And thus another debate is fired up. Just when the waters seemed destined to calm after the tumultuous weeks of the Granit Xhaka saga, Sunderland have somehow managed to do it again.
Step forward the new Black Cats Memberships – a new three-tiered membership system that, well, all seems a bit rushed.
The premise is one I fundamentally agree with – the corporate arm of the Premier League is far-reaching, but the money it brings is so great clubs cannot help but embrace the necessary evil.
That doesn’t
mean that ST+ is without its flaws or its controversies, with away ticketing being a particular source of consternation. Many fans are concerned their hard-earned BCPs will not be enough to guarantee them away tickets next season, whilst those frozen out by the closed-shop system of BCPs and ticket “farming” see the opportunity to ballot for 10% of away tickets as a positive step for fans of the club.
Of course, there will be winners and losers in such a system and, whilst the losers will bemoan a lack of fairness, the uncomfortable truth is that the away ticketing system never has been fair – it’s just that this one is more transparent. In my opinion, the new system will have some unfairness as the club takes a proactive approach to away ticketing, but a season ticket holder obtaining a ticket in a 10% ballot is no more or less unfair than that same ticket holder being frozen out of away days completely, only to see a raft of non-season ticket holders fill away ends through various means.
That is not to say one way is right and one way is wrong. Whilst it may be true that this is bad optics for those ‘frozen out’, it is also perhaps the only viable means an exile can see Sunderland in the flesh without the costs of travelling from far and wide to the hallowed lands of Wearside. In this instance, two conflicting things can be true at the same time.
In amongst the rush there has been much confusion too and, in that confusion, perhaps some missed opportunities. What typifies this is key information regarding disabled supporters not being clearly communicated by the club, leading to some disabled fans paying more than they should have to upgrade their membership, only for the relevant information to be shared some hours after many will have already paid.
Perhaps the most glaring omission is the most important one – the next generation.
It seems that, within all of this, the next generation of fans has been an afterthought in the entire process and, whilst it may be complicated, this is something the club need to clarify, explain and perhaps even rectify.
It is part of the great tradition of football that one thing you do as a parent is pass your fandom on to the next generation, just as our relatives before us bestowed it upon us. With this system, it is difficult to see how this is possible.
As a season ticket holder, who will no doubt pay for ST+, not having an option to ballot for an additional match-day ticket has removed my opportunity to apply for a ticket for my daughter. Since she is four, it wouldn’t be possible for her to enter a ballot without being attached to another member, but as an ST+ holder I cannot do that. As a result, it is impossible for a parent to introduce a child to the match-day experience if they have a season ticket, by virtue of the club freezing the next generation out. Even if it was possible to ballot, there is no suggestion an ST+ member could apply for two seats together and release their season ticket seat back into the ballot in order to fill the space left behind.
It seems, in this scenario – in order to fill a space, the club may well be leaving a void. Children aren’t drawn to a club by the filler of memberships; they’re drawn to it by the same things that drew us in as children too – the passion, the colour, the noise and the excitement.
As a parent who is enamoured with Sunderland, it hurts to think that, after years of dedicated support, fans will miss out on the opportunity we were given as children to fall in love with this incredible club.
This, of course, may be a case of finding an issue that is only relevant to a small handful of people by virtue of being one of those affected, but it is a saddening prospect nonetheless that children should be denied the opportunity to experience this great club during one of its greatest periods.
My great hope is this is an oversight that can be rectified before tickets are sold, to give the future generation the chance to experience the uniqueness and brilliance of Sunderland. If not, it seems baffling to me that a club built on such strong identities of passion and loyalty would willingly forgo an entire generation of that – and for what, a few more quid?
