Can Somebody Explain The Fakeness Of Our Support?

[SeeBass]

Some of you guys are honestly deluded like.  As long as you keep telling yourself all the lines you're throwing out I guess you'll be fine.

Edited June 14, 2023 by SeeBass

[BigAl]

5 hours ago, SeeBass said:

Some of you guys are honestly deluded like.  As long as you keep telling yourself all the lines you're throwing out I guess you'll be fine.

I'm not going to lie Lee, I have lost the point you are trying to make and you are coming across as hell bent on putting anyone down that doesn't share your opinion  whatever that actually is mate

[Tyrant]

On 07/06/2023 at 18:56, SeeBass said:

Lets just say the real lack of class from the club when it comes to making games accessible for disabled fans like myself that live four hours away from Pittodrie.  If things don't change I will probably need to give up on the club and football altogether.  I'm sick of not being eligible for certain matches because I'm not deemed 'loyal enough'.

 

If what was announced about season ticket sales is true and we get a couple thousand more the likelihood is I won't be going to any of this European adventure at Pittodrie because I'll not have enough 'loyalty credit' for want of a better phrase to be able to purchase a ticket in first place because they'll all be gone by time my phase comes round in general sale.

 

You want to understand the physical toll it takes on me as a 43 year old guy to make just one match on my own with all the other stresses of this messed up world?  I have a 33% brain injury from birth plus left sided cerebral palsy all down that side of the body and it takes me two or three days after a game just to recharge all my energy and go again so I'm sick of all this loyalty chat about folk from the city that go every two weeks and should get priority. 

And because I'm not deemed 'loyal' enough in the eyes of the club I'm not able to enjoy my number one passion watching my football team which has probably stopped me from killing myself all these years. I think about ending it all pretty much every week.

You know I've not been allowed to buy a ticket for my nearest two away grounds in Edinburgh since May and October 2017 respectively.  I spend nearly £200 buying a train ticket, organising overnight accommodation, paying for match brief, plus covering food and drink (not that I take alcohol) but you know what I mean every time I'm at a home game.  Because my local council has taken off the last three bus services to where I live on a weekday a few months ago we will now need to pay about £35 for a taxi from Berwick-upon-Tweed station even though I have a disabled bus pass and until recently used it to get home on last leg of journey back.  So please don't talk to me about the loyalty I've shown this football club since 1991. 

I don't expect any of you to get my argument. I mean how could any of you relate to a guy with my lifelong health issues but I'm more than bloody angry at the way I've been treated as a supporter last five or six years.     

Interesting point of view. Recently (and certainly in the later McInnes era) I was finding myself feeling more inclined to do myself in after attending the games at Pittodrie.
 

I live a 7 minute drive away and often can’t be arsed going. The older I get the more apathetic I’ve become. Jim Goodwin  didn’t help matters. As hard work as I’ve found it recently I’ve still renewed my season ticket every year despite swearing I wouldn’t. 

As Slim pointed out you should get home game tickets no bother surely. You could probably count the number of games we’ve sold out at home in the last 20 years on one hand. Away tickets is a different story. How would you make sure that the most deserving fans got tickets? How would you measure loyalty? 

[Jute]

6 minutes ago, Tyrant said:

Interesting point of view. Recently (and certainly in the later McInnes era) I was finding myself feeling more inclined to do myself in after attending the games at Pittodrie.
 

I live a 7 minute drive away and often can’t be arsed going. The older I get the more apathetic I’ve become. Jim Goodwin  didn’t help matters. As hard work as I’ve found it recently I’ve still renewed my season ticket every year despite swearing I wouldn’t. 

As Slim pointed out you should get home game tickets no bother surely. You could probably count the number of games we’ve sold out at home in the last 20 years on one hand. Away tickets is a different story. How would you make sure that the most deserving fans got tickets? How would you measure loyalty? 

Bit in bold is me. Every year I say this is last year but every year at this time I crack and renew it. £400 for uncovered seat I must be mad. Too many games moved for TV or for no reason which mean I never really save money. Definitely the last year.

 

 

 

 

 

Feel free to remind of this when I renew next year. 

