New BFC Membership scheme

[NewClaret]

Difficult to disagree with that

I suspect this is another area they are looking in to, given the recent fan survey.

Although they can improve the website all they like, it’s the content that makes no sense in this instance.

I think they need an experienced website manager to go and sort it out Tony

[LAM]

I think I’ll probably sit this one and wait for the novelty to wear off for those on the bandwagon.

[agreenwood]

So it’s basically £35 for regular ticket priority? Doesn’t seem unreasonable.

[ChorltonCharlie]

Isn't the price difference mainly because of the 10% off hospitality for the £250 option ?

It appears to be exactly this. It's aimed at people who want to pay for hospitality several times a season I'd guess. With the idea being that if you're putting so much money into the club, you get the same rights as ST holders. I'd expect that loyalty points will be needed alongside them, though whether they finally intend to change that system is anyone's guess.

So ST holders/Premium Members with x points at top priority.
Moving down the levels of points.
Then regular members get a chance before general sale.

[clarethomer]

I'd suggest anyone would be mad to splash out on the cheaper option to be honest without some further detail.

That is very true..

[Foshiznik]

I really don't see the issue with this scheme. We don't have STs taken every seat in the stadium, so why not allow people to be prioritised for the other non-ST seats?

[ClaretTony]

I really don't see the issue with this scheme. We don't have STs taken every seat in the stadium, so why not allow people to be prioritised for the other non-ST seats?

Not just about home tickets is it?

[Foshiznik]

Not just about home tickets is it?

No but most seem to think it's nothing but about shafting ST holders, which it isn't either.

[ClaretTony]

No but most seem to think it's nothing but about shafting ST holders, which it isn't either.

We don’t know what it is to be honest, it’s so badly presented.

[daveisaclaret]

Awful communication withstanding, it seems to me it would be a real shame if people who only want to go to one game a season (maybe can't afford much, maybe live too far away, caring responsibilities, whatever) have to pay £35 on top of the price of a ticket.

I assume most if not all other teams in the league do it, but it would still be crap.

[Foshiznik]

We don’t know what it is to be honest, it’s so badly presented.

We can certainly all agree on that point as well as the historically and horrifically bad official club website in general!

[ClaretPete001]

Unless my Math is crapper than usual I make it that even if 5,000 non ST holders paid £35 it would only come to £175,000 and you think to yourself - is it worth it?

All the STs sold out and the Turf will be full - it's not as though the fans are not backing the owners. It's not even as though the owners have stuck a lot of their own cash in.

What's the point. Be the people's club....make it easy for folk to come and support the club. It's not like we have a 30,000 fan base with 10,000 on a waiting list. We've had 20,000 average gates in the top division since the mid 60s.

[GetIntoEm]

so i just checked with the club, the premium members comes above ST points, regardless of how many you have.

£250 is worth it on this basis.

Get em bought.

[Jacko]

The whole thing stinks. It's profiteering & charging people to skip queues (or so it seems). The club should backtrack.

And yes, other clubs do it, but that stinks too.

I very much put this alongside rumours (yes, I appreciate that's all it is so far) of a less than wholesome new shirt sponsor (wishful thinking that our fans would follow the Norwich example and force a u-turn, I suppose).

[Paul Waine]

I live in south west London. I used to have a season ticket, but didn't get to Turf Moor more than a few games a season. I gave it up when my health wasn't great and went a whole season without getting to t'Turf. But, the ST gave me opportunity to buy away tickets and I've got to most games in the south east.

Start of last season, when Ben Mee joined Brentford and Everton, including James Tarkowski, were due to play them I looked at getting a ticket for that game. Brentford operate a system where you need to be a member to buy tickets. I think membership cost £80. I didn't bother paying the £80, plus cost of a ticker in the home end.

Of course, I saw Burnley play at Watford, QPR, Millwall (was away for Luton game), plus Bournemouth and Ipswich. I'm hoping to get to most of the games in the south/south east this coming season in the Premier League. With Luton getting promoted and Bournemouth staying up, I make it 10 games in the south/south east I'd like to get to.

