FOR RELEASE ON: 27 April 2004
FIRST DIVISION PLAY OFFS 2004:
COMPETITION FORMAT & PROPOSED TICKETING ARRANGEMENTS
The Club has been receiving increasing numbers of enquiries in recent
weeks regarding the format of the First Division Play Offs, and what the
ticketing arrangements would be in the event Sunderland are involved in
the semi final play offs.
Play Offs – The Format and Proposed Dates
Unlike in previous seasons, when the First Division play off final has
been held on the last Bank Holiday Monday in May, this season’s final
will be on Saturday 29th May. This is due to the international call up
date for Euro 2004 starting at midnight on 29th May, an event most
likely to affect First Division sides.
The dates for the semi final legs will depend on where the teams finish
when the season ends on Sunday, May 9. As the final will be played
earlier there are also proposed changes to both the first and second leg
ties and at the time of going to press we are awaiting final
confirmation from the Football League.
The proposed dates are as follows:
First-leg to be played either on Fri 14th (7.45pm or 8.00pm) / Sat 15th (12.15pm).
Second-leg to be played either on Mon 17th (7.45pm or 8.00pm) / Tue 18th May (7.45pm or 8.00pm).
Ticketing in the event of Play Off involvement
As the season ends on Sunday 9th May and the first possible play off leg
is Friday 14th May, there are only 4 working days ahead of the first
leg.
This means all applications for the play off semi final legs will need to have been received ahead of the club’s final league game being played, to give the ticket office staff time to deal with all ticketing matters.
Should Sunderland be drawn at home in the first leg for example the club
would only have 4 days to administer and sell up to 40,000+ tickets. The
time-scale of the play offs means ticketing will be a very tough
challenge for all the clubs involved due to this limited time-scale.
Semi Final Home Leg – Season Ticket Holders
Sunderland AFC will be pleased to reward the loyalty of its valued
season ticket holders with a guaranteed ticket for their own seat in the
event Sunderland AFC is involved . Season ticket holders may also apply
for up to 2 additional tickets but these are not guaranteed and will not
necessarily be next to their own seat.
Season ticket holders and Black Cat Bar members are invited to apply
immediately using voucher 25. Applications will be accepted until 5.30pm
on Thursday 6th May. Any applications received after this date will not
be guaranteed.
Members of the Home Cup Payment Scheme need do nothing, as their own seat ticket will be automatically dispatched. Season ticket holders in
this group requiring additional tickets should apply for the extra
ticket(s) using voucher 25.
Semi Final: Away Leg
Sunderland AFC should receive approximately a 15% allocation for the
away leg and will be pleased to reward the loyalty of its valued season
ticket holders with priority for tickets. However, in the event of a
reduced ticket allocation a ticket is NOT guaranteed and the loyalty
point system will be in operation.
Season Ticket Holders, Black Cat Bar members are invited to apply
immediately using voucher 26. Applications from season ticket holders
will be accepted until 5.30pm on Thursday 6th May.
Members of the Away Ticket Scheme need do nothing, as their ticket will
be automatically dispatched if they qualify under the loyalty point
system.
SEASON TICKET HOLDER APPLICATION PROCEDURE FOR HOME AND AWAY LEGS
Season ticket holders should complete the reverse of the voucher (Home voucher 25 / Away voucher 26) as follows. –
1) Complete full name, address and postcode.
2) Indicate whether 1 – 3 tickets is required, (home leg only)
3) Indicate any concession required, subject to availability. Sunderland
AFC will post adult tickets unless otherwise stated.
4) Include full credit / debit card details or a signed cheque made
payable to ‘Sunderland AFC’ with the payment amount left blank.
Important please note that a separate cheque is required for the home
and away leg as payment will be taken at different times.
5) Season ticket holders should enclose the above information with the
vouchers of any other season ticket holders they want to be seated next
to for the away leg. However, due to limited time only one credit /debit
card or cheque must be enclosed to cover the cost of all tickets in the
party.
6) All applications must enclose a FIRST CLASS stamped self-addressed
envelope.
NB: If second-class postage is used tickets may arrive too late for the
game.
7) Applications should be posted to ‘PO SEMI, PO BOX 165, SUNDERLAND,
SR5 1WF’
Wheelchair season ticket holders requiring wheelchair positions and
tickets for their personal assistants should make applications in the
same way but post to ‘PO SEMI SPECIAL, PO BOX 165, SUNDERLAND, SR51WF.
Season ticket holders are also welcome to hand in applications in person
at the Stadium of Light ticket ice. However, tickets will not be
issued over the counter in any circumstances and CASH applications will
not be accepted due the fact that match prices will not be known by the
application deadline. Prices and ticket allocations will not be known
until after the final game of the season when the play off teams are
decided. However, normal league match ticket prices will apply for the
semi final legs, as clubs are not permitted to increase or decrease
normal prices.
For security reasons there is no post box at the Stadium of Light.
NON-SEASON TICKET SALES
Home Leg
A general sale will commence at 10.00am on Monday 10th May for the home leg of the semi finals.
Tickets will be available by calling 0191-551-5151 (10 lines) or 08700
11 22 66 (30 lines) or 0870-862-015 (80 lines), on line at safc.com or
in person at the Stadium of Light Ticket Office.
Prices: Normal Nationwide League match prices for the Stadium of Light
will apply.
Away Leg
In the event tickets remain after season ticket holder applications have
been processed a general sale will commence at 10.00am on Wednesday 12th May for the away leg of the semi finals.
Tickets will be available by calling 0191-551-5151 (10 lines) or 08700
11 22 66 (30 lines) or in person at the Stadium of Light Ticket Office.
Prices: As the competing teams are not known at this point we cannot
confirm away prices, allocations or match venue but Nationwide League
prices will apply
Finally, Sunderland AFC would also like to advise all supporters that it
will be unable to enter into correspondence or accept phone calls
regarding the allocation of tickets for play off matches due to the
strictly limited time available to administer and sell all tickets.
The Club will ensure all that all relevant ticketing information is
updated on www.safc.com/tickets and released to the media, and would
like to thank all supporters for their co-operation and understanding in
this matter.
-ends-
