Proposal for Away Travel Club

[Greenforever]

Here is a detailed proposal for a new Away Travel Club to distribute ALL away tickets except sponsors and players tickets


Membership required - Cost €50

All members joining prior to draw for next qualifying group will have their travel record for this campaign verified.

1 point for all away games attended

Points last for 4 years

Where there is a greater number of applications than tickets all applicants on the cut off mark go into a draw for the last tickets. Unsuccesful applicants on the cut off mark will still be awarded a point for the match as they were willing to travel.

Away tickets are collected in city of match on matchday, upon production of your membership card (for the bigger matches tickets issued in advance) This prevents people buying tickets for games such as Bulgaria at €5 just to give the impression of attending.

All away tickets subject to a surcharge of €10

Any member who fails to get a ticket for an away match but provides genuine evidence of travel will be awarded a point for the game regardless of getting a ticket from a different source.

The reason for the surcharge is the FAI need any scheme to be self financing and if possible revenue generating - the reason Abbey Travel are getting unlimited tickets is as a partner to the FAI and whatever they are paying the FAI need to recover from a travel club if they are to cancel Abbey Travels ticket priveliges.

[EastTerracer]

I've posted elsewhere that I think some recognition needs to be given to home games as well - maybe 1 point per home game and 2 points per away game (to recognise the extra effort involved). There have been a few people posting on here over the years saying they don't go to home games or don't go to friendlies but I think supporting the team means doing everything (home, away and friendlies). That should be recognised in any prioritisation of away tickets.

Thankfully we don't have ticket issues too often for away games (and I still haven't heard of too many regulars who have missed out on tickets for Paris).

[zenokelly]

Who's proposing this?
Is it a runner?

This should be brought in but needs to be run properly.

Why the 50 quid membership cost if there's a surcharge for each match?

[zenokelly]

I've posted elsewhere that I think some recognition needs to be given to home games as well - maybe 1 point per home game and 2 points per away game (to recognise the extra effort involved). There have been a few people posting on here over the years saying they don't go to home games or don't go to friendlies but I think supporting the team means doing everything (home, away and friendlies). That should be recognised in any prioritisation of away tickets.

Thankfully we don't have ticket issues too often for away games (and I still haven't heard of too many regulars who have missed out on tickets for Paris).

That's unfair, as someone living in Donnybrook would get a point for attending a match in LR, yet someone coming from the UK or the States will get the same point, I.E. It's not fair on these people

[Bluetonic]

I've posted elsewhere that I think some recognition needs to be given to home games as well - maybe 1 point per home game and 2 points per away game (to recognise the extra effort involved). There have been a few people posting on here over the years saying they don't go to home games or don't go to friendlies but I think supporting the team means doing everything (home, away and friendlies). That should be recognised in any prioritisation of away tickets.

Thankfully we don't have ticket issues too often for away games (and I still haven't heard of too many regulars who have missed out on tickets for Paris).
As the block booking is basically a closed shop the home points should not be counted as it give those with block bookings an unfair advantage to get ahead on the points system.

Away games are rarely sold out and give a better indication of who is supporting the team as everyone who has the means can go to a game, unlike a home game.

[Greenforever]

Who's proposing this?
Is it a runner?

This should be brought in but needs to be run properly.

Why the 50 quid membership cost if there's a surcharge for each match?

Its my suggestion which can be forwarded to the FAI if it seems to have sypport from the fans.

The membership fee is to cover the FAI for the cost of implementing a system. Verifying past travel records, producing membership cards, etc.
Also to put people off joining unless they are genuine supporters, the ongoing surcharge is needed to replace the payments they would lose from Abbey Travel.

For the 8,000 PAris tickets they are administering they are getting just €16k in fees, this will not cover the costs of the ticket office for handling the tickets, so any new system would need to be very cost effective for the FAI to consider.