Maybe this membership scheme isn't a bad deal for Burnley fans living around London. I'll wait until the fixtures are out. A little more detail on what the membership brings re buying tickets would be useful.

[Paulclaret]

I'm absolutely disgusted with this membership scheme. I was a season ticket holder for over 50 years but moved down to Bournemouth 9 years ago. I kept my season ticket until 2 years ago, but eventually cancelled it as I can now only get to 1 or 2 games a season. I've started bringing up my 9 year old grandson to the occasional game. He's lives in the Rhondda and is the only Claret in the village . It seems now that it will be nigh on impossible to get any tickets sat together, as, if any are left after the Membership priority, they would very likely be single tickets only. It's just not worthwhile buying memberships for both of us for possibly one or two games.

[aggi]

Unless my Math is crapper than usual I make it that even if 5,000 non ST holders paid £35 it would only come to £175,000 and you think to yourself - is it worth it?

All the STs sold out and the Turf will be full - it's not as though the fans are not backing the owners. It's not even as though the owners have stuck a lot of their own cash in.

What's the point. Be the people's club....make it easy for folk to come and support the club. It's not like we have a 30,000 fan base with 10,000 on a waiting list. We've had 20,000 average gates in the top division since the mid 60s.

Obviously due to the crappy "announcement" it's a bit unclear what this is or how it works. If it is just a priority period for home games then I don't think there's much of an issue with it and you're not really blocking anyone out. If it's the only option for getting home tickets then I agree with the above.

As for the away thing. I can't imagine many people are going to be paying £250 so the impact is going to be pretty negligible given that there was already a similar scheme in place with the foundation.

[boyyanno]

so i just checked with the club, the premium members comes above ST points, regardless of how many you have.

£250 is worth it on this basis.

Get em bought.

Just to make sure I understand this, the club have confirmed that you can pay 250 pounds right now to become a premium member and you will be at the top of the Queue above season ticket holders and anyone else for Home AND Away tickets? Even if you don't meet the threshold for points?

I'm one of the posters who thought there was room for improvement with the loyalty system and the suggestions on here of a rolling period seemed to be in the right direction. This absolutely stinks though if I'm honest, really poor way to treat fans who have been loyal to the club.

[Spike]

Just to make sure I understand this, the club have confirmed that you can pay 250 pounds right now to become a premium member and you will be at the top of the Queue above season ticket holders and anyone else for Home AND Away tickets? Even if you don't meet the threshold for points?

I'm one of the posters who thought there was room for improvement with the loyalty system and the suggestions on here of a rolling period seemed to be in the right direction. This absolutely stinks though if I'm honest, really poor way to treat fans who have been loyal to the club.

So thousands of fans paid almost twice this 2 months with the promise of their loyalty being rewarded. Do they expect fans to pay another £250 to guarantee away tickets?
If not for someone to pay less and get priority is senseless! Think again ALK!

[Conroy92]

Just imagine when there becomes too many members and it still goes down to a ballot for tickets

[Lancasterclaret]

Just to make sure I understand this, the club have confirmed that you can pay 250 pounds right now to become a premium member and you will be at the top of the Queue above season ticket holders and anyone else for Home AND Away tickets? Even if you don't meet the threshold for points?

I'm one of the posters who thought there was room for improvement with the loyalty system and the suggestions on here of a rolling period seemed to be in the right direction. This absolutely stinks though if I'm honest, really poor way to treat fans who have been loyal to the club.

There is nothing at all anywhere confirming this

If it comes in at 6000 points, then that seems fair if you are paying £250

[gawthorpe_view]

Theme park VIP wristband by another name.

[lakedistrictclaret]

so i just checked with the club, the premium members comes above ST points, regardless of how many you have.

£250 is worth it on this basis.

Get em bought.

If that is right, and I don't believe it is, it means that, in theory, someone who has never had a season ticket and has never been to an away match, can outrank someone who hasn't missed an away match for ten years, simply by paying £250.
It's nonsense.

