2020/21 Season Tickets

[shoddycollins]

How are other clubs in the division managing ticketing for next season, have any plans been made yet for reducing stadium capacity, anyone selling season tickets yet?

We've divided the stadium up into blocks which will be separated from each other and from today are allowing existing season ticket holders to reserve a place in one of these blocks. We sent letters to all existing ST holders earlier this week. From the 24th of August season tickets will go on general sale and anyone will be able to reserve a place for a new ST.

ST holders who previously had a reserved seat will be unable to reserve a specific seat, just the block that they'll be in; conversely those who had season tickets in standing areas who previously could stand anywhere will have to reserve a block. ST holders who had previously reserved a seat will have their former seat automatically reserved once restrictions are lifted.

In seated areas every other row will be closed, as will aisle seats. In terraced areas fans will be able to stand anywhere they want within their block, the block immediately behind the dugouts/tunnel wont be used.

Spaces for disabled supporters will also be limited and if capacity is reached home fans in wheelchairs may have to sit in the away section.

Face coverings must be worn at all times and people who are exempt will be given a method of displaying their exemption from a distance for the benefit of stewards. A one-way system will operate when entering and leaving the stadium.

Fans who purchase season tickets are urged to make sure they are able to attend, in some cases where capacity will be especially limited, (disabled and for some reason child tickets) fans who do not attend on three consecutive occasions will have their tickets cancelled.

ST prices are unchanged from last season, we're working under the assumption that away fans will be allowed in and we don't know how many home matches will have to be played behind closed doors and what the reduced capacity will be and aren't saying how many season tickets we're putting up for sale at this stage. Fans are told that reserving a place isn't a guarantee as you might have to be moved to a different block when capacities are known. It is expected that the main stand, which is usually mostly ST holders of the older variety, will sell out before new ST holders have a chance to reserve a place.

 

[Greenacres]

The Carlisle approach sounds excellent, well thought out and sensible, with the ability to make changes when permitted. My own club hasn't published anything yet and, to be fair, I don't expect them to do much until the fixtures are released and they have something concrete to work with. I would expect the stadium capacity to be reduced massively, to perhaps 1200-1500, and for us to do something similar to what Carlisle have done. Where I sit is mainly season ticket holders so I wouldn't expect initially to be able to sit in my usual seat, at least until the capacity increases. I wouldn't mind standing in the North Stand (under cover) if that means I can attend games and someone who actually needs to sit, rather than who prefers to, can attend games.

 

[shoddycollins]

The Carlisle approach sounds excellent, well thought out and sensible, with the ability to make changes when permitted. My own club hasn't published anything yet and, to be fair, I don't expect them to do much until the fixtures are released and they have something concrete to work with. I would expect the stadium capacity to be reduced massively, to perhaps 1200-1500, and for us to do something similar to what Carlisle have done. Where I sit is mainly season ticket holders so I wouldn't expect initially to be able to sit in my usual seat, at least until the capacity increases. I wouldn't mind standing in the North Stand (under cover) if that means I can attend games and someone who actually needs to sit, rather than who prefers to, can attend games.

We do have the dubious advantage of the league's lowest average attendance as a percentage of capacity so it was always going to be easier for us than it will be for most.

 

[chipmunx]

We do have the dubious advantage of the league's lowest average attendance as a percentage of capacity so it was always going to be easier for us than it will be for most.

Harrogate might well challenge you for that this season - and they don't have a big capacity...

 

[Si Robin]

Easier to just copy and paste ours from the website - the early window was extended to Friday 14th:

Season ticket prices frozen for 2020/21

• Ages 16-22 from £3.04 per game
• Booking fees removed
• Five-click renewal on newly upgraded ticket system
• Admittance to all games subject to Government guidance

We have launched the first phase of ticketing plans for the forthcoming 2020/21 season, opening renewals for our current season ticket holders only.

We recently revealed our new home shirt and ‘Cheltenham united’ campaign, while our ticketing team has been planning the challenging task of admitting supporters next term.