[SeeBass]

So you guys reckon if we drew Juventus from Pot One and say Aston Villa from Pot Two in Europa Conference Group Stage that when it came to general sale I'd be able to obtain a ticket if we're going to have nearly 11,000 or 12,000 season tickets come the draw?  Got to remember those sides we meet will be wanting a 2,000 to 3,000 away allocation for their support like Rangers and Celtic get leaving less than 5,000 tickets for general sale.  No way am I getting to go with those odds.

I've always tried to make a point of coming up to the opening home league and last home league games of each season plus any midweek league games at Pittodrie, any midweek League Cup or Scottish Cup replay in Aberdeen in addition to potential European matches only because it allows me opportunity to stay over while travelling up and down in safer conditions on public transport and up until 2017 I was able to get tickets for Kilmarnock, St.Mirren, Motherwell, Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian.  Even done Partick Thistle and Falkirk a load. 

A trip to Dundee United by myself on August 4th 2007 actually changed my life FOREVER when after turning down two other offers to take my night down another road we ended up saving the girlfriend now wife of a 2019 England World Cup winning cricketer from being stuck in a big city she knew nothing about. 

For some godly unknown reason our lives collided in St.Andrew Bus Station, Edinburgh where I was denied a seat on a National Express coach like we were told one would be OK to do so. Before you know it there's a 20 year old drop dead gorgeous American blonde girl approaching one before asking me on chatting for two minutes did I know 'a Paul Burns from Duns' because my home of last 31 years was where she needed to get to at 9.30pm on a Saturday evening! 

She was/still is from West Chester, Philadelphia and I wrote a 4,500 word story called 'phiLEEdelphia' about our three hours together which has not been published yet but many folk who've read it say it deserves to be made into a short film.  We are still long distance pals with this lady sixteen years later.  We talk once or twice a year online as she's so busy with her famous husband.

I also had my debut short stories collection 'Hemiplegic Utopia' published the morning we played Bayern Munich Last 32 of UEFA Cup 2008 and I came up that same day to attend the match as way of celebrating my achievement.  I saw my footballing heroes draw 2-2 with the SEVENTH RICHEST CLUB IN THE WORLD at time. 

Yeah we got shagged 5-1 in the return (I actually watched the second leg in Munich LOCKED INSIDE A DARKENED independent bookmaker's shop because it was on Setanta Sports and my local pub didn't have the channel but my heroes delivered for me personally on that special occasion. Knew the guy that was a bookie and he entrusted me to lock up and bring the keys back to shop the morning after once game had finished.  He however insisted all lights were turned off so nobody thought he was open for business with kick-off being 6pm that night.

Buy my book and read the chapter 'Hat-Trick' where I talk about three away victories in a month against Falkirk, Motherwell and Kilmarnock by myself.  I was up and away for seeing Kasper Schmeichel at 8am, not home from Motherwell on a Tuesday or Wednesday til 1am after getting two lads I knew to pick us up from Waverley station at midnight to bring us back to Duns, spent twelve hours up and down the country to attend Rugby Park too. 

And doing all this ON MY OWN AND HAVING A CASE OF MILD LEFT SIDED CEREBRAL PALSY AND A 33% BRAIN INJURY TO BOOT! 

And don't forget on their way to losing the 1954 Scottish Cup Final 2-1 to Celtic The Dons were drawn to play Duns here in Berwickshire in Second Round.  I live less than thirty seconds from pitch where this 8-0 win was played.

So please excuse me if I just want to see my bloody football team once in awhile whether away from home or during a European adventure like we're preparing for.  They have actually SAVED ME FROM KILLING MYSELF this last 34 years.

I've more than showed my loyalty to the GREATEST FOOTBALL TEAM there has ever been.

[SeeBass]

 My friend helped me take a photo 68 years later.  Our blood goes cold knowing I'm so close to some Aberdeen Football Club history.  Maybe some of you should come down and see the mammoth task it takes me just to get to Pittodrie while also seeing some of your club's heritage.  

[Slim]

Yeah you still don’t get it.

The issue isn’t your loyalty.

The issue is you judging the loyalties of other people you know nothing about.

No-one deserves to be shamed for their support just because it may potentially interfere with your ad-hoc attendance.

[Panda]

I haven't bought a season ticket, does that make me a better fan than those who have?

If so then I'm in total agreement with this thread and shame on the rest of you.

And if Seabass and I don't get tickets for Roma at home then we riot.

 

 

[Tyrant]

Lee, can you answer my question about how you'd change the current loyalty system to make it fairer if it currently isn't fair? How would you measure loyalty? The club (and every single other business in the world) will measure loyalty by cash (attendance). I'm struggling to think how else it could be done. Whilst we, as human beings can appreciate the effort it takes to travel long distances on a semi-regular basis it doesn't entitle you to anything in the club's eyes I'm afraid.

[BigAl]

14 hours ago, Tyrant said:

Interesting point of view. Recently (and certainly in the later McInnes era) I was finding myself feeling more inclined to do myself in after attending the games at Pittodrie.
 

I live a 7 minute drive away and often can’t be arsed going. The older I get the more apathetic I’ve become. Jim Goodwin  didn’t help matters. As hard work as I’ve found it recently I’ve still renewed my season ticket every year despite swearing I wouldn’t. 

As Slim pointed out you should get home game tickets no bother surely. You could probably count the number of games we’ve sold out at home in the last 20 years on one hand. Away tickets is a different story. How would you make sure that the most deserving fans got tickets? How would you measure loyalty? 

Hello stranger

Where you been min ?

You been in hiding or inside 

[SeeBass]

Well Tyrant if it all about who pays money upfront it is something I will need to consider walking away from altogether because this is not the Aberdeen Football Club I know.  You can't keep rewarding the same group of folk just because they have money at their disposal.  As I've said to club officials both past and present it is like trying to get into a private gentleman's club at our place these days. 

A couple of people who don't work at Pittodrie anymore actually agree with me and do feel I'm being unfairly treated especially given where I live in the country.

I've also had people who don't like football say that it is appalling that it appears that the club don't do much for disabled supporters like myself in even providing them with a reduced season ticket price or some other help with cost to attend games.  We are supposedly living in an equal opportunities world or maybe we ain't.

 

Just because something has always been doesn't mean it has to stay that way.  Time for change.

[Tyrant]

Hi Al. Inside? I wish! I can only aspire that that level of luxury! Since the pandemic I've been mostly working from home where DT has been a lot further down on my list of work distractions but now I'm back in the office I'm back here too. 

[BigAl]

1 minute ago, Tyrant said:

Hi Al. Inside? I wish! I can only aspire that that level of luxury! Since the pandemic I've been mostly working from home where DT has been a lot further down on my list of work distractions but now I'm back in the office I'm back here too. 

Good to see you back in the fold anyway 

[BigAl]

9 minutes ago, SeeBass said:

  Time for change.

What is your vision of what this should/could look like ?

Please don't think I'm trying to be smart asking this, I'm genuinely interested in your vision and thoughts on how it could be improved and what if as a result of your views and how they impact upon others, you subsequently find yourself further down the pecking order ?

[Tyrant]

Lee, are there any other clubs who do it differently whose model we could look at? I'm certainly not a believer in doing things a certain way just because that's how it's always been done and I don't think anyone here has suggested that. Genuinely interested to see how else it could be done. If you got a ticket for Roma at home and a season ticket holder wasn't able to get one as a result of that how would you want the club to explain that?

[SeeBass]

Big Al, I have a friend called Roy who bought a season ticket last season.  He lives in Glasgow and attended in his words; "ABOUT SIX." of our twenty two matches at Pittodrie yet he is deemed a better more loyal supporter than me because he's paid money up top.  Not having this. 

I don't even know why he bought one because in all the time I've know him he hasn't bothered with a season ticket.  What's the point in forking out over £400 when you're only attending 27% of our home matches? I actually met him in 2009 at Barrhead train station car park after our service to Kilmarnock broke down and I jumped into a taxi with him and another two Dons fans in a race to get to Rugby Park which we did as were sitting down just as players came out tunnel to kick-off.

I honestly don't know what the answer is but supporters like me can't keep getting denied tickets for away matches or big home games or what is the point in me supporting the club overall if I'm not allowed to attend certain matches.

Below is a photo of me paying £350 on a taxi to watch us play Chikhura Sachkhere at Pittodrie because that morning there was chaos at Edinburgh Waverley with an out of control Caledonian Sleeper and Berwick-upon-Tweed train station staff couldn't guarantee me being in Aberdeen in plenty of time as all services as a result were either cancelled, delayed or diverted.

