Premier League and we're having a laugh... £45? Actually, we're not.

That's right - Swans fans are justifiably unhappy after the club announced two things yesterday: an updated Jack Army (JA) Membership Scheme and the new price of a home ticket. £45.

Surprisingly, after reading through the new membership scheme details, I'm less irritated than I am at the price hike. But there is still confusion as expected. Let's look at the Jack Army scheme first.


Jack Army membership – home games

The full details are on the club's website, but I will attempt to sum it up:

Tickets go on sale three weeks in advance. The first week and 70% of the allocation is for 'non season-ticket holding JA members' (to give the full title). The second week sees the remaining 30% and leftovers allocated to 'season-ticket holding JA members'. The third week is general sale. You'll be very lucky to get a general sale ticket!

Firstly, I'm glad they've listened to our complaints (unless it was just a good guess) and have changed the glaringly obvious mistake of last season where season-ticket holders had priority to buy an extra ticket.

Season ticket holders - many of whom are regular readers of this blog - have agreed that there is no need for them to have priority to purchase a home ticket as they already have access to home games.

Giving the first 70% of tickets to non season-ticket holders is a good move, and one that I welcome.

As I mentioned, I can't imagine the club selling many general sale tickets this season as surely the 2,000-odd seats will sell out in the first two weeks - mainly because I assume the club will sell thousands of JA memberships to compete for those 2,000 seats.

Elsewhere, I still don't fully understand the points system. The whole scheme seems to be a three-way divide between ST holders, non-ST holders and general sale - where do the points come in? Why are you getting three points for QPR away and one for Man United home if they are not for anything? These are not hypothetical questions, I actually don't know.


Jack Army membership – away games

This is essentially the same system, just reversed - ST holding JA members are given the 70% priority, then 30% to the non-ST holder and finally general sale. Makes complete sense (for a change) as this time ST holders have a valid reason for needing priority.

Note that the cost of joining the new membership scheme will remain the same as last season: £10 for season-ticket holders and £25 for non season-ticket holders.

Got anything left?

Ticket Prices!

Moving on to the price... what can I say. £45 for a home ticket. It's ridiculous. To clarify, the £45 is for Category A games (including Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs), while Category B games (I'm assuming these are somehow unimportant games?!) are £35.

Just shy of £50 for a fan to watch their team against one of these 'big' clubs is everything that is wrong with football these days. Naturally it's not just Swansea, but the club are now revealing their nastier side and distancing themselves from the fans with this move.

The simple way to look at it is: the average guy in Swansea is finding it hard - unemployment, higher cost of living, recession... it's all a bit gloomy. Football is one of the things that can help ease that stress - it allows a fan to have a pint with their mates, cheer on their team and forget about life for a few hours. However, jacking the price up £10 for these already expensive prime games is greedy. It's at least a day's wages for some people.

I am well aware that Swansea are not owned by Johnny Oil-tycoon and need to raise money somehow, but as one fan pointed out, even if all six of the Category A games sell out, including away fans, the club will net an extra £270k over the season. This is nothing in Premier League terms (thanks to @NeathJack1 for working it out).

Is that extra money worth upsetting - even excluding - the loyal fans? It's barely enough to pay wages for a few weeks. The fans are the only ones who are suffering. It's now the case of “if you are lucky enough to find a ticket to a Swans home match, can you even afford it?”

Think of the silly money that players are paid. I could write thousands of words on the problems of money and football, but it's pointless - it will depress us all and won't change anything. I know a blog like this isn't going to get anyone saying “you know what, players are paid too much - let's cut the wages and give something back to the fans”. Still, it's worth mentioning.

One day Premier League clubs will price their fans out of the stadium. Empty seats galore reminiscent of the Six Nations or the Euros. Then again, fans will go to any lengths - pay any price - to get tickets to see their club. We're stupid I guess.

It's not just me annoyed with this increase. Here are a selection of tweets I received from fellow fans following the announcement of the £45 ticket:

@philbettany
At least relegation has a silver lining now: we get to actually see a game! I saw QPR & Fulham away in the oppositions stands...

