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Cliftonville Club Cards

Cliftonville Football Club can today confirm that, amid the ongoing uncertainty caused by Covid-19 restrictions, we will not be selling Season Tickets for the 2020/21 campaign.

We have reached this decision having taken a number of factors into account, including the fact that the current Covid-safe capacity at Solitude – as imposed by Belfast City Council – is less than the amount of Season Tickets that were sold last year, meaning that a significant number of loyal Season Ticket holders would not be able to renew and would therefore be excluded from attending home games for the entirety of the forthcoming Danske Bank Premiership campaign, which we do not believe would be fair.

We will instead be selling individual match tickets for every Premiership fixture at Solitude on a weekly basis, which will be accessible online to supporters who sign up for a Cliftonville Club Card.

Club Cards are available initially to 2019/20 Adult, Senior, Youth and Family Season Ticket holders and are on sale for just £10 to cover administrative and set-up fees.

In the build-up to every Premiership home match, your Club Card will grant you access to our Online Ticket Portal, where you can buy a ticket for the forthcoming game at a cost of £12 for Adults or £8 for Concessions.

Sales of Club Cards – which are available here – will be open exclusively to 2019/20 Season Ticket holders until 5pm this Sunday, October 11 and, should there be any availability thereafter, details of a General Sale will be communicated, however the Club feels obliged to candidly state that we do not anticipate capacity not being reached.

We appreciate that these circumstances are far from ideal but, having considered a host of potential arrangements for the season ahead (all of which would lead to the exclusion of a significant number of fans one way or the other), we believe the Club Card scheme will allow as many supporters as possible to see as much live football as possible while maintaining some form of reward measure for past Season Ticket purchases.

Anyone who has any trouble logging in to our online portal is asked to email tickets@cliftonvillefc.net with details of the difficulty you are experiencing.

We thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter and, for the sake of clarity, have included a comprehensive FAQ panel below to further explain the Club Card process.


The Cliftonville Club Card explained

Why are Cliftonville not selling Season Tickets for 2020/21?
Solitude’s current Covid-safe capacity, as imposed by Belfast City Council, is less than the amount of supporters who purchased Season Tickets last year, meaning that a significant number of Season Ticket holders would be barred from renewing and thus excluded from attending games for the entirety of the forthcoming campaign, which we do not believe would be fair.

What is a Cliftonville Club Card?
Your Cliftonville Club Card is an eTicket that will allow you to access tickets for individual Danske Bank Premiership fixtures at Solitude for the 2020/21 season.

Who is eligible for a Cliftonville Club Card?
Cliftonville Club Cards will be available exclusively to all Adult, Senior, Youth and Family 2019/20 Season Ticket holders until 5pm this Sunday, October 11 and, should there be any availability thereafter, details of a General Sale will be communicated, however the Club feels obliged to candidly state that we do not anticipate Solitude’s Covid-safe capacity not being reached.

Do Club Members or Life Members have to sign up for the Cliftonville Club Card?
No. Club Members, including Life Members, do not have to sign up for a Cliftonville Club Card. Their Membership Card will afford them entry to all Premiership home games.

Why are 2019/20 Child Season Ticket holders not eligible for a Cliftonville Club Card?
Due to the legalities associated with creating and paying for an online account, as well as health and safety protocols relative to Solitude’s Covid-safe capacity on matchday, we are regrettably only able to offer Cliftonville Club Cards to 2019/20 Season Ticket holders in the Adult, Senior, Youth and Family categories.

How much does a Cliftonville Club Card cost?
Cliftonville Club Cards cost £10 per person to cover administrative and set-up fees.

Where can I buy my Cliftonville Club Card?
2019/20 Adult, Senior, Youth and Family Season Ticket holders can buy their Cliftonville Club Cards online by clicking here. They will have exclusive purchasing rights until 5pm this Sunday, October 11.

What if I can’t log in to my ticketing account?
Anyone who has any trouble logging in to a pre-existing account on our online portal is asked to email tickets@cliftonvillefc.net with details of the difficulty you are experiencing.

Does my Cliftonville Club Card permit me access to matches at Solitude?
No. Your Club Card only permits access to our Online Ticket Portal.

Will a Cliftonville Club Card guarantee my admission to matches at Solitude?
No. You will still have to buy individual match tickets, which will be sold online to Club Card holders on a first come, first served basis via the Club Card section of our portal.

Will my match tickets be free if I have a Cliftonville Club Card?
No. Match tickets will be available to you online at a cost of £12 for Adults and £8 for Concessions.

How many match tickets can I buy using my Cliftonville Club Card?
Your Cliftonville Club Card will entitle you to purchase one ticket (relative to your ticketing category) for each game.

