Liverpool Needs to Abolish Season Tickets

Headlines by their very nature are supposed to draw attention, they are supposed to act as a beacon to the world outside that something of interest can be found here and you should stop what you are doing right this second and you should just read the information below the headline.

“Liverpool needs to abolish season tickets”

RedsFansOldTrafford
You see, there are other headlines that are designed as click bait, which is often a misleading statement in bold designed simply to get people to click.

This I can assure you is not the case here.

I actually mean it.

Now to get the formalities out of the way, I do not live in Liverpool, I do not live in the UK, I do not live in Europe and the reality is, I am about as far away from the club I love, geographically speaking as one can get without falling off the edge. (Also, just as a side note here, if you believe the earth is flat, you can stop reading right here and just go right ahead and click on the ads below so that I can get paid!). Back to my actual point now, there is a strange affliction that I suffer from, even though I am nowhere near Liverpool my entire Facebook and twitter feeds are full of news about Liverpool and I am not just talking about Liverpool FC, I literally mean the City of Liverpool.

Like many of you out there, I want to ‘experience’ Liverpool completely and geography is not something that will prevent me from doing that…well up to a certain extent.

However, there is one thing that my far-flung existence offers me and that is perspective.

I do not know about how tickets are allocated by the club, I do not know about how season ticket holders remain season ticket holders, but by listening to the guys at The Anfield Wrap like a religious zealot as well as other Liverpool and UK-based podcasters, I have been able to obtain some serious knowledge about how dysfunctional the tickets system that is in place at Liverpool actually is. I hear about the long waiting period for season tickets, the members draw, the lack of availability, the fact that it is impossible to obtain tickets among friends and of course the ridiculous ticket prices that resulted in the recent protests.

Now this is where my detached perspective comes into play, because from where I sit, a great deal of the problems arise directly because of season ticket allocations.

So why not start the reform by firstly abolishing the traditional season ticket system.

Before you all call me crazy and fly off in a rage, let me explain why I think the traditional system needs to be altered.

Imagine for a second a system where season tickets did not exist, you’d free up capacity by removing the need to attend every game, even when you don’t feel like attending simply because you’ve purchased your ticket and you want to make sure you get all the damn value it has to offer. This should help with the atmosphere issues because in theory anyway, it ensures the only people that are at the game are fans that want to be there, not ones that feel obliged to go.

Secondly, I would abolish the set season ticket seat, so that it frees up more areas of the ground to actually get groups in that actually want to be together. Imagine an Anfield stadium where everyone gets to sit next to people they actually want to sit next to, something that the regulars from the Anfield Wrap constantly talk about as an issue that prevents the once vibrant atmosphere at Anfield from taking hold.

But what about people who actually have season tickets, how do you get them to buy into this new system?

Well, when I say abolish season tickets, I actually mean, abolish the current system, but in order to ensure that current season ticket holders are kept happy, you give them first crack at ALL available tickets, so that a season ticket holder can get first preference on their current seat and ticketing allocations and rather than an upfront fee, you could decided to cap the total any individual pays for a ticket across the season to an amount that the both the supporters groups and the club itself deem fair.

The club can then create blocks where local teens can all get together to create the kind of atmosphere they take with them to the away fixtures. It would work wonders for the atmosphere and then maybe just maybe, we can get the 12th man rocking again.

Now how do you fund what is in essence a cut in ticketing prices for the locals? Well, the club should hold a set amount of tickets, whatever that may be for the dreaded daytrippers and out of towners. I would then set up an auction for those available tickets, which means that the club itself will benefit from the demand for those tickets without having to use intermediaries to do the work for them.

Imagine a world where the club is able to get exactly what the market demands for those tickets that they would otherwise sell at face value.

With one stroke of a pen, the club appeases the local supporters through what are in essence subsidised tickets, allows the atmosphere to grow through ticket purchases that allow groups to get together, forms a block for the local youth and absolutely maximises the demand from the out of towners.

It makes sense from where I sit, but then again, I realise that I am not sitting at Anfield so you know, maybe I’m just misguided.

