Scotland (A); 14th November, 2014; Ticket Exchange Thread

[DeLorean]

No, collect in person is the only option from drop down menu.

[DannyInvincible]

will the FAI learn the lesson and restrict home tickets going to our fans only for the return match? probably not and our home support will be diluted by 20,000 scots all over the stadium. would be madness if this is allowed happen for the home scotland and poland games

Is there a foolproof system though without the FAI withholding tickets from public sale and possibly depriving themselves of full houses? Obviously, limiting sales to just Irish addresses wouldn't be perfect; there are many Poles residing in Ireland and plenty of Scots have holiday homes in Donegal, although maybe those Scots with immediate Irish roots would be more inclined to support Ireland anyway! And then, our diaspora is spread far around the globe, so it would be unfair surely to cut off Irish living abroad. I'm sure there are plenty of Scotland supporters with very Irish-sounding names. Should sales simply be limited to those who can prove previous attendance?

[DannyInvincible]

No, collect in person is the only option from drop down menu.

I wasn't offered such an option when I bought ours either, but I can't fathom why because there were others who bought tickets in block 115 with a UK address and they have been able to get their tickets posted out. I suspect now that I mustn't have been signed in to my "Supporters Club" account or something when I first viewed my basket and only properly signed in upon going to check-out when it would have been too late to amend to postage without going back (if indeed the option would have been otherwise available to me). Make sure you're logged in with a UK address registered and try then. Is there any difference?

[DeLorean]

Super, thanks for that. I got my Derby buddy's address and registered with that. It's now giving me a 'Special Delivery' option from the drop down menu. I presume that means they'll be posted to him, which would be fine because I'm actually meeting him up there, or I can always get him to post them to my Irish address to be on the safe side.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

isnt there a postage option for £2 or something?

They'll only post to the UK. If you're up the North you'll be ok. I've used Parcel Motel which allows you to post stuff to their depot in Antrim and they'll move it on from there. If you use Ireland as the address you'll have to collect

[DannyInvincible]

Super, thanks for that. I got my Derby buddy's address and registered with that. It's now giving me a 'Special Delivery' option from the drop down menu. I presume that means they'll be posted to him, which would be fine because I'm actually meeting him up there, or I can always get him to post them to my Irish address to be on the safe side.

Bah, that was a schoolboy error on my part. 'Twas all I could think of really. I tried e-mailing the SFA after to see would they post the tickets to me but no luck. A poster on YBIG since claimed he managed to get his posted to him though after ordering for collection in person, so I might try them again now they'll be a little less busy.

[brendy_éire]

FAI statement on tickets:

FAI Scotland ticketing statement

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

The FAI received a minimum 5% ticket allocation from the SFA for the away match in Scotland equating to 3,209 tickets. Demand for these tickets is four times higher than the number available.

The Association regrets that the SFA has not increased this allocation to date. It is particularly disappointing that the Scottish FA is continuing to sell tickets on its website after they had told us that the match was sold out. Many of these tickets are now being taken up by Irish supporters out of desperation, a situation that could be resolved easily by providing adequate numbers of away tickets in a designated Irish section of the stadium.

Of the tickets confirmed to date, 1,700 went to supporters’ clubs, Season Ticket holders, Club Ireland members and known away supporters. 700 went to clubs and leagues. The fulfilment of contractual obligations also meant that there were fewer tickets available to the Association to distribute directly for this match - 481 went to Abbey Travel for supporters’ travel packages as per contract (15% of allocation) as official travel partner of the Association, and 128 went to sponsors. The remaining 200 tickets are divided between players, backroom team, FAI staff and team management.

Although many tickets were provided for known away supporters, the Association recognises that there are supporters who expected tickets and did not receive them. So far, the Association has secured an additional 150 tickets from companies in Scotland for corporate €160 seats that will be given to supporters who missed out at the general admission price of €60. The FAI regrets any situation in which supporters remain without tickets.

We continue to call on the SFA to provide adequate numbers of seats for Irish supporters, and in the meantime will strive to find remedies for ticketless supporters where possible.

ENDS

[IsMiseSean]

I'd love to know how the 1700 to supporters’ clubs, Season Ticket holders, Club Ireland members and known away supporters were allocated?

[SwanVsDalton]

I'd love to know how the 1700 to supporters’ clubs, Season Ticket holders, Club Ireland members and known away supporters were allocated?

Wouldn't everyone. That FAI statement is pure arrogant spin. It's an insult. The SFA wern't the ones who shafted the most loyal fans.

[DeLorean]

Bah, that was a schoolboy error on my part. 'Twas all I could think of really.