[Foshiznik]

If that is right, and I don't believe it is, it means that, in theory, someone who has never had a season ticket and has never been to an away match, can outrank someone who hasn't missed an away match for ten years, simply by paying £250.
It's nonsense.

If a ST holder pays £250 too, do they then go back above them or stay the same?

[Conroy92]

There is nothing at all anywhere confirming this

If it comes in at 6000 points, then that seems fair if you are paying £250

Personally I disagree with this, considering £250 is the equivalent of about 10 games if you haven't purchased a season ticket, it seems a bit unfair. How many games would you have to have attended to earn 6000 points? Say its 50? Then £1250 would be a fairer price.

[Foshiznik]

Personally I disagree with this, considering £250 is the equivalent of about 10 games if you haven't purchased a season ticket, it seems a bit unfair. How many games would you have to have attended to earn 6000 points? Say its 50? Then £1250 would be a fairer price.

Nothing in the details says ST holders can't also pay £250 if they want. It's not exclusive.

[ClaretTony]

If that is right, and I don't believe it is, it means that, in theory, someone who has never had a season ticket and has never been to an away match, can outrank someone who hasn't missed an away match for ten years, simply by paying £250.
It's nonsense.

If true then it’s beyond a nonsense.

[boyyanno]

There is nothing at all anywhere confirming this

If it comes in at 6000 points, then that seems fair if you are paying £250

Sorry this was in reference to the poster who has said above that the club has confirmed this to him. I'm aware the club haven't said much officially.

I personally disagree that £250 pounds should be worth 6000 points. How much would you have had to spend in tickets etc to accumulate that amount of points? Surely it would be thousands? Interested to know your opinion on why you think that would be fair? (not being facetious either I'm genuinely interested).

[Spike]

I wonder if you get to travel on the open top bus like JJ if you pay this ?

[clarethomer]

Someone is clearly on the wind up. The club haven't confirmed anything is my guess.

A lot of people drawing conclusions and making assumptions (including me) which may be far off the mark.

[aggi]

There is nothing at all anywhere confirming this

...

In many ways it was very thoughtful of the club to be so vague.

Everyone can put their own spin on it and get angry about different things

[Lancasterclaret]

Sorry this was in reference to the poster who has said above that the club has confirmed this to him. I'm aware the club haven't said much officially.

I personally disagree that £250 pounds should be worth 6000 points. How much would you have had to spend in tickets etc to accumulate that amount of points? Surely it would be thousands? Interested to know your opinion on why you think that would be fair? (not being facetious either I'm genuinely interested).

I've got 9000 odd points - I just think that if someone wants to do some away games (maybe because they live miles away) and they are willing to pay £250 in advance to help then I don't see an issue with it

We'll be s**t soon enough, and getting tickets won't be an issue when that happens

[boyyanno]

I've got 9000 odd points - I just think that if someone wants to do some away games (maybe because they live miles away) and they are willing to pay £250 in advance to help then I don't see an issue with it

We'll be s**t soon enough, and getting tickets won't be an issue when that happens

Don't get me wrong I want fans to have the chance/ability to watch us home and away if they want too, regardless of points and being an ST holder, I just feel uncomfortable if that then comes at the expense of other fans who have accumulated the points/requirements normally. Maybe it would be better if the priority was limited to a certain amount of games and or only a small allocation. I guess the devil will be in the detail when the club does release more info.

Agreed though, a few crap games and we won't be able to shift em

[Paul Waine]

Personally I disagree with this, considering £250 is the equivalent of about 10 games if you haven't purchased a season ticket, it seems a bit unfair. How many games would you have to have attended to earn 6000 points? Say its 50? Then £1250 would be a fairer price.

Don't forget -assuming priority is ahead of all others - it's £250 for the right to buy a ticket. Anyone signing up will still have to pay for any tickets they want. My quick maths, it's the equivalent of an away season ticket to 19 other premier league grounds. Of course, one-time use at each of them. So, let's say £30 x 19 + £250 = £520.

