Summary FSF Cymru meeting with FAW, Wales/England Tickets

A FAW press release Today will announce plans for these tickets, we at the FSF Cymru had a meeting with the FAW on Wednesday and are very happy with the new plan to ensure Welsh fans take up the tickets...more to follow


http://www.faw.org.uk/ticket-informatio ... ch_tickets
FAW TICKETING STATEMENT
Euro 2012 Group G Qualifying Match WALES v ENGLAND

Saturday 26th March 2011 Kick Off 3pm Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

The Wales Supporters Club is still open and fans are welcome to sign up. Membership forms can be downloaded from the FAW website at http://www.faw.org.uk/ticket-information/membership.

Red Membership is free of charge and despite previously not been given any priority on tickets, these members are eligible to purchase one ticket each for this match.

Gold and Silver members of the Wales Supporters Club will be given the opportunity to purchase up to five tickets, although they must provide details of every person they are buying a ticket for. Members will be responsible for everyone in their party and the FAW will terminate the membership of anyone who passes tickets on to away fans.

The FAW has taken the decision to sell tickets for the above match to members only, in order to maximise the level of Welsh support in the Millennium Stadium and limit the number of home-end tickets being passed on to away fans.

Due to the increased security of the match, the FAW is not allowed to hold a general public sale, as we would normally do with other home matches. It is imperative we minimise the risk of having away fans in the home end and for this


http://www.faw.org.uk/ticket-informatio ... ch_tickets


Summary of FSF Cymru Meeting with Football Association of Wales December 8th 2010

1.30 start Present at the meeting

Mark Evans Head of International department FAW
Ian Gwyn Hughes Head of public affairs FAW
Ian Davies Head of commercial and marketing FAW
Lucy Jones Ticket officer FAW
Lynsey Owens administration tickets FAW
Simon Insole south Wales’s police
Paul Corkrey FSF Cymru secretary
Neil Dymock FSF Cymru

Agenda
1 The 60 and 90 day rule
2 Differential in ticket pricing
3 England games next season...Tickets
4 Celtic tournament, security, tickets
5 Membership...how do we all feel it has gone, future schemes.
6 Montenegro...problems
7 Under 21 matches
8 Promoting Welsh football matches need to increase gates
9 Gol
10 Any other business

60 and 90 day rule

In a recent home nations fans meeting in Belfast this issue was once again brought up and the desire of the fans in the UK to alter this rule to allow more time for supporters to book trips etc. A letter is being drafted by the FSE (Football Supporters Europe) in all European languages in support of altering this rule to say that venues should be announced at the same time as the fixture meeting to decide the order in which games are played.

The FAW said that they would happily support the changing of the UEFA 60 day rule to 90 days to be in line with FIFA but they felt that was then a reasonable compromise and any longer than that would not be realistic and unlikely to get support from other FA’s...we will report that back to the FSE and still try to get a change to this rule.

Differential pricing

Differential ticket pricing is not an issue fans are readily aware of but it could affect us so we wanted to make sure that the FAW would agree that they would not accept differential pricing, Mark Evans said that the FAW would not agree to differential pricing.

(According to the UEFA statutes, away fans should pay the same as home fans (for a similar view) at UEFA matches........unless the FA's agree different........which is differential pricing.)


England game at Millennium stadium

There were a number of issues that concerned us in regard to this fixture, the poor attendances at recent home games, security issues, ticket allocation, promotion of the event, ensuring that the season ticket holders get the best choice of seats unlike in the past when they have been let down compared to other fans who simply bought on the day of the match.

England will have an allocation of 7,500 tickets this will not be increased and they will be housed in the normal away section with sufficient segregation in place. The police and FAW are aware that some England fans may get into Welsh areas but hope the system that is in place to sell tickets will mean that there will be far more Welsh fans attending than previously anticipated. There will be a large police operation in place and they are confident the game will be well controlled.
England fans have to gather points to obtain away tickets and any fans caught up in trouble face bans but also lose all their points, this system along with other measures has helped improve the image of England fans and there is rarely if ever any problems at their away games these days.


This part of the meeting turned out to be the most pleasing and we were very happy to learn of the plans that are in place for this game, many of which were suggested by the fans in the past.

