May 1, 2024

I know, I know. You are a little angry about the underwhelming kit launch, especially for the white kit. First thing I’ll say is there will be a video and article dealing with that in due course, but not yet, I need to talk about membership first because the club hasn’t announced full details yet, and I am hoping somehow that this article will give them some food for thought. Also – don’t buy the shirts yet, if you were planning to. Let’s wait and see if membership brings with it any other discounts. If you wanna buy a shirt and you can’t wait, may I suggest you just buy last season’s kit instead. It’s so similar – and it is a whole S$15 cheaper. Do the smart thing haha. The Deck Some weeks back, the club announced that they are doing away with season passes, and instead would be launching a whole new membership program. Four main features of the new membership program are that 1) it’s free to join, 2) the first match ticket for a home game is free, 3) tickets thereafter are permanently 50% off, and 4) you scale up the membership tiers as you attend more and more home games – in the process “unlocking a treasure trove of rewards“. There has been no release of details on what these rewards may be, or what other stuff this membership program entails. The club has said that come May, they will be revealing more details. Crucially, and back on the topic of jerseys – the kit launch has happened but we still do not know if there will be discounts on the shirts. Hopefully this is addressed quickly, but my advice is don’t buy first, adopt a wait-and-see approach. The Benefits of this Radical New Approach When I first heard of this new approach, I thought it was certainly a bold one. It does a few things – Allow me to elaborate. More People in the Stadium Last season, games cost S$16 including the Sistic charge for non-members, and S$13 for members. Assuming ticket prices do not go above S$22 (it is rumoured to be S$20), then we are looking at a saving for all members. Given that membership is free, it would be somewhat odd that you wouldn’t sign up for membership, so I think we can assume there will be a lot of “members” who are actually neutral, or even support other clubs. (Kinda like the time I signed up to be a Spurs member just so I could watch the Champions League game between FC Barcelona and Spurs, and witness first-hand Messi destroying the team I hate so much. All while sat in their stands pretending to be their fan. Oh, memories.) But therein lies a chance to convert these people. Assuming that the away fans are gonna prefer to sit on the away end, what we might end up having is neutrals curious to watch a game, especially with the first ticket being absolutely free. What is key now is thus the matchday experience for these fans. Is the club confident that these fans will like what they see? Not just on the pitch but off it as well? I hope the Crew can do its part to create an atmosphere that everyone can be proud of. If you are reading this and you’d like to be part of the Crew, roaring on our boys week in week out, do drop me a DM on Instagram or Twitter, and we’d love to have you on board! More Targetted Benefits and Perks Fans have said that they feel the Sailors can do more for their fans. If you haven’t read it yet, please read Chin Heng’s wishlist for this season, and he perfectly encapsulates the thoughts of some fans – basically better fan engagement, and more peripheral activities for fans. However, for this to happen, I agree with the way the club has done it – it needs an accurate way to identify who are the hardcore fans. It is easy to point to people like myself and Joseph as “hardcore fans”, because we are loud, we set up a fan media channel, and we are always front and centre – interviewing players, interviewing fans, shouting our lungs out week in week out. But that’s not all the hardcore fans. Some fans prefer to support the club in a more understated way. Currently, it is harder to identify people like that, because they might come every week, but they might be tucked away in the corners of the ground, sitting near the back. Unless they come forward and make friends with the Crew, or with club staff, they might feel a bit neglected when it comes to club-organised events. So with the new structure, there will be objective proof of how “hardcore” you are. If the club wants to organise an intimate BBQ party featuring some players and some fans, but they only have 50 slots, the club will then have a list on their hands, and sort out who may be most “deserving” of a slot in the party. This is not foolproof by the way. If it comes down to a drummer for the Crew who has attended 15 games that season, and drummed non-stop for 90min on each occasion, but missed some games due to work, and someone who quietly sits in a corner with his family but has attended 16 games that season, who is more deserving of a slot at the BBQ party? There is no correct answer here I guess. Other Cons of this New Approach As for the cons – I immediately thought of one when I first assessed this new initiative. I can be quite busy at work sometimes, and the last thing I want to worry about is whether or not I am assured a seat at the game. Last season, having a season pass meant that I never needed to worry about