[Greenforever]

I've posted elsewhere that I think some recognition needs to be given to home games as well - maybe 1 point per home game and 2 points per away game (to recognise the extra effort involved). There have been a few people posting on here over the years saying they don't go to home games or don't go to friendlies but I think supporting the team means doing everything (home, away and friendlies). That should be recognised in any prioritisation of away tickets.

Thankfully we don't have ticket issues too often for away games (and I still haven't heard of too many regulars who have missed out on tickets for Paris).

Its an away travel club, there are plenty of people who only travel to away games as they live outside Ireland and use all their holidays for away games and couldnt get time off to travel to home games.

[magnumpi]

yeah, i am (usually, but not at present) based in the UK, so home matches still cost me a fair whack, but haven't missed 1 this campaign, and have only missed Montenegro and Cyprus away.

I think this idea has legs, but with regards the points system, needs a bit more input / planning.

[EastTerracer]

As the block booking is basically a closed shop the home points should not be counted as it give those with block bookings an unfair advantage to get ahead on the points system.

Away games are rarely sold out and give a better indication of who is supporting the team as everyone who has the means can go to a game, unlike a home game.

There are very few home games where tickets are a problem (even pre-Croke Park). If we completely discount the home games then I know people who just go on the odd away trip (for the craic and the pi$$-up) who never bother to go to home games (barstooling in the pub) and they would be more entitled to an away ticket than someone who forks out for every game. It doesn't seem fair to me.

I think we all accept that a clean-up of the block-booking scheme and opening up the home games is desirable as well.

[zenokelly]

Its my suggestion which can be forwarded to the FAI if it seems to have sypport from the fans.

The membership fee is to cover the FAI for the cost of implementing a system. Verifying past travel records, producing membership cards, etc.
Also to put people off joining unless they are genuine supporters, the ongoing surcharge is needed to replace the payments they would lose from Abbey Travel.

For the 8,000 PAris tickets they are administering they are getting just €16k in fees, this will not cover the costs of the ticket office for handling the tickets, so any new system would need to be very cost effective for the FAI to consider.

You have my support anyway!

Maybe post on YBIG as well:ball:

[Greenforever]

yeah, i am (usually, but not at present) based in the UK, so home matches still cost me a fair whack, but haven't missed 1 this campaign, and have only missed Montenegro and Cyprus away.

I think this idea has legs, but with regards the points system, needs a bit more input / planning.

KISS - Keep it Simple

An away game is an away game

Midweek suits some better than others

Sun destinations suit some better than others

Double headers suit some better than others

Different times of the year suit some better than others

Over 4 years, a point a game should surely be the fairest

[Bluetonic]

There are very few home games where tickets are a problem (even pre-Croke Park).
I disagree. A lot of people believe home games are a closed shop so they don't bother looking. We don't know the true demand. In saying that the France home game in Lansdowne was probably the last game that there was any degree of difficulty getting a ticket for.

The problem is that the block booking is a closed shop so by taking a spare at face value you are contributing to someone else points if you to implement such a system. Not something the majority would be interested in I'd imagine. Once again a fan card system for block bookers with a ticket resale to waiting list members only is the system to implement.



I think we all accept that a clean-up of the block-booking scheme and opening up the home games is desirable as well.
Agreed.

[paul_oshea]

This whole thing would solve the "im a more proper fan than you" and "what is the definition of a proper supporter" and the "he's only a fairweather fan" etc etc debate. Great idea.

[Schumi]

Why does this have to be complicated? There's only a game every 2 or 3 years that there's a shortage of tickets so just keeping track of who gets tickets for the 3 or 4 previous away games should be sufficient. Why this should require shelling out an extra 70-80 a campaign is beyond me.

[Greenforever]

Why does this have to be complicated? There's only a game every 2 or 3 years that there's a shortage of tickets so just keeping track of who gets tickets for the 3 or 4 previous away games should be sufficient. Why this should require shelling out an extra 70-80 a campaign is beyond me.


Given that the away allocation is being cut in half to 5% this is going to be much more of an issue going forward.

