Tuesday 16 June 2009

Season Ticket Deadline

So the Official Site today announces that despite the 'demand' that you renew by 1st June to keep your seat the actual date for the application to be received to secure your seat is this Friday, the 26th of June.

So, before we've signed, sold or officially released any players the club have confirmed their first deceit of the summer by changing the actual deadline date for renewing your seat three weeks after they cashed, potentially thousands of, cheques on the back of the statement that you needed to pay by 1st June to save your seat. I am going to stop short of calling this an outright lie, but it is difficult to actually justify why the club would tell the fans that the deadline is 1st June for nearly two months before changing the date after the deadline has passed.

And there are still people that think I'm imagining, or making up, conspiracies?

I don't mind that the club are using PR to maximise revenues, nor do I mind the fact that they have deliberately led the fans to believe that something is going to happen when it is becoming more and more clear that, despite them wanting it, there was probably never going to be a rich and stupid group of people willing to buy a football club with third division status and Premier League running costs for the same price as three quarters of the clubs in the Championship.

What I do find despicable is that there seems to be no coordinated approach to even hide the increasingly obvious lies that we have been fed for what seems like two years.

I have never doubted the loyalty and good intentions of the board, nor have I ever doubted the commitment of the club employees. I am, however, getting to the point where I am finding myself comparing the club to the life long friend that you were so close to that you'd think of him like a brother, yet you still want smash his face in when you find out he's banging another one of your friend's wives behind his back.

It's time for the club to cut the bulls**t and come out and tell us the truth. I guess the board have made the decision that they will start that process on the 9th of July in a 'behind closed doors' meeting with Richard Murray, Derek Chappell their puppets, sorry I meant to say the Fans' Forum, and a hand picked group of fans.

Thankfully I am away on holiday on that day, so I will not be able to attend the meeting, assuming that I would be invited, of course. I will, however, be looking forward to the only small bit of consolation that I can possibly hold on to when we start next season with half the squad we finished dead last in the Championship with, the same manager, with the worst record in our history, and little chance of getting out of this division. At least I will be able to say "I told you so".

On reflection it will give me absolutely no satisfaction at all.

Sky have a famous football quote from Andy Gray, "It just gets better and better". Not for us it doesn't.

Up the Addicks!

5 comments:

Dave said...

KHA - get off the fence, tell us what you really think! Hope all's well with you. Dave.

Ketts said...

I rang up after the deadline passed to see if I could secure the seat next to me for my grandson.I was told to call back in a week to allow for 'delayed postal applications' but they added that the guy next to me had not renewed.

My daughter rang last week & was told the seat was still available but could not be released until this week.

She will ring on Saturday morning as the lad is so keen to go & of course I could always move but all we are asking is for the club to stick to its own rules.Why should we be doing all the chasing & compromising?

They just never seem to learn.

Richard - A Red Divided said...

KHA ... couldn't agree more. You would have thought the board would be hell bent on appeasing the fan base after making us put up with three seasons of cock ups and cr*p football but apparently not.

The fixture list is out today but I have absolute zero optimism for next season. I too have written off the idea that some wealthy benefactor is going to come and wave a magic wand and make things all better and have resigned myself to a season of Parkinson and the shower that got us relegated last season.

Roll on August!

David (North Stand) said...

I have just sent the following to the club - Matt Wright and Customer Services. I will let you know what response, if any, I receive...

Matt

Please could you enlighten to me as to why the previously publicised June 1st deadline has been changed? I could have retained my season ticket costs for another two and a half weeks had the club and the website not continually misled the fans about the renewal date only for it to extend it? I cannot accept it is due to “postal delays” as I sent my season ticket application off on Monday 1 June and had my credit card debited for the full amount on Tuesday 2nd June - the same day as the club received the form.

I welcome the clubs comments on the above.

Burgundy Addick said...

And just to add insult to injury, we have again a home game to start the season, when many (including myself) will be on holiday. Just written down 1/23rd of the value of purchased season ticket. Of course, I will be there (according to the attendence figures).