I was lucky LNER compensated me for the whole £396.20 (outward bound train ticket also given back) but told one it was a one off and I should have waited for some replacement bus service or an announcement about trains arriving in Berwick-upon-Tweed.  THANK GOD we won 5-0 that evening.

 

Please don't ever anybody ever question my desire to be at a game again.  Had I not had some of my Mam's inheritance leftover there was no chance I could have afforded £350 to get up and undoubtedly would have missed the game completely.  Disabled or not I deserve to be treated better by my football club.  

[BigAl]

10 minutes ago, SeeBass said:

Big Al, I have a friend called Roy who bought a season ticket last season.  He lives in Glasgow and attended in his words; "ABOUT SIX." of our twenty two matches at Pittodrie yet he is deemed a better more loyal supporter than me because he's paid money up top.  Not having this. 

I don't even know why he bought one because in all the time I've know him he hasn't bothered with a season ticket.  What's the point in forking out over £400 when you're only attending 27% of our home matches? I actually met him in 2009 at Barrhead train station car park after our service to Kilmarnock broke down and I jumped into a taxi with him and another two Dons fans in a race to get to Rugby Park which we did as were sitting down just as players came out tunnel to kick-off.

I honestly don't know what the answer is but supporters like me can't keep getting denied tickets for away matches or big home games or what is the point in me supporting the club overall if I'm not allowed to attend certain matches.

Below is a photo of me paying £350 on a taxi to watch us play Chikhura Sachkhere at Pittodrie because that morning there was chaos at Edinburgh Waverley with an out of control Caledonian Sleeper and Berwick-upon-Tweed train station staff couldn't guarantee me being in Aberdeen in plenty of time as all services as a result were either cancelled, delayed or diverted.

I was lucky LNER compensated me for the whole £396.20 (outward bound train ticket also given back) but told one it was a one off and I should have waited for some replacement bus service or an announcement about trains arriving in Berwick-upon-Tweed.  THANK GOD we won 5-0 that evening.

 

Please don't ever anybody ever question my desire to be at a game again.  Had I not had some of my Mam's inheritance leftover there was no chance I could have afforded £350 to get up and undoubtedly would have missed the game completely.  Disabled or not I deserve to be treated better by my football club.  

Please don't for one second think that I am questioning your commitment or desire to attend games as nothing could be further from the truth.

I am genuinely curious as to exactly how you think this could work other than the way it does. Whilst I am fortunate not to suffer a disability, like you I have a lengthy and expensive round trip of circa seven hours every time I go to a home game, hence I don't get to as many games as I'd like to, or indeed used to, so I am keen to hear your thoughts on the alternative method of deciding who gets priority to tickets sales ?

[Tyrant]

19 minutes ago, SeeBass said:

Please don't ever anybody ever question my desire to be at a game again. 

Who is questioning your desire? Your desire is clearly stronger than mine at the moment. I went to less than half of our home games last season due to a mixture of apathy and ill-health. But I've been a season ticket holder for god know how long which is the club's only way of measuring loyalty unless you can suggest otherwise. So still none of us have been able to come up with a solution. 

[Edinburghdon]

18 hours ago, Jute said:

Bit in bold is me. Every year I say this is last year but every year at this time I crack and renew it. £400 for uncovered seat I must be mad. Too many games moved for TV or for no reason which mean I never really save money. Definitely the last year.

 

 

 

 

 

Feel free to remind of this when I renew next year. 

Plot twist... It absolutely wont be 

[Elgindon]

20 hours ago, Jute said:

Bit in bold is me. Every year I say this is last year but every year at this time I crack and renew it. £400 for uncovered seat I must be mad. Too many games moved for TV or for no reason which mean I never really save money. Definitely the last year.

 

 

 

 

 

Feel free to remind of this when I renew next year. 

On the cusp of Euro greatness again,and youre thinking of chucking it? Someone explain the fakeness of this gloryhunting?

