Written by Smithy on August 25th, 2009
Sky Sports 2 will this time host the coverage for Scotland world Cup Qualifier against the Netherlands.
So far in the campaign the Netherlands have not been beeten - a first for the country. They'll be out to ensure a clean slate.
Depending on how the Macedonia games goes, this game could mean the difference between Scotland reaching a major tournament for the first time in 10 years and another failure to qualify.
Scotland must beat both Macedonia and Netherlands in order to stand the chance to be one of the 8 teams to reach a playoff.
SPORT: International Football
On: Sky Sports 2 (512)
Date: Wednesday 9th September 2009 (starting in 19 days)
Time: 19:30 to 22:30 (3 hours long) VideoPlus: 443606
World Cup Qualifier - Scotland v Netherlands (e).
World Cup qualifier between Scotland and Holland at Hampden Park. Scotland have a decent chance of reaching the play-offs, but face a tough proposition against the runaway Group 9 leaders.
(Dolby Stereo, Widescreen, Live)
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Excerpt taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from http://www.getdigiguide.com
Copyright (c) GipsyMedia Limited.
Posted in: Home Matches
Written by Smithy on August 5th, 2009
The quote below is taken from a recent email from the SSC. It appears 3,000 people haven't yet claimed their point for the Netherlands away game out of 8,000 that requested tickets. This seems to be a very large figure and has led the SSC to drop the requirement for proving proof travel.
The SSC require proof that you actually travelled - a card boarding pass with your name, destination and date on it, a printed receipt from your hotel with your name on it, a letter from your hotel confirming you stayed there. With a large amount of people traveling with airlines that issue e-tickets it's easy to see why so many points have not been collected.
I spoke to the SSC today and explained I'd 2 Ryanair paper based boarding passes, 2 train tickets and 1 bus ticket. Unfortunately they were all unacceptable to the SSC. Ryanair pass could be forged, train tickets don't prove I actually travelled, and bus tickets don't have any names on them. In the end they suggested I send them a credit card statement or credit card receipt from the time of the game. They also said that if you had a stamp in your passport you could travel to Hampden and show it to them!
As you will know, we have recently announced that we will no longer be requiring members to supply proof of travel in order to claim their point for away matches. This decision was taken after it became clear that not only was this system difficult for members to comply with (only 5000 of 8000 people who had an official Netherlands away ticket supplied us with proof of travel), but also it was equally clear that the system penalised the majority in order to try and catch out the minority of members who engage in 'points harvesting.'
We fully understand that the whole issue of members buying tickets for away matches but not actually travelling to the game is something that angers the honest supporters who abide by the rules of the club. When we met with the Association of Tartan Army Clubs at the end of last week, we had a lengthy discussion about what can be done.
In recent years we have tried various ways of tackling the issue. We have tried forcing supporters to pick up their tickets in the country before the match and, of course, we have recently tried proof of travel. It is our strongly held view - and the view of the majority of members who contact us - that supporters want their ticket in their hands before they travel to matches. This means that the time in the foreign country is their own and fans are not inconvenienced by having to travel to an area and often stand in queues to pick up a ticket that they could have had weeks before.
However, even although we will no longer be requiring proof of travel, this does not mean that we have given up on the issue of 'points harvesting.' We still want to eradicate it, but we want to do it in such a way that does not inconvenience the majority of supporters too much.
So, from now on we will be starting a system of 'spot checks' for away games. What this means in practice is that a random section of supporters who have received an official ticket for an away fixture will be contacted and asked to pick up their ticket in the country before the match. We have already selected a large number of supporters who are travelling to Norway for a spot check and if you have been chosen we really appreciate your help in doing this.
We will also be making sure that we are much tougher on members who break the rules when it comes to points. There will be no '3 strikes and you are out' policy From now on, if you are caught points harvesting, your membership of the Scotland Supporters Club will be immediately terminated.
We know that it is a very small minority of supporters who choose to break the rules and we will not take action that we feel is prejudiced against the majority of members just to try and catch out the offenders. This is a huge club and represents what we rightly feel are the greatest football supporters in the world. When someone demonstrates by their actions that they do not deserve to be a member, we will have no hesitation in removing them.
Posted in: Netherlands
Written by Smithy on July 29th, 2009
The SFA have announced details for the public sale of tickets for the Scotland v Netherlands football match on Wednesday 9th September. Kick off will be at 8pm, Hampden Park, Glasgow.
Tickets will go on sale at 10am on Friday 31st July. Family tickets will only be available from the Telephone line and Hampden Museum. At this stage you'll be able to buy 8 tickets each.
At the moment 2,200 tickets have been allocated to the Dutch, and SSC members haven't taken up their full allocation.
West Stand - £25
East Stand - £25
East Stand Family - Adult £18
East Stand Family - Under 16 £10
South Stand Upper - £30
South Stand Lower - Wings £30
South Stand Lower - Main £35
Website - www.ticketlink.co.uk/scotlandtickets
Telephone Sales - 0844 481 1818
SECC Box Office - Monday to Friday 10am-6pm, Saturday 10am-5pm
Museum Shop - Monday to Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 11am-5pm
Posted in: Home Matches
Written by Smithy on July 15th, 2009
SSC members are reminded that applications for tickets to see the upcoming Scotland V Macedonia and Scotland V Netherlands games is this Friday 17th July at 11:59pm.
Tickets can be booked through Ticketline - http://www.ticketlink.co.uk/sscticketing
The public ballot or sale of tickets is likely to begin in the next week. The SFA may choose to run a ballot again for tickets to prevent their website and telephone systems crashing as soon as they go on sale.
Meanwhile all SSC tickets for the Norway V Scotland match have been sold. Some members of the Tartan Army Message oard have been successfully in obtaining Norway end tickets. Some of these tickets are in the sections either side of the Scotland Section.
Posted in: Home Matches
Written by Smithy on June 30th, 2009
SSC members who purchased the 3 match packages for Norway, Macedonia and Netherlands are now starting to receive their match tickets through the post. Tickets are being sent to the lead name. This is the earliest in recent years that the SFA have sent out tickets - nearly 6 weeks in this case. For recent games tickets have been sent out as late as 6 days before the game.
Meanwhile reports are appearing saying some members who purchased individual tickets from the SSC Ticket line have been charged twice. For somebody booking one Macedonia and one Netherlands ticket this is showing up as 2 x £50 charges. Ticket line are said to be investiagting.
Posted in: Home Matches
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