Albion’s Fan Advisory Board (FAB) met with club officials in September and a summary of the meeting can be found below.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026 - 6pm at The Hawthorns
The following is a general summary of the meeting and contains no direct quotations.
The Fan Advisory Board (FAB) met with club representatives for a dedicated ticketing review session. The meeting focused on supporter feedback, ticketing policy, loyalty points, away ticket access, accessibility and future developments to the ticketing experience.
Supporters can learn more about the role of the FAB here, while member profiles can be found here – and the FAB constitution here.
WBAFC attendees: Ian Skidmore (Chief of Staff & Communications Officer), Jo Barr (Head of Ticketing), Alyssia Waterhouse (Assistant Head of Ticketing)
FAB attendees: Richard Jefferson, Ben Deeley, Hannah Butler, Shin Aujla, Christian Black, Clare Sidaway and Mark Whitehouse.
Apologies: Dan Head, Dean Walton and Sarah Kerton.
OPENING DISCUSSION
Members agreed that the meeting would focus on key ticketing priorities raised by supporters and would provide an opportunity to review current arrangements and explore potential future developments. The dedicated session enabled detailed discussion of several strategic ticketing issues.
CONCESSION TICKET MISUSE
The club provided an update on the introduction of enhanced concession ticket checks at the start of the season. Members discussed the significant entry delays experienced at the opening home fixture and the steps taken since then to improve supporter flow.
The club outlined a range of operational changes, including additional training, revised turnstile arrangements and improvements to supporter communications. Feedback from subsequent fixtures indicates that entry processes have improved significantly and that supporters are moving through turnstiles more efficiently.
The FAB welcomed the progress made and recognised the club's willingness to review and adapt arrangements quickly following supporter feedback. Members emphasised the importance of maintaining supporter confidence while continuing efforts to address misuse of concession tickets.
The FAB also highlighted that future supporter-facing initiatives would benefit from earlier engagement with supporter groups, particularly where these groups can help communicate changes to affected supporters. The club agreed that supporter communication remains an important area for continuous improvement.
HALF-SEASON TICKETS
The club outlined its current position regarding half-season ticket offers and discussed the challenges associated with introducing such products when season-ticket sales remain strong.
Members considered whether there may be opportunities to make half-season products available in future, potentially through alternative pricing models or limited-release offers. Discussions focused on balancing supporter accessibility with maintaining the value proposition offered to existing season-ticket holders.
No decisions were taken, but the club agreed to continue reviewing options.
LOYALTY POINTS
A significant proportion of the meeting was dedicated to reviewing the current loyalty-points system.
The FAB acknowledged that the system has successfully rewarded supporter commitment over many years but discussed whether the existing approach remains the most effective and transparent method of allocating priority for high-demand fixtures.
Discussion included:
- The balance between rewarding long-term loyalty and providing opportunities for newer supporters.
- The weighting given to home attendance, away attendance and season-ticket ownership. Members discussed whether the current weighting appropriately recognises away attendance relative to home attendance. A view was expressed that greater weighting should be given to away attendance, so that supporters who travel regularly are appropriately recognised
- The lack of simplicity and transparency of the current system.
- Ways in which supporters could better understand how points have been accumulated.
The club confirmed it is open to reviewing the current arrangements and agreed that a dedicated working group involving FAB and Independent Supporter Trust members and club representatives would be the most appropriate way to develop future proposals.
AWAY MEMBERSHIPS
The FAB reviewed the current away-membership scheme and discussed how it interacts with loyalty points and away-ticket access.
Members explored a range of potential approaches to future away-ticket allocation, including the role of memberships, loyalty points and attendance history. The discussion focused on ensuring that any future system remains fair, transparent and understandable for supporters.
There was concern shown that Away Membership can be retained each year even if only a few away games are attended. Ideas discussed included the requirement of a minimum number of away games being attended before being able to automatically renew.
It was agreed that away memberships should form part of the wider review of loyalty points and ticketing priorities.
SEAT PRICING STRUCTURES
As part of a discussion about future ticketing models, the club invited views on whether differentiated pricing according to seat location could ever have merit. For example, a seat on the half way line could be priced slightly more expensive than a seat in the corner of that stand.
