This is a follow up statement I provided to the club on 1 April 2026.....
SAFC2012 – SAFC – Updated statement 01/4/2026
Following the club producing & publicly sharing a statement via RAWA & RTG, I feel
it is only appropriate that I have a “right to reply”. I would have hoped the club would
have contacted me to discuss anything regarding our “dispute”.
The statement:
The Club has recently acted in response to an exceptional and serious instance of
ticket misuse. This case involved multiple unauthorised uses of supporter accounts,
without the knowledge of those account holders, as well as facilitation of tickets
being used by individuals other than the eligible purchaser, in breach of our ticketing
rules. Our investigations indicate that this accounted for more than 50% of some
group purchases.
The misuse has also been acknowledged by those involved and the Club has taken
appropriate action.
We recognise that some supporters have been affected through no fault of their own
and appreciate the disappointment this has caused. The club will continue to work
with the supporter ticketing sub group to review and improve processes, with the aim
of ensuring away tickets are distributed fairly and only to genuine supporters"
My response.
In terms of involving multiple unauthorised uses of supporters accounts.
I have never, knowingly, used a supporters account without their prior knowledge or
consent. I would fully accept that having received consent I did not reconfirm every
time with every individual. Any other accounts that I had access to was to provide
assistance to the season ticket holder in accessing their match ticket. This was in
respect of both home and away games.
Accounted for more than 50% of some group purchases.
This is factually untrue and I suspect comes from a (confidential?) comment I made
in the meeting. I said that my suspicion would be that approximately 50% of away
tickets are not used by the actual person the ticket is in the name of. It may be 40%
or 60% however I suspect it’ll be in that ballpark figure.
Please note:
In the one & only meeting I was advised that all information would be treated in
confidence. My question would be why have the club willingly and deliberately
breached that confidence. I have never mentioned any employees name within the
club as that would be a breach of confidence and trust. I am very disappointed that
the club have not kept their word.
Furthermore, at the meeting I was not asked nor invited to explain the whole
situation from my perspective nor given a right to reply. The meeting was rather
hurried as the room was required. This was very disappointing as I clearly had much
more information to give.
The information provided by the club to RAWA clearly, in my opinion, breaches
GDPR as I’m clearly identifiable from the information that is readily available on
social media. This is highlighted by the messages I have received prior to me seeing
the information published on 31 st March (yesterday)..
For the avoidance of doubt, I was not provided with an agenda for the meeting and
nor have I been provided with a copy of the draft minutes of the meeting for approval
/ corrections to be made. Yesterday afternoon I sent an email to the club advising
that I am disappointed and surprised not to have received the draft minutes.
Furthermore, I was advised by one of my friends prior to the outcome being emailed
to me, details of the investigation as he had been told by a relative who works in the
ticket office at Sunderland AFC. This is again a breach of confidence and GDPR.
I have not once been contacted by any member of the club since I acknowledged
receipt and acceptance of the sanctions imposed on me. For the avoidance of doubt,
I did not do this as an admission of guilt, I felt threatened by the comments that were
put in the outcome email. I should have sought legal advice, but to be honest I was
in shock.
It is worth reminding that the club were very happy for me to dispose of tickets on
their behalf, during the less successful times. Also, I have received confidential,
potentially “rule breaking” and embarrassing information regarding the club & tickets
that I am willing to discuss with the club.
Finally, I feel sure all this can be sorted amicably via a meeting with the appropriate
club officials. The last thing I want is for the club to be dragged into a public &/or
legal situation. All I have ever wanted was the best for the club & supporters.
SAFC2012
1/4/26