Silver members don’t deserve this price increase

No reward for loyalty?

19 May, 2011 10:00

Joe Vincent 29 comments

Silver members don’t deserve this price increase

Silver Surfer: Will he stump up the extra 50%?

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I, like all season ticket holders, feel violated by the increase in ticket prices but I am not surprised by this as I have been aware for some time that I support Arsenal PLC not Arsenal FC. But I was surprised (in fact I almost choked on my lunch) when I received the letter to renew my silver membership which has gone up by 50% since last year. Arsenal have been very careful in stating that season tickets are going up by 4% which reflects the current level of inflation in this country (ignoring the 2.1% increase in VAT), so I thought I would contact Arsenal to find out why they felt it necessary to increase the silver membership prices by so much.

To my amazement I actually received a response within 24 hours which explained that this increase is to reflect the extra benefits silver members receive over red members, i.e. access to tickets one month prior to red members. For this reason, the cost of Red membership increased by 24% and silver membership by 50%, from being similarly priced last season. There are two things fundamentally wrong with this; the first being that Red membership has been increased by 24% for no reason other than to fleece members for a few more quid. But the second and most disappointing to hear is that greater access to tickets is not explained by the relative loyalty/longevity of silver members compared to reds!

Most silver members would have been members of the original Ticket Registration Scheme in the early 90’s with most red members being ‘newer supporters’ who have joined since the move to the Grove, it must be beyond Arsenal to reward loyalty rather than money! In fact it seems that the club are penalising the more loyal silver members by charging them more money than red members for the extra benefits that they have earned by following this club for longer.

Unfortunately Arsenal have got me over a barrel and until they have drained every last penny out of me I will continue to renew and go to matches, but they should see the current discontent among supporters, who voiced this during the Villa match at the directors box, as a storm brewing and the start of things to come unless they begin to treat us fans with the respect that we deserve.

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29
comments

Mike Stefan
May 21, 2011, 12:03 #7279

I've cancelled the red membership for both me and my brother. We have seen some right dross this year. I actually earn quite a lot of money and affordability isn't a problem for us (I even pay for my brother), but I do resent paying 60 quid (x 2) for 90 mins of "entertainment" which lately has consisted of Eboue falling over like a clown. Things won't change until people start protesting. And before I get slated, I am not a JCL - I came to the UK in 1993 and have supported Arsenal ever since.
Joe Vincent (writer of article)
May 20, 2011, 10:17 #7243

As said above, most red members will be newer supporters but i understand that there will always be some long standing supporters who are part of this membership level for whatever reason. I echo the sentiments of many comments here that people should stop spending money buying programmes and merchandise, and I for one have never spent a penny in the ground. The club get money from me for tickets and that is where it ends.
Peter Gage
May 19, 2011, 22:57 #7223

Holy sh*t! I have been a member of this scheme since the beginning and this price rise is beyond belief. What extra benefits are Silver members supposed to be getting next season to justify a 50% price rise?
JamesL
May 19, 2011, 22:54 #7222

Load of rubbish that silver members are more loyal than red members! i'm a red member and have been for some time. im 26 and have been a supporter since i knew what the word was - but couldnt afford to go to games when i was younger. As soon as i could afford it and we moved to the e******s i started going more. i even rented a season ticket for two years - but cannot afford to keep paying them sort of prices! the best thing about our club for me has always been that there is a right way a wrong way and The Arsenal way - which was always better than anything else! sadly that seems to be dissappearing and so is the culture of the club i love. remember the days when The Arsenal would only appoint managers who played for the club? remember players who would run through a wall for the cause? its a sad state that when i look at the club and the team now i see none of this! hiking prices up is a disgrace and im sad to say i hope it backfires and our board get a shock!
Big Fat Sam
May 19, 2011, 22:28 #7221

You should just tattoo MUG backwards on your forehead so you can see it everytime you look at yourself in the mirror. Moaning about it on here will do you no good, anyone that is disgusted by it should just walk away. The club obviously dont care about us.
Sean
May 19, 2011, 20:50 #7216

Another problem is that the allocation for red members will increase to 3,500 next season. Therefore, silver members are paying 50% more for LESS chance of a ticket. I think the only way the club will listen is through direct action.... a lot of people will renew Gold/Silver/Red as Arsenal is in their blood. Therefore, we need to hit them in the pocket in other ways. 1. Boycott ALL SEASON.... buying programmes, anything in the club shop, food and drink inside the stadium and any other money making thing that they have. 2. As a last resort a campaign should get going where Gold members should pick the least glamourous game of the season, say a Tuesday night game against Wigan (if they still in Prem), or a Monday night game live on Sky and everyone together, just don't turn up and don't give your tickets away. The club will have all the cost of stewards, staff and caterers and no one to serve the over inflated rubbish to... then it will hit home.
Mark H
May 19, 2011, 20:34 #7213

