Town have announced a restructuring of their ticketing operations which has led to a number of redundancies among ticket office staff.

The club’s ticketing has been brought within their wider retail operation with Lee Hyde now the director of retail operations. The Constantine Road ticket office has closed.

Several positions have been made redundant, including that of ticket office and call centre manager John Ford, who was with the club for nearly 12 years having been recruited from Norwich City, with numbers now down to two full-time and two part-time staff. Previously there were four full-time staff, including Ford, four part-timers and four Saturday casual employees.

Speaking about the changes, joint-MD Ian Milne said: “Going forward the club is committed to operating in the most efficient way possible and with the sale of tickets, our strategy is to focus on online sales, in line with the majority of football clubs and sport in general now.

“Inevitably that can lead to changes in personnel and we have taken the decision to streamline our ticket operation.

“We’d like to thank all those staff who have left us for their previous service to Ipswich Town and wish them every success for the future.”

Fans are being encouraged to use Town’s new online ticket service ITFC Direct to print their tickets at home or to buy them in person from Planet Blue. There will now be no telephone ticket sales.

To buy a ticket on the day of a game, fans can do so via Planet Blue between 10am and 1.30pm for a 3pm kick-off and 10am and 6.15pm for a 7.45pm start, with payment by cash or card.

From 1.30pm onwards (3pm kick-off) and 6.15pm onwards (7.45pm) on a matchday, tickets can only be purchased at the turnstiles and by cash only. Town are hoping to have an ATM installed in Planet Blue prior to the Millwall match. Ticket purchases on the day of a game will be subject to an additional £2.50 charge per ticket.

Supporters purchasing tickets online must do so 48 hours prior to kick-off at the latest in order to receive their tickets in the post. Those purchasing online after the 48-hour deadline should use the print at home option or buy their tickets in person at Planet Blue.

There will be no collection of pre-purchased tickets at the ground on matchdays. A ticket enquiries office will be open in Portman Road close to the away section between 1pm and kick-off for 3pm starts and 5.30pm for 7.45pm kick-offs. This will be for enquiries only, servicing ticket upgrades or reprinting lost tickets, but no tickets will be on sale.

The ticket office enquiry telephone line will be open from 9am until midday on weekend matchdays and 9am until 4.30pm for midweek games.

Meanwhile, Town have unveiled the matchday ticket prices for the new season with a lower tier Sir Alf Ramsey or Sir Bobby Robson Stand seat bought in advance of the match now costing £21 for Grade C games, which include the season first home game of the season against Millwall, £27.50 for Grade B and £32 for Grade A. That represents a rise from last season when, for example, a similar Grade C ticket cost £20. A full list of the new matchday prices, including concessions, can be found here.

We understand season ticket sales for the season ahead stand at around 12,000, about 500 down on the same point last summer.

Elsewhere at Portman Road, sales manager Rosie Richardson has changed her job title and is now the club’s director of sales.

Photo: Action Images

purplealien added 23:39 - Jul 22 greenkingtone, I just managed to buy Reading tickets for me and my son, although the system tricked me into paying full price for him! I have just e-mailed the ticket office for a partial refund. So don't give up yet! I took the opportunity to express my sympathies for their colleagues and tell them what I think of the new prices. It won't do any goo, but made me feel a bit better :-)

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MickMillsTash added 23:59 - Jul 22 I really hope it is easier to order tickets online than to use the clubs website- which is atrocious
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ManofSteel added 00:37 - Jul 23 And I bet the Planet Blue ATM will charge you to get your money out as well!
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flashblue added 01:10 - Jul 23 Grow up people! Do you really expect the club to keep on 12 staff and the real estate that goes with it at £300K per year to service the 100 or 200 fans that can't be bothered to buy on line? Don't be stupid. It's a good job you are not running the club! If you want to watch the game you will get a ticket.
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HARRY10 added 01:53 - Jul 23 And how do you think the new system is going to be administrated ? Unpaid volunteers ? It has been contracted out to Talent sort who are now running our ticket sales and will be taking a fair cut of te money. Their aim amongst much more guff is " a vision of providing an integrated ecommerce platform that drives transactions across the club's departments " and ""to understand exactly how our supporters behave and use this data to develop very intimate programmes to reward loyalty, incentivise fans to re-engage" Remember when you were just a Town supporter ? So flashblue I would suggest you actually find out what you are talking about first before spouting out rubbish on here. It could be that this system actually costs us more whilst turning away fans. A club that pays someone else to reduce it's attendances. Only at PR where a gambling addict gets lent money and the fans get charged to pay him to leave. Would be laughable if it wasn't so tragic.