@Onslow74
Chris, chances are I'll get to see 3 or 4 games max this season. £45 for a Swansea ticket is shocking no matter the opposition. The club has lost touch with their fan base. Especially the ones they'll call on if the PL dream turns sour.

@beaker1964
Think they have forgotten we are in a recession.

@Grayo85
The new system is clearly designed to make having a season ticket v attractive (ground expansion in mind). £45 is a lot tho!

@CliveMitchell54
I think at £45 we are turning into a boutique club a la QPR. It was 1/6d or 7.5p when I first paid to see Swans!

Soon it will be the case that the only people who can afford to watch football are... well, footballers.

Thank god for illegal Armenian cable hook-ups eh?


Your thoughts are more than welcome as always. Sign in using Blogger, Wordpress, Open ID and leave your comment! Or tweet me @ForzaSwansea.

A very brief Swansea City news round up!

Welcome to a very (very) brief round up of this week's Swansea City news!

The Michael Laudrup press conference
As some have said - you know you're a Premier League club when your manager is unveiled live on Sky Sports, and yesterday afternoon Huw Jenkins spoke to the world to introduce Michael Laudrup as Swansea City manager.

The Dane (Laudrup, not Jenkins...) came across very well, as we expected. He spoke about the club matching his own philosophy, the now unlikely move for Sigurdsson, and how changes to the club won't be made for the sake of it. However, he did say they will be looking to make signings.

It seems his big ideas are more about developing the club than about winning trophies. When first hearing this I thought 'no ambition...', but on reflection it will be a while until Swansea are contesting a league title and any shot at glory in Europe, so his aspiration to build the club instead of chasing trophies should please most Swans fans. 


Gylfi Sigurdsson
I'm getting really bored with this, to the point that even if Sigurdsson does come to Swansea the news will be received by little more than a shrug of the shoulders from me. Mainly because he's spent too much time waiting to see if a bigger club will come along and snap him up for more money and higher wages. Selfish.

Controversial as it may be, I'd rather Swansea say - "you know what Gylfi, forget it!". The Swans should use the £7million on something a little less fickle. Don't get me wrong, he was superb for the club in the latter stages of last season and would be a fine addition to any team (apart from Liverpool), but the current situation is just putting a bad taste in everyone's mouth.


Marvin Emnes 
Rumours have appeared this week that Marvin Emnes is being pursued by Swansea for around £3million, though the club have been quick to say that it is just old talk resurfacing and there are no new developments.

Emnes, while able to work hard in several roles across the forwards, seems to be a very good Championship player, but it's hard to speculate how he'd make the step up to Premier League again. He's had a few games at that level, but I can't help feel he'd spend more time on the bench if he signed for Swansea.

I'd be happy to give him a go - maybe another loan deal? - but £3million seems a little steep for a gamble.


Dobbie to Celtic?
Stephen Dobbie has been linked with a move to Celtic today. But, with no idea if he will be used more frequently under Laudrup, it would be best for him and Swansea if he waits to hear the plans.


Jack Army membership scheme
I had a little rant on Twitter about the scheme last week. You all know my thoughts on the many, many flaws, but I've heard a rumour that a new scheme may be announced soon.

Whether it is completely new or just an adaption of the existing one, I guess anything would be better than what is currently available. Very briefly, here are just a few things that would make it more Premier League and less Blue Square Premier in my eyes:

• A rule that season ticket holders would not be able to purchase additional tickets to home games (they already have a home ticket, why on earth would they need another one?!) 
• A new website where it is easier to log in and see your points
• A membership card (just something physical to hold, to justify the £10/25 you've spent) 
• A clearer points system, where points are known in advance (i.e. QPR away = 3 points, Sunderland away = 10 points)
• Most importantly, a clearer system in general, where questions like “if one person has 15 points but doesn't have a season-ticket, does he have priority over the season-ticket holder with 13 points?” would not have to exist! 

That's the round up for this week. Look out for my review of the new Swansea City home and away shirts coming up next week! In the meantime, if you enjoyed this blog, why not follow me on twitter - @ForzaSwansea

Swansea City: Man United tickets sell out... but why?

