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Really does not read well. Club needs to be very, very careful how they handle this.
To be clear, I'm STH and have been for many years, but I have no away priority this season. I'm also part of the OSC (not the one that has this WhatsApp message in) and like it as an idea. This is arrogant of the highest level, and the loyal away following should be getting recognition and not spoken down to like they're idiots.
Aware this isn't directly from the club. But the OSC is inherently associated with the club, and that reads appallingly.
I don't mind minimal tickets going to a local OSC. 10 or so at most. Rumours that over 100 went to a northern OSC is really poor though, and speaking about those who question it like this is embarrassing.
Club has to be transparent with these things to avoid situations like this, not OSC's getting quiet benefits whilst the loyal fans going week in week out are mocked and kept in the dark.
Ah - did not see this was under the huddersfield tickets thread - my apologies.
mjd2505[x.com]
Really does not read well. Club needs to be very, very careful how they handle this.
To be clear, I'm STH and have been for many years, but I have no away priority this season. I'm also part of the OSC (not the one that has this WhatsApp message in) and like it as an idea. This is arrogant of the highest level, and the loyal away following should be getting recognition and not spoken down to like they're idiots.
Aware this isn't directly from the club. But the OSC is inherently associated with the club, and that reads appallingly.
I don't mind minimal tickets going to a local OSC. 10 or so at most. Rumours that over 100 went to a northern OSC is really poor though, and speaking about those who question it like this is embarrassing.
Club has to be transparent with these things to avoid situations like this, not OSC's getting quiet benefits whilst the loyal fans going week in week out are mocked and kept in the dark.
I agree re transparency. The rumours of 100+ are way off, I think it's more like 10-20.
mjd2505[x.com]
Really does not read well. Club needs to be very, very careful how they handle this.
To be clear, I'm STH and have been for many years, but I have no away priority this season. I'm also part of the OSC (not the one that has this WhatsApp message in) and like it as an idea. This is arrogant of the highest level, and the loyal away following should be getting recognition and not spoken down to like they're idiots.
Aware this isn't directly from the club. But the OSC is inherently associated with the club, and that reads appallingly.
I don't mind minimal tickets going to a local OSC. 10 or so at most. Rumours that over 100 went to a northern OSC is really poor though, and speaking about those who question it like this is embarrassing.
Club has to be transparent with these things to avoid situations like this, not OSC's getting quiet benefits whilst the loyal fans going week in week out are mocked and kept in the dark.
That is really poor - no idea of the numbers but there should be transparency and the club should keep an eye on how those running OSCs, since their behaviour reflects on the image of the club and goodwill towards it. whoever sent that message should be warned about their behaviour by the club and be clear what is and isn't acceptable.
Which isn't too bad.
The biggest issue here is it's clearly a lead of an OSC who's spoken like a fanny about our loyal away following. At minimum, the club need to be having a word about that. Stinks of arrogance and superiority, everything that I would hope blues is not.
This is quite a sensitive thing.
From the POV of a long term ST holder, who is neither in a good away bracket or in an OSC, I see a massive contradiction here between people wanting this club to grow and some world class gatekeeping.
New supporters should be encouraged, not made to feel intimidated by 2,000 people who consider themselves proper supporters.
I’ve seen people speculating that the tickets were crooked at Rotherham because they ‘didn’t recognise everyone’. As someone who goes to 3 or 4 away games a year, that kind of comment makes me feel anxious about standing with what I would have considered my people.
But at the same time, the plat and gold members have earned that place and the club needs to be as transparent as humanly possible about these things.
The event thing at St Andrews, personally I couldn’t give less of a toss.
I mean that specific person’s messaging is not on, of that there is no question.
ThrillhouseThis is quite a sensitive thing.
From the POV of a long term ST holder, who is neither in a good away bracket or in an OSC, I see a massive contradiction here between people wanting this club to grow and some world class gatekeeping.
New supporters should be encouraged, not made to feel intimidated by 2,000 people who consider themselves proper supporters.
I’ve seen people speculating that the tickets were crooked at Rotherham because they ‘didn’t recognise everyone’. As someone who goes to 3 or 4 away games a year, that kind of comment makes me feel anxious about standing with what I would have considered my people.
But at the same time, the plat and gold members have earned that place and the club needs to be as transparent as humanly possible about these things.
The event thing at St Andrews, personally I couldn’t give less of a toss.
I mean that specific person’s messaging is not on, of that there is no question.
I agree with this.
Only thing I’d add is that WhatsApp message has no context; who it’s from, which group its in and no verification of its veracity.
ThrillhouseThis is quite a sensitive thing.
From the POV of a long term ST holder, who is neither in a good away bracket or in an OSC, I see a massive contradiction here between people wanting this club to grow and some world class gatekeeping.
New supporters should be encouraged, not made to feel intimidated by 2,000 people who consider themselves proper supporters.
I’ve seen people speculating that the tickets were crooked at Rotherham because they ‘didn’t recognise everyone’. As someone who goes to 3 or 4 away games a year, that kind of comment makes me feel anxious about standing with what I would have considered my people.
But at the same time, the plat and gold members have earned that place and the club needs to be as transparent as humanly possible about these things.