The last 4 tickets were Cyprus €20 or €30?, Bulgaria €3, Italy €20, Montenegro €5....give the two cheapest tickets were 2 of the smallest crowds i reckon thousands would have bought them if they knew it would guarantee a playoff ticket

[Bluetonic]

Just say England, Scotland and Northern Ireland get drawn into a group with us sometime, you'd know all about it then.

To be honest add a couple of teams west of the Rhine and the away ticket would be an issue.

[gspain]

I think home tickets should be included.

You must be a bber or on the WL. If on the WL and not offered a home ticket you still get credit as if you bought it.

Although I'm still not convinced we need such a scheme given the obvious extra costs which will be borne by the fans.

I still don't think we'll have any fans locked out on the 18th.

[SuperDave]

Points should be awarded based on seeding of the opponents

i.e. one point for the away game to the first seed and six points to the away game at the bottom seed.

[Greenforever]

I think home tickets should be included.

You must be a bber or on the WL. If on the WL and not offered a home ticket you still get credit as if you bought it.

Although I'm still not convinced we need such a scheme given the obvious extra costs which will be borne by the fans.

I still don't think we'll have any fans locked out on the 18th.

I think we may well need a scheme in the next campaign if we were to draw England and Scotland or NIre we may be glad of a scheme.

While You and I will be ok for tickets a lot of people will be under pressure to get tickets.

As regards home games being counted the reason Im against is is due to the people who live abroad and just cant make them, maybe they could be allocated points on a waiver basis, but this just complicates matters.

[zenokelly]

I think home tickets should be included.

You must be a bber or on the WL. If on the WL and not offered a home ticket you still get credit as if you bought it.

Although I'm still not convinced we need such a scheme given the obvious extra costs which will be borne by the fans.

I still don't think we'll have any fans locked out on the 18th.

Thats not the point, I have tickets sorted for the away end but if I didn't I'd be pis*ed off because I want to be among our fans, not the French fans.

[lopez]

Here is a detailed proposal for a new Away Travel Club to distribute ALL away tickets except sponsors and players tickets


Membership required - Cost €50

All members joining prior to draw for next qualifying group will have their travel record for this campaign verified.

1 point for all away games attended

Points last for 4 years

Where there is a greater number of applications than tickets all applicants on the cut off mark go into a draw for the last tickets. Unsuccesful applicants on the cut off mark will still be awarded a point for the match as they were willing to travel.

Away tickets are collected in city of match on matchday, upon production of your membership card (for the bigger matches tickets issued in advance) This prevents people buying tickets for games such as Bulgaria at €5 just to give the impression of attending.

All away tickets subject to a surcharge of €10

Any member who fails to get a ticket for an away match but provides genuine evidence of travel will be awarded a point for the game regardless of getting a ticket from a different source.

The reason for the surcharge is the FAI need any scheme to be self financing and if possible revenue generating - the reason Abbey Travel are getting unlimited tickets is as a partner to the FAI and whatever they are paying the FAI need to recover from a travel club if they are to cancel Abbey Travels ticket priveliges.I have a problem with the cost. 50 bucks to start with (per annum?) and a tenner on top for every ticket. Delaney must be reading this and thinking, wow, how come no one here thought of that rip-off? :rolleyes:

A simpler way is for the FAI to use their modern technology with people buying home tickets and people buying away tickets from them, providing travel details which could be checked up, and sort the mess out themselves, instead of the 'lottery' shambles they have at the moment. OK, there's always the should the home games count more than the away games argument. What cannot be defended is that block bookers who go to all the away games are losing out to block bookers who've never left the 26 counties in the current ticket allocation system.

[paul_oshea]

Lads im not being smart here, but if the FAI invested in a week - 2 weeks of a contractors hours, they could set up a good, efficient system in that time. Initial cost would cost them but it would be paid off in a few months in terms of man hour and paper work. Does anyone actually know what/if system is in place?!