Members discussed potential advantages and disadvantages, with the FAB emphasising the importance of retaining simplicity. The club stressed that there is currently no proposal to introduce such a model and that any future consideration would require extensive supporter consultation.
The club also indicated that price increases and price decreases to seats would be minimal if a proposal was put forward for consultation.
TICKET PRICING
The club sought feedback on the principles that should inform future ticket-pricing discussions.
Members recognised the financial challenges facing football clubs and the importance of maximising revenue within the Squad Cost Ratio while stressing the importance of maintaining affordability for supporters, particularly families and younger fans.
The FAB highlighted the importance of:
- Maintaining value for supporters.
- Considering local economic circumstances and many of our supporters are already struggling with the cost of living crisis.
- Protecting family attendance.
- Ensuring pricing remains competitive with comparable clubs.
- Exploring and maximising commercial revenue opportunities alongside ticketing income.
- FAB felt that any price rise should be in line with inflation, although the FAB recognised that there was a price freeze on adult season ticket prices for this season.
- FAB noted that matchday prices are currently £32, which we already feel is high, albeit cheaper than many of our competitors. The FSA has a current campaign to push for broader price controls in the EFL and any future increases should be made with this in mind.
The club welcomed the feedback and confirmed that supporter views would form part of future discussions.
ACCESSIBILITY TICKETING
Members raised concerns regarding aspects of the current accessibility-ticketing process and the experience of supporters requiring personal-assistant tickets.
The club acknowledged the feedback and confirmed that opportunities to streamline the process and improve the supporter journey are being explored with ticketing providers.
The FAB welcomed the commitment to improving accessibility and reducing unnecessary administrative barriers.
DIGITAL TICKETING EXPERIENCE
The FAB shared supporter feedback regarding the online ticket-purchasing experience. Some fans have fed back that the process can be very clunky and not a simple task; in some cases, they have had to abandon numerous attempts and call the ticket office or attend in person.
Discussion focused on how supporters interact with club and ticketing platforms and whether further improvements could be made to simplify the purchase process.
The club agreed that continual review of the supporter journey remains important and committed to considering future enhancements where possible.
AWAY TICKET ALLOCATIONS AND TRAVEL
Members discussed supporter feedback relating to away-ticket allocations and official travel arrangements.
AST members have fed back that they have very limited choice of seating areas when buying tickets when they are first released to them. The club outlined the factors that influence allocation arrangements at away fixtures, and is often out of the club's control, but said that they would look into this further and, where possible, open up more options for AST holders.
FAB also noted that the cost of coach travel on the Official Coaches is more expensive than the non-official coaches. The club confirmed that the coaches are run as non-profit for the club.
The FAB welcomed the discussion and agreed that supporter feedback should continue to inform future planning where practical.
FAN ENGAGEMENT
The club provided an update on supporter-engagement developments, including plans to strengthen capacity in this area through a new senior fan-engagement appointment.
Members welcomed the investment and agreed that focused meetings centred on single themes had generated productive discussion and meaningful challenge.
The club and FAB agreed to continue using this approach for future meetings.
CONSTITUTION AND REPRESENTATION
Members received an update regarding governance arrangements and representation requirements for supporter groups represented on the FAB.
Supporter groups were encouraged to ensure that appropriate governance arrangements remain in place and that representation continues to reflect their membership.
AOB
The FAB recognised the efforts of supporters involved in recent fundraising activities for The Albion Foundation and acknowledged the considerable commitment shown by those taking part.
Members also noted the positive impact such initiatives have on the local community and welcomed continued club support for community fundraising and engagement activities.
NEXT STEPS
The club and FAB agreed to:
- Establish a working group to review loyalty points and away-ticket allocation.
- Continue monitoring concession-ticket enforcement and supporter feedback.
- Explore opportunities to improve accessibility-ticketing processes.
- Review the digital ticket-purchasing journey.
- Maintain focused agenda items for future FAB meetings.
The next FAB meeting is expected to take place in December 2026.