The event thing at St Andrews, personally I couldn’t give less of a toss.
I mean that specific person’s messaging is not on, of that there is no question.
Transparency from the club is absolutely key here so that everybody knows the situation and there's no room for this cloak and dagger approach this OSC decided to take.
I go to a few aways a year, whether I can get them myself or buying through someone who's reselling a ticket (and therefore I don't get the 'recognition' for it). The platinum/gold members should be getting at least some of the benefits that the OSC members have. I never feel as though I'm not part of the crowd because I'm not platinum or gold - appreciate that might not be everybody's experience but I can't say it's mine.
You can do both. The OSC is a great way to grow the club, and they do have to incentivise it, but these incentives should be transparent and considered carefully alongside incentives for those who spend hundreds of pounds and sacrifice hours of their time each week to follow blues away. I know it's early days - but the club should be looking at rewarding both.
We're historically happy with the priority for tickets being the reward for away fans. But the more benefits the OSC's get, the more the club should consider doing something for the away following as well. Different fans will value different incentives, not everybody will be happy, but the club should be looking to do more for the away following too. And to note in the clubs favour on that point - the last away I went to was Leicester, and the pub I went into happened to have lots of money put behind the bar by management at the club so we all got free drinks. That is also an incentive and should be recognised.
Our away priority system is I think about as perfect of a solution as you can get. Don't change it blues. And be transparent if you do something that impacts it, like giving tickets to corporate, OSCs, etc.
Think I've gone a bit all over the place with this post. I just want the club to recognise our away following. There's no reason the most loyal away fans not part of an OSC shouldn't have the opportunity to play at St Andrews, if they so wish, for example.
You can both grow the club and give opportunities to newer fans whilst adequately rewarding loyal fans. It is possible - should be a consistent thought in the club's mind.
And to round off - completely agree on the guy who wrote that message.
I think my follow up to that would be that we don’t know that the club isn’t putting plans in place to reward the away regulars.
We know they listen. Let’s see what happens, rather than toy throwing on Twitter.
mjd2505ThrillhouseThis is quite a sensitive thing.
From the POV of a long term ST holder, who is neither in a good away bracket or in an OSC, I see a massive contradiction here between people wanting this club to grow and some world class gatekeeping.
New supporters should be encouraged, not made to feel intimidated by 2,000 people who consider themselves proper supporters.
I’ve seen people speculating that the tickets were crooked at Rotherham because they ‘didn’t recognise everyone’. As someone who goes to 3 or 4 away games a year, that kind of comment makes me feel anxious about standing with what I would have considered my people.
But at the same time, the plat and gold members have earned that place and the club needs to be as transparent as humanly possible about these things.
The event thing at St Andrews, personally I couldn’t give less of a toss.
I mean that specific person’s messaging is not on, of that there is no question.
Transparency from the club is absolutely key here so that everybody knows the situation and there's no room for this cloak and dagger approach this OSC decided to take.
I go to a few aways a year, whether I can get them myself or buying through someone who's reselling a ticket (and therefore I don't get the 'recognition' for it). The platinum/gold members should be getting at least some of the benefits that the OSC members have. I never feel as though I'm not part of the crowd because I'm not platinum or gold - appreciate that might not be everybody's experience but I can't say it's mine.
You can do both. The OSC is a great way to grow the club, and they do have to incentivise it, but these incentives should be transparent and considered carefully alongside incentives for those who spend hundreds of pounds and sacrifice hours of their time each week to follow blues away. I know it's early days - but the club should be looking at rewarding both.
We're historically happy with the priority for tickets being the reward for away fans. But the more benefits the OSC's get, the more the club should consider doing something for the away following as well. Different fans will value different incentives, not everybody will be happy, but the club should be looking to do more for the away following too. And to note in the clubs favour on that point - the last away I went to was Leicester, and the pub I went into happened to have lots of money put behind the bar by management at the club so we all got free drinks. That is also an incentive and should be recognised.
Our away priority system is I think about as perfect of a solution as you can get. Don't change it blues. And be transparent if you do something that impacts it, like giving tickets to corporate, OSCs, etc.
Think I've gone a bit all over the place with this post. I just want the club to recognise our away following. There's no reason the most loyal away fans not part of an OSC shouldn't have the opportunity to play at St Andrews, if they so wish, for example.
You can both grow the club and give opportunities to newer fans whilst adequately rewarding loyal fans. It is possible - should be a consistent thought in the club's mind.
And to round off - completely agree on the guy who wrote that message.
I think the comms on the game on the pitch have been handled badly, apparently only a couple of members can be nominated and they may not get to play. It’s not like everyone bring your boots.
Yeah 3 per supporters club, with two weeks notice and on a train strike day. 22 per team so game time would be limited, unfortunately will have to give it a miss.
tbf the comms that i got from our OSC lead were pretty clear, each branch nominates 3 players + 1 non-player
Someone from the club should be running that account rather than a fan, I get why a fan is running it but it's an official account and this will be quite a common issue I think
HackneyBluetbf the comms that i got from our OSC lead were pretty clear, each branch nominates 3 players + 1 non-player
The comms to the wider fans though mate. We’re not privy to what you’ve seen.