Town have written to season ticket holders in sections of the Cobbold Stand informing them that they could be required to move seats in order to facilitate an extension of the away section at some games during the campaign ahead.

Last season a number of games, including the Aston Villa and Newcastle matches, were designated all-ticket fixtures in order to prevent away fans from purchasing seats in home sections, their allocation of 2,150 having quickly sold out.

This meant the club were not only turning away visiting supporters - and their gate money - but were also preventing home fans from attending on the spur of the moment.

In order to prevent this from happening in 2017/18 Town plan to give opposition clubs the section next to the regular visitors seats if required.

It’s anticipated that this is only likely to happen on a few occasions, such as the Birmingham game on the opening day and the derby with Norwich City in September, although whether the Canaries are given more seats is likely to depend on home sales.

For safety reasons the Cobbold Stand is the only area in which additional away fans can be accommodated.

The Blues have offered the season ticket holders affected the chance to move their seats ahead of the campaign - we understand that if they opt to change to a more expensive area of the ground they won’t face any additional charge - or switch to other locations for those games where the away allocation is increased.

The letter reads: “We are writing to you ahead of the new season to say that there are a handful of games where it may be required to change the seating arrangements in the Cobbold Stand.

"“There were several occasions last season when we didn’t have the capacity to cater for the travelling support and to prevent away fans purchasing tickets in the home end, we had to introduce an all-ticket stance.

“The decision to go all-ticket was done on safety advice but it meant that on some occasions we were turning away local people who ‘just wanted to go to a game’ on matchday even though the stadium was far from full.

"“To try and avoid that situation happening in 2017/18 and again on safety advice, we will look at increasing the away seating for certain games next season, reducing the need to make matches all-ticket for all.

"“At the moment we have identified Birmingham and Norwich over the first half of the season as games where it’s possible that seating arrangements will need to change.

""We will write to you nearer the time if that is the case. We realise this might prove to be inconvenient to you so we are asking you whether you would like to consider moving your seat to another part of the Cobbold Stand or indeed anywhere else within the stadium ahead of the new season.”

Last week Town announced that they had written fellow Championship clubs to try to arrange a reciprocal price cap of £25 on away match tickets.

Photo: Action Images

12th_Man added 11:48 - Jul 6 That's going to please them
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WestBlue added 12:05 - Jul 6 Really impressed with all of the moves by the club so far this season. I'm was never a doom and gloomer anyway, but I'm feeling very positive about next season.
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OohArrPaulGoddard added 12:06 - Jul 6 Is this just Cobbold E or Cobbold C as well?
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Gogs added 12:22 - Jul 6 Those affected will be annoyed, no doubt, but in the grand scheme of things this is little more than an inconvenience for those relatively few supporters in those blocks, albeit they'll need to give special consideration for anyone affected with mobility issues. This is definitely a better solution than making games all ticket when they really need not be.
3

Slambo added 12:33 - Jul 6 And move the away fans down towards the North Stand while you're at it...
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IamSpartacus added 12:40 - Jul 6 Makes sense. Perhaps inconvenient for some ITFC fans but this will increase money into the club and they can move to a more expensive are for no extra charge (which is at least an appreciation of the hassle). Good job.
5

Blandford added 12:52 - Jul 6 Credit to the club for handling a difficult situation in a positive manner. I appreciate that those affected are likely to be unhappy, for various reasons, but the club has taken the time to explain that the move is designed to increase attendances - which can only be a good thing. Overall the PR department has worked very well over the last couple of months in trying to bridge the gap between fans and the club. I only hope that now pre-season is underway that MM and his team tactics don't undermine the work done.

1

cornishblu added 13:17 - Jul 6 ...agree with all that's being said .......was crazy that we couldn't sell more tickets for certain away following last year ...throwing moe y away Embarrassingly though this could also be the case for the visit of the budgies as last year that wasn't a sell out .....let's not allow any more of them in than is possible ....too much bleach needed when they leave ....cost us a fortune in decontamination expenses COYB

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OohArrPaulGoddard added 13:30 - Jul 6 It is E and at least parts of C as well as I've got my letter. No problem with this. And agree the club has greatly improved communication with fans. The information for fans attending this Saturday Irish game on the club website this week was written as from a concern mother! COYB
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TractorRef added 13:30 - Jul 6 I sit in block C and they've written to me. I intend to stay put as it's only likely to be 3 or 4 games a season and merely means the away fans will be closer to me. Hopefully they won't allow Canaries in with flares (cue 1970s trouser wear gags) like last season.
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RegencyBlue added 13:35 - Jul 6 So this is Evans answer to the season ticket holder revolt then, ship in more away fans!
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Bergholtblue added 13:38 - Jul 6 Well as there won't be as many Town fans there this season, might as well fill up the empty seats with away fans!
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runningout added 14:16 - Jul 6 Decent idea.. Now let's take our own brill away support to fill up away end at Millmoor, for our first away game this coming season
1

superblues9 added 14:36 - Jul 6 Good idea the ground is never full is it so why chuck money away by not letting more away fans in !
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whosroundisitanyway added 16:20 - Jul 6 runningout Millmoor??
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sereneblue added 18:22 - Jul 6 The club that keeps on giving!!
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pragmatic added 20:24 - Jul 6 Good financial sense, helps to fill a few seats left by the " never going sgainers"
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TractorRoyNo1 added 23:35 - Jul 6 The ground is half full a lot of the time there must be a method to allow the club to cash in on a few occasions when a lot of away fans want to come - ie) I would be happy to let Nodge have 8000 tickets at £50 each.
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