Loyalty Points

[Linden Jones' Tash]

Think this is the fairest way tbf.

My biggest gripe is the club waiting until a few days before the first away game where points are needed to go on sale. Why not make the statement at the start of July (for example)?

I'm gonna go with whatever staff are left firefighting on multiple fronts and having other priorities.

[Hendo]

Where do you check the legacy status?

I can see the new points total under my profile but no status.

Great way to piss off your fanbase, make up a system, change with a very short notice, then cock it up.

It is on the e-mail I got from the club. But yes, can't see it on the website just yet - would imagine it will get updated in due course.

Not quite sure what else you were expecting? Club had to do something with loyalty points and they may have been waiting for the first batch of clubs to get back to them with allocations - as this will instruct them on what bands need to be implemented first.

Also not sure how they've cocked it up? Seems to be pretty clear and straightforward, imo.

I'd expect more discussion, particulary with STAR, and more notice. If they think there's been some problem they've had months work out a solution and to communicate it.

The email says

This status will be marked against their account in our ticketing system

Well it's not, they've managed to do just half the job by reducing the count.

Maybe they did discuss it with STAR, they said in the comms that "However, having consulted with supporters, we believe this is a change which will be fairest for our fanbase."

So they've obviously discussed it with a focus group or similar. I don't think I have seen STAR come out and say they weren't consulted.

Yes, they probably could've communicated it earlier, but maybe they weren't in a position to do so? Or weren't in a position to confirm anything - let's not beat around the bush - they've had a lot more important things to focus on in the last 2 or 3 months...

I'm sure the website will be updated in due course.

[Kitsondinho]

I’ve dropped to 500 points, but have Gold Legacy. My main frustration with the system will be if (as I expect) it’ll be limited to 1 ticket per member for the away games it is used for. My kids are all Bronze Legacy. So if it is 1 ticket per member, I’d have to wait for their tier to be on sale (and it will likely sell out before then). If it is up to 4 tickets (as it has been previously for some games) per member then they’ll be gone before Gold Legacy. As we live nearly 200 miles from the Mad Stad, most of the games we now go to are away ones and may well have these sales criteria …however, considering some of the northern horror shows we attended in recent years, maybe this won’t be a bad thing!!

[CountryRoyal]

I’ve dropped to 500 points, but have Gold Legacy. My main frustration with the system will be if (as I expect) it’ll be limited to 1 ticket per member for the away games it is used for. My kids are all Bronze Legacy. So if it is 1 ticket per member, I’d have to wait for their tier to be on sale (and it will likely sell out before then). If it is up to 4 tickets (as it has been previously for some games) per member then they’ll be gone before Gold Legacy. As we live nearly 200 miles from the Mad Stad, most of the games we now go to are away ones and may well have these sales criteria …however, considering some of the northern horror shows we attended in recent years, maybe this won’t be a bad thing!!

No different to how it always was for in-demand games in that sense.

If you’re that worried why not just get season tickets for your kids? Only £23 for under 13s

[PieEater]

The email gets me annoyed.

We have always valued the loyalty of our fans. Now more than ever before. And we will continue to recognise those who are steadfast in their loyalty to Reading Football Club.

No you won't, you've just wiped 20 years of loyalty,

Fans who have supported the club inconsistently but over a long period of time are prioritised ahead of those who ardently travel home and away every week in recent seasons.

Not true. They have used the criteria of having a current season ticket along with points for in demand tickets. So someone who has lots of legacy points but no season ticket does not get prioritised.

If they see a problem with rewarding the travelling support - just give more points for away matches.

To reward the most current levels of loyalty, supporters will keep all the loyalty points they have gained for the earlier four seasons

That means that some Johnny come lately with 4 years of ST and some away games potentially gets prioritised over someone who's had a season for 20 years.

With the first band cut off at 1500, a long standing STH is no longer in the top band if they didn't do away games, Is that right?