Firstly all Gold and Silver members will all be allowed to purchase up to five tickets each, red members will also be allowed to purchase one ticket, Tickets can be priced as little as £15 behind the goals. There will be no additional booking fee added only special delivery postage (for security) more than one ticket at a time can be sent this way to the same address...details will be released closer to the date.
Tickets will also be available to be collected free of charge from the FAW

An exciting new scheme is being introduced for this game and if it is a success it will be tried again at future home games, it is something fans have asked for a long time and something we believe deserves to be supported.
Full details of the scheme are available on the FAW website http://www.faw.org.uk

Basically the scheme allows football clubs throughout Wales the opportunity to purchase tickets in bulk for their members, the clubs and associations have to pay in advance for the tickets but they will benefit from this by having a 25 % rebate paid back to them by the FAW for every ticket they have sold therefore generating finances for their organisations.

There are some risks associated with this venture but its really up to the Welsh fans to make this work...here is the warning from the FAW...these tickets are traceable

(A cover letter will be going to all WSC members, clubs, players, council members (anyone who is able to buy tickets) that there are strict conditions and if there is any concern on the part of FAW that tickets are not for the intended recipients named on the forms, or for away fans, then tickets will not be issued and the application will become void. All applicants have to supply all names and addresses as well, and sign to say they are for Welsh fans only etc. That goes for WSC members as well as players and council members.)

Fans who buy tickets behind the goals should note that the biggest allocation will be in the South stand and that the North stand will be segregated away from the England section therefore meaning less tickets in that area. We have been assured that season ticket holders will be issued with the best seats before other tickets are sold, this includes middle tier and half way line areas, the lower tiers are being allocated to families whenever possible.



Entertainment before the match is being sourced and Ian Davies said that some major groups had already been approached, he accepted that whoever does get booked does more than a token couple of songs, and the idea is to get fans into the stadium earlier and to create a good pre match atmosphere.



Celtic tournament
This tournament is taking place in February and May, it should be noted that the May double header for Wales is now likely to be Wednesday and Friday rather than Tuesday and Thursday, please wait confirmation of this change in the press and on FAW website.
Ticket pricing is an issue with the IFA charging 40 and 50 Euro’s for their last friendly match...Mark Evans said they were aware of this and would definitely oppose such prices, 20 Euros is a possible price for the first Welsh game in February but again we await confirmation...Mark will also ask about cheaper Tournament tickets to cover the two May games or all three of our games
Security especially when playing Northern Ireland...National Anthems...should we play a tournament song instead at all games to defuse any planned booing of anthems? This was a question brought up in the home nations fans meeting in Belfast but Mark Evans said that although they are aware of certain concerns the Welsh anthem will definitely be played before all of our games.
Northern Ireland fans groups believe there is a potential for possible problems during the tournament due to unofficial groups travelling to Dublin looking for trouble...we asked Simon Insole if a fans representatives from all four competing countries attend the next tournament meeting in January 2011 to discuss this and he said that he would try to arrange that.
The police and the FAW requested that the FSF produce two information booklets for this tournament there is likely to be different sections of the Arriva stadium used to house Welsh supporters during the Tournament and that means different transport issues getting to the ground...free transport may be available from certain areas of the city to the stadium...this will be confirmed at a later date.
A fans tournament run by Neil Dymock will take place during both trips, sponsorship is being sourced and the FAW agreed to assist getting the correct contacts that may help with this.

Membership scheme

We discussed the merits of the scheme and were informed that over 5,000 fans had joined up. Lucy Jones said that there had been good feedback regards the membership boxed introductory packs and there were some delays getting them all sent out but there are more available now.
The cost to join was the main issue .Membership does not close anymore and after this tournament has ended current members will be asked to renew for the 2014 World cup campaign but at a reduced price.




Montenegro away

There were problems with ticket distribution at this game, the local police refused the FAW access to a ticket booth outside the stadium and then refused the request to allow fans to travel to the FAW hotel to collect tickets...that meant Neil Dymock and Vince Alm helping out with distribution. Lucy said she apologised for this and maintained that she always tries to ensure that tickets are sent out in advance of games to avoid this happening and will continue to do so in the future..

Simon Insole stressed that all the pre match meetings and sharing of information failed to identify a problem or prevent an incident with the Montenegran fans who attacked the Welsh fans. The Montenegro authorities played down any possible trouble before the game. The information has now been passed on to the FSE (Football Supporters Europe) to avoid any future incidents to fans travelling to that country. It was a good trip and generally most people had a good time.