But here’s the final point I would like to make, the club have recently stated that they estimate there are just over half a BILLION Liverpool supporters worldwide and I can promise you that they are absolutely NOT doing enough to turn those fans into paying supporters. I try to do my part by buying merchandise directly from the club, becoming a member of LFCTV but I would genuinely love to be able to do more because supporting Liverpool is not just something I do in my spare time. I want to be able to help in a meaningful way and if the out of towners had to pay to subside tickets for the locals while helping to add much-needed funds to the clubs coffers to bring about success, then I say let us all pay our way through a club run auction system that would take the pressure of the local fans while ensuring the worldwide Liverpool supporter base are able to play their part in the success of the club.

It’s a win-win situation.

And it is dead set the kind of situation one can only find simply as a result of being at arm’s length from the problem.

So thank you to all the people who contribute to the podcasts that make me feel connected to the City of Liverpool and I hope that my small idea for change helps to create a better experience for all and if it is simply deluded, well, soz lads, you can’t really expect me to know how to fix a problem I have never actually experience myself right?

Neboneid H

I write mostly long winded metaphors and hard to comprehend similes but once you get to know me, you'll probably invite me to your wedding. Plus I do Dad Jokes, lots and lots of dad jokes.

11 thoughts on “Liverpool Needs to Abolish Season Tickets

  • February 7, 2016 at 4:17 am
    Permalink

    In German there is a word for what you (and I also) have for Liverpool: Fernweh. Literally, “Far-away sadness”, homesick for a place though it is not your home.

  • February 7, 2016 at 4:41 am
    Permalink

    That is a perfect description for what we have.

    You Germans are the best!

  • February 7, 2016 at 5:26 am
    Permalink

    I am an LFC fan . And think some people will never be happy . Next sole fans will be moaning at the league position and transfers . I say lets have Spurs, Arsenal or west ham ticket prices . Two classes 1,500 and 4,500 and the ground may fill , yes with less patio ate supporters . But then we can purchase players like Spurs , west ham , Arsenal .

    So inflationary rises would of made these tickets higher be happy with what fsg have suggested

  • February 7, 2016 at 6:35 am
    Permalink

    Mate, West Ham and Spurs have nowhere near the transfer budget of Liverpool.

  • February 7, 2016 at 8:57 am
    Permalink

    I agree 100% I live in OZ now and have been for 40yrs and still miss going to the games, I returned for 6yrs and I didn’t go to one game because of the prices! Disgusting, And as for the seating that should be abolished as I recon that hardly nobody sits anyway and there is more of a case that people will get injured more often with falls going forward than what it was like in the KOP with the crush barriers.

  • February 7, 2016 at 10:33 am
    Permalink

    Among the most idiotic articles I have ever read. What about disabled fans? How are they supposed to cope with this type of free for all?

  • February 7, 2016 at 10:52 am
    Permalink

    How do disabled fans get access to tickets now? I’m asking out of genuine interest.

  • February 7, 2016 at 11:12 am
    Permalink

    There is a waiting list for disabled season tickets. The price structure is not quite the same as for regular season tickets. Places are allocated according to the need of individual applicants. Wheelchair users have spaces, rather than seats. Ambulant disabled fans have seats. There is a provision for disabled fans to be seated next to, our directly in front of a companion, where necessary. The problem for many disabled people is that they have to organise care in advance, making the security of season tickets a necessity in many cases. The last thing disabled people need is uncertainty seat allocations. A disabled fan who has no control of his or her hands does not want to be in a position where they might be struck by the ball, for example. It is not as simple as people might think to cater for a wide variety of disabilities. Season tickets are the only way of ensuring that people are in the best and safest position.

  • February 7, 2016 at 11:22 am
    Permalink

    Well firstly thanks for the info.

    Secondly I did not advocate a free for all I clearly said current season ticket holders are to retain first choice at each match.

    In regards to disabled season ticket holders, there’s no reason why they cant simply retain the current system to ensure their individual needs are met, IF that is the best way to ensure that happens.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *