Stadium Upgrades - Block 31 Kingsland..

[Whitey Grandad]

46 minutes ago, Griffo said:

A generic reply to MLG/those saying fuck off and support Pompey:

You may think the club exists for us to play in the best league, sat on our arses wanking over the quality of opposition, but to many others that's not the case.

I may be factually incorrect about the shareholder situation, but the club are a commercial entity that exist to profit. I don't like it, but understand it. However ticket revenue is such a small % of their income, yet they still hang fans upside down and shake them until their pockets are empty. 

There are many, many examples that show the blatant disregard that the club has for its core support. The free bar in the Kingsland changed to the Gasworks that no fucker will ever pay for. The constant playing along with whatever virtue signalling nonsense is flavour of the month (transvestite flags, tampons in toilets, taking the knee). A fans panel made up of social media celebrities that will lap up whatever the club tell them rather than lobbying for any real change. The ticket office taking reduced allocations at away games to save themselves a few pennies, with no real knowledge behind the decision making process. Selling corporate tickets to away fans in the Itchen North, with stewards doing nothing about celebrating away fans in there, instead turning their attention to ejecting/banning home fans that dare kick up a stink about it below them. £250k given to the club by Virgin Media to benefit away fans (most clubs put on free travel for their own fans etc), what do Saints do? Redecorate the away end for visiting fans at St Mary's! Pretty much every club doesn't give away fans 10% of the ground due to segregation, but what do SFC do, take tickets off Saints fans to ensure away fans do get their full 10%. Lots of clubs have come out to advocate for safe standing at football - not a peep from Saints. 

The Premier League is not the be all and end all of football. Virgins all over social media that only care about who the club are signing and for how much, fans online calling for a managers head after a few bad results, abusing our players after one bad performance, and fans in the ground holding up signs asking for opposition players shirts. Irregular kick off times in the premier league and not being able to plan an away day until much closer to the fixture, meaning increased travel costs and unsociable kick off times. Bland, soulless football grounds full of mute customers that want to take pictures, film and vlog everything that happens. Our fans fawning over the potential of Red Bull taking over the club for a bit more success, with no care for the history or tradition of the club. An entire football season of utter shit can be made worthwhile by one moment (Shane Long at Anfield, for example) - now those moments have been taken away from fans in order to ensure an armpit isn't offside.

At a time when COVID has impacted peoples jobs, income, mental health and way of life, and fans are finally beginning to be allowed back in stadiums, Saints yet again fall so far wide of the mark. They have paid lip service to the greed of the european super league, but again their actions don't support their words. 

 

 

Well put. It sums it all up for me. 

In my case it would be £300 extra for each of two seats. That's almost a 50% price increase. 

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, SaintH said:

And the announcement timed just after the last home game of the season, so no fans can show their objection in the stadium - and the letters sent out to arrive on a Saturday, again so no one can speak to the club - and I’m told the ticket office is closed this week so again, no one can be contacted. They know exactly what they are doing. Cowards. 

When I rang the ticket office Monday last week about the arrangements for the Leeds game I asked about changing the name on my wife's ticket. They told me to wait until the new season tickets went on sale. I asked when this would be and was told "in a week or so". So any moment now. Presumably that's why the office is closed.

[angelman]

I'm in Block 30 and quite happy there. Wouldn't think it worth while upgrading unless there was more leg room and more shoulder room. Who cares about a padded seat? If it really is an issue then you can bring along a cushion. A lot cheaper than paying £250 a ticket. 

 

[Whitey Grandad]

49 minutes ago, angelman said:

I'm in Block 30 and quite happy there. Wouldn't think it worth while upgrading unless there was more leg room and more shoulder room. Who cares about a padded seat? If it really is an issue then you can bring along a cushion. A lot cheaper than paying £250 a ticket. 

 

When my father in law lived in Christchurch in the 1970s we used to go along to Bournemouth and sat on wooden benches with a seat cushion that you rented for a few pence.

Proper football.

[SaintH]

For those of you who this directly affects, I emailed the club and I received the following response which was sent to me “personally” - but which is the same response sent to someone else I know in Block 31. Clearly they didn’t even bother to read my email. 
 

Many thanks for your email to our Director of Sales Anthony Cole-Johnson who has read your comments and requested that I respond.

We appreciate the subject of the letter was highly emotive, and you can be rest assured we don’t take these decisions lightly, especially at a time when more than ever, having fans away has been sorely missed, and we can’t wait to welcome everyone back.

As we shared before, we have recently committed to several stadium improvements over the Summer, some of which we have already started, such as the new scoreboard project, and a number of further initiatives that will genuinely improve the whole fan experience, and environment around St Mary’s which we will announce nearer to the close season.

We have over several seasons been proud to freeze the price of general admission season tickets, whilst extending concessional rates up to 25-year-olds, and to all those fans aged over 65 where previously they were not offered. In real terms, we have reduced for many the cost of coming to football at St Mary’s over the years, and have tried to be more accessible than ever, hence the £399 season ticket in the Chapel, and a £19 ticket seasonally in the Family Stand for U11s. The introduction of the “Kingsland Plus” season ticket is designed to offer an enhanced general admission experience for those wishing to choose something different from our usual hospitality offer, but still a better more comfortable seat than the standard seat in the stadium; indeed, we have priced it fairly to similar seats at other Premier League clubs.

The adult pricing structure of £999 is applicable to renewing season ticket holders only, with concessions priced at £929 for those aged under 25 and over 65- we didn’t make that clear in the first letter so our apologies. Additionally, those wishing to take advantage of a Gasworks membership can do so for just £29 (normally priced at £99), which works out at just over £1.50 per league fixture.

As mentioned in the letter, a seat has been reserved for you within Block 31 of the Kingsland Stand as we do hope this new seat works for you. If you feel, after reflection, this option isn’t for you, we will assist you in working out alternative options in Blocks 30 and 32 where the adult renewal price is £737 and £660 for concessions, or of course other areas such as the Chapel.

Rest assured, we have given absolute priority for current Kingsland Plus seat holders to move to either Blocks 30 and 32 if the new seat doesn’t work for you, and we can help to assist anyone wishing to relocate.   Should you wish to move to a different block or discuss this further, please contact our ticket office on 02381 780 780 from 3pm on Tuesday 25 May.Alternatively, we can arrange for a member of the team to contact you directly.

And finally, we wanted you to know that we took the decision to write to you personally to be open and transparent as to what we are doing and why.  Though in this instance we may not be agreeable, we felt it proper to inform those fans affected by the change prior to the wider release to give you the time as we know it’s a big decision. Should you require anything further our ticketing team will be happy to assist.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us, and we genuinely hope that we can welcome back to St Mary’s soon.

Kind regards,
Jim


Jim Gay
Supporter Services Manager
Southampton FC
T: 02380 711980
 

Make of it what you will - but I’m not sure that Marcus would have been too happy to throw long standing loyal supporters under the bus! 

[miserableoldgit]

14 minutes ago, SaintH said:

For those of you who this directly affects, I emailed the club and I received the following response which was sent to me “personally” - but which is the same response sent to someone else I know in Block 31. Clearly they didn’t even bother to read my email. 
 

Many thanks for your email to our Director of Sales Anthony Cole-Johnson who has read your comments and requested that I respond.

We appreciate the subject of the letter was highly emotive, and you can be rest assured we don’t take these decisions lightly, especially at a time when more than ever, having fans away has been sorely missed, and we can’t wait to welcome everyone back.

As we shared before, we have recently committed to several stadium improvements over the Summer, some of which we have already started, such as the new scoreboard project, and a number of further initiatives that will genuinely improve the whole fan experience, and environment around St Mary’s which we will announce nearer to the close season.

We have over several seasons been proud to freeze the price of general admission season tickets, whilst extending concessional rates up to 25-year-olds, and to all those fans aged over 65 where previously they were not offered. In real terms, we have reduced for many the cost of coming to football at St Mary’s over the years, and have tried to be more accessible than ever, hence the £399 season ticket in the Chapel, and a £19 ticket seasonally in the Family Stand for U11s. The introduction of the “Kingsland Plus” season ticket is designed to offer an enhanced general admission experience for those wishing to choose something different from our usual hospitality offer, but still a better more comfortable seat than the standard seat in the stadium; indeed, we have priced it fairly to similar seats at other Premier League clubs.

The adult pricing structure of £999 is applicable to renewing season ticket holders only, with concessions priced at £929 for those aged under 25 and over 65- we didn’t make that clear in the first letter so our apologies. Additionally, those wishing to take advantage of a Gasworks membership can do so for just £29 (normally priced at £99), which works out at just over £1.50 per league fixture.

As mentioned in the letter, a seat has been reserved for you within Block 31 of the Kingsland Stand as we do hope this new seat works for you. If you feel, after reflection, this option isn’t for you, we will assist you in working out alternative options in Blocks 30 and 32 where the adult renewal price is £737 and £660 for concessions, or of course other areas such as the Chapel.