As a 'newer supporter' red member who saw my first game in 1968 and my most recent at Bolton,and who does not seem to be climbing up the list,could I ask the writter of this article why he feels the need to have a season ticket and a silver membership?
Ando
May 19, 2011, 19:13 #7206

Pro rata both silver and red members pay far more than season ticket holders for every game they see, I would not mind the membership fee so much if the match tickets were more resonable. Now I only purchase tickets for the lower tier, if I can't get these I don't bother going,as circa £69.00 to watch a cat a game from somewhere in the rafters with players looking like busy ants is a rip off to me.
dan h
May 19, 2011, 13:33 #7189

It's a joke like i said on a previous article at £39 you are basically paying for a game without going!If there is no major squad investment this summer then the club deserve all the backlash they will get next season!
john berry
May 19, 2011, 13:20 #7188

I have been a supporte since 1946 and have been a silver member since it started. I do not go to matches very often now due to advancing years but keep the silver membership going just in case I want to. A massive rise is not good news but face it, it is still only the price of going to one match and being able to get a ticket is a huge bonus. Main thing wrong at the moment, we need a captain who can lead. Wenger has used the captaincy to keep Henry and Cesc from leaving and it has backfired. Find a new Tony Adams.
stumpy den
May 19, 2011, 13:07 #7187

Load of TOSH that silver members have been supporting The Arsenal longer than Red members. I have followed The Arsenal for 44 years and joined the membership scheme as soon as it was advertised, Iam still waiting to go onto the Silver list dispite making several enquires I still have not received an adequate answer as to where I am on the waiting list. However this reinforces your statement of Arsenal PLC. I remember at Highbury how there was a feel that we all belonged to the club, both staff players and supporters. That has now gone and we are without doubt customers of a business
Spike
May 19, 2011, 13:06 #7186

I lived walking distance from the ground for nearly 20 years and used to buy tickets easily on the way home from work (in the terrace days). I joined the TRS after Highbury became all seater. It was clearly stated that you paid £36 and would receive a £1 discount on each ticket bought - I thought this was fair enough as you would get your money back if you went to all games. When it became Silver Membership, I remember getting the letter stating 'unfortunatley the club can no longer offer the £1 discount etc. etc.' as if it was some kind of favour bestowed on the fans, rather than the essence of the scheme. After a few years of renwewing it and going to less and less games as the prices sky-rocketed out of control, one year the club sent my renewal about 6 weeks after the deadline for renewal and I have kept my money ever since. Good luck to those who can afford it, but I think it is to much money to watch 90 minutes of football.
kdmgooner
May 19, 2011, 12:29 #7181

One advantage of silver over a ST is that you can fairly easily get tickets for any home game without paying the thousands of pounds that a ST costs. Silver memberships are valuable and letting them go is not an option for me as the good times will return one day whether that be under Wenger is another matter. If all silver members renewed their memberships but went to less games then it could be a good way of making our point. I for one will be doing this next season ST holders do not have this option but we do
Dave S
May 19, 2011, 12:26 #7180

I have been a silver member since day one and my kids are silver members having originally been Junior Gunners, so this year it will cost us about £160 just for the privilege of being first in the queue to try and get tickets for a match which invariably involves about two hours each time negotiating the hopeless online box office system. I`d love to tell them what they can do with their silver membership but as the Board know perfectly well most of us just can`t give up the club we love so much. However the club are not going to get more money from my family in the end, because we will no longer buy a match day programme and I will refuse to buy the over priced food and drink inside the stadium anymore.Perhaps if everyone who went to a match boycotted the catering facilities they might begin to take notice of our concerns about the way they`re destroying our club with their greed.
Alan
May 19, 2011, 11:43 #7178

There are issues of loyalty raised at every level of membership (for the record I am a Red Member - 1345 on the list for silver upgrade! I attended 16 home and 4 away fixtures this season)The Arsenal Plc business model will fail - Lets look at a few facts - high prices + disgruntled customers = reduced sales! There is already a movement of people deciding not to renew season tickets / memberships, over the next season or two those tickets will be snapped up! Fast forward 2 seasons - Arsenal playing crap, finishing 6th 7th or 8th attendances will be down to circa 40k and they will be offering the sort of multi match packages for cheap money that Fulham Wigan and even Villa do. The manager, the board etc need to look to the future and start treating every level of membership FAIRLY. I always thought that as a club - no matter what - we did things properly 'The Arsenal Way' I hate what these people are doing to our great club.
Oxy-Moron
May 19, 2011, 11:43 #7177

Hold on to your cash people.....this Gooner's prediction is that tickets will go to general sale more frequently as next season progresses.....
Jekyll
May 19, 2011, 11:28 #7175

I was a junior gunner in the 80s, then cannon club, ticket registration scheme right up to silver membership. I've given that up now, after being a member of Arsenal in one way or another for 27 years. The club is often accused of treating fans these days like customers in a supermarket, but supermarkets actually reward loyalty with points. AFC exploit the loyalty, put the prices up. They've beaten the desire to keep going out of me now.
Beast
May 19, 2011, 11:00 #7173

