Fulham's decision to sell tickets on a first come, first served basis to all season ticket holders has caught fans off guard
Fulham have been accused of disregarding their most devoted supporters by scrapping their loyalty points system for buying tickets without warning for the club’s “biggest away game of the season” against Chelsea on Boxing Day.
Historically, matchday tickets for away fixtures were allocated to season ticket holders who accrue points for going regularly, rewarding fans who have consistently followed their side around the country and beyond.
According to the Fulham Supporters Trust [FST], the club’s decision to sell them on a first come, first served basis to all season ticket holders earlier this month caught fans off guard and resulted in many missing out.
“Let’s not forget that Chelsea away is arguably our biggest away game of the season,” Simon Duke, chair of the FST, told The i Paper.
“What they’ve done is do away with loyalty points and let it become a free-for-all.
“There are a number of people who would normally have expected to get a ticket who haven’t been able to.”
One social media user on X speculated that the decision was made because the club “wants new Riverside Stand season ticket holders to attend the Chelsea game rather than long standing away supporters”.
Season tickets in the expanded and revamped Riverside Stand, which includes a restaurant with Michelin-starred chefs, a terrace overlooking London and even a rooftop swimming pool, cost up to £3,000.
The buying process has also prompted criticism.
With tickets more readily available than in previous seasons, there was a predictable surge of interest from fans seeking to snap them up when they were released at 10am on 6 December, just two days after the club announced the ticket-selling window.
The FST say that high demand resulted in Fulham’s ticketing website crashing and the phone lines to the ticket office being turned off with staff unable to handle the volume of calls. According to Duke, it was “absolute carnage”.
However, people were still able to purchase them directly from the ticket office at Craven Cottage, giving them an advantage over fans who were unable to get through online and on their mobiles.
“The club gave minimal notice that they were going on sale – just two days’ notice – which doesn’t give people time to rearrange their days and make sure they were available at 10am,” Duke says.
“What they should have done is stop selling, let everything settle down and start again.”
This is not an unprecedented move.
In 2022, Fulham released tickets in the same way for a fixture against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, also on Boxing Day, which sparked similar concerns.
On that occasion, Fulham made two tickets available per season ticket holder, whereas this time they have reduced that to just one, a move they say has widened the pool of available tickets.
The FST say that they were given assurances at the time that that process would not be repeated.
“The club maintain it is different from the Crystal Palace game as that was two tickets per season ticket holder,” Duke says.
“I actually think it is the same thing because it was just totally dispensing with loyalty points.”
Fulham’s loyalty scheme was introduced around the 2010-11 season after the club had reached the Europa League final the previous campaign.
The Trust have discussed changing the system with the club to ensure that younger fans who regularly travel away are not disadvantaged when applying for tickets against those who have built up points over a decade or more.
However, no reforms have yet been made.
“It needs looking at but that’s how they’ve always distributed high-demand away tickets,” Duke says.
“It has been on a loyalty point basis. Why suddenly stop without notice for arguably our biggest game of the season?
“I would love to know who the supporters are who got tickets for the Chelsea game, how many loyalty points they have got and how many away games have they been to this season.
“I suspect the data would show that these aren’t people who go to Liverpool and Newcastle.”
According to notes from a meeting between the FST and Fulham on 11 December, Fulham’s CEO Alistair Mackintosh said the club was happy with how tickets were distributed as it gave an opportunity for more fans to attend.
Fulham say that they have received positive feedback from supporters over the scheme as it has enabled them to take their children to the game – a prospect that would not have been possible had loyalty points been required.
The club plans to review their ticket-selling process on a game-by-game basis and are open to discussions over updating loyalty points scheme.
Fulham also intend to show the game at Stamford Bridge on TV screens inside Craven Cottage for fans who missed out on matchday tickets.
Ticketing has been an increasingly thorny issue for Fulham fans over the past few seasons.
Last November, many protested against a significant increase in matchday ticket prices with some being sold for £160 – a Premier League record – for a home game against Manchester United.
There is potential that another off-field clash may erode the good feeling generated by Marco Silva’s side on the pitch.
The Cottagers are eighth in the table after earning a point against league leaders Liverpool at Anfield last weekend.
“It’s very disappointing,” Duke admits.
“If you look at some of the quotes that Marco Silva makes about wanting atmosphere and fans to make a noise that’s hardly going to happen, especially in away games, if you’re stopping your most regular supporters from attending games.”