We have been contacted by a number of members and fans who are concerned and disappointed at the approach to the allocation of tickets for the next two home matches announced this afternoon by the club: https://www.cafc.co.uk/news/view/5fca3e765fb37/ticketing-update-for-upcoming-home-games-against-afc-wimbledon-and-bristol-rovers.
Since the announcement we have spoken with the club, who assure us that they will keep the process under constant review and are listening to fans’ feedback. We recognise this is difficult - there is no accepted blueprint and no perfect answer that will please every fan for every game. We stressed that we would be available to offer constructive input and act as a sounding board before such announcements in future.
Although the club previously said that they would ballot season ticket holders on rotation starting from Wednesday’s match, they have now changed this approach. All season ticket holders were offered the opportunity to redeem a ticket for the MK Dons’ game, with tickets reaching sale to those with 250+ loyalty points.
A first random ballot has therefore already taken place for the AFC Wimbledon match. The present process then opens up ticket redemption to all remaining season ticket holders not in Tier Three from 3pm on Monday. We suggest that the club should instead offer priority at this stage to any season-ticket-holding fans who missed out on the first AFC Wimbledon ballot and who did not attend the MK Dons match. Then, if tickets are still available, open up to all remaining season ticket holders. We think it is unlikely that tickets will remain beyond season ticket holders for a Saturday match given more advance notice.
While we understand that this is a difficult and unforeseen situation all round, we urge the club to take a longer term view in planning ahead regarding the restrictions to ensure that all season ticket holders who wish to attend have a fair opportunity to do so. A random ballot could mean some get lucky every match, while others repeatedly miss out. We also ask the club to do more to help fans identify their family groups within the ticketing system so that this can be taken into account in future ballots.
We had already proposed to the club that they should offer season ticket holders the option to opt-out of attending matches voluntarily during the present circumstances. We welcome the club’s announcement today that Thomas Sandgaard has generously ensured that all season ticket holders will still be credited with CAFC Cash for any games they miss in person.