Rest assured, we have given absolute priority for current Kingsland Plus seat holders to move to either Blocks 30 and 32 if the new seat doesn’t work for you, and we can help to assist anyone wishing to relocate.   Should you wish to move to a different block or discuss this further, please contact our ticket office on 02381 780 780 from 3pm on Tuesday 25 May.Alternatively, we can arrange for a member of the team to contact you directly.

And finally, we wanted you to know that we took the decision to write to you personally to be open and transparent as to what we are doing and why.  Though in this instance we may not be agreeable, we felt it proper to inform those fans affected by the change prior to the wider release to give you the time as we know it’s a big decision. Should you require anything further our ticketing team will be happy to assist.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us, and we genuinely hope that we can welcome back to St Mary’s soon.

Kind regards,
Jim


Jim Gay
Supporter Services Manager
Southampton FC
T: 02380 711980
 

Make of it what you will - but I’m not sure that Marcus would have been too happy to throw long standing loyal supporters under the bus! 

Yep....exactly the same for me....

[Whitey Grandad]

As an old git myself I count as one of the concessions. These prices mean a price rise for me despite being forced to move to what used to be a lower priced seat.

Edited 24 May, 2021 by Whitey Grandad

[Katalinic]

Pretty arrogant response imo, not least that Cole-Johnson deemed it below himself to directly reply to an e-mail addressed to him personally.  In a nutshell it basically says "legacy fans" can do one.  All this talk of stadium experience is essentially bollocks, as someone said other day the best way to improve the experience is to win more matches.

[BTW Saint]

10 hours ago, SaintH said:

For those of you who this directly affects, I emailed the club and I received the following response which was sent to me “personally” - but which is the same response sent to someone else I know in Block 31. Clearly they didn’t even bother to read my email. 
 

Many thanks for your email to our Director of Sales Anthony Cole-Johnson who has read your comments and requested that I respond.

We appreciate the subject of the letter was highly emotive, and you can be rest assured we don’t take these decisions lightly, especially at a time when more than ever, having fans away has been sorely missed, and we can’t wait to welcome everyone back.

As we shared before, we have recently committed to several stadium improvements over the Summer, some of which we have already started, such as the new scoreboard project, and a number of further initiatives that will genuinely improve the whole fan experience, and environment around St Mary’s which we will announce nearer to the close season.

We have over several seasons been proud to freeze the price of general admission season tickets, whilst extending concessional rates up to 25-year-olds, and to all those fans aged over 65 where previously they were not offered. In real terms, we have reduced for many the cost of coming to football at St Mary’s over the years, and have tried to be more accessible than ever, hence the £399 season ticket in the Chapel, and a £19 ticket seasonally in the Family Stand for U11s. The introduction of the “Kingsland Plus” season ticket is designed to offer an enhanced general admission experience for those wishing to choose something different from our usual hospitality offer, but still a better more comfortable seat than the standard seat in the stadium; indeed, we have priced it fairly to similar seats at other Premier League clubs.

The adult pricing structure of £999 is applicable to renewing season ticket holders only, with concessions priced at £929 for those aged under 25 and over 65- we didn’t make that clear in the first letter so our apologies. Additionally, those wishing to take advantage of a Gasworks membership can do so for just £29 (normally priced at £99), which works out at just over £1.50 per league fixture.

As mentioned in the letter, a seat has been reserved for you within Block 31 of the Kingsland Stand as we do hope this new seat works for you. If you feel, after reflection, this option isn’t for you, we will assist you in working out alternative options in Blocks 30 and 32 where the adult renewal price is £737 and £660 for concessions, or of course other areas such as the Chapel.

Rest assured, we have given absolute priority for current Kingsland Plus seat holders to move to either Blocks 30 and 32 if the new seat doesn’t work for you, and we can help to assist anyone wishing to relocate.   Should you wish to move to a different block or discuss this further, please contact our ticket office on 02381 780 780 from 3pm on Tuesday 25 May.Alternatively, we can arrange for a member of the team to contact you directly.

And finally, we wanted you to know that we took the decision to write to you personally to be open and transparent as to what we are doing and why.  Though in this instance we may not be agreeable, we felt it proper to inform those fans affected by the change prior to the wider release to give you the time as we know it’s a big decision. Should you require anything further our ticketing team will be happy to assist.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us, and we genuinely hope that we can welcome back to St Mary’s soon.

Kind regards,
Jim


Jim Gay
Supporter Services Manager
Southampton FC
T: 02380 711980
 

Make of it what you will - but I’m not sure that Marcus would have been too happy to throw long standing loyal supporters under the bus! 

