Wales supporters club

Please note that any fan requiring Wales away tickets must join the Wales supporters club...The FSF in Wales had a meeting with the FAW recently to ask for amendments to the original scheme and some of those amendments were agreed...here is the summary of the meeting...


FSF Cymru report on meeting with FAW about the new Wales supporters' membership scheme

We met with the FAW in Cardiff on Tuesday June 15th mainly to discuss the new membership scheme which we felt was flawed and we were hopeful that some of the changes we had come up with, following feedback from fans, could be implemented.

Representing the FAW were the new CEO Jonathan Ford, head International officer Mark Evans, head of finance Leighton Norris and Lucy Jones, ticket officer.
Representing FSF Cymru were Paul Corkrey, Vince Alm and Neil Dymock. Newport County fan Duncan Jardine also attended to put across views from the supporters.
Wayne Palmer and Simon Insole were also in attendance from the Welsh police service.

It became immediately clear that the new CEO did not want an "us and them" scenario and genuinely wants fans and the FAW to be singing from the same hymn sheet. He wants everyone to pull together for the benefit of Welsh football.

We had quite a few issues with the new membership scheme and produced a six page document highlighting changes we felt would improve the scheme and be of more benefit to Welsh fans.
Lengthy discussions then took place, regarding the costs, the benefits of memberships, the security issues possibly being created by fans travelling without match tickets, incentives to buy memberships, and the advantages of database information to the FAW.

It was obvious that we would not win all the arguments and to be fair we would not expect too but we did get a very fair hearing and were told that we would be told of any changes to the scheme, as a result of the meeting by the end of the week, two days later we had that information as promised.

We feel that there are three major issues have been changed from the original membership deal issued to fans in April, and all three are worthwhile benefits to fans in our opinion.

• Away tickets are now available to silver membership if there are any left over
• Discounted home season tickets will be a benefit of Gold and silver membership
• The membership will remain open until full and not close in August.

Originally only gold members were allowed to purchase away tickets...the new scheme states the following...

1. Away Tickets

Gold and junior members will have a priority period to book their away tickets. When this priority period has ended, provided there are plenty of tickets available and the FAW's deadline of confirming final numbers to the host association has not passed, then away tickets will be made available to silver members, again on a one ticket per member basis.
The ticket sale will not be extended to Red members or general public sale.

Incentives for joining any of the schemes were not great in our opinion but now members will get reductions on home match tickets.

2. Reduced ticket prices

We have agreed that season tickets will be discounted for Gold, Silver and Junior members. The level of discount will depend on the membership purchased.
There will be no discount on single match tickets.

Please note the season ticket and single match ticket prices for the Euro 2012 campaign are not yet confirmed, although we are working to keeping them as low as possible.

We were worried that membership was a closed shop but it will be open to all after the current travel club and regular ticket buyers have been serviced, it was also due to close in August, which seemed silly to us. This is the new deal

3. Euro 2012 Membership period

Membership will not close at the end of August as originally anticipated. It will remain open to brand new members during the qualifying campaign thereby enabling anyone who has not already joined to do so. This will then give them access to an away ticket. However, if we reach the limit on Gold membership only Silver, Junior and Red will be available.


We failed to get the cost reduced and also failed to get red membership access to away tickets in the event of any being left over after Silver and Gold had been given priority, but in fairness compromises have been made.

A membership scheme protects fans in some ways and guarantees the regular supporter match tickets, what happened at Old Trafford should never happen again with tickets getting into the wrong hands. Security wise a membership scheme helps to monitor who travels to games and should root out any potential trouble makers therefore making trips more enjoyable and safe.

You can never please everyone and there still will be fans unhappy with the new membership scheme.
On balance our advice is now to join up to guarantee away tickets...this is the very latest information from the FAW...

The Wales Supporters Club has so far generated a great deal of interest, with almost 2000 members signed up to date. We have started the second phase of the membership drive and contacted all remaining members on our old database and have already received a large number of applications back. Brand new members will be welcome to join next month, further details will be confirmed on our website when the exact date is confirmed - www.faw.org.uk/ticket-information/membership

I joined last week Corky

Corky,

I had my blurb through the post but was a bit incensed at the suggestion that I had to pay another £25 for the privelige of watching Wales away. Less than 100 in Baku and Moscow, 400 in Vaduz, 800 in Helsinki and a few thousand in Germany. So hardly selling out are we.

I like others spent several thousand pounds traipsing round Europe and into Asia and back following the team last time round - so what is another £25? But it is the principle and trying to cash in on England.

Part of me is thinking feck the England game and I will turn up in Montenegro, Switzerland and Bulgaria without tickets and pay to get in or not see the game. Perhaps petty.

