As a Supporters Trust, we feel it appropriate to respond to Swindon Town’s announcement regarding tickets prices for the upcoming FA Cup game against Manchester City.
At the latest Advisory Board meeting on Tuesday 7th December, Rob Angus stated that the club would be open to sharing ticket price plans with both TrustSTFC and the Official Supporter’s Club (OSC) ahead of confirming details with The FA and announcing publicly.
There was no confirmation of any pricing change at this point, however the obvious implication was that prices may be increased. One of our board members then independently undertook a poll on social media to get some initial feedback on what we thought may be possible price options.
To be clear, this was not at the request of the club, and was merely a means to gather feedback from supporters/members in readiness for later conversations.
All board members have their own personal views on the matter and those views are probably reflective of the feedback received on social media.
We then invited Rob Angus, Clem Morfuni and members of the OSC to our Trust Board Meeting on Thursday 9th December, where we discussed the Manchester City pricing among other things.
Rob opened with the club’s pricing decision and in response, the Trust board unanimously recommended freezing ticket prices for the game. We put across a wide variety of feedback supporting this stance, both personal views, and also the clear social media feedback.
Rob and Clem then spent a significant amount of time explaining the perspective of the club, which including talking about the debt position, the investments needed for the fixture, and the legal threats and uncertainty we are still facing.
Over the next two hours, we debated alternative avenues for generating additional revenue for the club, but ultimately, a commercial decision had been made. Suggestions were then made for ways to rewards supporter loyalty given the stance. It was good to see that following these discussions that the club have included a free ticket for the Oldham fixture for season ticket and half-season ticket holders, which at least adds value to the price.
As a Supporters Trust we want to represent our members views but also help ensure the long-term prosperity of the club. We’ve always strived for a close relationship whilst still holding the club to account and we’re grateful that we now have that open dialogue and transparency, which is the difference between the previous owner and what we have today.
Whilst we might not agree with the pricing structure for this fixture, we don’t pay the bills and therefore we also appreciate seeing in detail why this decision was made and how it supports the club. We can be certain the revenue generated from this match will be openly communicated and subsequently reinvested into Swindon Town FC.
Transparency is something we had been calling for, something that was promised, and now something that is being delivered. This is underlined by Rob Angus appearing ‘On the Sofa’ this evening with the OSC, answering any and all questions. Click here to watch.