Club update

[Ralphy Rylance]

https://southportfc.net/club-update/
Additional discounts on season tickets for those who didn't ask for a refund last season.
An open training session to be arranged for season ticket holders and members.

[mark thomas]

A good message from the club.

[Big Mac 1985]

https://southportfc.net/club-update/
Additional discounts on season tickets for those who didn't ask for a refund last season.
An open training session to be arranged for season ticket holders and members.

...and a hog roast!

[Redrobe fan]

Very useful update that helps to keep everyone on board.
I hope that we get them every couple of weeks or so until pre season starts.

[Sandgrounder SE]

This is good news, but what has happened about the membership scheme? Surely this is a better arrangement for the club, to build an open-ended membership rather than discrete season tickets.

[SfcFPA]

I'm a big supporter of returning football to the old system of having club members and had a number of discussions with James prior to the club trialling it last season.
I think the trial was largely successful and there is room to go a stage further with it if the club have the appetite. It's a lot easier these days with automated ticketing solutions and scannable cards.
Obviously the basics should stay the same whereas instead of buying tickets, or season tickets they pay a membership fee every month (12months round).
You could easily extend it to different levels or tiers of membership each with different benefits like standing, sitting, corporate etc.
Another way could be to include cups (maybe with a caveat up to a certain round then priority given for later rounds instead of a ticket)...some seasons as a supporter you do well and others not so much (if we're drawn away all the time) but as a member you are still supporting the club and providing a steady, predictable Income all year round.
Or we could include programmes with subscription...lots of options available to explore.
I like the Netflix style model but would suggest there would need to be a minimum commitment(6 months maybe) to stop people taking the Michael by stopping and starting to get around months with fewer games.

To me it's about making it more than an instalment plan for a season ticket.
It's an ongoing open ended scheme which you just leave in place from year to year. Nothing stopping membership fees being reviewed if we decide we need to increase gate prices.
Minimum commitment periods mean you lessen the risk of losing out if we start poorly or have a run of postponements leading to gaps without home games. Clearly though the idea would be that you get any home league games included whilst you are a member.
After the minimum period you can cancel when you like and you then don't get any more games included after the date your last paid month expires.
New members, or rejoining members minimum period again.
Doing it this way means you can sell the scheme to people at any time during the season and they're (and crucially the club's) never losing out.

There was an article on the BBC regarding Scottish football trialling this a while ago.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49608471

[superbike999]

@SfcFPA All one way traffic and never mind the fans. I bought a membership last season. Could never sees the difference between that and a season ticket, apart from the fact that membership was more expensive. Of course the club did not release the season ticket details until after the "membership" date had expired. I will not be making the same mistake again.

[Ralphy Rylance]

@SfcFPA All one way traffic and never mind the fans. I bought a membership last season. Could never sees the difference between that and a season ticket, apart from the fact that membership was more expensive. Of course the club did not release the season ticket details until after the "membership" date had expired. I will not be making the same mistake again.

Incorrect.
Season ticket prices were known before the membership deadline. In fact season ticket prices were announced at the same time as the members scheme. The differences were clearly spelt out. The following article was originally published on 8th June then updated later in July.
https://southportfc.net/launch-memberships-2020-21/

The membership offers a number of benefits that the season tickets don't. Granted not everyone will want to pay the additional cost of the membership if the extra benefits have little or no value to them personally but the membership scheme was introduced because enough fans expressed their interest when surveyed.

I can't see the problem with offering differing products and letting individuals choose what suits them best.

[superbike999]

I stand corrected having re-read the link you highlighted. I didn't realise they had released the prices of both membership and season tickets at the same time, although the season tickets were not immediately available as the start of the season was not known.

Thanks for the correction