The pandemic continues to have a huge impact on the football calendar and today’s details are based on the best possible information at the current time.

The EFL announced on Friday that the new season is set to get underway on Saturday, September 12 with the Government recently stating that crowds will follow on October 1.

For now, our process begins with our current season ticket holders, working to assumptions that there will be reduced capacity when football does return this Autumn.

The loyalty renewal window is open until Friday, August 7 (5pm) after which time we will take stock and assess the wider situation for the remainder of supporters.

In the event of a restricted capacity, priority access will be given to those on a first-come, first-served basis so supporters are encouraged to renew as early as possible.

The safety and welfare of our supporters is our overwhelming priority. When we receive further guidance from the Government, the EFL, League Two clubs and the Sports Grounds Safety Authority we will be able to make announcements about a general sale phase for new applications.

Season ticket renewals are easier than ever
The only way to ensure you’ll be able to watch all of the matches that we can admit spectators in some form, is to renew your season ticket this summer.

Prices have been frozen and renewals are now easier than ever after recent improvements to our ticketing system.

We used the lockdown to upgrade the system, introducing a five-click process for those with existing online accounts.

Those without access to an account will be able to make appointments with our Ticket Office to complete the process in person.

Ages 16-to-22 prices from £3.04 per match
Last season we introduced a new age bracket available only as a season ticket for young adults between the ages of 16 and 22. This new category is part of our drive to offer young supporters affordable entry to support their local football club.

This season ticket allowed fans of these ages to watch matches in all standing areas for just £3.04 per game and £4.10 per game in seating sections.

The ticket will remain in place for the 2020/21 campaign.

The return of the 1887 Red Army
The popular singing section in the Colin Farmer Stand will return for the 2020/21 season.

Previously positioned in Block 7 of the stand, for the 2020/21 season the singing section will be hosted in Block 1.

By moving the singing section to this area of the stadium it'll mean the singers can remain in this section for all home matches and removes the need to move into the Speedy Skips Stand when requested for matches involving large away followings.

As it’s positioned adjacent to the Speedy Skips Stands it will bring together the home fans to help build on the growing atmosphere on a matchday at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium.

Supporters that currently sit in Block 1 and 2 should be aware of this change at the point of renewal and can be relocated if required.

Watch Cheltenham Town Ladies for free, and more
There are many exclusive benefits to being a season ticket holder at Cheltenham Town.

Once again you’ll be able to enjoy free entry to all of Cheltenham Town Ladies FA Women’s National League South Division One fixtures as under the new management of Tom Davies our Ladies side look to kick on again in the fourth tier of the English women’s football pyramid.

 

[shoddycollins]

Harrogate might well challenge you for that this season - and they don't have a big capacity...

Just checked, theirs is over a third full on average. Ours is considerably less than that.

 

[Boz]

fans who do not attend on three consecutive occasions will have their tickets cancelled.

Seems a bit draconian, someone self-isolating may have to miss 3 games, depending on timing for example. I'd hope it's interpreted flexibly.

 

[shoddycollins]

Seems a bit draconian, someone self-isolating may have to miss 3 games, depending on timing for example. I'd hope it's interpreted flexibly.

You'd think. They say they'll contact you if you miss two games to ask if you want to keep your ticket. It depends also how many people want to go to matches but had to be turned away.

 

[The Terminator]

We've sold around 3k season tickets, not all will turn up to the ground at one game and we're confident we will be able to get around that many people into our ground.

No idea on regulations yet on how we will get in or out, but every club is different.

We won't be accomadating away fans - It is very likely that away fans will be banned for the time being, this is because it will limit the space for home fans and its not really appropriate yet to advise big groups of people to travel by rail or road etc.

We're putting alot of emphasis on streaming and will be releasing gameday prices for those that don't have season tickets but want to watch a game by streaming in the next week.

 

[Son of Cod]

Does anyone know what's going on with iFollow next season? Sure I read in something on the Town OS that just midweek games would be available again. Surely, while capacity restrictions and no away fan measures are in place we should be able to pay to watch every game online? Seems like a much needed revenue stream will be missed if they just use the same model as last season.

 

[shoddycollins]

Does anyone know what's going on with iFollow next season? Sure I read in something on the Town OS that just midweek games would be available again. Surely, while capacity restrictions and no away fan measures are in place we should be able to pay to watch every game online? Seems like a much needed revenue stream will be missed if they just use the same model as last season.

I'd been working on the assumption that surely matches played behind closed doors would all be streamed. Rather silly if they stick doggedly to a rule that was put in place to prevent live TV from competing with fans going to stadiums when there arent going to be fans in stadiums.

Wouldn't be surprised though if the TV companies who still feel like football owes them something after the season was cancelled were insisting the rule remains.

 

[Son of Cod]

I'd been working on the assumption that surely matches played behind closed doors would all be streamed. Rather silly if they stick doggedly to a rule that was put in place to prevent live TV from competing with fans going to stadiums when there arent going to be fans in stadiums.

Wouldn't be surprised though if the TV companies who still feel like football owes them something after the season was cancelled were insisting the rule remains.

Couldn't find the quote on the OS that I was referring to, but did find this from last week...

"The capacity will be reduced to a level where social distancing is possible and season ticket holders will be given priority should this reduced capacity dictate the need to limit spectators. If the capacity limit is below that of the number of season ticket holders then we hope that all home and away games will be available on iFollow. For this to happen the agreement of Sky is required because of the terms of their broadcasting agreement with the EFL. In addition, consent of UEFA will be needed as showing games at 3pm on a Saturday would be a breach of their Article 48. As soon as we are informed that this can proceed we will inform you."

 

[Luke Imp]

We announced our set-up yesterday.

Back in February we had the first of two ST renewal windows (4k+ sold). The second window is open from Monday for two weeks to allow the remaining c2.5k to renew. If you bought an ST in the first window, you can get a refund if you want.

All other priority memberships have been suspended for this season.

Until things change, only ST's can get league match tickets. To get a ticket, you need to enter yourself into a ballot on a match-by-match basis. If you 'win', you get into the game, if you 'lose', you'll get a free pass for iFollow and the difference between the price of iFollow and the pro-rata season ticket price is given back as a credit against a season ticket in 2020/21. If you miss out on a game, you then get priority on the next one (remains to be seen whether it's priority on the next game or the next ballot you enter). The educated guess is that you should be able to get to around half of the games you apply for.

If you don't enter a ballot because you couldn't attend anyway, you will have to pay the normal iFollow price.

For Cup games, a TBC percentage will be left for general sale.

We won't be sat in our season ticket seats to maximise capacity, but you'll be placed within the area of your ticket i.e. if your season ticket is in the family area, you will remain in the family area.

On the plus side, we can link season tickets together on our ticketing site, Ticketmaster Sport, so household groups/bubbles will, in the main, be sat together.

 

[shoddycollins]

Couldn't find the quote on the OS that I was referring to, but did find this from last week...

"The capacity will be reduced to a level where social distancing is possible and season ticket holders will be given priority should this reduced capacity dictate the need to limit spectators. If the capacity limit is below that of the number of season ticket holders then we hope that all home and away games will be available on iFollow. For this to happen the agreement of Sky is required because of the terms of their broadcasting agreement with the EFL. In addition, consent of UEFA will be needed as showing games at 3pm on a Saturday would be a breach of their Article 48. As soon as we are informed that this can proceed we will inform you."

Even though it seems like a no brainer then, I don't have much faith in the likes of Sky and UEFA making an exception.

 

[shoddycollins]

We announced our set-up yesterday.

Back in February we had the first of two ST renewal windows (4k+ sold). The second window is open from Monday for two weeks to allow the remaining c2.5k to renew. If you bought an ST in the first window, you can get a refund if you want.

All other priority memberships have been suspended for this season.

