Semi-Conscious

Should Charlton triumph at the Riverside tomorrow night, fans will have just 24 hours to acquire the higher degree required to understand the ticket details
for the semi-final.

Just in case things weren't crystal clear, I'll repeat them here: "...the ticket office will process applications from any season ticket holder who does not live in any of the following postcodes - DA, London SE, BR,ME,TN (but not including TN31-40),CR, CM, London E, London EC, EN, HA, IG, KT, London N, London NW, RH, RM, SM, SS, London SW, TW, UB, London W, London WC and any other Greater London postcodes - from 9am on Monday, April 17th. Sufficient tickets will be ring fenced for the supporters affected by this."

However, unless I've misunderstood the details, those fans who live outside the postcodes listed above will still be expected to attend the Valley in person to collect their tickets. I'm glad that I've decided to miss a potential semi-final because that would have set up an interesting telephone call, "..yes sir, I understand you are a season-ticket holder and Valley Gold member based in America but you'll still have to come down here in person."

I find it astonishing in this day and age that customers (after all that is what we are) are expected to queue up like Cold War era Russians at a soup kitchen. Why is it you can purchase airline tickets online three hours before your flight but you can't buy football tickets nine days before the game?

I understand that Man City have entered the 21st Century and fans enter the stadium using a card rather than a flimsy ticket book, and wouldn't Charlton benefit more generally from the extra information that is contained therein? For example, wouldn't it be nice to know how often individual fans purchase merchandise so that marketing can be directed accordingly? And wouldn't it be nice for fans to know they could inadvertently mislay their card and have it replaced rather than the current system which encourages fans to include their season ticket on their home insurance policy? I appreciate this would not be of much use for games at a neutral ground, but it would be a progressive step nonetheless.

Moreover the club is "...not prepared to take the risk of tickets not arriving in the post, particularly given the short timescales involved and the inevitable backlog of post there will be after Easter." But what if the fans are prepared to take the risk of tickets not arriving? Does Reg not trust us to sufficiently weigh up the risk versus the obvious aggravation of having to waste Good Friday in the West Stand car park?

I'm well-aware that in the euphoria of Operation Riverside, it's a little churlish to be critical given the credits the club have rightly built up, but that doesn't make these silly arrangements acceptable should they joyously come into fruition at 10pm on Weds night.