AFF -Affordable Family Football ?

What does it really mean when the Club uses the phrase Affordable Family Football (AFF)? For example:

We certainly didn’t know! But we thought that if it were to mean anything at all, that phrase would have some relationship to the price of a ticket for both U18s and over 66s.

So we decided to write to David Sullivan, Karren Brady, Daniel Kretinsky, Vanessa Gold and Tripp Smith. Our reasoning being that if anyone could shed some light on this, it would surely be one of the board of directors.

Here’s what we wrote:

(It should be noted that this same question, on behalf of Hammers United, was put to Karren Brady by several sitting MPs, some more than once due to unsatisfactory responses from the Baroness, but thus far no explanation has been forthcoming.)

Replies ?

We received replies from only 2 board members (which resulted in a brief exchange of emails) and here’s what we learnt:

One board member said they didn’t know the answer.

Apparently, no one ever said AFF would be available at all games.

Some people, often away fans who buy tickets in home sections, only want to come to “big games” but these tickets are expensive.

To summarise, there is at least one person at the highest level who claims to not know what AFF even means. There is a “get-out” clause to the phrase AFF which to our knowledge has never been made clear. The Club is fully aware that away fans buy tickets in home sections of the ground.

Extortionate Family Football ?

None of which is to overlook the question, what is it when AFF is not available? The Club cannot have it both ways. By confirming that AFF is not available for all games the conclusion has to be that at all other times it is…. what?

Unaffordable family football? Extortionate family football? Over-priced family football? This is not hyperbole. These adjectives have been used by many fans in the wake of the Club’s ticket price rises and withdrawal of concessions policies.

Whatever the case may be, our view is that it is unacceptable for a senior board member to not know what AFF means while subordinates continually use the phrase for marketing purposes.

Furthermore we find it insulting to now be expected to believe that AFF was never going to be available for all games. It’s almost as if it’s the fans’ fault for misunderstanding what the Club actually meant. Perhaps the Club’s messaging should have been, “West Ham is the home of Affordable Family Football but not for the big games where we’ll happily charge £50 for a child’s ticket in Band 5 and yes, we seriously consider Aston Villa to be a big game!” Granted that’s not quite as media-friendly but it’s a lot closer to the truth.

Nevertheless we are pleased that the Club has finally confirmed it knows that away fans do buy tickets in home sections of the stadium. However, after many years of Hammers United pointing this out to the Club, many years of fans receiving banning orders resulting from clashes with away fans in home sections, the negative impact on the atmosphere in the ground and the overall match day experience, we remain very concerned that the Club will continue to do nothing about any of this while these tickets are being sold at high prices.

NO Limit to ticket prices ?

Arguably the most disturbing point in the whole sorry debacle is this: Absent any reply to our question from any individual board member, and given that the Club is already comfortable targeting fans under 18 and over 66 (and as far as we are aware, this includes disabled supporters too), we can only conclude that there is no limit to the amount of money that fans could be asked to pay for a ticket.

In the interests of fairness we should mention that (arguably as a result of the Save Our Concessions and Stop Exploiting Loyalty campaigns?) there have been a couple of changes to the ticketing strategy. But before we start patting ourselves on the back, we should point out that the Club has still managed to fall into a pile of roses and come out smelling of shit:

1: New season ticket concessions are now available in Bands 3 and 4, but the discount has been reduced by 50% and it only applies to fans over 66. This means that U21s and U18s (and, we believe, disabled fans too) have been completely ignored.

2: Concessionary match day tickets for U21s, U18s, Over 66s and disabled fans have been introduced, but as the prices vary depending on the opposition (is this demand-pricing, surge-pricing, dynamic-pricing?), a strong case can be made that “higher profile” games are still too expensive.

While neither of these changes do anything to support the Club’s claims of offering AFF, the variable prices of match day tickets demonstrates a complete and utter misunderstanding on the Club’s part of what it actually means to be a fan.

Most of us have bemoaned our team’s performances over the years and sworn blind that we’re never going again, only to find ourselves singing Bubbles with everyone else on a cold Tuesday night in November when we can’t buy a goal. That’s because for fans the notion of value for money plays second fiddle to loyalty.

Club Testing Fans Financial Limits ?

The Club knows that and is testing the financial limits. In other words, loyalty is being exploited! But when the price of a ticket becomes unaffordable your loyalty won’t help you, the Club won’t care, and that will have dire consequences for the future of our fan base.

The less frequently new fans come to see West Ham play at home, the more likely it is that our fan base will be diminished and this helps no one, including the Club.

So until such time as the Club rolls back on its ticket prices and withdrawal of concessions put in place for the 24/25 season, the campaign goes on.

COYI
Hammers United