Until things change, only ST's can get league match tickets. To get a ticket, you need to enter yourself into a ballot on a match-by-match basis. If you 'win', you get into the game, if you 'lose', you'll get a free pass for iFollow and the difference between the price of iFollow and the pro-rata season ticket price is given back as a credit against a season ticket in 2020/21. If you miss out on a game, you then get priority on the next one (remains to be seen whether it's priority on the next game or the next ballot you enter). The educated guess is that you should be able to get to around half of the games you apply for.

If you don't enter a ballot because you couldn't attend anyway, you will have to pay the normal iFollow price.

For Cup games, a TBC percentage will be left for general sale.

We won't be sat in our season ticket seats to maximise capacity, but you'll be placed within the area of your ticket i.e. if your season ticket is in the family area, you will remain in the family area.

On the plus side, we can link season tickets together on our ticketing site, Ticketmaster Sport, so household groups/bubbles will, in the main, be sat together.

I presume then if people enter the ballot, win a ticket and don't use it, there'll be repercussions, similar to the ones we have in place otherwise people would be entering in the hope of not getting it so that they can get ifollow plus a partial refund. Even if they can't watch ifollow either theyre better off than if they just didn't enter.

These are the kind of issues though that thankfully we should avoid. Sounds as though we're assuming that the reduced capacity will still be comfortably enough to house everyone who wants to attend. ST sales may be up though since until restrictions are lifted it sounds as though having a ST will be the only way to get in.

Apparently we've taken 800 reservations in the first day and the Main Stand, which normally holds 2,500 is already now fully reserved. No idea how many of those reservations were in the Main Stand but it gives some idea of how reduced the capacity is. It's likely that Main Stand ST holders were among the first to try and reserve a place as the club had already warned that this would be the most difficult part of the stadium for fans to reserve.

UPDATE: Reserved my spot now... was around half an hour queue on the phones but once you get through it takes no longer than a minute. They take your name and postcode, confirm the other details they have on their database for you are up to date, ask where you want to make your reservation and then say they'll be in touch when it comes time to pay (reservations are provisional, I guess in case it turns out they overestimated the capacity)

 

[Luke Imp]

I presume then if people enter the ballot, win a ticket and don't use it, there'll be repercussions, similar to the ones we have in place otherwise people would be entering in the hope of not getting it so that they can get ifollow plus a partial refund. Even if they can't watch ifollow either theyre better off than if they just didn't enter.

These are the kind of issues though that thankfully we should avoid. Sounds as though we're assuming that the reduced capacity will still be comfortably enough to house everyone who wants to attend. ST sales may be up though since until restrictions are lifted it sounds as though having a ST will be the only way to get in.

Apparently we've taken 800 reservations in the first day and the Main Stand, which normally holds 2,500 is already now fully reserved. No idea how many of those reservations were in the Main Stand but it gives some idea of how reduced the capacity is. It's likely that Main Stand ST holders were among the first to try and reserve a place as the club had already warned that this would be the most difficult part of the stadium for fans to reserve.

I'd imagine so - it'll show up on their season ticket data and will be easy to track. They're the intricacies that are yet to be confirmed but I'm assuming they'll be some sort of penalty and withholding of credits.

 

[Luke Imp]

I presume then if people enter the ballot, win a ticket and don't use it, there'll be repercussions, similar to the ones we have in place otherwise people would be entering in the hope of not getting it so that they can get ifollow plus a partial refund. Even if they can't watch ifollow either theyre better off than if they just didn't enter.

These are the kind of issues though that thankfully we should avoid. Sounds as though we're assuming that the reduced capacity will still be comfortably enough to house everyone who wants to attend. ST sales may be up though since until restrictions are lifted it sounds as though having a ST will be the only way to get in.

Apparently we've taken 800 reservations in the first day and the Main Stand, which normally holds 2,500 is already now fully reserved. No idea how many of those reservations were in the Main Stand but it gives some idea of how reduced the capacity is. It's likely that Main Stand ST holders were among the first to try and reserve a place as the club had already warned that this would be the most difficult part of the stadium for fans to reserve.