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Lord_Mac added 06:25 - Jul 23 Harry10: flashblue is right. All services like this get outsourced by all businesses these days - fleet cars, forklift trucks, printing, goods transportation, secretarial. You name it, it is outsourced. This is no different to outsourcing our catering services or our betting shops! Doesn't make it any better for those losing their jobs, but the company running the ticketing services will be able to do it cheaper - and often better - than an in-house operation. It is their core business, enabling the football club to concentrate on - football. They will be carrying out - or at least pitching for - the ticketing services of a multitude of football clubs (and probably other ticketing events too - maybe some other Marcus Evans activities). There will have been an analysis done about how many supporters we would lose who won't buy either online or on the day via the retail outlets. They might tweak the detail slightly, but the savings will greatly outweigh the costs of 12 people's jobs. It is sad, and I'm not saying I even like it, but it is the way of the modern world.

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BrandonsBlues added 07:22 - Jul 23 I forgot the turnstile staff. lets get rid of them on matchdys and have scanners, with like the supermarkets a member of staff to run in between in case patrons get an error when entering the establishment.
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Cattee11 added 07:48 - Jul 23 Jesus guys! People will still turn up. It's like Sky adding £3 a month to your bill. We all moan about it for a while but I'm the end we still pay and watch it.
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Southamptonblue added 09:15 - Jul 23 Just ordered a ticket for the Reading game on the website. I'm curious about the £1 booking fee, as I was under the impression that the move to that model was meant to reduce costs.
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blues1 added 09:20 - Jul 23 I like everyone on here think that our prices are too high, and tha6t even tho the increase in prices is not that big, it was unnecessary too. I also do not believe that games should be graded. that a set price of say £25-£27 for all matches should be implemented instead. for those on here moaning about the extra amount on paying at the turnstile as if it something that's been newly introduced, it hasn't. has been the case for a few seasons now. also, while I don't necessarily agree with that charge, there is a reason for it which I think I may be the only person to have worked it out. to explain why I think it is there ill give an example. of the club have sold 15000 tickets(including seasonticket holders, away fans, those whove purchased tickets prior to 1.30 on day of game). they then have to print 15000 tickets to be available at the turnstiles. if for the sake of argument they only sell 3000 tickets at the gates then they'll have 12000 tickets spare which will have to be thrown away. the cost of these tickets and the printing of them is the reason for the extra charge.

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happybeingblue added 10:00 - Jul 23 just heard that mug em.. milne and symonds want to charge town fans to listen to radio suffolk next season... and change the home kit twice a year.
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62WasBest added 10:55 - Jul 23 Lord Mac - Just because other businesses do it doesn't make it right, nor does it represent any sort of customer service. The only possible excuses for outsourcing are to utilise greater specialist experience and for accountants to shift costs. As we are not a public company the latter makes no sense in this case and I cannot see that any greater expertise is introduced. As we know, though, they can make staff redundant to save money. The new ticketing system is designed to save money by employing fewer people, resulting in we the customer, bearing the time and cost of Town providing a us with a ticket rather than them give you a service. So, to get a ticket, one has to spend time at a computer (if you have one) rather than make a quick phone call, try to understand the website and suffer from its likely lack of flexibilty compared to dealing with a person, and then, in turn, paying for the privilege by using your own ink and paper to show that you have paid your money. You know they can only get away with it because they trust the pull of the football is so great people will tolerate it. I think it is a real breach of trust between supporters and club. With any other business you'd move to a new supplier.

