Town have announced that there will be no cash turnstiles for home supporters at Portman Road from the start of the new season with fans paying on the day required to buy tickets from the Ticket Office on Constantine Road.

"The Matchday Ticket Office will be open from 9am on Saturday matchdays and from 6.15pm ahead of midweek evening games to deal with ticket sales, enquiries, upgrades and lost or forgotten season tickets for home supporters.""

Planet Blue will continue to sell tickets midweek and until 6.15pm for evening fixtures but not on Saturday matchdays.

“For a number of reasons we have switched from cash turnstiles to using the Matchday Ticket Office for purchases on the day,” Town’s head of ticketing, Donna Powell, told the club site.""

“Ideally we’d ask supporters to buy tickets online or in Planet Blue ahead of matchday but we urge those that want to leave it to matchday to buy, to arrive in plenty of time.”

Further to that change, the Ticket Enquiry Centre on Portman Road will be an away supporter ticket office only from this season where away fans are able to purchase tickets or alternatively pay cash on the turnstiles. "

Disabled fans who sit in a designated disabled area in the Co-op Stand or the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand will now enter via a new entrance next to the Matchday Ticket Office on Constantine Road. However, disabled supporters who sit in the Sir Bobby Robson disabled areas will use the same entrance as last season.

Photo: TWTD

happybeingblue added 17:13 - Jul 31 oh dear a poor move by the club it should be all about encouraging supporters in the ground,not everyone is internet savvy or has the time to get to the ground to arrange a ticket before hand,how hard can it be to run at least 1 cash turnstile on each side of the ground,they say for a number of reasons,im scratching my head wondering what those reasons are ??
7

Steelmonkey added 17:16 - Jul 31 First og of the season - Scorer Donna Powell, Town's head of ticketing.
4

beornioblue added 17:18 - Jul 31 seems a strange decision as the only possible outcome is people not popping to see a game as a last minute thing especially if the queues for the ticket office are going to be so much worse due to the fact that its the main place to pay on the day !!
3

HARRY10 added 17:24 - Jul 31 "At least i will not be stuck behind somebody at the turnstile, getting their money out and waiting for their change" Now you will be stuck behind all those types in the one queue Such a short sighted move as I'm sure just the one person paying on the gate must cover the wage costs.
4

BlueandTruesince82 added 17:33 - Jul 31 Dont get it... just turning away cash. Get prepaid wristbands and maybe card machines and a cheap smartphone.... beggers can take cards these days. I'm sure the stewards can
3

multiplescoregasms added 17:40 - Jul 31 I do think it would be nice to know what the club are thinking in regard to this. Not in a bad way, just in a way where the suppoprters know whats going on. I do think this does make it a little more of an effort to get a ticket, not much but a little, and it just feels a little bit of a backward step in getting people through the door.
5

grumpyoldman added 17:47 - Jul 31 Will the club give me a cheaper ticket to cover the extra cost I will need to pay for the car park to queue for it.
-2

maninashed added 17:47 - Jul 31 I don't know the reason either. As an observation it all depends upon how many are 'desks' are open in the ticket office. For away games I have been to, where they were taking cash, we were told to sit anywhere even if you had a numbered ticket. I am not sure if it is true in every case though. With home supporters seats need to be allocated and tickets printed to stop duplication with season ticket holders, etc. This might be time consuming at the gates as the position of vacant seats may need to be available. Some people, for instance with walking difficulties, might need to be near a gangway, so the issue of pre-printed tickets off a pile might not work .

3

Dissboyitfc added 17:57 - Jul 31 Without the club saying the reasoning behind this it seems to me a strange decision, the mind boggles! We want as many inside the ground as possible, this will deter some!
6

afrodids added 18:11 - Jul 31 Its time to play the music Its time to light the lights Its time to meet the muppets on the Muppet Show tonight. What moron thought of that idea! I hope the ticket office has plenty of staff and an organised queuing system!
2

armyofblueandwhite added 18:19 - Jul 31 Have ITFC not heard of contactless payments? Oh yes a league 1 match day ticket will most likely be more than the £30 limit, silly me!
8

Fat_Boy_Tim added 18:33 - Jul 31 Have none of you miserable gits got bank card, seriously?? Get a grip.
-5

TractorRoyNo1 added 18:33 - Jul 31 is it April Fools Day or is the club just run by fools?
3

Paulc added 18:42 - Jul 31 Given me strength! You can still impulse buy on the day, just not at the turnstile! where's the hardship in that? i come on this site for a break from people whinging in my ear at work, and frankly I get worse on here!
2

TractorRoyNo1 added 19:06 - Jul 31 The reason is simple, no turnstile = no staff = no wages.
2

BLUEGOLD added 19:09 - Jul 31 Even at Mansfield in the conference they had working turnstiles operated by people. This is penny pinching madness.
1

alfromcol added 19:38 - Jul 31 What a load of moaning minnies.
3

cat added 19:56 - Jul 31 No ‘bangers on the door! Sounds like our rather shady owner has had enough of mugging off the tax man.
2

thundercat600 added 20:00 - Jul 31 So if I was to find my self deciding eat say 2om on a match day that I would like to go and see town play I would have to join the que at the ticket office, count me out
0

grumpyoldman added 20:01 - Jul 31 Yes we are moaning, I drive over an hour to get to PR, I park to the east of the ground as it is easier to leave afterwards. In the past I could turn up at the gate and pay if I made a late decision to go with this change I will park where I normally did then have to walk to the west side, queue for a ticket, discuss with the person in the ticket options for the stand I would like to sit in, then walk back to the east side of the ground to queue up to get in the ground. If they installed contactless payment at the turnstiles I would be able to do what I did in the past. Has anybody considered what happens when there is a system or printer failure. ITFC a lesson in how to lose friends and influence people.

7

flettonblue added 20:12 - Jul 31 Evans remains clueless about the difference between a football fan and a customer one of his many,many other successful businesses. After 10+ years the penny still hasn't dropped. I genuinely appreciate the vast sums Evans has invested in keeping us above water but what's the point if its only a business to you and you treat us like a customer of an event you sell . Evans has got us into this position, he won't get us out of it given what's gone on so far.

6

Westy added 20:21 - Jul 31 Hardly the end of the World as cash can still be used at the Ticket Office (presumably). However, a good policy to give supporters (sorry no customers !) as many options as possible.
2

RegencyBlue added 20:43 - Jul 31 So let me get this right, the club need every paying supporter it can get through the turnstiles and it's answer to this is to make it even harder for some supporters to get in at the last minute. I really do despair at how this club is run under Evans!
5

blues1 added 21:15 - Jul 31 My god. What a bunch of whingers. This is a quite common practice at many clubs. Makes very little difference to buy at the ticket office than it does at the turnstile. Just a minor inconvenience for supporters maybe.
-3

davidsc1971 added 21:20 - Jul 31 It's a cost cutting exercise isn't it, what with us being relegated and all. Less staff to manage the turnstiles = less wages to pay. Although this does appear somewhat shortsighted if there are people put off from going by a change like this, they should be looking for ways to bump up attendance whilst we're winning for a change, assuming this starts to happen of course 😬

2

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls