After 4 decades...

[88MPH]

of attending every Collingwood game, home, away, interstate, finals I am handing in my membership.

Why?

Because the club in its wisdom has decided to strip all reserve seats holders in the Southern Stand of their reserved seat entitlements. Instead, the club will force us to sit in general admission bays.

So what. Big deal. Right?

Well, this means that as a Legends Member, I will now be entitled to sit in the general admission Legends Bay. My children, on the other hand, will not be permitted into the "Legends Bay" unless I buy them a "guest pass" even though they are already members. They are not Legends Members so cannot sit with me. If I keep my Legends membership, I cannot sit with them.

So, with the heaviest of hearts I have concluded that we simply won't go to the footy any more.

I will always love Collingwood. It is the greatest sporting organisation on the face of God's green earth. But I will forever resent the manner in which my family and I were driven from its embrace.

My sincere thanks to Tommy Hafey, Mick Erwin, Jack Cahill, Bob Rose, Leigh Matthews, Tony Shaw, Mick Malthouse and Nathan Buckley and all of the coaches and players who have represented and guided this great club during my years of faithful, religious week-in-week-out attendance.

Floreat pica.

[Bill89]

Did you receive an email regarding this? I am in the same position as you and have not received any correspondence.

[88MPH]

Yes mate I did.

I'm not surprised that you haven't received it though. I spoke to dozens of people at the game yesterday, all of whom are impacted by this, and only a few of whom have received any communication from the club.

Interestingly, most (read 90%) of those I spoke to said that if their reserved seats are stripped, they won't be renewing their membership. Some will rely on their MCC membership and sit over there. Others will simply stop going to games all together.

Wait until you see the email - the reasoning from the club is breathtakingly hypocritical. On the one hand they say that members are demanding these changes, on the other they say that they are following the lead from other Victorian clubs.

Clearly it's about raising more revenue, and trampling over loyal members to get there is, in their view, a small price to pay.

[Lone Ranger]

I received a letter about the club no longer being able to offer club 5 because
"The MCC will be aligning tenant clubs’ seating allocations within selected stands over the next five years, which may impact your reserved seating. As a result, we are unable to sell the Club 5 membership in its current format."
It goes on to say I will be Legends with the same seat next year but the implication is I may lose my seat within the next few years.
Sounds like someone is trying to make more money at the expense of loyal supporters but is it Collingwood or the MCC???

[88MPH]

The club has confirmed that the decision to strip members of their reserved seat entitlements has been at their "instigation". They claim that it's the result of "member demand".

Yeah right. Much in the same way that members are "demanding" more injuries to our key players.

[88MPH]

Oh and by the way. To those in the Ponsford Stand who think that this matter is exclusively a Southern Stand problem, think again.

The club has conceded that they plan to do the same thing to Ponsford reserved seat holders too in the coming years. I have that in writing if anyone's interested.

It'll be just like the bad old days - general admission all over. You'll need to get to the footy at 11.00am to get yourself a good seat.

Yep, I reckon members are "demanding" this...

[Raw Hammer]

How have you managed to see every single game live over a 40 year period??? Would be close to impossible for one or even a few years.

Surely not.

[Lone Ranger]

[88MPH]

No mate, you're right. I have missed a few, but not many.

I was simply making the point that it's the most loyal of members who will be the most greatly impacted by this.

You know, in 1999 the Pies were 0-7 and drawn to play Fremantle at the MCG. It was a freezing cold day - from memory no more than than 10C. I sat in the pouring rain in the seats that the club now intends to take away from me. We won that game and I was soaked to the bone but so happy. I reckon the crowd was no more than about 26,000. Anyway, as we were leaving I turned to my mate and said, these are the days that make you proud to be a Collingwood member. There is something special about belonging to this great club. Eddie should be out the back of the stand taking the name of everyone who turned up today to cheer on the boys, and to make sure that those people are always looked after.

Fast forward exactly 20 years and look how we are being treated. Side by side?

[Presti35]

I've been going to most games since about 2001.

Been a member since about 2004.

Had a reserved seat or "Legends Membership" since 2010.

I loved my home seats and met heaps of Collingwood people that I'm still friends with now. But as we dropped on the ladder, we started being surrounded by opposition supporters. After a few more seasons, we decided to move with everyone else and starting this year, I'm down on level one.

What do you really get when deciding between $100, $500, $1000 memberships? A reserved seat and a promised ticket to the GF.

Anyway, I believe the issue of having a good seat is only relevant when the club is winning.

And it's happening at all the bigger clubs. Do you remember the story about the Richmond supporter in his 80's. Had been a member for 50+ years and then was pushed aside when they started winning again. For memory I believe he wasnt there when they won the flag.

The days of being rewarded for loyalty are over. You need to either have a lot of cash, be a current player, work in the media or work for or know someone that is a sponsor, a corporate in in the AFL somehow.

Anyway, the issues only going to be a problem whilst we are in the premiership window. Once we drop again, the club will be begging for members to come back. And it happens at every club.

[Presti35]

Also worth noting that I go with my brother and my mother to games.

My father stopped going years ago and he's never been happier. He'll go to plenty of VFL games though.

[Ev5Magpies]

[shawthing]

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

After your anger subsides, you'll find your love of the club overrides your loss of your reserved seats and you'll find some way of attending Collingwood games where other Collingwood supporters are seated and get to enjoy the game again. You should raise the issue with Eddie at the members' forum at the end of the season to see whether a compromise solution can be reached.

[MatthewBoydFanClub]