Don't beat yourself up Danny, you took a bullet for the team and came good for a fellow footier. That's worth more than any convenient special delivery

[IsMiseSean]

Wouldn't everyone. That FAI statement is pure arrogant spin. It's an insult. The SFA wern't the ones who shafted the most loyal fans.

And what exactly is a "known away supporter" considering lots of fans that went to Tbilisi were refused tickets?
Fortunately I was one of the "lucky" ones that got a ticket but there's fans with better away records than me who missed out, it's a joke!!

[MariborKev]

And what exactly is a "known away supporter" considering lots of fans that went to Tbilisi were refused tickets?
Fortunately I was one of the "lucky" ones that got a ticket but there's fans with better away records than me who missed out, it's a joke!!

Lads,

I know you are not great fans of YBIG(I post on both), but thanks to all from here that filled out the survey we had on there

We're continuing to fight the good fight on this, asking a lot of the same questions as being asked here

Response to FAI Ticketing Statement


Members of YBIG are pleased with the news that the FAI have been able to acquire additional premium tickets to allow more fans to attend the upcoming qualifiers. Whilst we agree that an increased allocation would have been a preferable solution, the FAI cannot ignore the systematic failure of their own ticketing systems, or lack thereof, for this game. There are still serious questions for the Association to answer surrounding ticket allocation and wider ticketing policy.

In their statement the FAI provide a breakdown that “1,700 went to supporters’ clubs, Season Ticket holders, Club Ireland members and known away supporters”. The FAI provided this breakdown at a meeting held between FAI between the two groups yesterday. The FAI were not able to provide a breakdown of how many tickets went to individual season ticket holders.

Site members would also take issue with the FAI claim that the phrase “known away supporters”. Data collated by the YBIG users showed that over 30 season ticket holders who had attended every single away qualifier in the last campaign had been rejected for tickets for this game. The FAI were unable to explain how this occurred.

If those with the best traveling records were not allocated tickets for this game, it is clear that the FAI allocation system is not fit for purpose.

Some of the issues uncovered in our sample
Fans who have completed 20 away trips in last four years rejected for tickets. These included trips to US for summer tours etc.
Fans who attended every away game in last qualifying campaign(and beyond) rejected for tickets
Over 10% of respondents had attended 75% or more of Ireland’s competitive away games(9* or more games) rejected for tickets
Over 25% of respondent had attended 50% or more of Ireland’s competitive away games in the same period rejected for tickets;
These included games in countries such Kazakshtan, Armenia, Georgia, Faroe Islands, Macedonia and Russia over the last four years. It is clear from these statistics that the FAI systems are not fit for purpose when fans such as this can be rejected .

In meeting with YBIG site users the FAI were not willing to commit to the implementation of a clear and transparent ticketing system to prevent this from occurring in the future.

[ArdeeBhoy]

will the FAI learn the lesson and restrict home tickets going to our fans only for the return match? probably not and our home support will be diluted by 20,000 scots all over the stadium. would be madness if this is allowed happen for the home scotland and poland games

Its a funny one alright. You see, the SFA might actually be very pleased with this. Not sure Strahclyde Polis will be but the SFA would (I imagine) rather the 10k Irish were scattered all around the ground than taking over the whole of the LL stand in its entirety.

So when it comes to the game at the Aviva, would our preference be to have 10-15k Scots behind the usual goal + a couple of blocks at that end of the West or East Stand? or to have them scattered all around. Its not like the Irish home support is an intimidating experience for the opposition team is it? ITs not even that much of a motivating one for our own team these days, though the SS has improved this somewhat in recent times.

I imagine the FAI will treat it just as the SFA have done, and the Scottish fans will just have to go an source tickets for themselves wherever JD sees fit.

Is there a foolproof system though without the FAI withholding tickets from public sale and possibly depriving themselves of full houses? Obviously, limiting sales to just Irish addresses wouldn't be perfect; there are many Poles residing in Ireland and plenty of Scots have holiday homes in Donegal, although maybe those Scots with immediate Irish roots would be more inclined to support Ireland anyway! And then, our diaspora is spread far around the globe, so it would be unfair surely to cut off Irish living abroad. I'm sure there are plenty of Scotland supporters with very Irish-sounding names. Should sales simply be limited to those who can prove previous attendance?

The FAI would sell every ticket to Scottish fans if it guaranteed a full house. You must know this by now!

What NR/Junior says is right. Most away fans, including ours are usually more eager and boisterous away from home. The Scots won't be any exception.
Unless the FAI (unlikely) put a bar on selling to Brit addresses via Ticketmaster.ie or close purchases to 'new applicants', then there will be probably 10k Scots minimum in the New Lansdowne.

