frigging game. The stewards are at us all the time.

As for the opening post, have I missed something and Rotherham have gone through???

I doubt Luton will be very pleased if we are dismissing them already.Strangley i expect if Luton are our opponents then they will mean a bigger gate.

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I promise you it is not a case of stting down all game in those rows.It is up down, up down all frigging game. The stewards are at us all the time.

As for the opening post, have I missed something and Rotherham have gone through???

I doubt Luton will be very pleased if we are dismissing them already.Strangley i expect if Luton are our opponents then they will mean a bigger gate.

 

I know mate, I sit there. But after a while in League games everyone just sits down automatically, so for a cup game V Rotheram it will be seating all the time.

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It isn't and I don't.

I have two season tickets in prime position on the halfway line and I have had them since we moved to St. Mary's. If I wanted to sit behind the goal then I would have bought season tickets there. My big complaint is that I wasted 45 minutes this morning going out of my way so as to be reasonbly sure of getting my usual seat and it was a waste of my time which is very valuable to me, and I was not the only whose time was wasted this morning. There is no mention of any of these wholesale closures on the OS. Those of you who only attend the occasional match may not care where you sit or who you sit next to but we season ticket holders who have been supporting the club financially through thin and thin like the comradeship and familiarity of our matchday routine. As I say, I should have thought that the club would start with opening the Itchen and Kingsland and then progress from there, as they have done in previous matches where a low trurnout was expected.

 

I must admit, I did take it to mean the Kingsland/Northam corner plus the Northam and the Itchen as previously.

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That's what I was told... :o
Well a friend plays for Luton and he has kept that quiet, we were due to all go out tuesday night into salisbury but he cancelled until next week due to playing so????.In fact the family is divided as some are going to support Luton!!!!!!
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I promise you it is not a case of stting down all game in those rows.It is up down, up down all frigging game. The stewards are at us all the time.

As for the opening post, have I missed something and Rotherham have gone through???

I doubt Luton will be very pleased if we are dismissing them already.Strangley i expect if Luton are our opponents then they will mean a bigger gate.

 

That's what I was thinking. Luton will easily bring a couple of thousand and they are quite capable of turning Rotherham over tomorrow evening.

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We sit in the centre of the Kingsland, where we get an excellent view, and sit with people that we used to sit with at the Dell. We all moved en masse from the East Stand, and the Kingsland Centre has been very full of long-term season tickets holders, even in the worst of times. Therefore, it would not seem to make sense to close off some of the best positioned seats which are the most regularly used, through thick or thin.

 

Reading through the info on the official site, it just states that some of the Kingsland areas will be closed off, but doesn't tell you which ones. Wouldn't it just be clearer to let everyone know which areas of the ground are open? Otherwise, everyone who buys a ticket who wants to sit in a particular area has to go through a conversation at the ticket office or on the phone finding out the information individually.

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I despair of some Saints fans sometimes. I am unashamedly 1970's/80' old school and it used to be that you supported Saints rain or shine through thick and thin - till you die. Now it seems you only support he Saints if you can get your "own" comfy seat and not be bothered by other people standing up or shouting loudly. I'm sure this sort of conversation doesn't go on with the scousers or geordies - but could be wrong. I guess we get the club we as fans deserve and if you're half-hearted in your support you get a half-hearted club. I'm sick of being out passioned (if there is such a term) by Pompey but have to say some of you lot provide the evidence.

 

Get a grip.

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I despair of some Saints fans sometimes. I am unashamedly 1970's/80' old school and it used to be that you supported Saints rain or shine through thick and thin - till you die. Now it seems you only support he Saints if you can get your "own" comfy seat and not be bothered by other people standing up or shouting loudly. I'm sure this sort of conversation doesn't go on with the scousers or geordies - but could be wrong. I guess we get the club we as fans deserve and if you're half-hearted in your support you get a half-hearted club. I'm sick of being out passioned (if there is such a term) by Pompey but have to say some of you lot provide the evidence.

 

Get a grip.

I didn't say I wouldn't go if I could not sit in my usual seat, just that I made a special journey today so that I could have a reasonable chance of buying it only to find that the whole of the Kingsland was closed with no mention of this on the OS, and I wasn't the only one. There's no point getting a ticket today in case circumstances change so I might just as well wait until nearer the game, or even turn up on the day. For those people who are thinking of buying a season ticket this is one more reason not to. Some of you have obviously studied customer relations at the (insert pet hate here) British Gas school of commerce. ;)

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I can understand Whitey Grandads initial frustration. When you buy a season ticket you know it does not include cup games but you expect to have first pick for your usual seat.

 

Cost cutting is necessary in this division and few will argue with that. Why the Itchen open? Well I suspect that is because the Corporate Boxes and "Directors" seats are in that stand. The Northam holds our noisiest supporters.

 

I would suggest Whitey emails David Lucker, point out his frustration but understanding and ask if he would email should the sales justify opening Kingsland Central later this month so that he can make a decision when and where to puchase a seat for the game.

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