A five season points tally is being supplemented by a legacy status for high demand fixtures!
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.
The current loyalty points system has been in operation for nearly two decades, first being introduced in our 2004-05 Championship campaign. For nearly 20 years, it has proven extremely successful during an era which has included promotions to the Premier League, an FA Cup semi-final and many more high demand fixtures.
However, during that period, loyalty points have continued to accumulate on supporters’ accounts. As the gap in points has grown, we have become increasingly aware of the limitations of using the existing points system to implement a fair sales criteria when issuing a limited allocation of tickets for high demand fixtures. 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.
There is not going to be a loyalty point system which suits everyone. But with many expected ‘high demand’ games this season, now we feel it the right time to make a change.
We believe it fair that Season Ticket Holders for 2023-24 and recent seasons, or those who have attended a high percentage of home and away games over the last four or five campaigns should be at the front of the queue when demand outstrips our ticket allocation.
However, we also want to recognise long-term loyalty and ensure fans who were following our fortunes during the rollercoaster ride which has been the last two decades are also given an opportunity to back the boys!
So, we are trying to do both…
Current Season Ticket Holders
To reward the most current levels of loyalty, supporters will keep all the loyalty points they have gained for the earlier four seasons and the campaign we are about to embark upon.
So, from this season on, only loyalty points accrued since the 2018-19 campaign will be retained. Then, at the end of our 2023-24 season, points picked up in 2018-19 will expire and a new four-year points tally will be recalculated ahead of the start of the 2024-25 campaign.
To complicate matters slightly, as 2020-21 was mainly played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will initially add an additional season’s points to fans’ tallies. But the principle remains the same.
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
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 how will the selling criteria look?
This season, we anticipate that we may have as many as 12 away fixtures that could require the use of a staggered sales process based on loyalty criteria – as the Royals prepare to lock horns with a few local rivals and visit several relatively new and/or smaller stadia with smaller away end allocations to offer.
This set-up means the club can offer tickets either solely to those with loyalty points from the past four seasons, to those with specific legacy status or - for high-demand games – a combination of the two.
Here is the selling criteria that we will apply for our fixture with Exeter City on Saturday 26 August which we are expecting to be a popular fixture:
- 10am Monday 7 August: ST holders with 1,500+ loyalty points
- 2pm Monday 7 August: ST holders with 1350+
- 10am Tuesday 8 August: ST holders with 1000+
- 2pm Tuesday 8 August: ST holders with 500+
- 10am Wednesday 9 August: All ST holders
- 2pm Wednesday 9 August: Members with 1000+ loyalty points or Gold legacy
- 10am Thursday 10 August: Members with 500+ or Silver legacy
- 2pm Thursday 10 August: Members with 100+
- 10am Friday 11 August: Members with 25+ or Bronze legacy
- 2pm Friday 11 August: General sale
As already mentioned, no system will please all our supporters. However, having consulted with supporters, we believe this is a change which will be fairest for our fanbase.
Supporters can check their new loyalty points total, by signing into their Royals Account by clicking here.
If you have not got a Royals account? Follow our step-by-step guide to create one by clicking here.
If supporters have any queries, please email sales@readingfc.co.uk and we will respond as quickly as we can but would appreciate your patience during this busy time in the build up to the start of the season.