By Chris Wearmouth 
Providing the best possible match day experience for all our supporters is one of the prime focuses for Coventry Rugby management.
We have had time to reflect on the recent game against Ealing Trailfinders, and especially the purchasing of match day tickets.
As we said on the night of the game, the club’s management appreciates and understands the frustrations of those supporters who found themselves in the ticket office queue before kick off, a queue which was caused by a number of factors, including technical issues with the WiFi and a late walk-up to Butts Park Arena.
The ticket office staff were working as quickly as they could, processing an average of two transactions per minute during this period.
Nevertheless, we will be working to minimise queuing in the future so that supporters can enter the stadium in good time to get behind the team and create the atmosphere which is so legendary within the Championship.
There is considerable experience of working within club rugby among the Coventry Rugby management. However we do know that every club is different, and Coventry Rugby is distinct within the league, not least with the long-standing and dedicated base of supporters who have steadfastly stood behind the club.
Both of the attendances were in excess of 2,000 supporters, reflecting the positivity that is surrounding the team ahead of the Championship campaign. With the development of the new pitch the last two weeks have, in effect, been our pre-season, and we will be using the experiences to review our processes and operations for the first home league game against Bedford on October 19th.
We are committed to listening to all our supporters, especially the Coventry Rugby Supporters Club, and welcome constructive suggestions.
There are a number of areas which have been raised which the club would like to address:
PAYING AT THE GATE We will not be re-introducing paying cash at the turnstiles, as we need to know how many people are in the stadium at any one time for safety reasons and how many tickets have been sold. We therefore need turnstile operators focused on ensuring that every ticket is scanned.
We acknowledge that there are a number of supporters who prefer to pay with cash, and we need to be able to service them as quickly as possible. Furthermore, the majority of the tickets sold at the Ticket Office on match day were standing tickets, and as such the club will be making the following changes at this Saturday’s home game against Bedford.
The match day ticket office will have two clearly signed queues – one which will be for seating and one for standing. Standing tickets will be pre-printed, which should make the selling process quicker and more straightforward for staff and supporters alike.
Due to the XL Motors Stand now being allocated seating tickets sold at that window will continue to be printed as they are booked.
There will be two members of staff at each window.
Supporters who prefer to use cards are encouraged to use the club’s online booking system, which is already being well used by supporters. By booking online you can have your tickets emailed to you, which can then be scanned from your phone at the turnstiles. By booking until 11:59pm on the day before match day supporters can save on their ticket prices, and tickets can also be booked online right up until kick off.
Tickets for every home game up until Christmas can now be booked directly through the club’s website via coventryrugby.co.uk/tickets
TRANSACTION FEES The club announced the introduction of a £1 transaction fee on all tickets with the new booking system, which is enabling the club to introduce initiatives such as eTicketing and online advance bookings. We acknowledge that this was not clear on the match day signage and will be more transparent in the future.
The club’s management thanks supporters for your patience as we continue to strive for continued improvement.
