As soon as Alan Wiley blew for full time and confirm the Tigers' arrival in the creme de la creme it was obvious to all that the demand for tickets would be exceptional. The club took time out to decide on numbers available and tickets were processed to those who were lucky enough to get theirs.
The exact number of "walk up" tickets available to purchase is not known, however a figure just short of 1500 will not be too far off the mark. Rightly or wrongly, City has come up with a financial winner in the matchday ticket membership scheme. £40 guarantees you the right to purchase 10 home tickets for the season and nets the club £80,000 if full membership is taken up. But is it right that supporters must have previously purchased 5 tickets against their customer reference number before they can qualify for this scheme? Should it be available for supporters who live or work away from the area? How about those who work at sea, defend the country on foreign soils or even want to visit friends and family from their foreign abode? Would it be a feasible idea for the club to set aside a small number, perhaps 100 tickets, for "special cases", which could be used in common sense situations?
Former chairman Adam Pearson suggested that on a match by match basis, an average of 700 season ticket holders fail to attend each Hull City home game. 700 is a very high number when seats are at a premium. Time will tell whether this number remains a constant. However, if it does, should these tickets be available for resale? If so, what should happen to the money for the ticket? Season tickets in the East Stand can cost as little as £340 for an adult, working out at £17.89 per match. Tickets on a matchday basis are £25 and as such £7.11 is the difference on every ticket. If this money was directed back into the club and there are indeed 700 seats on average to be resold this would amass to £94,563 over the season. Surely that money could go towards paying for a system to organise and staff a ticket exchange facility. Such a process would benefit all parties concerned and ensure a full stadium for each and every game. How about a system to let fans pass on their season ticket to a friend or family member, but do so with the club's consent?
Away match tickets was always going to be a nightmare situation to address once Premiership status was attained. The Away Direct scheme has proved to be very successful over the last few seasons. However, was the club right to open this scheme to new members? Would it not have been fairer to give priority to use the scheme to those members already on it or previously registered? As it is, with a high number of new Away Direct members, tickets on general sale will be very hard to come by, especially for the bigger matches. The club's policy of requiring 5 away tickets purchased against your customer reference number seems about as fair a way as possible to decide who gets matchday priority. However, there is a flaw to this. Last season's matches at Blackpool, Wolves, Crystal Palace, Watford, QPR, Burnley, Charlton, Plymouth, West Brom, Bristol City and Southampton all accepted cash on the day of the game. That's nearly half of all games where tickets purchased would not have gone against the customer number. These include 7 of the longer journeys made. Do those who attended these games not deserve to be rewarded more than those who went to Scunthorpe and Barnsley? If so, how do they prove their attendance?
Is it a possibility that the club could come up with a way in which registered supporters living afar could be guaranteed an away ticket for the game in the city which they live? For example, a family living in Portsmouth would be guaranteed x number of tickets for City's match at Fratton Park.
There are no easy solutions when demand far exceeds supply. Do you think City have got it right with their ticket policies? Are the above suggestions worth further consideration? Do you think any other improvements could be made? Discuss this topic on the message board.