[Kitsondinho]

I’ve dropped to 500 points, but have Gold Legacy. My main frustration with the system will be if (as I expect) it’ll be limited to 1 ticket per member for the away games it is used for. My kids are all Bronze Legacy. So if it is 1 ticket per member, I’d have to wait for their tier to be on sale (and it will likely sell out before then). If it is up to 4 tickets (as it has been previously for some games) per member then they’ll be gone before Gold Legacy. As we live nearly 200 miles from the Mad Stad, most of the games we now go to are away ones and may well have these sales criteria …however, considering some of the northern horror shows we attended in recent years, maybe this won’t be a bad thing!!

No different to how it always was for in-demand games in that sense.

If you’re that worried why not just get season tickets for your kids? Only £23 for under 13s

Don’t see the point in spending nearly £100 on my 4 kids to ensure they can go to Barnsley. As I said, it is a frustration that I have. I think the changes are fair and not before time. I’ll just be annoyed if we miss one of the away games we were hoping to go to. We always go to at least 10 games a season (managed 12 last year) and usually about 8 or 9 are away. Just be frustrating to miss some of games much closer to us, that previously we’d have got tickets for. However, I’ll get over it!

[CountryRoyal]

I don’t understand the legacy status.

I’ve been knocked down to 910 or something, but the email says gold legacy, which isn’t right, it should be silver, no?

Ohhh nvm. It does count historical support

We are fully aware of how precious loyalty points are to supporters and so we still want to recognise all our fans’ historic support.

So, instead of wiping all points prior to 2019, we will give current ST holders, former ST holders, members and non-members a legacy status based on the points they built up before the change:

Bronze Legacy Status – 25-499 points
Silver Legacy Status - 500-1499 points
Gold Legacy Status - 1500+ points
This status will be marked against their account in our ticketing system. Your legacy status will not be updated going forward, it is purely a set status to recognise fans’ historic support in lieu of the 15 years of expired points which will no longer form part of the count.

So the legacy statue is irrelevant if you’re a sth anyway

[rabidbee]

The legacy rating reflects your points total before the reduction. So, I'm on 10 points and gold legacy.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

The email gets me annoyed.

We have always valued the loyalty of our fans. Now more than ever before. And we will continue to recognise those who are steadfast in their loyalty to Reading Football Club.

No you won't, you've just wiped 20 years of loyalty,

Fans who have supported the club inconsistently but over a long period of time are prioritised ahead of those who ardently travel home and away every week in recent seasons.

Not true. They have used the criteria of having a current season ticket along with points for in demand tickets. So someone who has lots of legacy points but no season ticket does not get prioritised.

If they see a problem with rewarding the travelling support - just give more points for away matches.

To reward the most current levels of loyalty, supporters will keep all the loyalty points they have gained for the earlier four seasons

That means that some Johnny come lately with 4 years of ST and some away games potentially gets prioritised over someone who's had a season for 20 years.

With the first band cut off at 1500, a long standing STH is no longer in the top band if they didn't do away games, Is that right?

Arguably this 'Johnny come lately' deserves a medal as well as prioritisation.. at least those of us with 20 yrs of STs behind us have had something to cheer in that time.

Not sure they ever will now ..

[traff]

The email gets me annoyed.

We have always valued the loyalty of our fans. Now more than ever before. And we will continue to recognise those who are steadfast in their loyalty to Reading Football Club.

No you won't, you've just wiped 20 years of loyalty,

Fans who have supported the club inconsistently but over a long period of time are prioritised ahead of those who ardently travel home and away every week in recent seasons.

Not true. They have used the criteria of having a current season ticket along with points for in demand tickets. So someone who has lots of legacy points but no season ticket does not get prioritised.

If they see a problem with rewarding the travelling support - just give more points for away matches.

To reward the most current levels of loyalty, supporters will keep all the loyalty points they have gained for the earlier four seasons

That means that some Johnny come lately with 4 years of ST and some away games potentially gets prioritised over someone who's had a season for 20 years.

With the first band cut off at 1500, a long standing STH is no longer in the top band if they didn't do away games, Is that right?

Arguably this 'Johnny come lately' deserves a medal as well as prioritisation.. at least those of us with 20 yrs of STs behind us have had something to cheer in that time.

Not sure they ever will now ..

Absolutely. And perhaps a hug.