More worrying is those who go to one game or the occasional game like My missus. She is coming to Montenegro but probably not Switzerland - so there is another £25. Also Junior will go to at least 1 game possibly Switzerland so another £25 (as he aint actually a junior anymore).

Have I missed the point? If not are they trying to alienate the hard core knowing they will sell out England.

I will have a chat to Neil and others in Ukraine to see what the feelings are avout this - but I am not seeing myself adding £75 to my travel plans for this group.

Grapes makes some good points, I still haven't decided yet and am thinking along similar lines. The experience of ticketing distribution for the last England games (home and especially away) still leave a bitter taste!
Still, its good to see you're keeping up the good work Corky, well played sir!

Im a gold member as well and off to Montenegro.
How many fans are the FAW allowing to buy gold membership? because if the gold members snap up the away tickets then will there be a scramble for tickets from the silver members?

There will be a maximum allowed to buy Gold to ensure that priority can be given to gold members but I am not sure of the final figure.

KEV(GRAPES)
We thought the same as you about most of the scheme mate but managed to get some benefits to joining...I hate paying a tax on tickets myself.
Anyway,,,will see you soon...Neil will give you more info on when you go to Ukraine

Sent my form off yesterday, really fancy a trip to Bulgaria next autumn

Corky,

I had my blurb through the post but was a bit incensed at the suggestion that I had to pay another £25 for the privelige of watching Wales away. Less than 100 in Baku and Moscow, 400 in Vaduz, 800 in Helsinki and a few thousand in Germany. So hardly selling out are we.

I like others spent several thousand pounds traipsing round Europe and into Asia and back following the team last time round - so what is another £25? But it is the principle and trying to cash in on England.

Part of me is thinking feck the England game and I will turn up in Montenegro, Switzerland and Bulgaria without tickets and pay to get in or not see the game. Perhaps petty.

More worrying is those who go to one game or the occasional game like My missus. She is coming to Montenegro but probably not Switzerland - so there is another £25. Also Junior will go to at least 1 game possibly Switzerland so another £25 (as he aint actually a junior anymore).

Have I missed the point? If not are they trying to alienate the hard core knowing they will sell out England.

I will have a chat to Neil and others in Ukraine to see what the feelings are avout this - but I am not seeing myself adding £75 to my travel plans for this group.

Some good points in there(assuming that it's similar to the Scotland Supporters Club).
I had all sorts of bother with our lot up here and in the end just let my membership elapse. Always managed to get tickets so far, which I couldn't seem to do when I was a member. They know they will sell out the major games(in your case England) so the minor games tend to be an inconvenience to them. Certainly, for some of the dross Scotland have put on over the years(albeit with some highs...) the pricing structure and distribuiton of tickets is a farce. I hope yours is better

corks, how do butt

ive been to the odd wales game, but it seems hell of a farce to go watch a game these days, forms, membership, gold pink memberships, i could understand if we were a team like argentina or brazil, as all that helps the geniune fan etc, but we are only wales. i and a few others just get put off going to games by buying membership, and the whole farce of sending letters out, emailing lucy at the FAW and stuff , then tickets on top to watch boring rubbish, then they wounder why we get poor attendance

its a shame really

cant help feel it is a bit of a money making scam by the FAW, in my opinion any football fan who holds a season ticket with an FAW member club (league of wales or higher) should be given free silver or reduced gold membership by application to the the FAW. these people are not any "Phil from Bolton" who wants to watch Wales play England and cause no more threat than anybody who pays the memebership, they are genuine fans who spend a considerable amount of time and money watching football in Wales and should be entitled to buy a ticket to watch their national team

cant help feel it is a bit of a money making scam by the FAW, in my opinion any football fan who holds a season ticket with an FAW member club (league of wales or higher) should be given free silver or reduced gold membership by application to the the FAW. these people are not any "Phil from Bolton" who wants to watch Wales play England and cause no more threat than anybody who pays the memebership, they are genuine fans who spend a considerable amount of time and money watching football in Wales and should be entitled to buy a ticket to watch their national team

And outside of Wales

I posted my thoughts on this on Mikes board as Strongbow, pretty much the same as Grapes, he may remember.

Have now decided, which is hard, after 20 years supporting Wales Home and the occasional away (usualy 1-2 a campaign)
that my days of following the national team have ended.

I went to the Scotland friendly, there were 13,000 people at the CCS and 5000+ were Scottish.

I have been to Warsaw (away fans 500), Frankfurt (away fans 900), Helsinki (away fans 7-800)
Bulgaria (Away fans about 50!), Iceland (Away fans about 100) since 2005 so not as many
as a lot of others but I refuse to pay £25, which is renewal every two years (so every campaign) for the right
to buy a match ticket to sit with several hundred fellow Welsh fans in half empty stadiums abroad.