I wasn't planning to write a new post until my November exams had finished (towards the end of next week), but with my Twitter feed going mental over the Man United ticket problems I felt I had to write a small reflection.

Let's get the facts out first - as was reported by the club this afternoon:

Swansea City can confirm that all home tickets for the Premier League fixture with champions Manchester United on November 19 have sold out today.

Following a busy first day of sales on Monday, the remaining few tickets were snapped up this morning as the club sold out its home allocation for the sixth consecutive match.

It seems to be the season-ticket holders with over a certain amount of points on the Jack Army membership scheme who got hold of the majority of tickets yesterday, before the final few were purchased today (I believe these were also season-ticket holders, albeit with less points).

This does beg the question: why does the ever-infuriating Jack Army scheme give priority to those who already have a ticket to the match? (I'm not having a go at season-ticket holders by the way - far from it - instead having a go at the logic of the scheme). Naturally season-ticket holders don't need another ticket as they already have one. I'm not arguing this case too much, because the answer is probably: they are buying them for friends/brothers/fathers who, say, can't afford a season ticket usually, which is a probable scenario. I have little qualms with that.

There is the option that they are buying tickets for 'plastic' fans or Man United fans living in Swansea who just want to watch Alex Ferguson’s men instead of their home team (and there will be quite a few in the stands by all accounts). This is irritating as it fills the seat of a true Swans fan who may not be able to afford a season ticket, or who lives away and can't get to every match. However, I can write this option off as a 'it was bound to happen because its the biggest game of the season'.

What I don't accept as fair is the rumours of those who have bought a spare ticket and are selling them for a large profit, either online or on the gates. Currently these are unconfirmed rumours – I'm going off a number of comments I've noted on Twitter and Facebook. There will always be those wanting to make a profit off other people, but the worst thing about these rumours is: it is Swans fans making a profit off Swans fans!

If you think about it, only those with the season-ticket AND Jack Army membership AND priority points (essentially fans who have already spent a lot of time and money following the club) were able to buy the tickets before they sold out. Therefore, if any are exchanging hands for well over the RRP, it's a loyal Swans fan ripping off another Swans fan. As I said: these may just be rumours and come to nothing, but if you are thinking of selling your ticket on to a genuine Swansea supporter, please don't do it extortionately!

Remember, if you weren't lucky enough to get a ticket but are still intent on watching the match, it is on ESPN and in the majority of Swansea pubs with that dodgy Armenian television channel on Saturday 19 November at 5:30pm .

That's it from me, I'll be back soon with my usual brand of sketchy, irreverent (and irrelevant) blogs.

The irritating Jack Army membership scheme: revisited

Once again the severely flawed Jack Army membership scheme did nothing more than irritate Swans fans as they scrambled for Arsenal away tickets this morning.

Fans across social networking and message boards describe the system as “a shambles” “disgraceful” and “shit”. At the present moment this seems to describe the scheme perfectly!

Even those who managed to get tickets are unhappy with the way the club is running the scheme, and rightly so. It's embarrassing for a Premier League club to have to settle for Conference levels of organisation. There was ample time in the pre-season to iron out the wrinkles, so what's going wrong and leading to the backlash from loyal fans?

I was initially dubious as I signed up back in July - however the vague rules and benefits were not enough to put me off if it meant an edge when obtaining highly-sought after tickets.

My “making sense of the scheme” blog that I knocked up in July is here, but even to this day I'm still not 100% sure if it's accurate. I'm not sure anyone is.

Where is the information that states, in black and white (and orange), whether season-ticket holders have priority over those without a season-ticket but with membership to the Jack Army scheme? When do the priority points kick in and how many do you get? When are they awarded? If one person has 15 points but doesn't have a season-ticket does he have priority over the season-ticket holder with 13 points? Confused? Welcome to the club - 20,000 and growing.

These aren't hypothetical questions by the way. I may have missed a vital page or six on the official site, but I would actually like to know the answers!

A further slap in the face is the fact that so many fans have handed either £10 or £25 over for, essentially, nothing. I think I've somehow lost the initial email containing my membership number (which makes me wonder whether they actually sent an email out?). This leaves me without login details. For £25 it might have been nice to see a membership card, similar to the season-ticket card, to welcome you into the club. A certificate even. Just some evidence that you are involved.