[Polster]

Why does this have to be complicated? There's only a game every 2 or 3 years that there's a shortage of tickets so just keeping track of who gets tickets for the 3 or 4 previous away games should be sufficient. Why this should require shelling out an extra 70-80 a campaign is beyond me.


100% agree

[Newryrep]

Here is a detailed proposal for a new Away Travel Club to distribute ALL away tickets except sponsors and players tickets


Membership required - Cost €50

All members joining prior to draw for next qualifying group will have their travel record for this campaign verified.

1 point for all away games attended

Points last for 4 years

Where there is a greater number of applications than tickets all applicants on the cut off mark go into a draw for the last tickets. Unsuccesful applicants on the cut off mark will still be awarded a point for the match as they were willing to travel.

Away tickets are collected in city of match on matchday, upon production of your membership card (for the bigger matches tickets issued in advance) This prevents people buying tickets for games such as Bulgaria at €5 just to give the impression of attending.

All away tickets subject to a surcharge of €10

Any member who fails to get a ticket for an away match but provides genuine evidence of travel will be awarded a point for the game regardless of getting a ticket from a different source.

The reason for the surcharge is the FAI need any scheme to be self financing and if possible revenue generating - the reason Abbey Travel are getting unlimited tickets is as a partner to the FAI and whatever they are paying the FAI need to recover from a travel club if they are to cancel Abbey Travels ticket priveliges.

still prefer mine GF:D

[Bluetonic]

100% agree
Thats not a reason not to plan for the future.

[Junior]

Points should be awarded based on seeding of the opponents

i.e. one point for the away game to the first seed and six points to the away game at the bottom seed.

I suggested this in the other thread but opinion seems to suggest that the system needs to be kept simple. However, I think 1pt per Away game is too simple.

[Bluetonic]

I think 1pt per Away game is too simple.
I agree with you there.

[Greenforever]

I have a problem with the cost. 50 bucks to start with (per annum?) and a tenner on top for every ticket. Delaney must be reading this and thinking, wow, how come no one here thought of that rip-off? :rolleyes:

A simpler way is for the FAI to use their modern technology with people buying home tickets and people buying away tickets from them, providing travel details which could be checked up, and sort the mess out themselves, instead of the 'lottery' shambles they have at the moment. OK, there's always the should the home games count more than the away games argument. What cannot be defended is that block bookers who go to all the away games are losing out to block bookers who've never left the 26 counties in the current ticket allocation system.


No a one off charge to cover the cost of verifying the travel record of applicants and the cost of issuing a card etc.

What you are missing is the fact that the FAI are attempting to distribute the tickets in a fair manner at a signiifcant cost to themselves.

I always look at all costs incurred by the FAI ending up reducing the grants they give to schoolboy clubs / or the employment of RDOs etc.

If the FAI didnt give a toss about regular supporters they would simply hand over ticket sales to ticketmaster who wouldcharge far higher booking fees and operate strictly 1st come 1st served and its also fair to say touts get far more tickets for events sold through ticketmaster.

[blobbyblob]

I've been going to games for a fair few years at this stage an Ive always found that "real fans" never have a problem getting into any games - home or away. Block booker or not, if you want to be there you'll be there. There are always tickets available at face value before games. Football people look after football people the world over.

[Greenforever]

still prefer mine GF:D


Cant find yours can you post a link

[Bluetonic]

I've been going to games for a fair few years at this stage an Ive always found that "real fans" never have a problem getting into any games - home or away. Block booker or not, if you want to be there you'll be there. There are always tickets available at face value before games. Football people look after football people the world over.
Lets not ruin what has the potential to be a good discussion with rubbish. So lets not implement a system which rewards loyalty because 'real fans' can always source tickets and this big football family look after each other.

Sweet Jesus.

[Greenforever]

You have my support anyway!

Maybe post on YBIG as well:ball:


I seem to have been locked out of YBIG, rarely ever post there.

[willk1977]

Here is a detailed proposal for a new Away Travel Club to distribute ALL away tickets except sponsors and players tickets


Membership required - Cost €50

All members joining prior to draw for next qualifying group will have their travel record for this campaign verified.

