Blackburn Rovers' away ticket policy cannot be the future of football
You know, the chicken company which made Blackburn Rovers a laughing stock back in the early 2010s? The owners who scapegoated Steve Kean as a human embodiment of everything wrong with the club that had gone from Premier League winners to the bottom of the table?
Who the fans protested against by releasing a chicken onto the Ewood Park pitch during a game? Given Blackburn have been away from the public eye, you probably think the Venky's are long gone but oh no, they are still very much there.
Blackburn were relegated in 2012 and fell away from the Premier League microscope but things have only got worse since then. The Venky's have ignored Rovers to the point where Ewood Park cannot host a match if it rains more than a light shower and as a sign of how disenfranchised their support has become over more than a decade of mismanagement, they average an attendance of just under 14,000; the stadium holds 31,000.
Rovers fans probably thought it could not get much worse but this summer, the club announced their own version of the Tesco Clubcard - Rovers Rewards. Football clubs announcing new schemes and memberships is nothing new but when it has a direct impact on being able to see your team live, it is worth more than just those within the Blackburn postcode taking note.
Traditionally, the limited amount of away tickets a club receives has been sold to those with the most points, which you earn by attending matches. It is the fairest way to reward the fans that go to Tranmere and Plymouth should your club ever face Manchester United or Arsenal.
It's not a perfect system and every fan who has missed out due to not having enough points or ever having an opportunity to get points will have their issues, but can at least admit it is probably the best way of rewarding fans who give up the most time and money to support the team. Blackburn's owners, meanwhile, have decided to rip that idea up and instead reward not necessarily those who attend the most matches, but those who spend the most money.
So to Rovers Rewards, which gives points based on purchases you make with the club. Buying a season ticket would get you 2,500 points.
Buying an executive box would net you 3,500. You also get rewarded for attending home matches at 125 a go.
Turn up at least 30 minutes before kick-off and you get 50 extra. Attend five matches in a row and it's 150.