The Poles (from Polska) could be more problematic as they do have a bit of a 'hooligan tradition' which could prove slightly difficult?
Hopefully not, but the Guards are massively ill-equipped IMO to deal with such people.

They would be easier in general, to 'spot' via TM but unlikely any bar on those who're Irish-based could be enforced, nor would it be welcome.

A lot will depend on the 'on sale' dates and how these are enforced in terms of access but atmosphere for home games in the new stadium have been largely disappointing, beyond the end where the SS is.
'My FAI 'contact', friend of a friend, expects the FAI to sell their most expensive tickets first.
That tells us all we need to know?
The same person hinted massively that Vantage Club members got priority over everyone else for the Scotland game.
Hence the 'balls-up'.

As for 'proof of previous attendance', given the FAI's record in distributing a few hundred away tickets to regulars, expect that about 2050, when most of us will be long gone?

[ArdeeBhoy]

And to answer MKev, please see comments about the VC Members...not good IMO. Still, most won't go to Polska (A)?

[BonnieShels]

Did I hear you rightly on OTB Kev?

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Lads,

I know you are not great fans of YBIG(I post on both), but thanks to all from here that filled out the survey we had on there

We're continuing to fight the good fight on this, asking a lot of the same questions as being asked here

Response to FAI Ticketing Statement


Members of YBIG are pleased with the news that the FAI have been able to acquire additional premium tickets to allow more fans to attend the upcoming qualifiers. Whilst we agree that an increased allocation would have been a preferable solution, the FAI cannot ignore the systematic failure of their own ticketing systems, or lack thereof, for this game. There are still serious questions for the Association to answer surrounding ticket allocation and wider ticketing policy.

In their statement the FAI provide a breakdown that “1,700 went to supporters’ clubs, Season Ticket holders, Club Ireland members and known away supporters”. The FAI provided this breakdown at a meeting held between FAI between the two groups yesterday. The FAI were not able to provide a breakdown of how many tickets went to individual season ticket holders.

Site members would also take issue with the FAI claim that the phrase “known away supporters”. Data collated by the YBIG users showed that over 30 season ticket holders who had attended every single away qualifier in the last campaign had been rejected for tickets for this game. The FAI were unable to explain how this occurred.

If those with the best traveling records were not allocated tickets for this game, it is clear that the FAI allocation system is not fit for purpose.

Some of the issues uncovered in our sample
Fans who have completed 20 away trips in last four years rejected for tickets. These included trips to US for summer tours etc.
Fans who attended every away game in last qualifying campaign(and beyond) rejected for tickets
Over 10% of respondents had attended 75% or more of Ireland’s competitive away games(9* or more games) rejected for tickets
Over 25% of respondent had attended 50% or more of Ireland’s competitive away games in the same period rejected for tickets;
These included games in countries such Kazakshtan, Armenia, Georgia, Faroe Islands, Macedonia and Russia over the last four years. It is clear from these statistics that the FAI systems are not fit for purpose when fans such as this can be rejected .

In meeting with YBIG site users the FAI were not willing to commit to the implementation of a clear and transparent ticketing system to prevent this from occurring in the future.

Great work Kev on all of that. And a great interview on OffTheBall last night.

RTE.ie are still running with the line that it's the SFAs fault but good to see that the headline in the Times is of supporters being shafted rather then the SFA shafting the FAI (I expect Delaney to try and sue the paper)

[DannyInvincible]

The ticket office at Celtic Park is set to open at mid-day on the day of the game, but I got an email reply from the SFA telling me that, although they still won't post my tickets, they are now looking to extend the time for their collection. They must be expecting longer queues than usual, so perhaps it's a sign of the number of non-UK/Irish addresses that ordered tickets. We'll only get into Glasgow that afternoon anyway so it won't be much use to us, but it should hopefully lessen the queues throughout the day and closer to kick-off. I reckon we'll just get a taxi over to Celtic Park when we get into Glasgow and get the collection out of the way first as don't want to have the worry of a mad rush late on looming over me.

[brendy_éire]

FAI just rang me and offered corporate tickets for €60 each.
Cant imagine there'll be many takers as everyone will have got SFA tickets at this stage.

[paul_oshea]

They rang me about the same time Brendy. I politely declined.

I imagine they will have a load of tickets bought now and unpaid for.

[centre mid]

This association just gets more and more embarrassing with each campaign. Seems ticketing and accountability hasnt moved on much since the late 80's. Wonder if the Germans will have similar problems distributing their 5% allocation?