Will those of us who decide not to renew or take am alternative seat, and generously did not demand a refund of last years ST back be able to obtain this now.  Letter now includes prices for alterative seats in block 30 and 32 however until ST renewals sorted availability will be limited. I however expect a lot of fans will not renew at £999 for Kingsland Plus or £737 for the other blocks.

Edited 25 May, 2021 by BTW Saint
Correction

[SaintH]

22 minutes ago, BTW Saint said:

Will those of us who decide not to renew or take am alternative seat, and generously did not demand a refund of last years ST back be able to obtain this now.  Letter now includes prices for alterative seats in block 30 and 32 however until ST renewals sorted availability will be limited. I however expect a lot of fans will not renew at £999 for Kingsland Plus or £737 for the other blocks.

They do not want us to renew within Block 31. They want to clear us all out of the way so more corporates can take the seats. 

[Chris cooper]

20 minutes ago, SaintH said:

They do not want us to renew within Block 31. They want to clear us all out of the way so more corporates can take the seats. 

Bingo !!! 

[beatlesaint]

26 minutes ago, SaintH said:

They do not want us to renew within Block 31. They want to clear us all out of the way so more corporates can take the seats. 

I wonder if they will block off that part of the concourse so the corporates don’t have to mingle with the great unwashed ?

[TakingSandbanks]

Judging by the renewal price given in that letter for Blocks 30 and 32 - it looks like the prices have been increased by £216 from last Season. 

[positivepete]

I had been a season ticket since the last few seasons at The Dell.  After many years in block 31 - I moved there with my son when the Kingsland Corner was shut back in the day - I didn’t renew this season just finished for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, it was pretty obvious at the time that we would not get to see many games, and secondly, because they introduced the electronic ticket.  For me this presented a big problem that the club were unwilling to discuss.  I normally miss a number of matches each season because of international business travel.  My granddaughter had replaced my son as my matchday companion, and when I am away a family member, or a friend takes my place.  Of course this becomes virtually impossible if the ticket is on your phone, unless you buy a phone for that purpose.

Today, we see the situation is compounded by the news that the Premier League want to add your vaccine status to your ticket to ensure full grounds, and to reduce ticket touts (not a big problem at Saints).

Having watched my first match way back in 1966, I suspect that now I have seen my last match.  Although I work in the digital data interoperability space for industrial data, the creeping use of linking personal data is going too far for me.  There is no justification for linking your vaccine status to your season ticket status.  
 

I will greatly miss all the friendships I made over the years in Block 31.  Perhaps we should start a “survivors group”.

 

[The Cat]

Is that graphic a new one or is it from last season? 

If it's new then it has the premium seats are £899 and not £999? And what's the loyalty price, is that those of us who had season tickets in League 1?

I'm confused now.

6 minutes ago, TakingSandbanks said:

Judging by the renewal price given in that letter for Blocks 30 and 32 - it looks like the prices have been increased by £216 from last Season. 

 

[The Cat]

2 minutes ago, positivepete said:

I had been a season ticket since the last few seasons at The Dell.  After many years in block 31 - I moved there with my son when the Kingsland Corner was shut back in the day - I didn’t renew this season just finished for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, it was pretty obvious at the time that we would not get to see many games, and secondly, because they introduced the electronic ticket.  For me this presented a big problem that the club were unwilling to discuss.  I normally miss a number of matches each season because of international business travel.  My granddaughter had replaced my son as my matchday companion, and when I am away a family member, or a friend takes my place.  Of course this becomes virtually impossible if the ticket is on your phone, unless you buy a phone for that purpose.

Today, we see the situation is compounded by the news that the Premier League want to add your vaccine status to your ticket to ensure full grounds, and to reduce ticket touts (not a big problem at Saints).

Having watched my first match way back in 1966, I suspect that now I have seen my last match.  Although I work in the digital data interoperability space for industrial data, the creeping use of linking personal data is going too far for me.  There is no justification for linking your vaccine status to your season ticket status.  
 

I will greatly miss all the friendships I made over the years in Block 31.  Perhaps we should start a “survivors group”.

 

Adding a vaccine status to tickets is beyond a joke. By the time the season starts pretty much every adult would be fully jabbed up, and if you are one of the people who is refusing it then you know what the consequences are.

Regards electronic tickets, can't you screenshot it and send to a friend? They never check them properly. 

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, The Cat said:

Is that graphic a new one or is it from last season? 

If it's new then it has the premium seats are £899 and not £999? And what's the loyalty price, is that those of us who had season tickets in League 1?

I'm confused now.