Ultimately we are left with a club that, like it handled the season-tickets, Wembley tickets and various other events in the past few months, let itself down with poor organising.

I think it's time to either abolish the system and refund each member's money or sort it out properly – full list of who gets priority in what order, what the procedure is for buying tickets and what benefits we will actually receive for our money!

The media's focus should be on the attractive football Swansea produce, not the ugly organisation.

I'll end with some comments that I've lifted from Twitter and Facebook, from a range of Swansea supporters.


“Total shambles! Fixtures not there (online) to start, then showing members inactive!”

“I think having no physical proof of membership is wrong. My Girlfriend signed to a similar scheme with Cardiff Blues and has a card”

“They need a good kick in, due to the fact that b*****ds who don't even support the Swans have got tickets!”

“They had better get a real internet company in and sort the system out as its only gonna get worse”

“Its a disgrace, the way they are treating the fans, absolute disgrace”

Making sense of Jack Army Membership

It doesn't take much to confuse me, and the Jack Army Membership scheme was no exception. At first I wasn't sure how it differed from other club schemes like the 1912 Foundation and the Swans Supporters Trust, though after asking questions and actually taking the time to read the website, I now know what it will mean to be a member of the (regulated) Jack Army, and you will too after reading this blog ... maybe.

If you aren't already aware, the Jack Army Membership is a new scheme aimed at allowing supporters who become members the chance to have priority when buying home and away tickets next season.

There is one tier of membership, at different prices: £10 for season ticket holders, Vice Presidents and Premier Club members and £25 for non-season ticket holders (make sure to add the, these days, obligatory £1.50 “admin fee”, for the £1.50's worth of “admin” that will no doubt take place).

The benefits of being part of the scheme are obvious for those who were not able to obtain a season ticket, for whatever reason: priority. Come the Man United, Liverpool and Chelsea games to name a few, you will need all the help you can to get a ticket. Though the club do state on the website that becoming a member of the Jack Army is no guarantee of tickets, it will give you that edge over those who don't want to pay the £26.50 now. Plus it will, in theory, give you priority on away tickets which will be in just as big a demand (if not more due to limited numbers) as home tickets next season.

So what are the benefits of paying £11.50 if you're already a season ticket holder? Well you may have a plastic friend who wants you to get him/her a ticket, but I can't really see you getting Jack Army Membership for that reason! No, it seems away tickets are the main reason a season ticket holder would become a member. That and cup matches.

On the topic of cup matches, thankfully next season we won't be too upset when we don't pull a “big name” out of the hat for the FA Cup / Carling Cup as we'll be playing them every week! One of the biggest names we would all love to pull out is Cardiff, as this is one classic derby match that everyone will miss next season. If Swansea do face Cardiff next season it'll be in a cup match. A good enough reason alone to join the Jack Army scheme, season-ticket holder or not.

To me, despite the initial confusion, the membership scheme seems adequate for a club that probably didn't expect ticket demand to be this high for a few years yet.

As many were crying out for, a loyalty scheme was probably a better way of dealing with the demand; that way those who have actively supported the Swans for years (buying their fair share of home and away tickets) will rightly have priority. However, this really needed to be implemented a few years ago for it to mean anything. The club have announced plans for a loyalty scheme to come into force at some point in the future, but until then this is the next best thing.

The only problem is that by this way of doing things, a truly loyal Swansea City supporter now has the same priority as somebody just joining to get tickets “for Man Utd and the big games and stuff” (not sure who I'm quoting there, though I reckon it's been said by plenty in the past few months).

Ultimately, if you have the money, become a member. Even if you don't plan to go to many games (if you live too far away, etc), this is a good enough reminder why:

When the loyalty scheme comes into force the priority could be as follows:

Those with the most loyalty points, THEN season-ticket holders (with Jack Army Membership), THEN non-season ticket holders (with Jack Army Membership), THEN season ticket holders (without Jack Army Membership) AND THEN, finally, general sale.

There's more chance of Gorka Pintado scoring a hat-trick against Man City in the opening game than you have of getting a general sale ticket!