1 point for all away games attended

Points last for 4 years

Where there is a greater number of applications than tickets all applicants on the cut off mark go into a draw for the last tickets. Unsuccesful applicants on the cut off mark will still be awarded a point for the match as they were willing to travel.

Away tickets are collected in city of match on matchday, upon production of your membership card (for the bigger matches tickets issued in advance) This prevents people buying tickets for games such as Bulgaria at €5 just to give the impression of attending.

All away tickets subject to a surcharge of €10

Any member who fails to get a ticket for an away match but provides genuine evidence of travel will be awarded a point for the game regardless of getting a ticket from a different source.

The reason for the surcharge is the FAI need any scheme to be self financing and if possible revenue generating - the reason Abbey Travel are getting unlimited tickets is as a partner to the FAI and whatever they are paying the FAI need to recover from a travel club if they are to cancel Abbey Travels ticket priveliges.`

I see 1 quite big issue you are missing from your " Away Travel Club "

THE TRAVEL !

Maybe thats why a Travel agent has it.

I know most people will come back and say that its easy to book it all yourself but not everyone wants to tarvel through 3 or 4 countries, spend hours on a train across Europe or wherever.
It is def easier to get to places like Russia, Gyprus, Greece etc when there is a specific charter orgonised.

Hell Abbey Travel were even cheaper than Aer Lingus and Ryanair to Paris

[Greenforever]

`

I see 1 quite big issue you are missing from your " Away Travel Club "

THE TRAVEL !

Maybe thats why a Travel agent has it.

I know most people will come back and say that its easy to book it all yourself but not everyone wants to tarvel through 3 or 4 countries, spend hours on a train across Europe or wherever.
It is def easier to get to places like Russia, Gyprus, Greece etc when there is a specific charter orgonised.

Hell Abbey Travel were even cheaper than Aer Lingus and Ryanair to Paris


Abbey Travel allegedly are bringing 700 to Paris, Celtic Horizon have withdrawn from the market, 747 no longer have enough clients to charter a plane so I think it is fair to say the vast majority of fans prefer to do their own thing arranging their travel.

If Abbey travel didnt have tickets I doubt if they would have got half that number booking with them.

They were aslo dearer than our trips, we are paying €295 inc taxes and match ticket for 3 nights.

[Schumi]

I see 1 quite big issue you are missing from your " Away Travel Club "

THE TRAVEL !

Maybe thats why a Travel agent has it.

I know most people will come back and say that its easy to book it all yourself but not everyone wants to tarvel through 3 or 4 countries, spend hours on a train across Europe or wherever.
It is def easier to get to places like Russia, Gyprus, Greece etc when there is a specific charter orgonised.There'd be nothing stopping travel agents from organising trips to away games, they simply wouldn't have tickets included.

[zenokelly]

Abbey Travel allegedly are bringing 700 to Paris, Celtic Horizon have withdrawn from the market, 747 no longer have enough clients to charter a plane so I think it is fair to say the vast majority of fans prefer to do their own thing arranging their travel.

If Abbey travel didnt have tickets I doubt if they would have got half that number booking with them.

They were aslo dearer than our trips, we are paying €295 inc taxes and match ticket for 3 nights.

Did the FAI not sign some sort of agreement with them?

I think the travel club would hav X less amount of tickets depending on how many Abbey Travel take. That would be the scenario in any circumstances I'm presuming.

[zenokelly]

I seem to have been locked out of YBIG, rarely ever post there.

Do you mind if I post it there and gauge the response because there seems to be a lot more travelling supporters on their site nowadays and this is an issue that needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later?

[Greenforever]

Did the FAI not sign some sort of agreement with them?

I think the travel club would hav X less amount of tickets depending on how many Abbey Travel take. That would be the scenario in any circumstances I'm presuming.

