Brighton ticket statement

With Swansea City’s allocation of away tickets sold out for the forthcoming Premier League fixture at Brighton, the club has received numerous queries regarding the sale process.

The club appreciate that a number of supporters were disappointed to miss out on the opportunity of making their first trip to the Amex Stadium, so we would like to clarify the process.

As is the case with all away fixtures, the club is offered various allocation options, normally varying between approximately 1,000 and 3,000 tickets depending on the capacity and segregation layout of the stadium in question.

Once the club confirms its first preferred option, it could have the commitment to pay for all the tickets whether they are sold or not, depending on the opposition club in question.

The club also has the option of increasing its allocation within a set period of time, if it did not take the full allocation at the first request.

Again, the club usually has to pay for the majority of unsold tickets if it does not reach a minimum sales level set by the opposition club.

The club looks at many factors when deciding its preferred option. This includes the number of tickets sold for the previous fixture between the two clubs; the significance of the game; the travelling distance and the general trend of away tickets sold so far during that current season.

It is not an exact science, but the club uses its best endeavours to satisfy expected demand from supporters, while also trying to limit any losses from unsold tickets, especially as the club already subsidises away tickets by £10 each for Jack Army member to the tune of around £300,000 per season.

In reference to the Brighton game, the club had the allocation options of approximately 1,100; 1,850; 2,550 or 3,000 tickets.

The club chose 1,100 as its first option safe in the knowledge that it could increase the allocation by a set time.

Once the club saw we were closing in on selling the 1,100 tickets, we increased our allocation and commitment to 1,850.

One month prior to the fixture date, the away club is required to provide their final ticket commitment. At the time we needed to make our final decision, our ticket sales were around 1,200 and, as such, the final option we chose was 1,850.

Based upon historical data and ticket sales trends, we believed the remaining available tickets would meet the required demand.

When the second option of Brighton tickets sold out, the club requested a further allocation, but the deadline had passed and Brighton, quite rightly, had already started to sell the additional capacity to home fans.

Despite all the data and research described earlier we used to reach our decision, the club recognises that in hindsight we got this one wrong. We underestimated the desire of our supporters to make their first trip to the Amex Stadium and the number of fans who chose to purchase tickets later than usual in the sales process.

As a result, the club apologises to supporters who have missed the opportunity of making the trip to support Carlos Carvalhal and the squad.

The club is constantly reviewing its processes and will carry the lessons learnt from the Brighton fixture into future decision-making.