Prior to the Early-Bird season ticket announcement on 2nd December 2021 we know that Mr Chansiri held a consultation with the club’s Supporter Engagement Panel (EP). We know that the EP told Mr Chansiri that there would be a negative response to the proposal to launch season ticket sales in December. We know that the request from the EP was ignored, and the club went ahead with publicising the offer on 2nd December. A failure of supporter engagement.

The predicted negative response to that announcement manifested itself. We published a statement raising our concerns which we shared with members and the media. We also wrote to the club on 3rd December in similar terms but also specifically called on the club to:

1. Immediately withdraw the current early-bird season ticket offer.

2.  Be open and transparent with fans regarding the financial position of the club.

3.   Commence immediate and meaningful consultations with supporter groups, including the SWFC Trust, on what can be done to assist the club, including on different approaches to 2022/23 season ticket sales.

4.    Respond positively to our request to establish a powerful Supporters’ Board at the club and the establishment of a ‘Golden Share’ in the club to be held by fans.

The club responded on 6th December by asking us to raise the issues with the EP. This would be the same EP that the club removed us from and the EP they ignored prior to the early-bird launch on 2nd December! Another failure of supporter engagement.

We accept that the size of the club means that overheads of running it will be more substantial than many L1 clubs, but the wages budget at SWFC has fallen considerably in recent years. As the TV money in L1 is £5-6m less than in L1 then season tickets become a much greater proportion of club income. The total lack of transparency about the financial position at the club leaves us sceptical about any of Mr Chansiri’s claims about the running and finances at the club.

If Mr Chansiri was really concerned about loyal fans he could have:

But none of that happened. The financing deal that was eventually announced still means that those fans who could not afford to spend the cash in December paid more for their season ticket. There is no sense from his media interview that Mr Chansiri understands the city, the people, or the economic circumstances of Sheffield; there is a sense from it that he sees fans solely as a source of revenue and not as stakeholders who should be involved in the club. 

Because of the lack of transparency on club finances we are still doubtful about his claims that this early-bird exercise wasn’t a cash grab – the price escalator week on week till the end of December would appear to tell you otherwise. But it is clearly a cash-grab in the sense of driving higher ticket prices after the decent reductions following relegation to L1.

Despite the concerns about it the club has gone ahead with the early-bird offer and future higher pricing, we have made our points about all that and we will see how that pans out in terms of sales. 

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