Club consult with Fans' Conference
Pompey have outlined their policy for selling away ticket this season after consulting with the newly-constituted Tony Goodall Fans' Conference.
The conference is an independent body which pulls together the views of a wide spectrum of fans, via representatives from supporters' groups, message boards and social media forums.
The club is about to introduce a new ticketing system called AudienceView which will be able to more accurately record ticket-buying behaviour of fans and create an individual 'benefits profile' to better ensure the most deserving get priority.
During the season it is expected some fixtures may have significant demand exceeding supply and the club wants to ensure the selling policy is as fair as possible.
In summary, the priority order for distributing tickets for away matches during the season will be as follows:
1. Members of the club's legacy away season ticket scheme
2. Five per cent allocation to recognised supporters' clubs in geographical vicinity of fixture (eg, Northern Blues receive an allocation for Rochdale fixture)
3. Five per cent allocation to other recognised supporters' clubs not included in (2) above.
4. Season Ticket Holders according to 'benefits profile' as identified by AudienceView (by ballot if required).
5. General sale in tranches, released according to 'benefits profile' as identified by AudienceView (by ballot if required).
Engagement manager Micah Hall explained the rationale behind the system.
He said: "In the Premier League days the club instigated an away season ticket system, where fans could guarantee a ticket by paying up front. Although it is now closed to new applicants, the club has continued to operate this scheme ever since.
"It was agreed it would not be fair to remove this benefit arbitrarily, but over time people in this scheme will be incorporated into the new priority system managed by the AudienceView package.
"It was also felt that it was only right and proper that supporters' clubs, particularly those based in the vicinity of particular fixtures, should have a small allocation.
"The AudienceView system will, over time, give us high-quality information to profile fans' ticket-buying practice, as well as recording other information such as PST share ownership.
"We are confident we will have an increasingly fair and transparent system where fans will see the most deserving have the first chance to buy tickets for in demand fixtures."
Steve Tovey, chair of the Tony Goodall Fans' Conference said: "There will be some games where we will have significantly more fans wanting tickets than will be available.
"We are delighted the club chose to come to the conference for our view on this matter which is important to many fans, as this is how an open and transparent club should be operating. The advantage of the conference is that it does represent a wide range of fan opinion."
The policy for selling away tickets in this way will start for the Mansfield Town game on August 24, with benefits profiles introduced following the go live date for AudienceView in September.
Tickets are currently on sale to season ticket holders for this game.
Fans wanting to find out how the conference works should contact Pompey's supporter liaison officer Johnny Moore (johnnymoore@pompeyfc.co.uk) for more information.