So, we've berated Parry for years for not developing us commercially as much as he should have and hence we've fallen behind the likes of manure.
To address Ayres has brought in the new membership scheme, which of course SOS immediately came out against and which is no great suprise as it will mean more money out of fans pocket.
At the end of the day fans are going to need to cough up more if we are to expand our revenue. But has the balance been struck right.
Here's what Ayres has to say about the scheme?
New membership scheme 'for club’s good'
Jul 15 2008 by Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo
LIVERPOOL have introduced a new membership scheme recently which costs fans £29 to join.
Today, the ECHO puts the questions many fans are asking to club commercial director Ian Ayre to find out what the scheme involves.
Ayre also answers questions on other issues including the availability of tickets for European away games and season ticket waiting lists.
Why is Liverpool FC, a religion to most fans, now charging you to belong?
"Well we’re not actually. The membership is not compulsory. There is still a situation that exists where you don’t have to join and you can still do all the things you did before – you can still get access to the general sale and you can still get tickets.
"The purpose of the membership is quite simple. Everyone said to me that one of the things we need to do better is to do better commercially, both here and in the rest of the world. So, if you think about the fact that we don’t have anywhere near as many sponsors as other clubs and one of the things a potential sponsor wants is the ability to access fans, having a membership scheme means we are able to understand more about our fans and their behaviour.
"This allows us to be loyal to them because we can track what they do. So if you’re a member and you go into the club shop and make a purchase you get a discount but we also know what you’ve bought. It’s the same with tickets.
"For a partner, for example we are just about to announce a deal with a travel partner, this is also important.
"As part of this deal, that partner wants to offer a discount to Liverpool fans for holidays. So if you spend £300 on your holiday for this year and get 10% off you’ve already got back what you’ve paid for your membership.
"And the thing is, all our partners will want to do that. If people think that AIG don’t go to Man Utd members and try and sell them insurance but then they give them back their value so that they get their membership for free then they are kidding themselves.
"We want to try and create a single view of the fan so that we know more about you as an individual rather than part of a big masse.
"People told us that we don’t communicate with the fans very effectively and we don’t reward them for their loyalty so the membership is designed around that.
"It’s not true that you have to pay to belong. You can still be part of it, you can still come to games, go in the shop and access all the things that you could access before.
"What we are trying to do is to create a next level for those people who want to go to it but it’s not compulsory."
What about existing fan card holders?
"No change."
How much access do fans get to tickets via the ticket exchange for their £29 fee?
"The exchange is for members and the idea of that is that if a season ticket holder cannot come to a particular game and we know that on average there are 1200 people every game who don’t turn up so we are allowing anyone who is in this situation to put their ticket back which we then sell to a fan at face value and the season ticket holder then gets a credit back which comes off the cost of their next season ticket."
Will those subscribing to the new membership scheme receive any priority over existing fan card holders?
"In terms of something like the ticket buy back scheme, members will be the only ones who get access to that but if the tickets don’t sell we will put them into general sale."
Do we have improved access to tickets, such as window sales, an improved Internet service for buying tickets online, or an improved telephone system for buying tickets?
"We have built a new web interface which should be ready for the start of the season so that should certainly provide better quality.
"One of the things that people complained about was that they were getting locked up on the web sales side of things.
"But you can still buy via the window for certain games and you can still buy on the phone."
How will the Priority Tickets Scheme be affected?
"It’s not affected. In fact, if anything it’s enhanced, because the PTS members are automatically given membership, just as season ticket holders are."
Will they still have the same number of tickets available to them?
"Yes."
Can people still join the season ticket waiting list for free, or do you have to pay to join it?
"Well the people who are already on it keep their position and they don’t have to pay to join it but what we are going to do is once we’ve written to the people on the season ticket waiting list which is a massive number which needs cleaning up so we can qualify that list and find out that if everyone who’s on it is (a) legitimate and (b) wants a ticket.
"We are going to close that list in the sense of people just being able to send a letter to get on it and thereafter anyone who wants to join the list is going to have to be a member.
"But I have to say that anyone who thinks that’s restrictive because you might want to join it now it is so big that in reality I wouldn’t even like to guess how many years it would take before the man at the bottom is actually going to get a season ticket.
"The good thing about making people be a member to join it is we then have a relationship with that person. They are renewing every year, so we are able to keep track if they are still around, at the same address or whatever.
"It also means if there’s a game where we’ve got extra tickets or something we can communicate with that person and see if they want to come to that game because there’s this myth that you can’t get tickets."
The club’s very own charter says about fan cards "The fan card is the only card that you will need with Liverpool FC", why the change?
"When we go into the new stadium, as an example, the whole place will have electronic access which would need a card..
"Also, at a football club there are always all kind of systems and processes that have evolved over time, some of which are almost at odds with each other, so what we are trying to do is streamline that process so that we get rid of a lot of the issues and the confusion.