UPDATE: Reserved my spot now... was around half an hour queue on the phones but once you get through it takes no longer than a minute. They take your name and postcode, confirm the other details they have on their database for you are up to date, ask where you want to make your reservation and then say they'll be in touch when it comes time to pay (reservations are provisional, I guess in case it turns out they overestimated the capacity)

Scrap that, I've misunderstood/misread it. For every game a season ticket holder who doesn't attend, regardless of whether they entered the ballot or not, they get a free iFollow pass and the credit for next season.

 

[shoddycollins]

Scrap that, I've misunderstood/misread it. For every game a season ticket holder who doesn't attend, regardless of whether they entered the ballot or not, they get a free iFollow pass and the credit for next season.

That sounds a lot more reasonable

 

[denzel ecfc]

I'm assuming that clubs wont be allowed to get away with banning away fans, unless there is a league wide dictat that they shouldn't be allowed in.

 

[Greenacres]

I'm assuming that clubs wont be allowed to get away with banning away fans, unless there is a league wide dictat that they shouldn't be allowed in.

To me that seems a fairly sensible thing to do, at least at the start of allowing fans back into stadiums, but the decision should be made at the highest level and probably not left to individual clubs. Otherwise you could have situations where fans are travelling the length and breadth of the country following their team and potentially spreading the virus around.

 

[Luke Imp]

I think it's already been mooted that they'll be no away fans until January at the earliest.

 

[hellogregory]

Made my reservation for the Paddock. Can't wait to get back in Brunton Park for our top half of the table push!

 

[LancashireTrotters]

Still no news for us. 25% of capacity means we squeeze around 7,100 in. With any luck, it’ll be 33% or more, giving us at least 9,500 tickets up for grabs.

 

[Greenacres]

Still no news for us. 25% of capacity means we squeeze around 7,100 in. With any luck, it’ll be 33% or more, giving us at least 9,500 tickets up for grabs.

Applying that to ourselves, 25% of capacity would allow around 1275 and if we were allowed 33% that would raise it to nearly 1700. I don't know how many season ticket holders we have but I doubt if it would be enough to force the club to have a ballot to determine who should miss out, even at the 25% figure. (Our average home attendance has been in the 2000-2500 range for the past couple of seasons).

The only issue we might have is that most of our season ticket holders seem to be concentrated on three blocks in the middle of the main stand, so quite a few people would need to be prepared to relocate if we were to achieve anything close to social distancing.

 

[Si Robin]

We've had emails asking if we'd be prepared to move into the away stand for socially distanced games in our bubble (I go with 6 other people).

It's actually not a bad view from our away end, so I've confirmed our bubble will be up for it.

 

[The Terminator]

Our owners seem to think the 3pm Saturday blackout will be lifted and ALL games this season will be allowed to be streamed.

All Season ticket holders at our club will be given their login details for all home games in the coming weeks.

I think away games you will have to pay each club individually - This makes sense as it generates much needed revenue.

 

[Monkey Tennis]

We've had emails asking if we'd be prepared to move into the away stand for socially distanced games in our bubble (I go with 6 other people).

It's actually not a bad view from our away end, so I've confirmed our bubble will be up for it.

How the hell would they police people being in "bubbles"? The rules I read a few weeks back suggested everyone would have to be stood/sat apart, even those that live together. Either way, it will be terribly executed.

 

[Greenacres]

It's actually not a bad view from our away end, so I've confirmed our bubble will be up for it.

I agree totally, having enjoyed all the games I have seen from your away end (including an FA Cup match when Gloucester City were your tenants), the view was superb...far better than a friendly I watched from the main stand, we scored and I lost the skin from my knees when I jumped up to celebrate (those seats are not suitable for someone who is about five feet tall, as for a person over six feet...not enough leg room!!!).

 

[Si Robin]

I'm 5'7 and even I have to sit on the edge of those rows to get a bit of leg room.

It used to just be benches, so wasn't too bad, but promotion meant we had to put proper seats in there in 1999.

 

[Greenacres]

I'm not that tall, around 6'1" on a good day, but leg room is often an issue in older stands...it is absolutely fine in the away end at Whaddon Road.