Scrap The ID Scheme!

Sheffield Wednesday Photo ID Scheme: Scrap This Big Brother Farce
Copied below is the letter I sent to Sheffield Wednesday FC in complaint against the introduction of the photo ID scheme.

I believe this letter crystallizes the mindset of many Wednesday season ticket holders who fiercely oppose this farce and believe it should immediately be scrapped.

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I have been visiting Hillsborough since I was 6-years-old and have been a season ticket holder for the last 12 years.

The new photo ID scheme that was announced today, allied with the ban on smoking, has caused me to reconsider renewing my season ticket for next season.

It seems Sheffield Wednesday FC has unfortunately gone the way of the rest of the country in enforcing Big Brother measures that do nothing other than alienate and make life uncomfortable for supporters. What's next? Iris and fingerprint scans to prove we're not criminals before we enter the ground? Microchip tracking tags on our tickets to make sure we're sitting in the right seat?

In addition, as the Star article at HERE points out - sharing season tickets with family members has gone on for generations, and helps introduce new people to watching football at Hillsborough who would otherwise miss out. The proviso that season ticket holders can get a substitute ticket for their stub if they are unable to attend a game by 'proving' their legitimate absence is bizarre, unworkable and will just cause more hassle for both supporters and employees at your ticket office. What do you want - a doctor's note saying I'm ill?

In paying ever-increasing fees for season tickets shouldn't we have the right to occasionally loan the ticket to our mate or our Dad if we are unable to attend the game?

If this new scheme is enforced Sheffield Wednesday will lose season ticket holders who are of like mind and are fed up of being pushed around, identified, surveilled and lectured like we're all criminals. Attendance figures will drop as a result of the outright ban on sharing season tickets, and supporters will be forced to 'show their papers' as if the turnstile is a Nazi checkpoint.

When will Sheffield Wednesday understand that making life difficult for supporters is not going to make them money or get more people showing up at games?

I urge you to scrap this ridiculous scheme and I am assured many other supporters feel the same as me. The poll running on the Star's website currently shows that 75% are against this scheme.

Act in the interests of the people who pay your wages for a change and scrap this photo ID farce!

Best regards, Paul Watson.