"The aim is to bring the systems into line so that by the time the new stadium is open we have (a) the technonlogy and (b) the ability for fans to get access to general sale, priority tickets and season tickets.
"The charter may have said that but everything evolves over time and we are making a change for the good of the fans not for any other reason."
What about season ticket holders? They currently pay a minimum of £650 per season. Do they get the same benefits of this new membership? Will they receive the discounts and the special offers?
"Yes."
Did the club consult with supporters?
"Yes."
Is it true that Development Association agents who sell pools on behalf of the club are to have their ticket allocations cut in half why the sudden change, where will these tickets go?
"I don’t know where that one came from. All we have done with the Development Association is streamline it.
"There were two levels of allocation. There were tickets going to agents, that hasn’t changed. What we did identify is there were some tickets through that scheme that were being provided to third party corporate hospitality programmes, so there were pubs and hotels in Liverpool that were running unofficial corporate hospitality packages.
"Our view of that was why should someone in a pub charge anyone who wants to buy it £200 or whatever for a package for which the only benefit to the club is the income from the match ticket.
"We believe that we should do it so we have taken those same tickets which were going to random people and we are going to put our own corporate package together which is available to fans.
"We are looking at two off site venues. We will run it and it will be controlled by the club and all the revenue will come to the club.
"That is a good thing for Liverpool because there’s an extra revenue stream coming in, which is what we’re trying to do in a lot of areas, we are trying to stop people who are profiteering.
"The fan can buy it off the club but they know they are getting the right product and they can come to us if they are not happy.
"Also, the money is coming to the club and I think as a fan that’s a good thing because if we want to put the likes of Fernando Torres out on the pitch we have to identify as many of these revenue streams as we can and that is what we are doing.
There are rumours circulating that Liverpool FC will be giving up to 50% of tickets for European away games to Thomas Cook to sell as part of packages, thereby penalising fans who prefer to travel independently. Is there any truth in this?
"All of the European tickets for next season will be sold on the basis of loyalty just as they have been.
"What Thomas Cook will offer for people who want it is a package but we’re not giving them the tickets and telling them they can sell them to anyone who wants to buy them.
"It will all be done on our normal qualifying system, so you have to qualify just as you did before and then you have the option of taking the Thomas Cook package.
"With Thomas Cook we’ve told them they can be our official partner and we are getting a big sponsorship fee so we are trying to encourage people to use Thomas Cook because more of that revenue will come back to the club.
"Clearly, if Thomas Cook price themselves out of the market no-one is going to use it but we believe we have identified a partner who can offer a service at a competitive price so that the club and our fans benefit."
To address Ayres has brought in the new membership scheme, which of course SOS immediately came out against and which is no great suprise as it will mean more money out of fans pocket.
At the end of the day fans are going to need to cough up more if we are to expand our revenue. But has the balance been struck right.
Here's what Ayres has to say about the scheme?
New membership scheme 'for club’s good'
Jul 15 2008 by Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo
LIVERPOOL have introduced a new membership scheme recently which costs fans £29 to join.
Today, the ECHO puts the questions many fans are asking to club commercial director Ian Ayre to find out what the scheme involves.
Ayre also answers questions on other issues including the availability of tickets for European away games and season ticket waiting lists.
Why is Liverpool FC, a religion to most fans, now charging you to belong?
"Well we’re not actually. The membership is not compulsory. There is still a situation that exists where you don’t have to join and you can still do all the things you did before – you can still get access to the general sale and you can still get tickets.
"The purpose of the membership is quite simple. Everyone said to me that one of the things we need to do better is to do better commercially, both here and in the rest of the world. So, if you think about the fact that we don’t have anywhere near as many sponsors as other clubs and one of the things a potential sponsor wants is the ability to access fans, having a membership scheme means we are able to understand more about our fans and their behaviour.
"This allows us to be loyal to them because we can track what they do. So if you’re a member and you go into the club shop and make a purchase you get a discount but we also know what you’ve bought. It’s the same with tickets.
"For a partner, for example we are just about to announce a deal with a travel partner, this is also important.
"As part of this deal, that partner wants to offer a discount to Liverpool fans for holidays. So if you spend £300 on your holiday for this year and get 10% off you’ve already got back what you’ve paid for your membership.
"And the thing is, all our partners will want to do that. If people think that AIG don’t go to Man Utd members and try and sell them insurance but then they give them back their value so that they get their membership for free then they are kidding themselves.
"We want to try and create a single view of the fan so that we know more about you as an individual rather than part of a big masse.
"People told us that we don’t communicate with the fans very effectively and we don’t reward them for their loyalty so the membership is designed around that.
"It’s not true that you have to pay to belong. You can still be part of it, you can still come to games, go in the shop and access all the things that you could access before.
"What we are trying to do is to create a next level for those people who want to go to it but it’s not compulsory."
What about existing fan card holders?
"No change."
How much access do fans get to tickets via the ticket exchange for their £29 fee?