They should be paying us! not the other way around, I appreciate some people might think its tight, but
as I pointed out before, If a Father decides to take his misses and 2 kids to Bulgaria as part of a holiday
to coincide with the Wales game, he has to pay another £60 to purchase tickets.

And if 4 lads decide they wont to go to Switzerland (at which point our qualifying campaign could allready be looking grim)
for a midweeker, id have to collect, on top of their flights and hotel £100 between them for the membership for tickets
in a stand that will more than likely be half empty.

Its unjustifiable.

I posted my thoughts on this on Mikes board as Strongbow, pretty much the same as Grapes, he may remember.

Have now decided, which is hard, after 20 years supporting Wales Home and the occasional away (usualy 1-2 a campaign)
that my days of following the national team have ended.

I went to the Scotland friendly, there were 13,000 people at the CCS and 5000+ were Scottish.

I have been to Warsaw (away fans 500), Frankfurt (away fans 900), Helsinki (away fans 7-800)
Bulgaria (Away fans about 50!), Iceland (Away fans about 100) since 2005 so not as many
as a lot of others but I refuse to pay £25, which is renewal every two years (so every campaign) for the right
to buy a match ticket to sit with several hundred fellow Welsh fans in half empty stadiums abroad.

They should be paying us! not the other way around, I appreciate some people might think its tight, but
as I pointed out before, If a Father decides to take his misses and 2 kids to Bulgaria as part of a holiday
to coincide with the Wales game, he has to pay another £60 to purchase tickets.

And if 4 lads decide they wont to go to Switzerland (at which point our qualifying campaign could allready be looking grim)
for a midweeker, id have to collect, on top of their flights and hotel £100 between them for the membership for tickets
in a stand that will more than likely be half empty.

Its unjustifiable.

unless I get another explanation I see it as just an attempt to cash in on the England game.

I will pay the £25 quid as I will be going to all the away games but reluctantly and I will be writing to the FA to say so.

I can see Mrs G staying on the beach, by the pool or reading her book instead of going to the game in Montenegro if she has to pay another £25 plus a ticket (that would be a new pair of shoes for god sake).

I know a few people thinking of going to one of the games - probably Bulgaria but knowing them that £25 out of principle would put them off.

Are they honestly saying if you are not a member you cant have a ticket for any away game even if there are thousands of spaces.

Grapes, there are six of us in our group now who have had a tit full of the FAW.

To be truthfull, £25 is not a lot to any of us, but it is the pure principle of the matter.

The FAW could quite have easily and HAVE made their money from us six by selling us all the home tickets. but to charge us £125 between us to buy some away tickets is a joke that none of us are willing to laugh with.

Ben, above says similar, the membership palava puts him off.

I wouldnt mind betting that they scrap the whole idea after this campaign.

I can see crowds of 10,000 for the home games (england aside obviously) and ill be amazed if we take more than 1000 anywhere apart from England.

As you said, it is a blatant cash in on the England game and nobody can tell you any differently.

I sent the form and cheque off weeks ago for 3 silver memberships - and have had no acknowledgement or anything since.

Is this normal ?

Should I have had anything sent to me ?

Grapes, there are six of us in our group now who have had a tit full of the FAW.

To be truthfull, £25 is not a lot to any of us, but it is the pure principle of the matter.

The FAW could quite have easily and HAVE made their money from us six by selling us all the home tickets. but to charge us £125 between us to buy some away tickets is a joke that none of us are willing to laugh with.

Ben, above says similar, the membership palava puts him off.

I wouldnt mind betting that they scrap the whole idea after this campaign.

I can see crowds of 10,000 for the home games (england aside obviously) and ill be amazed if we take more than 1000 anywhere apart from England.

As you said, it is a blatant cash in on the England game and nobody can tell you any differently.

I suppose it will be the usual supply and demand. Who cares about the fans as long as they shift the tickets. Most of those signing up I would guess will want an England away ticket to say I was there. If an England ticket comes up for me (depending on the price) I would take it - but that game is a waste. I would have rathered a nice trip to Spain or any of the other seeds including Germany again. England away will be hassle and will be just like a big game away in London for a club match.

I sent the form and cheque off weeks ago for 3 silver memberships - and have had no acknowledgement or anything since.

Is this normal ?

Should I have had anything sent to me ?

No no yet, they are sending everything out in the summer.
They will then be sending out applications for the 2nd phase who they have on their database.
they will then decide depending on demand from the first 2 phases, how many new applications, they are willing to make available.

with grapes on this one. think the FAW has got a f*cking nerve.