Under 21 games

We asked that after the recent successes of U21 games at Llanelli and Newport, shouldn't the hosting of such games be expanded to once again Include Barry in the South and the better(suitable) grounds in the North instead of games played where Senior ones are hosted (i.e. Cardiff Swansea Wrexham)?
Mark stated that he thought it was likely that friendly games would be played at different venues throughout Wales but also stressed the need for a certain amount of seating at stadia to accommodate these fixtures.

On the U21 Note, were/Are the FAW happy with the Ticket distribution Neil Dymock and Duncan Jardine have done for recent games?
This relates to Neil and Duncan assisting with ticket sales at Newport and Llanelli and Mark said they were very happy with that arrangement and felt it essential that people from selected venues get involved in promoting and selling tickets for the under 21 games.

The next tournament will see 4 games played in the Principality; every indication is that two will be played at Llanelli and two at Wrexham.


Promoting Welsh football matches need to increase gates

This was partly answered by the new initiative being brought in on the December 10th to get football clubs back involved in ticket sales. Ian Davies and Ian Gwyn Hughes are both working hard on this issue and Ian Davies said that the FAW website is getting overhauled to improve that side of things.

Ian Gwyn Hughes is promoting fans forums to travel around Wales to give fans the opportunity to ask questions and meet Welsh football staff. He is hopeful the new manager will attend these forums and in the future current and ex players plus FAW staff...Simon Insole from the police also volunteered to attend to answer any security/police issues the fans want raised.

We are very happy that these fans forums are taking place and will try to promote them and boost attendances at them, it is also encouraging to see the ticket prices that are currently available to Welsh fans, and they are cheaper than all the other home nations.


Gol

Neil Dymock went through the work Gol had been doing this year and the fact that they are now classed as a charity for income tax but were seeking full charitable status.
They are looking to attend orphanages in Ireland and Bulgaria next yea, they currently have a Christmas draw taking place and tickets are still available, this draw will aid funds, there is also going to be a book written by Neil Dymock about the Baku or Bust trip with all profits going to Gol.

Any other Business

We became aware that over 300 Northern Ireland fans had booked to travel to Serbia and then it was decided by UEFA to play the game behind closed doors...something similar had happened to Welsh fans in the past...can the FAW bring this up at their next UEFA meeting?
Some sort of safeguard should be in place where compensation is payable to fans out of pocket by the country that has offended...in this case Serbia. Mark Evans agreed to bring this up at the next meeting with UEFA

Jonathon Ford had mentioned in the last meeting that some sort of FAW travel club maybe started in the future, we asked if that was still the case and if so would it be different to the closed shop model in place during the Tony Clemo era.
Ian Davies said they were looking into this and it would not be anything like the previous travel club, the FAW would seek to find affordable transport and accommodation for Welsh fans...more details will be available on the FAW website.


Meeting closed at 3.30 pm

Paul Corkrey FSF secretary

Interesting Cheers Corky, England to Only get 7,500 Tickets in The Millennium Stadium, Will We Sell Out ?

England will have an allocation of 7,500 tickets this will not be increased and they will be housed in the normal away section with sufficient segregation in place. The police and FAW are aware that some England fans may get into Welsh areas but hope the system that is in place to sell tickets will mean that there will be far more Welsh fans attending than previously anticipated. There will be a large police operation in place and they are confident the game will be well controlled.
England fans have to gather points to obtain away tickets and any fans caught up in trouble face bans but also lose all their points, this system along with other measures has helped improve the image of England fans and there is rarely if ever any problems at their away games these days.

Thats 5 Tickets for Me then as a Travel Member

Interesting, I cant wait for the Celtic tournament

So if I already have a tournament ticket, I can buy another 5? And they will all be seated together?

Rhys,

If you have a season ticket then yes you will be sent that as normal....If you are also a member(Gold or Silver) then yes you can buy 5.....I am not quite 100 per cent certain if tournament ticket holders who are not members can still get 5

Rhys,

If you have a season ticket then yes you will be sent that as normal....If you are also a member(Gold or Silver) then yes you can buy 5.....I am not quite 100 per cent certain if tournament ticket holders who are not members can still get 5

Well I'm a member also, I thought tournament tickets only went on-sale to members this time around

Wales v England.
That's 5 tickets for me and 5 for the wife. (gold members)
Won't I become Mr popularity in work, with mates and finally with family.

cheers Corky