Its the only money I give the club as I don't bother wasting my time and money to watch these losers. I don't even bother watching them on TV anymore either sometimes and I am not a "new" supporter - I have been going since the 70s. I am keeping my silver membership in case I want to go to games in the future - when things improve on the pitch.
Brigham
May 19, 2011, 10:58 #7172

The club are ripping off its loyal fans, knowing full well that most of us will quite happily fork out the required money to watch our beloved club. I will no doubt be renewing my ST, but I will be looking to share the costs if I can with some other Gooner. I saw on Sky Sports News this morning that Bolton have frozen their ST pricing for the sixth year running.
Richard Ansell
May 19, 2011, 10:49 #7171

I have never been a fan of this membership nonsense - basically charging you for the privilige of being allowed to buy a ticket for a match. Of course the chances of actually getting a ticket, especially for Red members is open to debate. The whole scheme was the start of the new money grabbing mentality that now exists at the club, along with the utter contempt the likes of Hill-Wood hold for us loyal supporters. The price hike Joe is talking about is disgusting and a real slap in the face to people that want to go and support their club. It is indeed more and more Arsenal PLC rather than FC and this fleecing of fans together with the inept management of Wenger can not be allowed to continue. Protest of some sort is required; not renewing is the most painful option and the one that would make Arsenal PLC sit up and listen but that is the one that most of us (no matter how aggrieved we feel) would consider a step we are unable to take. The board know that and so get away with it. Shame on you Arsenal.
Behemoth
May 19, 2011, 10:35 #7170

Truly shocking. While I understand the 6.5% isn't going to give the club any more money in real terms (due to inflation, etc), the membership price hikes seem extortionate and unjustified. Plus, as you say, silver members are just members who've been waiting longer. Their reward for their long wait is greater access to tickets. That's how it's always worked. These increases seem greedy, ill thought out and alienating to loyal fans.
Ray Burns
May 19, 2011, 10:32 #7169

Amen to that. My wife and I are long time supporters and long time season ticket holders. We are retired and can barely afford the £1310 each we have to pay. But we also pay the Silver subs for my sister in law (and her ex husband) who always pleads poverty and would let her membership lapse if we didn't pay for it. We have to do this just in case our season tickets become so expensive that we have to give them up and so that we can still come and support the team. After 55 years of coming I can't envisage my life without The Arsenal, unfortunately I recognise that the club doesn't feel the same about me.
Adam 1990
May 19, 2011, 10:29 #7168

I think its unfair to assume that silver members are more loyal than red members. My mate has been a red member for 9 years and is yet to get an upgrade.
Rod
May 19, 2011, 10:28 #7167

Totally agree with you here, the frustrating thing also is how soon they expect us to renew, so then when the transfer merry go round starts up and we again do not feature in it other than to lose Cesc, and sign no one of note they will at least have our money..
peachesgooner
May 19, 2011, 10:27 #7166

Apart from anything else, both Silver and Red members are penalised twice as the club will get extra income from them when they buy their game tickets at the increased prices.
Alastair Kerr
May 19, 2011, 10:23 #7165

I have been a Silver Member since the introduction of the scheme in the mid 1990's and like everyone else is disgusted with the increase. But as you say the club have us over a barrel. The club (people who have made these decisions) only care about putting 60,000 backsides on seats every other week and the fact is they don't care whose backside it is. The club do not recognise or care about the loyality of the fans. Yes, the club should be run like a business, but customer care and brand loyalty are vital components to run a successful business. If we shop at a particular supermarket for years and then they put their prices up 50% and the quality of the product decreases, the vast majority of us would change to a different supermarket in an instant. Unfortunately, this is not an option with OUR football club - our support is more than just loyalty - it is our passion and most of us would not hesitate in saying we love Arsenal Football Club. The people that make these decisions know this and have no pangs of guilt as they mercilessly screw every last penny out of us.
Ronster
May 19, 2011, 10:23 #7164

Under normal circumstances I would have renewed but the vitriol mouthed by Hill-Wood and Wenger and the club's overall arrogance has left me no choice but to bin the renewal form.Complaining won't change anything...stand up to AFC PLC and force them to charge realistic prices!
San Elan
May 19, 2011, 10:21 #7163

Hear! Hear! I was shocked to receive the request to pay £39 for lite membership. Outrageous! I also have a junior gunner membership for my son and won't be renewing that at all. This is after a wonderful season we have had too.
Nayan
May 19, 2011, 10:03 #7162

Anyone who uses twitter or facebook will have seen lots of ST holders looking to rent their tickets out either for the season or match by match. AFC mioght just shift all the STs this year but when people struggle to keep them going there is going to be a reckoning. Enough is enough