 

a loyalty price is based on a point systems

Most £ spent on club shop/online = 5 points per £

amount of times used the grassing hotline = 10 points per grass

positive posts on social media = 10 points

likes on clubs facebook page = 1 point per like

Fan loyalty is not defined by how long you've supported your club or how many times you go. 

[positivepete]

Regarding the “league 1” loyalty.  This was promised in the past and nothing came of it. 

regarding the “screenshot” yes, that did occur to me, but one day they will start to check the tickets.

Frankly, we should not be vaccinating children for this virus, and if anyone isn’t vaccinated, the EPL are suggesting adding virus checks to the app.  Down this road lies madness.

[Turkish]

20 hours ago, angelman said:

I'm in Block 30 and quite happy there. Wouldn't think it worth while upgrading unless there was more leg room and more shoulder room. Who cares about a padded seat? If it really is an issue then you can bring along a cushion. A lot cheaper than paying £250 a ticket. 

 

That could be used as a weapon so you will not be permitted access with such an item.

[SaintsLoyal]

Well i think its more than obvious going on the current climate and 'performances' on the pitch that there shouldnt be any price increases.

I expect to see 10-15% of season tickets not renewed and this could get messy with crazy price increases being demanded. 

 

 

 

[TakingSandbanks]

24 minutes ago, The Cat said:

Is that graphic a new one or is it from last season? 

If it's new then it has the premium seats are £899 and not £999? And what's the loyalty price, is that those of us who had season tickets in League 1?

I'm confused now.

 

Apologies for the confusion. That graphic is from last season ( 2020/21) - where the Loyalty Price included the balance from the last four home games of the 2019/20 that were played behind closed doors due to COVID. My understanding is the new prices have not been announced yet - however, the letter that a fan above received from the Supporter Services Manager leaks the renewal price for Blocks 30 and 32 as being £737, an increase of £216.  

[Kingsland Codger]

I am a season ticket holder in block 30. The cost for my ST for the season just finished was £737 (plus a booking fee of £1.25). This includes VAT of £122.83. 

[ecuk268]

1 hour ago, Chris cooper said:

Bingo !!! 

But will they sell all of those seats to corporate buyers?

Over the last few seasons the executive boxes seemed a bit empty, so is the demand there?

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, positivepete said:

I had been a season ticket since the last few seasons at The Dell.  After many years in block 31 - I moved there with my son when the Kingsland Corner was shut back in the day - I didn’t renew this season just finished for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, it was pretty obvious at the time that we would not get to see many games, and secondly, because they introduced the electronic ticket.  For me this presented a big problem that the club were unwilling to discuss.  I normally miss a number of matches each season because of international business travel.  My granddaughter had replaced my son as my matchday companion, and when I am away a family member, or a friend takes my place.  Of course this becomes virtually impossible if the ticket is on your phone, unless you buy a phone for that purpose.

Today, we see the situation is compounded by the news that the Premier League want to add your vaccine status to your ticket to ensure full grounds, and to reduce ticket touts (not a big problem at Saints).

Having watched my first match way back in 1966, I suspect that now I have seen my last match.  Although I work in the digital data interoperability space for industrial data, the creeping use of linking personal data is going too far for me.  There is no justification for linking your vaccine status to your season ticket status.  
 

I will greatly miss all the friendships I made over the years in Block 31.  Perhaps we should start a “survivors group”.

 

Hi Pete, great to hear from you again.

For what it's worth, here is my gripe that I have just this minute sent to the club,

 

For the attention of Mr.Anthony Cole-Johnson

Dear Sir,

I am writing to protest in the strongest terms possible about our forced ejection from Block 31 in the central Kingsland Stand. There is a group of us there who had sat together in the Upper East Stand at The Dell and we transferred as a block to the new St Mary's stadium. Watching Saints is for us a social occasion as well as a chance to watch a football match. None of us is interested in any seat padding and if it had been a problem we would have brought a cushion with us.

When I first opened the letter I thought it must have been April Fool's Day. What on earth were you thinking to treat such loyal supporters in this manner? Despite some mind-numbingly awful performances in the twenty years since the stadium first opened we have continued to support Southampton FC through thin and thin partly in the knowledge that we were at least retaining our seats in the best position in the ground. If you persist in this nonsense it will mean the breakup of friendships that date back over thirty years.

Financially, times have been hard this past year and the majority of those who sit around me are past retirement age and on a limited income. Yet they have managed to scrape together the money to continue to support the club through all the bad years out of loyalty and love for football. To think that we could cough up an extra 50% for our tickets shows a deep lack of understanding of the value of your 'product'.

