The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

TwinkleToesTomlin wrote:Are we the first club in the country to have a swipe card system?

I know Wembley has something similar, and Man Utd season tickets are similar aswel..

I very much doubt it. The County ground in Northampton use a swipe card system at the cricket games.

There are certainly quite a few league clubs that issue "season cards" rather than season tickets these days. There seems to be a trend in the Football League for bar coded tickets as then people can buy online and print at home - I did this for visits to the likes of Pompey, Huddersfield and Middlesbrough last season - but I don't know if this means they have barcoded season ticket cards as well.

However, I think we will be ahead of other non-league clubs for a good few years to come.

Are Wellingborough Town also taking advantage of this technology?

This may be an odd question but I understand we will have a decent away following next season, will there be any grounds that might not be able to accommodate a high number. I know from a lad who plays at Burton park that they only have 2 stands, one home and one away holding about 60 each?

So is there going to be a system where season ticket holders get priority etc?

corby diamond wrote:This may be an odd question but I understand we will have a decent away following next season, will there be any grounds that might not be able to accommodate a high number. I know from a lad who plays at Burton park that they only have 2 stands, one home and one away holding about 60 each?

So is there going to be a system where season ticket holders get priority etc?

I don't know about that - but I think an umbrella is going to be an essential item for away fans next season. For example, at Wootton Blue Cross they have a small covered area that accommodates some bench seats and a standing area. You'd struggle to get more than 150 people in that area - but you could still get lots of people spread out around the pitch. Northampton Spencer was quite similar - although there seemed to be a bit more cover. Hayden Road seemed to have limited cover given the stand was out of use.

Thrapston has only three sides, with a couple of small covered stands on one side, but again you'd get plenty of people spread round the perimeter.

They have a nice bar / social club area there - and plenty of others have similar - Bugbrooke, Sileby and Rothwell Corinthians for example. I seem to remember Potton let people take their cars into the ground when R&DFC played there, so you could take shelter there.

There are pics of quite a few UCL grounds here - http://www.pyramidpassion.co.uk/html/gr ... e_a-z.html

I can see from there that BPW have a pretty flat covered area - still, it will be better for away fans than it was at nearby Rockingham Road (although I'm sure BPW won't be as generous with the three points as the former KTFC were) ...

Every ground can hold at least 1000 (all the way round the pitch)

Formic wrote:

corby diamond wrote:This may be an odd question but I understand we will have a decent away following next season, will there be any grounds that might not be able to accommodate a high number. I know from a lad who plays at Burton park that they only have 2 stands, one home and one away holding about 60 each?

So is there going to be a system where season ticket holders get priority etc?

I don't know about that - but I think an umbrella is going to be an essential item for away fans next season.

You can rest assured, that we will have AFCR&D Umbrellas for sale in the club shop next season 8-)

TheIncognitoKid wrote:Every ground can hold at least 1000 (all the way round the pitch)

Do you know how that applies for Thrapston - or indeed Long Buckby in the UCL Prem, who don't use one side of their pitch - are you quoting official figures - or ground regulations? Both of them also have fairly narrow walkways along the other side (albeit in Buckby's case the Kings Lynn fans made a pre-emptive decision to open up the other side in the big game at Station Rd, despite the fact it didn't have the necessary surface).

TwinkleToesTomlin wrote:Are we the first club in the country to have a swipe card system?

I know Wembley has something similar, and Man Utd season tickets are similar aswel..

I seem to remember a swipe card system at Watford last season and I presume many clubs in the top few leagues have or are going to implement a system. But somehow I doubt very much that there'll be any swipe card systems in the UCL apart from ours.

Formic wrote:

TheIncognitoKid wrote:Every ground can hold at least 1000 (all the way round the pitch)

Do you know how that applies for Thrapston - or indeed Long Buckby in the UCL Prem, who don't use one side of their pitch - are you quoting official figures - or ground regulations? Both of them also have fairly narrow walkways along the other side (albeit in Buckby's case the Kings Lynn fans made a pre-emptive decision to open up the other side in the big game at Station Rd, despite the fact it didn't have the necessary surface).

Ground regulations (ie barriers). Would be considerably less in the case of only one side of the ground being used