LEIGH LEOPARDS have released a statement regarding the ‘misuse’ of tickets and memberships which the club claims is ‘depriving’ the Super League club of its “correct income”.
As such, the club has announced that for Leigh’s next home fixture against St Helens on Friday, 12 September, it will be implementing a turnstile operative to verify the card and ticket type against the person attempting entry prior to proceeding through the turnstile, in addition to the internal check that should take place.
Any cards that will be confiscated at the turnstiles will be passed to the club on Monday (15th September) where any member can make contact regarding the grounds for confiscation.
Where a member attends a turnstile and has inadvertently brought another family member’s card for the wrong tier, the card will still be confiscated, and the member may visit the ticket office and have a paper ticket issued against their card that they have inadvertently failed to bring. This will of course be subject to the card not having already been scanned and will render the card invalid for that fixture only.
This process will require ID, and verification checks at the ticket office, so it is strongly advised that members check before heading to the stadium that they have their own card in their possession. In these circumstances the club will be notified that the confiscated card was a genuine error, and the member had their own membership that they had not brought and hadn’t been used, and the card will be returned to the member.
Membership cards can be transferred among family and friends but only for the age category for which it was purchased or below. A membership card can be upgraded for a game by visiting the ticket office and requesting a paper ticket for that game, disabling the card and paying the difference between the two categories. Under 5’s free memberships cannot be upgraded given that they were being used as place holders. As has always been the case this season no upgrades of memberships are permitted for North Stand entry.
Leigh owner Derek Beaumont said: “I am sure that this message will be fully supported by our members, given it is only intended to affect those trying to deprive the club that our members dedicate themselves to supporting, all of which has been pivotal in the club’s success on the field.
“” am assured by this, given the number of instances members and friends have notified me of misuse that they have witnessed. Clearly it is frustrating to a member paying to support their club whilst others take advantage of a situation that hasn’t been observed vigilantly via the systems in place to do so, which is why we have taken additional steps to ensure that.