In your position as Director of Sales you must surely be aware that once a Season Ticket has been relinquished it is very rare that a new one is bought. I strongly believe that any extra income that you might think you will derive from the new seating arrangements will be offset by the loss of your loyal customer base. How do you think these loyal supporters would feel when they look across at the 'plastic fans' sitting in what they have come to regard as 'their' seat? It would not surprise me if there was a hostile atmosphere around them.

I urge you to reconsider your serious miscalculation.

Yours,

[Hayling Saint]

3 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Hi Pete, great to hear from you again.

For what it's worth, here is my gripe that I have just this minute sent to the club,

 

For the attention of Mr.Anthony Cole-Johnson

Dear Sir,

I am writing to protest in the strongest terms possible about our forced ejection from Block 31 in the central Kingsland Stand. There is a group of us there who had sat together in the Upper East Stand at The Dell and we transferred as a block to the new St Mary's stadium. Watching Saints is for us a social occasion as well as a chance to watch a football match. None of us is interested in any seat padding and if it had been a problem we would have brought a cushion with us.

When I first opened the letter I thought it must have been April Fool's Day. What on earth were you thinking to treat such loyal supporters in this manner? Despite some mind-numbingly awful performances in the twenty years since the stadium first opened we have continued to support Southampton FC through thin and thin partly in the knowledge that we were at least retaining our seats in the best position in the ground. If you persist in this nonsense it will mean the breakup of friendships that date back over thirty years.

Financially, times have been hard this past year and the majority of those who sit around me are past retirement age and on a limited income. Yet they have managed to scrape together the money to continue to support the club through all the bad years out of loyalty and love for football. To think that we could cough up an extra 50% for our tickets shows a deep lack of understanding of the value of your 'product'.

In your position as Director of Sales you must surely be aware that once a Season Ticket has been relinquished it is very rare that a new one is bought. I strongly believe that any extra income that you might think you will derive from the new seating arrangements will be offset by the loss of your loyal customer base. How do you think these loyal supporters would feel when they look across at the 'plastic fans' sitting in what they have come to regard as 'their' seat? It would not surprise me if there was a hostile atmosphere around them.

I urge you to reconsider your serious miscalculation.

Yours,

Totally agree with this. I will not pay the extra and will not move to another area, so they count me out (I have 2 tickets in this area.

[Saint_lambden]

A quite pathetic and cowardly move from the club, something they conveniently neglected to mention at the fans forum a few weeks back. 

Do the people who come up with these ideas seriously think they'll go down well or do they give that little of a sh*t about the average fan that they'll just press ahead with it anyway? 

[Whitey Grandad]

56 minutes ago, Hayling Saint said:

Totally agree with this. I will not pay the extra and will not move to another area, so they count me out (I have 2 tickets in this area.

My situation is that I go along with my grandson who is now 18. Previously I took my daughter and we had our first Season Tickets when she was a young teenager which makes it around the late 1990s. I kept the seats even when she was away at Reading University and she would come home regularly in order to go to matches. When she had moved away from us I kept paying for the tickets so that I could retain the seat position and so that I could take 'friends and family'

My grandson has just finished his A-levels and has yet to decide on whether he will be going to university next year and where it might be so renewal is not certain at the moment. If I am being forced to move seats anyway then there is no incentive for me to renew. This seems to me like a shot in the foot.

If you or anyone else has been affected by these issues then I urge you to send an email to tickets@saintsfc.co.uk

[BTW Saint]

5 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

My situation is that I go along with my grandson who is now 18. Previously I took my daughter and we had our first Season Tickets when she was a young teenager which makes it around the late 1990s. I kept the seats even when she was away at Reading University and she would come home regularly in order to go to matches. When she had moved away from us I kept paying for the tickets so that I could retain the seat position and so that I could take 'friends and family'

My grandson has just finished his A-levels and has yet to decide on whether he will be going to university next year and where it might be so renewal is not certain at the moment. If I am being forced to move seats anyway then there is no incentive for me to renew. This seems to me like a shot in the foot.

If you or anyone else has been affected by these issues then I urge you to send an email to tickets@saintsfc.co.uk

Yes in a similar situation,  with 2 tickets in block 31 with son about to go to University and was already having the same dilemma, however they hold my carried over funds.. No incentive to renew.  Will email the club tickets@saintsfc.co.uk.   

[SaintH]

1 hour ago, Saint_lambden said:

A quite pathetic and cowardly move from the club, something they conveniently neglected to mention at the fans forum a few weeks back. 

Do the people who come up with these ideas seriously think they'll go down well or do they give that little of a sh*t about the average fan that they'll just press ahead with it anyway? 

