It was a typical City Matters meeting where they played back the suggestions they'd come up with. Some were sensible and some got challenged quite heavily, which I think caused the club to change their thinking. Some we're still discussing among ourselves as a group and there are some widely contrasting views.
I'll give you one example, which we're still hotly discussing, which is what happens to points when a seasoncard is transferred under the amnesty, which is obviously a hot topic. I have to stress that there is no decision on this but there a number of options, some of which we discussed:
- Full transfer of all points, added to any the new owner already had. so if they had 1,000 in their own name and there were 10,000 on the card they'd have 11,000 after the transfer
- Transfer of all points but with a maximum limit so that the new owner only got the higher of their own points or the points on the old card. So that's 10,000 after the transfer
- Transfer of the last 3 (or 5) year's points earned on the card, plus their own points. So maybe 2,000 transferred plus the 1,000 already earned by the new owner, making 3,000
- Part transfer of points on a percentage basis (say 50%) and the remainder either lost or kept by the old card holder (if they wanted them). So that would be 5,000 plus the 1,000 already earned.
- Transfer by agreement, where the person named on the card is still alive and agrees with the new owner how to split the points. So the old owner might want to give them 7,500, which can be added to their own 1,000.
- As would happen with anyone taking out a new seasoncard, 1,000 points plus any points they had in their own name. so if they had 1,000 points themselves, they end up with 2,000 after the transfer.
There's another consideration. The more points someone stands to get, the more incentive they have to take advantage of the amnesty, which the club wants. But there's a large element of unfairness in (1) and (2) potentially, which has been pointed out already and is an argument I understand fully.
If we go with option (6) on the other hand, it's fairer on the surface but what if you've built up most of the points on the ticket you've been using, which is in someone else's name? You wouldn't see that as "fair" and might decide to sit out this current crisis until all the restrictions are off and you could use it again. But if you don't transfer it then you won't be coming to games while those restrictions are on.
So we have to try to balance a number of competing factors.