"The exchange is for members and the idea of that is that if a season ticket holder cannot come to a particular game and we know that on average there are 1200 people every game who don’t turn up so we are allowing anyone who is in this situation to put their ticket back which we then sell to a fan at face value and the season ticket holder then gets a credit back which comes off the cost of their next season ticket."
Will those subscribing to the new membership scheme receive any priority over existing fan card holders?
"In terms of something like the ticket buy back scheme, members will be the only ones who get access to that but if the tickets don’t sell we will put them into general sale."
Do we have improved access to tickets, such as window sales, an improved Internet service for buying tickets online, or an improved telephone system for buying tickets?
"We have built a new web interface which should be ready for the start of the season so that should certainly provide better quality.
"One of the things that people complained about was that they were getting locked up on the web sales side of things.
"But you can still buy via the window for certain games and you can still buy on the phone."
How will the Priority Tickets Scheme be affected?
"It’s not affected. In fact, if anything it’s enhanced, because the PTS members are automatically given membership, just as season ticket holders are."
Will they still have the same number of tickets available to them?
"Yes."
Can people still join the season ticket waiting list for free, or do you have to pay to join it?
"Well the people who are already on it keep their position and they don’t have to pay to join it but what we are going to do is once we’ve written to the people on the season ticket waiting list which is a massive number which needs cleaning up so we can qualify that list and find out that if everyone who’s on it is (a) legitimate and (b) wants a ticket.
"We are going to close that list in the sense of people just being able to send a letter to get on it and thereafter anyone who wants to join the list is going to have to be a member.
"But I have to say that anyone who thinks that’s restrictive because you might want to join it now it is so big that in reality I wouldn’t even like to guess how many years it would take before the man at the bottom is actually going to get a season ticket.
"The good thing about making people be a member to join it is we then have a relationship with that person. They are renewing every year, so we are able to keep track if they are still around, at the same address or whatever.
"It also means if there’s a game where we’ve got extra tickets or something we can communicate with that person and see if they want to come to that game because there’s this myth that you can’t get tickets."
The club’s very own charter says about fan cards "The fan card is the only card that you will need with Liverpool FC", why the change?
"When we go into the new stadium, as an example, the whole place will have electronic access which would need a card..
"Also, at a football club there are always all kind of systems and processes that have evolved over time, some of which are almost at odds with each other, so what we are trying to do is streamline that process so that we get rid of a lot of the issues and the confusion.
"The aim is to bring the systems into line so that by the time the new stadium is open we have (a) the technonlogy and (b) the ability for fans to get access to general sale, priority tickets and season tickets.
"The charter may have said that but everything evolves over time and we are making a change for the good of the fans not for any other reason."
What about season ticket holders? They currently pay a minimum of £650 per season. Do they get the same benefits of this new membership? Will they receive the discounts and the special offers?
"Yes."
Did the club consult with supporters?
"Yes."
Is it true that Development Association agents who sell pools on behalf of the club are to have their ticket allocations cut in half why the sudden change, where will these tickets go?
"I don’t know where that one came from. All we have done with the Development Association is streamline it.
"There were two levels of allocation. There were tickets going to agents, that hasn’t changed. What we did identify is there were some tickets through that scheme that were being provided to third party corporate hospitality programmes, so there were pubs and hotels in Liverpool that were running unofficial corporate hospitality packages.
"Our view of that was why should someone in a pub charge anyone who wants to buy it £200 or whatever for a package for which the only benefit to the club is the income from the match ticket.
"We believe that we should do it so we have taken those same tickets which were going to random people and we are going to put our own corporate package together which is available to fans.
"We are looking at two off site venues. We will run it and it will be controlled by the club and all the revenue will come to the club.
"That is a good thing for Liverpool because there’s an extra revenue stream coming in, which is what we’re trying to do in a lot of areas, we are trying to stop people who are profiteering.
"The fan can buy it off the club but they know they are getting the right product and they can come to us if they are not happy.
"Also, the money is coming to the club and I think as a fan that’s a good thing because if we want to put the likes of Fernando Torres out on the pitch we have to identify as many of these revenue streams as we can and that is what we are doing.
There are rumours circulating that Liverpool FC will be giving up to 50% of tickets for European away games to Thomas Cook to sell as part of packages, thereby penalising fans who prefer to travel independently. Is there any truth in this?
"All of the European tickets for next season will be sold on the basis of loyalty just as they have been.
"What Thomas Cook will offer for people who want it is a package but we’re not giving them the tickets and telling them they can sell them to anyone who wants to buy them.
"It will all be done on our normal qualifying system, so you have to qualify just as you did before and then you have the option of taking the Thomas Cook package.
"With Thomas Cook we’ve told them they can be our official partner and we are getting a big sponsorship fee so we are trying to encourage people to use Thomas Cook because more of that revenue will come back to the club.
"Clearly, if Thomas Cook price themselves out of the market no-one is going to use it but we believe we have identified a partner who can offer a service at a competitive price so that the club and our fans benefit."
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