Priority ticketing IS on the agenda: Liam Scully

With the increase in popularity seeing ticket demand reach unprecedented levels, Liam Scully has confirmed that priority purchasing is being investigated with our partners, Eventbrite.

It is yet another emotive subject bound to split fans, despite being a seemingly positive step. The Eventbrite system, whilst not yet perfect, will hopefully eventually be able to accommodate priority purchasing.

Usually, priority ticketing works in a way that allows season ticket holders who have purchased several away tickets also to get to the front of the queue for big match tickets. For instance, if we were to get to the FA Cup Third Round and been drawn away against Burton, the allocation wouldn’t sufficiently allow all season ticket holder in. At that point those ST holders who had also attended a certain number of away games would be given priority over ST holders that do not travel away from home.

The system is being investigated ahead of the Wimbledon clash, although Liam has said that any priority system for that game would have to be handled manually as Eventbrite won’t be able to accommodate such a complex change to their system at short notice. However, he has confirmed that there is a possibility that the 1,500 allocation for our FA Cup First Round clash may be subject to priority purchasing. The caveat is that it will not be the case if it is believed to be putting increased pressure on the office staff, and rightly so.

Whilst the club were widely condemned for not having such a system in place last season, there has already been some consternation amongst long-serving Imps fans who feel they may miss out on tickets under a priority system. I’ve seen arguments such as ‘I work alternating Saturdays’ or ‘I can’t get away as often as I’d like’. The simple fact is that you will never please all of the people all of the time. Fans who travel to every away game, or a large portion of them, do deserve priority tickets over those that do not, or can not. I’ll miss out by the way, I travel to a handful of away games each season due to personal commitments, this isn’t a case of ‘I’m alright Jack’. I just recognise those that give up every single Saturday to pound the motorway miles should be given advance option on the big games, whether this is their first season as an Imps fan or their fiftieth.

Priority cannot be given retrospectively I’m afraid, just because you did Carshalton away or Southport at home last season, you can’t be rewarded for that. The new ticketing system is only now in place and will only be able to react from this season onwards. That isn’t ‘unfair’, it isn’t singling people out and it isn’t discrimination.

Liam also addressed the teething problems with Eventbrite, the subject of discussion recently. Some fans had very bad experiences with Everton tickets, some have struggled on other occasions too. Liam admits that the system isn’t running perfectly at the moment, but he has stressed we’re getting ‘gold standard service’ from Eventbrite. Lincoln City are their first foray into sports events and it is a field they aim to be successful in. The problems that are occurring are, more often than not, new to the developers there.

I appreciate that feedback will occur, both negative and positive, and whilst some are still experiencing issues with ticketing it isn’t a widespread problem. Both Liam and Eventbrite acknowledge issues are arising which they are dealing with, but on the whole the experience of buying tickets has improved ten-fold. I remember the over-riding fear of watching a cup draw last year, hoping we got a home tie or a big club with a massive away end. When Burnley came out of the bag my heart sank as I imagined more and more ticket posts, complaints, whining about why one fan deserves one more than another. Irrespective of whether a priority system favours you or not, it is the way forward.

At Arsenal (pictured top) I saw a lot of faces I’d never seen at Sincil Bank, faces I haven’t seen since. We took more there than we average at home this season, something that is both credit to the club and detrimental too. I know of genuine Imps fans that missed out, not many, but certainly some. I know of fans that travelled away earlier in the season that could not go, something grossly unfair. Even if priority tickets means you miss out on Wimbledon, at least you’ll know it is genuine Imps fans taking your place. Also, if we did reach the latter stages and pull out Liverpool, or a proper big club like Man Utd, you’d be guaranteed to get your seat over some Johnny-cum-lately that was going in the Imps end to watch the Premier League stars. Surely, that has to be a positive, doesn’t it?

Listen to Liam’s comments on Eventbrite and priority purchasing below. Just hit ‘play’.

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