I saw in a recent AISA mailing that over the summer there had been 1,900 non-renewals of lower and upper tier season tickets and that there are now 35,000 Gold members, 25,000 Silver and 76,000 Red, with over 40,000 on the season ticket waiting list.

I kept a record of the numbers in each membership category when they were announced a couple of years ago (shown in brackets below) and it is interesting to see how they have changed (assuming that the JG figure has remained constant):

35,000 (35,000) Gold members
25,000 (22,000) Silver members
76,000 (61,000) Red members
22,000 (22,000) Junior Gunners

Total 158,000 (140,000)

40,000 (38,000) on the season ticket waiting list

It doesn’t look as if the current number of Club Level members has been released. When we first moved all 7,000 were sold and if that is no longer the case then I can understand why the Club might not want to publicise the details given their importance in generating income. As for the season ticket non-renewals the waiting list still looks pretty healthy even with the 1,900 non-renewals. So despite having been potless for over four years the total number of members has risen.

Looking at the figures got me thinking about what happens to a Junior Gunner member when they 17 and no longer qualify for membership. A JG has the same priority as a Silver member and so it would not be unreasonable to offer them Silver membership on reaching 17. At a guess I would reckon that about 1,500 JGs reach 17 each season and if they were offered Silver memberships in the long term that could easily have a significant impact on the number of Silver members. It would also make it that much harder for a Red member to move on to Silver membership status.

Of course this season, even with the extra members, getting tickets to home games hasn’t been difficult but when success returns I wonder if the Club should consider introducing a ballot system for non-season ticket holders. Otherwise I can foresee a situation in a few years time where Red members will find it impossible to get a ticket to a game.

(Ed’s note – I believe there is a policy whereby a set number of tickets – maybe 1,500 per game – are held back for red members – at least ensuring that some can attend even the most in-demand matches. Fair play to the club if that is indeed the case.)