Yes, no points required. How many games did Burnley sell out last time in the Premier League? How many times did the club not take the maximum away fan allocation? Maybe this membership scheme gives everyone who wants to the chance to get an away ticket - if there enough members to make the club more confident about taking the maximum away fan allocation.

[jedi_master]

so i just checked with the club, the premium members comes above ST points, regardless of how many you have.

£250 is worth it on this basis.

Get em bought.

That surely cannot be accurate?

Fully accept the current loyalty system is great for those of us with loads of points (who have earned them from years of buying season tickets and away games) who want to go to away games, and not for younger fans or those who live far away and can’t justify an STH (although, I have a 5 hour round trip myself each home game and I know there are people who are STH’s with far, far longer journeys than that…).

I was lucky enough to be at Luton last season in the 900-1000 allocation they gave us. I was there on the dot to buy the tickets and let’s be fair, it was pure luck amongst those of us with the points needed to be in the first wave of purchasers. If I had not been successful, that’s fine, at least I know people who have been equally (or far more than me) as financially supportive and loyal to the club as I have been would be in my place (barring of course the age old issue of people buying for pals). What this scheme is effectively now saying is that if - IF - the club manage to sell even just a thousand of these Premium Memberships, then there would be no allocation whatsoever to season ticket holders when we play Luton away this coming season.

How can that be right? It can’t be, surely. If that is the case then the points system is effectively now useless.

[IanMcL]

Personally I disagree with this, considering £250 is the equivalent of about 10 games if you haven't purchased a season ticket, it seems a bit unfair. How many games would you have to have attended to earn 6000 points? Say its 50? Then £1250 would be a fairer price.

50 away trips over thousands of miles = 500 points.
So you need to attend 600 away matches to get 6000 points.

You would need to watch every away match for 32 seasons!

[Devils_Advocate]

I thought you just booked on with Accy Clarets if you needed a ticket

[forzagranata]

Dreadful communication.

If you are going to announce a new membership scheme it should be crystal clear what the benefits are and who gets priority. Shouldn't be any need for calling up the club to ask anything.

If, it is the case, that you can pay 250 quid to leapfrog people with years of built up loyalty points that doesn't seem right at all.

[equinox]

I'm hearing that Premium members, not only get first dibs at tickets but are also allowed to buy up to four each.

[aggi]

It seems that premium members will also be able to buy their home tickets in existing season ticket seats and the incumbent will have to move for that game.

[gandhisflipflop]

It seems that premium members will also be able to buy their home tickets in existing season ticket seats and the incumbent will have to move for that game.

That can’t be true. I can see chaos next season if that’s the case. Imagine rocking up to your seat at 2.45 and some ‘premium member’ is sat in it. They’d get a good hiding

[equinox]

It seems that premium members will also be able to buy their home tickets in existing season ticket seats and the incumbent will have to move for that game.

better than mine.

[Conroy92]

I heard premium members get a ticket stub from the orient game and can say they attended

[Blue Skies]

Premium Members will also receive a photo of them at the Colchester game which prove they were one of the 1600.

[ClaretTony]

Premium Members will also receive a photo of them at the Colchester game which prove they were one of the 1600.

No photographer I’m afraid that day. He didn’t turn up because the club owed him money which is why there are no photographs of the match ball sponsor handing the ball to the referee.

[IanMcL]

It seems that premium members will also be able to buy their home tickets in existing season ticket seats and the incumbent will have to move for that game.

So that why the premium scheme is called the Cuckoo Scheme.I

[Blue Skies]

I remember that Tony but as a Premium Member there will be the facility to have a mock up photo that will be photoshopped

[GetIntoEm]

it includes a free disposable poncho and a bumper sticker that reads "im more dedicated than you"

[Blue Skies]

So, if you became a Premium Member Tony that wrong could be put right with The Match Ball sponsor looking 25 again.

[ClaretTony]

So, if you became a Premium Member Tony that wrong could be put right with The Match Ball sponsor looking 25 again.

I wish I’d been 25 then let alone now