Ive no idea of what Abbey Travel are paying the FAI, i would imagine no more than €50 per ticket over the face value. That is why Ive suggested a €10 handling charge per ticket to compensate for what they would get fom Abbey Travel ( tickets with absoloutely no admin work involved) and to make it attractive to the FAI. ALso by having tickets collected from the host city on matchday would add to costs but make the system far more transparent / fairer.

[Greenforever]

Do you mind if I post it there and gauge the response because there seems to be a lot more travelling supporters on their site nowadays and this is an issue that needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later?

Not at all.

[RonnieB]

Looks like a good idea.

[Polster]

Lets not ruin what has the potential to be a good discussion with rubbish. So lets not implement a system which rewards loyalty because 'real fans' can always source tickets and this big football family look after each other.

Sweet Jesus.

What away games in the last 5 years or so have you not been able get a ticket for?

That question can be for anyone here

[Greenforever]

What away games in the last 5 years or so have you not been able get a ticket for?

That question can be for anyone here


The main reasons why people are concerned about ticket allocations going forwardcould be the fact that the away team allocation reduced to 5% from the upcoming UEFA Championship


Had both the German and French not screwed up thier own distribution of tickets for these games tickets would have been a nighmare to get, notice the French are doing eveerything to stop this happening this time around.

[Newryrep]

Cant find yours can you post a link

:confused: was on page 2 f the block booking thread


agree in principle disagree with detail , will post what I posted elsewhere

AWAY ALLOCATION SCHEME

Posted this on YBIG to generally favourble comments


Made this a separate thread as I think it deserves it and a few have thought it had merit.

It is not perfect but the Scots use something similar and the majority of them deem it fair.

1.Last 10 away games including away friendlies are taken into account

2. Each away game is allocated a point,those with the most points are allocated tickets down to where the number of tickets available is less than the number of people on the relevent points then a ballot will be undertaken

3.each request for tickets must be backed up by naming who the tickets are for

4. Random checks will be undertaken - in which case proof of travel for the number of recipients will be required - no proof of travel then points will revert to zero

5.FAI reserve the right to have ticket collection in the destination city - failure to collect tickets will result in points will revert to zero

I have not included home games for the following reasons

6. away travel is a more level playing field, the majorrity of fans needing flights/ferries outa Ireland or the UK

7. home games are not a level playing field eg the BB who lives in Drumcondra as opposed to the BB living in London either required days off or money spent attending

8. home games currently are and are likely to be more of a closed shop with little scope for movement

9.....I am not a BB :)
Last ten away games

Prague - Czech Rep
Cardiff - Wales
London - Columbia
Oslo - Norway
Mainz - Georgia
Podgorica - Montenegro
Bari - Italy
London - Nigeria
Sofia - Bulgaria
Nicosia - Cyprus

Based on the above i would have 3 points

Next game is france after which the france points are added and the Czech points removed

[4tothefloor]

That's unfair, as someone living in Donnybrook would get a point for attending a match in LR, yet someone coming from the UK or the States will get the same point, I.E. It's not fair on these people


Its an away travel club, there are plenty of people who only travel to away games as they live outside Ireland and use all their holidays for away games and couldnt get time off to travel to home games.
Bol locks to that! It's the BB'ers that keep the FAI in business. A BB is effectively a season ticket and there is no football club in the world that doesn't prioritise away tickets for season ticket holders. As a BB who shelves out hundreds of euro per year to watch home games, I do expect some access to away tickets. The amount of hardcore away fans like gspain that go to every game is quite small in the grand scheme of things.

Not including home games just suits those that make no effort to go to home games or who couldn't be arsed. I've a few neighbours who only do aways and wouldn't go to a home game if you paid them. You would have to give credit for both home and away games, and it should be 1 point for every game regardless. Those that travel away regularly and go to home games will still end up with more points and will be the most deserving of tickets. Those that just do either home or away would be on a fairly even footing.

Absolutely no way should people who just go to away games have priority, as that pi**es all over BBers who are the bread and butter of the association. Get off yer lazy arses and go to home games, and shell out the money that normal BB'ers have to! I have much more respect for someone that goes to San Marino at home than someone who thinks he's the bees knees going to sunny Cyprus away.