That’s a really good point. You would have thought they would have been keen to talk about the improvements to the seating at the fans forum - after all they have stressed to us in the letter just how much it will Improve the “match day experience” by having padded seats! 
 

And yet they didn’t even feel the need to mention it until after the last home game of the season - to avoid any group opposition to their plans - despite the fact this plan would have been in place for quite some time. 
 

I agree with you - a pathetic and cowardly move from the club. 

Like others have said before, I will not be renewing in Block 31 or anywhere else for that matter. 

[positivepete]

2 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Hi Pete, great to hear from you again.

For what it's worth, here is my gripe that I have just this minute sent to the club,

 

For the attention of Mr.Anthony Cole-Johnson

Dear Sir,

I am writing to protest in the strongest terms possible about our forced ejection from Block 31 in the central Kingsland Stand. There is a group of us there who had sat together in the Upper East Stand at The Dell and we transferred as a block to the new St Mary's stadium. Watching Saints is for us a social occasion as well as a chance to watch a football match. None of us is interested in any seat padding and if it had been a problem we would have brought a cushion with us.

When I first opened the letter I thought it must have been April Fool's Day. What on earth were you thinking to treat such loyal supporters in this manner? Despite some mind-numbingly awful performances in the twenty years since the stadium first opened we have continued to support Southampton FC through thin and thin partly in the knowledge that we were at least retaining our seats in the best position in the ground. If you persist in this nonsense it will mean the breakup of friendships that date back over thirty years.

Financially, times have been hard this past year and the majority of those who sit around me are past retirement age and on a limited income. Yet they have managed to scrape together the money to continue to support the club through all the bad years out of loyalty and love for football. To think that we could cough up an extra 50% for our tickets shows a deep lack of understanding of the value of your 'product'.

In your position as Director of Sales you must surely be aware that once a Season Ticket has been relinquished it is very rare that a new one is bought. I strongly believe that any extra income that you might think you will derive from the new seating arrangements will be offset by the loss of your loyal customer base. How do you think these loyal supporters would feel when they look across at the 'plastic fans' sitting in what they have come to regard as 'their' seat? It would not surprise me if there was a hostile atmosphere around them.

I urge you to reconsider your serious miscalculation.

Yours,

Good letter “Whitey”.

it will be interesting to see how other fans in that area react.  I am not sure of the numbers who have held tickets continuously since The Dell, but it must be down to a few thousand now scattered across the stadium.  As you say, friendship groups built up over that time will inevitably be spilt up now.  The ticket office has has its ups and downs over the years, but the communication of this must rank as one of the low points, with massive unintended consequences for the supporters involved.  So much for the dying remnants of the “family club”.  No doubt the club will March On.

 

 

[JRM]

3 hours ago, positivepete said:

Regarding the “league 1” loyalty.  This was promised in the past and nothing came of it. 

regarding the “screenshot” yes, that did occur to me, but one day they will start to check the tickets.

Frankly, we should not be vaccinating children for this virus, and if anyone isn’t vaccinated, the EPL are suggesting adding virus checks to the app.  Down this road lies madness.

Completely agree with your points Pete, I'm losing count of the number of people I know losing interest in Saints / Premier league and issues like this don't help. 

I don't like the way the govt and media are trying to turn the vaccinated on the non-vaccinated, ultimately personal choice should be allowed and no discrimination should come from that. Hopefully they leave children alone and not try to force it on them. 

Shame to see the end of an era fans like yourself and others on this thread, regulars from The Dell days that remember how football should be. 

[The Cat]

3 hours ago, Turkish said:

That could be used as a weapon so you will not be permitted access with such an item.

Were you there the day they wouldn't let Clive Foley in the Archers with a flag because it had a small wooden pole attached to it? 

[Turkish]

4 minutes ago, The Cat said:

Were you there the day they wouldn't let Clive Foley in the Archers with a flag because it had a small wooden pole attached to it? 

Yes, wasn't it the Man United game, second last game at the Dell? Ridiculous. 

[The Cat]

3 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Yes, wasn't it the Man United game, second last game at the Dell? Ridiculous. 

Yeah. Loads of people had flags but they singled him out, must have been worried he was going to try and shove it up Rupert's arse or something.

[JRM]

15 minutes ago, The Cat said:

Yeah. Loads of people had flags but they singled him out, must have been worried he was going to try and shove it up Rupert's arse or something.

I was directly behind him block 5 of the Archers, from memory it was 25 years on from the cup win (fresh in the memory in those days!) I think some of the cup winning players paraded on the pitch. His flag was from 76 but the stewards / police were having none of it, either your flag goes or you go sort of thing so he ended up out. 