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Woodbridgian added 11:03 - Jul 23 Just tried again to buy 4 tickets for Barnsley.. The computer says NO your not a silver member......Tried to buy a silver membership.... The computer says yes but then you can only buy one ticket...tried to buy 4 silver memberships......The computer says NO you can only buy one all other 3 have to buy then separately... can I then buy 4 tickets at the same time online?........The computer says NO all 4 people will have to do it so no guarantee you will get seats together ................JOKE... all o want to do is spend £160 ( £260 if you add Silver M'ships) to watch a football match in a stadium that's half empty and it all to difficult for them to do it .. Well Mr Evans good luck for the coming season but it looks like you are making it too difficult for me to come and watch.

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HARRY10 added 11:13 - Jul 23 LordMac flashblue was not right as there was no mention of Talent sport or i would suggest that we have handed every thing over to them. his assumption was that merely putting everything online would mean the savings of ticket office staff would be net ie no other cost to balance against those savings. It is also misleading to claim that as other businesses are doing likewise it is suitable for us. we are not a supermarket or an airline, hotel etc i have not seen my local cinema do this and with the huge over capacity we have I cannot see the need for trying to force people to buy online by imposing the Chopra Tax (£2.50) other than to force supporters onto a third party's data base, as given that tickets are still to be posted out then paying by cash at the turnstiles on the day is actually a cheaper process for the club - yet those fans are being penalised !

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Beattiesballbag added 11:37 - Jul 23 Astute business man........Marcus Evans! I don't think so! He's made his money selling expensive corporate deals to businesses who are not spending their own money & tickets to captive audiences who are prepared to pay over the odds prices to watch a one off event, The norm in this type of market is to fleece your customer for as much as possible, extra charge for using your card , booking fee, if there is a line to call it's at premium rates. For repeat business you get to know who your customers are & cater to their needs with customer service & realistic prices or they don't come back! they find another product to spend their money on. This isn't a captive Audience Mr Evans the people will find some other activity to spend their money on .

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cyprustractorboy added 11:43 - Jul 23 turnstiles will be busier like the old days!!!
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Metcalfe added 12:17 - Jul 23 Im so sad to see you this happing to this once great club. They just seem clueless and show no knowledge of the game. The main thing should be "get bums on seats". Us as fans need to make it clear to the club that this is not good enoughth and wont stand for it. we must write to the club in our numbers to really make it hit home to them. Im only 16 and will not be going games till something happens.

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warktheline added 12:37 - Jul 23 We must remember our club debt was acquired before ME takeover.Bet Sheepshanks moved on to a plush cosy job.ME,after getting his fingers burnt with Clegg,Keane and Jewel,i believe,has decided to run the club as a business.As I've already stated,sadly, we always pay the price for mismanagement from above.
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BlueVelvet added 13:04 - Jul 23 the art to keeping ya job is it seems to change ya job title All customer ticketing complaints should go to Mr Milne I suggest
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SheptonMalletBlue added 13:38 - Jul 23 just ordered ticket for Reading game, fairly straight forward actually, but what is this "5 minutes to complete the transaction" all about? it puts you under a bit of pressure, especially if your not quick on the keyboard!
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bluesman added 13:55 - Jul 23 They are a clever lot. They have made it more expensive to watch town when they play well and cheaper when they play crap. Everyone will want those Grade A tickets! But how many Grade A games will there be, that's the question?
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Seasider added 15:43 - Jul 23 I once phoned the ticket office and Bobby Robson answered,think Mr John even had a crack at it as well.Doesnt look like big Mick will be doing this though shame! Seriously this is a retrograde step and will adversly affect sales I should think,as well as taking away even more of the personal touch.
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StochesStotasBlewe added 18:03 - Jul 23 MARCUS EVANS OVERPRICING IPSWICH FANS SINCE 2008.
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h32 added 18:05 - Jul 23 Seasider - I know that what you have said is absolutely correct - isn't it a shame that those days of the personal touch have gone. And did they really have to ?? I guess it's called - PROGRESS !! - but I for one won't believe it for one moment.
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h32 added 18:45 - Jul 23 ...... 'suckers' that's what we are - and they know it. Although maybe this time they should have done a bit more research, and had a bit more respect !!! With the problems people have already had it proves the new system has many failings - obviously NOT thought out prior to implementation. Ipswich Town FC 2013.
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