No need for a membership fee AND ticket levy either, that's just madness. What really needs to be addressed here is the BB scheme for home games. Lads getting 4-6 tickets per game is ridiculous and that needs to be cleaned up. Loyalty needs to be recorded. If that was achieved there would be a fairer ticketing scheme for all.

[Junior]

I would agree with the crux of that post apart from the fact that I do sympathise with those that want to go to home games (and have it recorded by the FAI) but cant because BB is a closed shop at present and they have to source their tickets from elsewhere. Its not always simply a case of they cant be ar$ed going.

[Greenforever]

Bol locks to that! It's the BB'ers that keep the FAI in business. A BB is effectively a season ticket and there is no football club in the world that doesn't prioritise away tickets for season ticket holders. As a BB who shelves out hundreds of euro per year to watch home games, I do expect some access to away tickets. The amount of hardcore away fans like gspain that go to every game is quite small in the grand scheme of things.

Not including home games just suits those that make no effort to go to home games or who couldn't be arsed. I've a few neighbours who only do aways and wouldn't go to a home game if you paid them. You would have to give credit for both home and away games, and it should be 1 point for every game regardless. Those that travel away regularly and go to home games will still end up with more points and will be the most deserving of tickets. Those that just do either home or away would be on a fairly even footing.

Absolutely no way should people who just go to away games have priority, as that pi**es all over BBers who are the bread and butter of the association. Get off yer lazy arses and go to home games, and shell out the money that normal BB'ers have to! I have much more respect for someone that goes to San Marino at home than someone who thinks he's the bees knees going to sunny Cyprus away.

No need for a membership fee AND ticket levy either, that's just madness. What really needs to be addressed here is the BB scheme for home games. Lads getting 4-6 tickets per game is ridiculous and that needs to be cleaned up. Loyalty needs to be recorded. If that was achieved there would be a fairer ticketing scheme for all.

You ignore, conveniently the fact that a large percentage of the regular away support are not on the BB system, mainly because they were too young when it was introduced and filled up. IF a system was to be introduced for home and away surely the away regulars would have as much right to your home BB ticket???

Lads getting 4-6 tickets has been debated endlessly and the reality is that if they were split into individual tickets you would still have little if any movement on the BB list.

Your concern that you as a traveller for the occassional away game may see you not get a ticket in front of someone who goes to a lot of away games and cant get home tickets is selfish in the extreme. Believe me the money you shell out on home tickets is tiny in comparison to the sums shelled out to those who travel to most away games not to mention using up valuable holidays etc.

You mention G Spain as being one of the few that goes to all away games, well I dont think I have met him and Ive being going to away games for a long long time, so maybe there are more of us than you think regular away travelers....having said that I would probably recognise him from a photo.

[Polster]

The main reasons why people are concerned about ticket allocations going forwardcould be the fact that the away team allocation reduced to 5% from the upcoming UEFA Championship


We took about 5% of the tickets for our biggest away match of the qualifiers, to Bari. Don't think we took close to 10% for Sofia either?, an attractive location for both fans and party goers alike.

I'm sure plenty of associations will want to offer us extra tickets that we won't probably need.

However that means a guaranteed extra 3k or so tickets for home games, that we know we will fill for every game.

I would also quickly add that I fully expect any fan that wants a ticket for Paris to get one, even if we only had 5%, enough of us would still travel and get a ticket there. However we would have an extra 5% for Croker in this instance, and I wouldn't fancy many French fans sourcing extra tickets.

When you weigh it all up, not such a bad thing in my opinion.

[gspain]

You ignore, conveniently the fact that a large percentage of the regular away support are not on the BB system, mainly because they were too young when it was introduced and filled up. IF a system was to be introduced for home and away surely the away regulars would have as much right to your home BB ticket???

