Wolves remove controversial Membership Plus fee
Wolves have dropped the controversial £20 surcharge for joining their new Membership Plus scheme following a supporter outcry.
But the club intend to press ahead with plans to scrap the loyalty points system for home matches, despite opposition from many fans.
The club stress the intention is to give as many fans as possible the chance to attend matches at Molineux, after concerns the number of fans with large numbers of loyalty points had effectively made the ticket-buying process a closed shop.
Wolves sought to clarify their position after facing a supporter backlash when the plans were first announced this week.
After review, the £20 charge for joining the Membership Plus scheme, open to supporters who accrued more than 240 loyalty points during the 2019-20 season, has been axed.
The fee would have been in addition to the £35 already paid to renew membership for the 2021-22 season.
Instead, the Membership Plus scheme will now be free to the 3,500 supporters eligible. Those who join get the chance to purchase tickets in advance for up to six home Premier League matches before they go on general sale.
A statement explaining the change of policy on loyalty points read: “With the stadium at capacity for the vast majority of games in recent seasons, the club believes it is vital that all supporters, young and old, and regardless of how long they have been a fan, have some ability to access match tickets.
“Without this, a generation of Wolves supporters will miss out on experiencing football as it should be enjoyed, up close and in person.
“Of course, there are supporters who have annually amassed a considerable number of loyalty points, which has helped them gain priority access to match-by-match tickets, and those supporters have been at the forefront of the club’s decision-making process when structuring the new look 2021/22 priority ticketing window policy.
“As a result, the membership plans for the 2021/22 season take a balanced approach to providing priority to high match attenders from the 2019/20 season, whilst also offering a window of opportunity for new members, and supporters who have not been able to amass a large numbers of loyalty points due to negligible opportunities to purchase tickets.
“The club wants to reassure supporters that its membership schemes will remain under constant review and will be developed in partnership with fan consultation groups.”
Supporters eligible for membership plus have until Friday July 30 to opt-in to the Membership Plus. A ticket pool of 1,500 tickets will be made available for every home game and a minimum of 48-hour priority window to access them, before they go on sale to other membership groups.