Maybe football clubs treating fans badly isn't such a new thing after all. 

[Saint_Jonny]

I get that it's a faff to move seat, especially on mass, but seems like a bit of an over reaction to this news to me. You'll get basically the same view for a similar price to before. Still just a plastic seat and you can still be near your usual crowd, will just take some organisation. 

[Saints foreva]

The club have just released their season ticket prices for next season...

[The Cat]

Ours are the same price.

Kingsland padded seats being more than the middle of the Itchen seems weird to me. It's much better to sit by the dugouts. 

[Whitey Grandad]

20 minutes ago, Saint_Jonny said:

I get that it's a faff to move seat, especially on mass, but seems like a bit of an over reaction to this news to me. You'll get basically the same view for a similar price to before. Still just a plastic seat and you can still be near your usual crowd, will just take some organisation. 

Don't be so silly. 

[the saint in winchester]

I recommend Itchen South at £399. Why would you pay more? It's not an obstructed view, it's the same game wherever you sit.

Apart from the guy who kept sitting in my seat if I wasn't there by 2:45, it worked well.

[Saint_Jonny]

7 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Don't be so silly. 

Don't be such a cantankerous old git 😜

[JRM]

Can't complain with the prices in general there. Particularly  good prices for 18-24 year olds. 

[JRM]

Apparently big queue already forming down the ticket office,  mainly people after Kingsland Premium padded, get in quick to avoid disappointment. 

[Weston Super Saint]

2 minutes ago, JRM said:

Apparently big queue already forming down the ticket office,  mainly people after Kingsland Premium padded, get in quick to avoid disappointment. 

Maybe they've all heard about the new 'live stream' that will be available on the back of the seat in front, giving frree access to any game being played anywhere in the world at the time, thus improving the fan experience by not making the fans watch the shite being played out on the pitch  

[Whitey Grandad]

54 minutes ago, Saint_Jonny said:

Don't be such a cantankerous old git 😜

Anthony Cole-Johnson, is that you?

[angelman]

6 hours ago, positivepete said:

I had been a season ticket since the last few seasons at The Dell.  After many years in block 31 - I moved there with my son when the Kingsland Corner was shut back in the day - I didn’t renew this season just finished for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, it was pretty obvious at the time that we would not get to see many games, and secondly, because they introduced the electronic ticket.  For me this presented a big problem that the club were unwilling to discuss.  I normally miss a number of matches each season because of international business travel.  My granddaughter had replaced my son as my matchday companion, and when I am away a family member, or a friend takes my place.  Of course this becomes virtually impossible if the ticket is on your phone, unless you buy a phone for that purpose.

Today, we see the situation is compounded by the news that the Premier League want to add your vaccine status to your ticket to ensure full grounds, and to reduce ticket touts (not a big problem at Saints).

Having watched my first match way back in 1966, I suspect that now I have seen my last match.  Although I work in the digital data interoperability space for industrial data, the creeping use of linking personal data is going too far for me.  There is no justification for linking your vaccine status to your season ticket status.  
 

I will greatly miss all the friendships I made over the years in Block 31.  Perhaps we should start a “survivors group”.

 

Are tickets all moving to electronic now, or still with cards? I'm pretty much in the same boat as you and won't bother renewing my two if it is electronic only. 

[Saint_Jonny]

35 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Anthony Cole-Johnson, is that you?

You got me! 🤣

[Whitey Grandad]

18 minutes ago, angelman said:

Are tickets all moving to electronic now, or still with cards? I'm pretty much in the same boat as you and won't bother renewing my two if it is electronic only. 

It would appear so from an email I received. It says "your tickets will be available to download 72 hours before the game. That is going to cause a lot of practical problems.

[angelman]

15 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

It would appear so from an email I received. It says "your tickets will be available to download 72 hours before the game. That is going to cause a lot of practical problems.

Hmmm. 5 years of crap, a league that we have no chance of winning. Think if this is the case, then my time is done. But I'll call the ticket office and see what's what.

Edited 25 May, 2021 by angelman

[JRM]

1 minute ago, angelman said:

Hmmm. 5 years of crap, a league that we have no chance of winning. Think if this is the case, then my time is done. But I'll call the ticket office and see what's what.

They definitely need to clarify that, so many people share tickets or take friends and family along on spares. 

Electronic itself will be ok, you'll be able to send pdf to a mate to show on their phone or print off, the problem will be if they check ID and don't let you in or if they limit tickets to the Saints app, but surely that's just optional as some people don't have / want a smart phone so print at home needs to remain as an option.