Lads getting 4-6 tickets has been debated endlessly and the reality is that if they were split into individual tickets you would still have little if any movement on the BB list.

Your concern that you as a traveller for the occassional away game may see you not get a ticket in front of someone who goes to a lot of away games and cant get home tickets is selfish in the extreme. Believe me the money you shell out on home tickets is tiny in comparison to the sums shelled out to those who travel to most away games not to mention using up valuable holidays etc.

You mention G Spain as being one of the few that goes to all away games, well I dont think I have met him and Ive being going to away games for a long long time, so maybe there are more of us than you think regular away travelers....having said that I would probably recognise him from a photo.

No idea who you are either but we probably would recognize each other. I'm normally in a Limerick shirt on the day before the away match.

I think home attendance should be included but if not allocated a ticket then counted as having been there. So you join the WL (helps for away allocation anyway) and then take home tickets as offered. In reality I expect those on the WL to be OK for home tickets anyway.

Currently the FAI effectively subsidise this allocation. Assuming babysis is sorted I don't know of anyone who deserves a ticket for Paris that hasn't got one. It's not a perfect system but a damned good one.

Sure you can implement one that requires proof of travel, hands out tickets in away cities. It costs money and the fans will pay. I do know of people who bought tickets for away matches and haven't gone.

I don't think tickets will be a problem in South Africa if we make it. Poland/Ukraine would hardly excite the event junkies. Brazil is also a long way away and expensive.

The 5% rule could be a problem. England would be a nightmare for tickets. Most of the other major problems would probably give us 10%+ - Holland did a deal with Scotland.

Even then put the proposed 50 euro a year and the 10 euro handling fee towards a a tout and you'll get into virtually any game on continental europe.

[Schumi]

I would agree with the crux of that post apart from the fact that I do sympathise with those that want to go to home games (and have it recorded by the FAI) but cant because BB is a closed shop at present and they have to source their tickets from elsewhere. Its not always simply a case of they cant be ar$ed going.A fair point but why didn't they join the waiting list? I understand that it's closed for new entrants now but that's only been the case for a couple of years. There can't be many people who travel to every away game but only got into the team in the last three years.

[Newryrep]

A fair point but why didn't they join the waiting list? I understand that it's closed for new entrants now but that's only been the case for a couple of years. There can't be many people who travel to every away game but only got into the team in the last three years.

most are on the waiting list, many for a fair few years with little propect of becoming BB. We may well get regular tickets for LR because of the Vantage club non selling but in all likelhood we will never be BB.


As a BB who shelves out hundreds of euro per year to watch home games, I do expect some access to away tickets. The amount of hardcore away fans like gspain that go to every game is quite small in the grand scheme of things.

Not including home games just suits those that make no effort to go to home games or who couldn't be arsed. I've a few neighbours who only do aways and wouldn't go to a home game if you paid them. You would have to give credit for both home and away games, and it should be 1 point for every game regardless. Those that travel away regularly and go to home games will still end up with more points and will be the most deserving of tickets. Those that just do either home or away would be on a fairly even footing.

Absolutely no way should people who just go to away games have priority, as that pi**es all over BBers who are the bread and butter of the association. Get off yer lazy arses and go to home games, and shell out the money that normal BB'ers have to! I have much more respect for someone that goes to San Marino at home than someone who thinks he's the bees knees going to sunny Cyprus away.


4TTF i am genuinely surprised that your neigbours are away travellers yet couldnt be arsed going to a home game. I seriously cant imagine the number who fall into that catagory in Ireland is that large. The vast majority of the regular away travellers areBB or WL who attended at least in the last 2 full campaigns when tickets were available.

Personnally I think those that travel regularily should get priority over those that travel occasionally over those that dont travel at all.

I have listed why i dont think home games should be included but if it is to be taken into account then a 3 - 1 or 2-1 ratio should be applied. Getting to home games for me is a piece of cake, leave work a bit early on a wed and hour and half down the road - yet I get a point the same as as guy who has to take a day off work flight hotel room possibly.