Can I use my Cliftonville Club Card to buy a match ticket for someone else?
Cliftonville Club Cards will only permit the purchase of one ticket per match so you would not be able to attend the game if you give your ticket to someone else.

While the Club cannot reasonably be expected to extensively monitor who makes use of a purchased ticket, we would discourage this practice because it is vital that we have accurate records of everyone who attends a match for potential Track and Trace purposes.

If it is found that a ticket is used by another person, use of the Cliftonville Club Card may be withdrawn.

What if I use my Cliftonville Club Card to buy a ticket for a match that is subsequently played behind closed doors with no supporters permitted to attend?
The full cost of your ticket will be refunded to the card used to purchase it online.

Why can’t my Cliftonville Club Card effectively be used as a Season Ticket?
Solitude’s current Covid-safe capacity is less than the amount of supporters who purchased Season Tickets last year, so the Club is not in a position to accommodate those numbers at this minute in time.

Why don’t the Club just sell the number of Season Tickets equivalent to Solitude’s current Covid-safe capacity?
Were we to simply sell a reduced number of Season Tickets, this would preclude a significant number of 2019/20 bearers from renewing their status, which we do not believe would be fair on them.

In addition, should tighter restrictions further reduce Solitude’s Covid-19 capacity in the future, the Club would be left in a similarly unpalatable position whereby some Season Ticket holders would be denied access to games despite having already paid for their seat.

The Cliftonville Club Card scheme allows us to effectively manage any changes – be they increases or decreases – in Solitude’s Covid-safe capacity on a weekly basis, meaning we only release the precise amount of available match tickets via our Online Portal.

Why do I have to sign up for a Cliftonville Club Card? Can’t the Club just use my 2019/20 Season Ticket details to assign my Club Card automatically?
Solitude’s current Covid-safe capacity is less than the amount of supporters who purchased Season Tickets last year and, should any 2019/20 Season Ticket holder take the personal decision not to renew for the campaign ahead or find themselves unable to attend specific games over the course of the year, we could be left in a situation where a matchday seat is kept for them but remains unused, which would not be fair on supporters who would like to have attended.

The Club Card scheme ensures that, as far as possible, every eligible seat will be occupied for every match and means that, while restrictions will unfortunately cause some fans to miss specific games over the course of the season, no bearer will be automatically excluded from every match and all 2019/20 Season Ticket holders will have an equal chance of attending from one week to the next, which we believe is the fairest means of distribution.

In addition, asking 2019/20 Season Ticket holders to sign up for a Club Card is a mechanism which serves the dual purpose of allowing the Club to efficiently and effectively keep a register of ‘active’ match-going supporters, while retaining their records for potential Track and Trace purposes under Covid-19 protocols.

What if Solitude’s Covid-safe capacity is increased above the number of 2019/20 Season Ticket holders during the course of the forthcoming campaign?
Should Solitude’s Covid-safe capacity be increased above the number of 2019/20 Season Ticket holders, the Club will convene a new sale of places on the Cliftonville Club Card scheme.

What stands will be in use at Solitude on matchdays?
Cliftonville supporters will be accommodated in the McAlery Stand, Main Stand Lower and Bowling Green Stand, where social distancing will be employed via the use of ticked seating, as was the case for recent friendly fixtures at Solitude.

The Club investigated and pursued the possibility of accommodating fans in the Main Stand Upper, which we hoped would increase our Covid-safe capacity, but found such a measure prohibitive and the advantages negligible. We have, however, worked to repurpose a small area of the Main Stand Upper for Media personnel, whose transfer from their outside base at the back of the McAlery Stand will allow us to welcome more Cliftonville fans into that area of the ground.

Do I have to sit in the same stand for every match?
No. Seats will be offered in each stand on a first come, first served basis for individual matches but people in a ‘social bubble’ can sit together on the seats as indicated in each stand.

Can I move between stands during a match?
No. When you use your Cliftonville Club Card to buy a match ticket via our Online Portal, you will choose which stand you wish to sit in and, under strict Covid-19 protocols, must remain there throughout the game.

Seats in all stands will be sold on a first come, first served basis.

What about the traditional perks and renewal rewards associated with buying a Season Ticket? Have I lost them due to the Club not selling Season Tickets for the forthcoming campaign?
No. As well as being granted an exclusive access window to Cliftonville Club Cards, the records of all supporters who purchased 2019/20 Season Tickets will be kept so that they can avail of our traditional perks and renewal rewards the next time the Club makes Season Tickets available.

We naturally hope this will be applicable for the 2021/22 campaign but, given football’s ever-changing landcape amid the Covid-19 pandemic, we are reluctant to make any definitive pledges in that regard at this moment in time.