‘MyImps’ membership scheme launches at Sincil Bank

The club have today launched the ‘My Imps’ membership scheme, aimed at those fans who do not have the means or desire to purchase a season ticket.

The scheme, which came out at the same time as the ‘on the gate’ prices, is aimed at fans who can only attend a handful of games a season. The scheme will cost £10 per season, but offers a £2 per match discount on tickets. If you intend to come to five matches or more, it make sense to become a My Imps member.

As well as discounted tickets, My Imps Members will receive second tier priority tickets for all away fixtures and home cup fixtures, a £5 Club Shop voucher, a My Imps membership card which can be used for discounts on match day refreshments and a priority period to purchase a Season Ticket for the 2019/20 season ahead of general sale, should you so desire. All for a tenner.

In truth, this isn’t a way to screw money from the fans, it is a step into the 21st century of supporting a football club. It is becoming a part of something without the season ticket outlay and it is a natural progression for a club like Lincoln to take.

As a member of the Supporter’s Board, we were consulted on the plans and unanimously agreed that it was a good idea. It is another example of the club listening to fans and working with them.

I know the club don’t get everything right, but I’ve noticed that when things go wrong, everyone is keen to throw their arms in the air and cry chaos or scream negativity. A classic example was the Sheffield Wednesday game, where apparently we sold our soul to a bunch of marauding hooligans ready to burn down our pubs and pillage our shops.

What actually happened was we made a good sum of money from a game that passed without incident and had the sort of atmosphere lacking in most of our other friendlies.

The same can be said for season ticket sales, there was uproar on social media when it was believed that everyone would have to collect them from the club shop. Chinese whispers began and that led to people criticising the club for something they thought was happening, not that was set in stone. I’m all for social media, it allows fans to be connected, offer feedback and come together, but it also breeds negativity and ill-informed criticism.

The club, to my knowledge, had not decided on a method of getting season tickets to fans, but given the negativity that (quite rightly) surrounded the supposed method of mass collection, the Supporter’s Board offered some personal feedback. I know the board isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (Martyn Green, I’m looking at you), I know the fact we were chosen and not elected sticks with some, but genuinely we are not in it for any reason other than to make things better for everyone.

The thought of 6,000 fans descending on the ticket office filled me with dread, along with many of my fellow board members, so we constructed feedback to the club which resulted in the announcement earlier this week. the club have settled on posting the tickets out, more work for them may I add, but because it was the best move for fans they’ve backed it.

The membership scheme, season ticket distribution and Sheffield Wednesday friendly are three example where the Supporter’s Board and club have worked together, us on a consultation basis and Liam taking that back to the club and formulating a decision from there. The membership scheme is a great idea, I don’t benefit, this isn’t something the affects me personally, but it is a great way of giving those who sporadically attend games something to be a part of. Genuinely, any criticism of the scheme will baffle me and I’m glad that in the main, it’s been received positively.

For more information, visit the club website here.

For more information about season ticket distribution, click here