[Elm Park Kid]

I pretty much agree with what they've done. I do think that season ticket holders who have been to away games in the last few seasons should get priority over everyone else. That 21 year old who has been to Rotherham, Preston and Sunderland recently deserves the opportunity to go to high demand away games over some 50 year old who's got a season ticket everytime we've been doing OK.

[72 bus]

I pretty much agree with what they've done. I do think that season ticket holders who have been to away games in the last few seasons should get priority over everyone else. That 21 year old who has been to Rotherham, Preston and Sunderland recently deserves the opportunity to go to high demand away games over some 50 year old who's got a season ticket everytime we've been doing OK.

Why bring age into it ?

[Royal_jimmy]

I have 1,955 points which I'm pretty happy with!

Would expect the highest loyalty points band will start at 2,000 points which will be for teams like Oxford and Wycombe

[fred sharpes nose]

575 points Gold legacy status, support since 1970

STH last season. undecided to get one this season as hacked off with Dai and already will miss 4 home games but have 24 hours or so to mull over. Think the pricing allows you to miss 8 games to "breakeven" - thats about the number I missed last due to holiday, TV reschedules, CBA etc.

Have identified the away games I'd like to go to -
Exeter (used to live there and watch), Orient (used to live there and watch), Shrewsbury, Wycombe (its close), Lincoln (never been there want to see the Cathedral). Cheltenham (close ish), Stevenage (though been there before- cup game I think), Oxford (new stadium ding dong game), Fleetwood (Tuesday night, tiny ground, may make a break of it and see a mate in Harrogate), Portsmouth (close ish been there before good atmosphere, nice by the sea), Bristol Rovers (new ground?), Barnsley (a trek but be interesting to see what its like up there)

Thats 11 - reckon much the same as many others and I guess some older bods making a long weekend of it etc. I do this every year and update the calendar with "interesting away games" and generally nothing further happens ! In reality if I managed 3 of this season away games that would be a big improvement over my recent CBA

My guess - if I dont get a season ticket very little chance of getting tickets for any of these, other than Fleetwood (!) as its bloody miles for an evening game.

To be fair haven't been to an away game for years that I can remember - Wembley Huddersfield ?

Do I feel hard done by with the new system - No

No problem getting a seat at the Mad Stad

Can't you just pay on the day at the away games - are these clubs totally selling out - I don't think so?

Quite happy to sit with the old buggers in the home stands - good banter potential

Move with the times - new system wont please everyone but seems pretty reasonable

[Sutekh]

Club at fault 20 years ago when they started to use a points scheme, they should have operated, and made it clear then, that points "expire" after 4/5 years.

[CountryRoyal]

Can't you just pay on the day at the away games - are these clubs totally selling out - I don't think so?

You normally can for some games (unlikely any of the ones you suggested), but the club will make it aware if you can on the ticket info. You won’t get the points though.

[buckingham royal]

Loyalty Points dropped from 3952 to 175
Living miles 136 now from Reading have little chance of obtaining away tickets for those matches with low away ticket allocation or high demand matches. 49 year supporting the club - highly pxxxx off

[72 bus]

Loyalty Points dropped from 3952 to 175
Living miles 136 now from Reading have little chance of obtaining away tickets for those matches with low away ticket allocation or high demand matches. 49 year supporting the club - highly pxxxx off

https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2023/a ... e-2023-24/

HISTORIC LOYALTY STILL RECOGNISED
We are fully aware of how precious loyalty points are to supporters and so we still want to recognise all our fans’ historic support.

So, instead of wiping all points prior to 2019, we will give current ST holders, former ST holders, members and non-members a legacy status based on the points they built up before the change:

Bronze Legacy Status – 25-499 points
Silver Legacy Status - 500-1499 points
Gold Legacy Status - 1500+ points

[karbota]

Never had this shit at Elm Park, 25,000 no problem turn up 5 minutes before KO
pay or over the wall.

[rabidbee]

Loyalty Points dropped from 3952 to 175
Living miles 136 now from Reading have little chance of obtaining away tickets for those matches with low away ticket allocation or high demand matches. 49 year supporting the club - highly pxxxx off

You’ll be gold legacy - exactly the same bound as a non-STH with 1,000+ points, ie. No difference.