[SeeBass]

You can laugh at me all you like.  You know there are days because of my condition I don't want to get out of bed.  It is amazing I've been able to attend as many matches as I have last 25 years.  I have recently said to former club officials that I probably think about killing myself pretty much every week.  Whether this is anything to do with my 33% brain injury I don't know but by God it must be a contributing factor to my overall mood especially when I feel like life is treating one badly. 

Do you lot know how bloody scary that thought process is?  I was pretty close to doing something stupid less than 24HRS before we were due to head to Easter Road February 2018.  With the help of Angela and Fiona at the NHS initiative The Distress Brief Intervention Team who worked with me in person and over the phone spanning 17 days I'm still here to tell that horrendous story.

 

[BigAl]

12 hours ago, SeeBass said:

You can laugh at me all you like. 

 

The thing is Lee, in my opinion, no one is actually laughing at you or anything you say. There is nothing funny about being disabled and anyone that poked fun at you or anyone else that is on here, would find they'd be out the door.

What people are rightly challenging you over repeatedly, including myself, is how you would propose to address your perceived unfairness by the club in the way they allocate ticket sales. Over the course of this thread you have steadfastly failed to address this question and put forward your views on how to address despite stating that it isn't to your liking and requires fixing. 

Please take this last comment in the genuinely concerned fashion I'm making it, but if this is causing you such grief, you might be better letting it go mate.  

[wokinginashearerwonderland]

1 hour ago, BigAl said:

no one is actually laughing at you or anything you say. There is nothing funny about being disabled

You're spot on BigAl, no one is laughing SeeBass and this thread has veered offline somewhat from the original point.

Truth is SeeBass, we are all fans of the club whether we live in King Street or in Adelaide.  Some are ABLE to make it to the game more often than others and some CHOOSE to go to games more than others but in my opinion that does not necessarily mean either are bigger fans than others, more important fans or fake fans.

I think what most are trying to get across to you in their posts is that the most sensible way the club can assess loyalty if you like, is to reward people who attend games most regularly.  Unfortunately the club cannot speak to every single fan to establish their circumstances and compile a loyalty ranking list.  It's maybe not a perfect scenario and inevitably there will be cases where people miss out on a match ticket but as the saying goes, you cannot please everyone all of the time.

I must admit it does wrangle with me when people buy a season ticket and don't go to half the games meaning that their seat is tied up for others but I guess that is their prerogative to do so should they wish.

 

 

[Jute]

20 minutes ago, wokinginashearerwonderland said:

You're spot on BigAl, no one is laughing SeeBass and this thread has veered offline somewhat from the original point.

Truth is SeeBass, we are all fans of the club whether we live in King Street or in Adelaide.  Some are ABLE to make it to the game more often than others and some CHOOSE to go to games more than others but in my opinion that does not necessarily mean either are bigger fans than others, more important fans or fake fans.

I think what most are trying to get across to you in their posts is that the most sensible way the club can assess loyalty if you like, is to reward people who attend games most regularly.  Unfortunately the club cannot speak to every single fan to establish their circumstances and compile a loyalty ranking list.  It's maybe not a perfect scenario and inevitably there will be cases where people miss out on a match ticket but as the saying goes, you cannot please everyone all of the time.

I must admit it does wrangle with me when people buy a season ticket and don't go to half the games meaning that their seat is tied up for others but I guess that is their prerogative to do so should they wish.

 

 

Club have said before they estimate up to 25% of season tickets are unused at each game. Various reasons for that I would guess. Does deny others a chance to attend but does mean club have been paid for those seats. I heard club have been looking at way for season ticket holders to put back tickets for games they cannot attend so these can be resold but don’t know how far down the road they have got with that. 

[Panda]

1 hour ago, Jute said:

Club have said before they estimate up to 25% of season tickets are unused at each game. Various reasons for that I would guess. Does deny others a chance to attend but does mean club have been paid for those seats. I heard club have been looking at way for season ticket holders to put back tickets for games they cannot attend so these can be resold but don’t know how far down the road they have got with that. 

Hearts have a ticket exchange system,  where season ticket holders make their seat available - they get some of the money, the club get some of the money.

Hearts' issue though is that very few people use it. I think maybe 500 tickets are made available through it but only a small percentage get bought - maybe because they're single seats or whatever, I don't know.

It's basically what Cormack thinks will be the answer should his dream of a 16,000 capacity stadium be realised.