This issue includes updates on: Automatic Cup Scheme; Ticket reselling; Atmosphere; Quiz night; Hall of Fame; FSA/FSE liaison, the Foundation six-a-side tournament, a petition from Women of the Lane and how to have your say
Club rethink on Automatic Cup Scheme – Thanks to supporter action
We’re pleased to share that, following strong supporter feedback and lobbying by the Trust and others, the Club has decided not to scrap the Automatic Cup Scheme, as originally proposed.
The decision to remove the scheme was made without consulting with us or the Fan Advisory Board, where we have two representatives. We challenged the move, arguing it would cause unnecessary inconvenience for thousands of supporters while removing guaranteed ticket sales for the Club — even for less high-profile cup ties.
The Club cited misuse of the scheme: some supporters were allegedly gaining loyalty points without attending matches, reselling tickets, or failing to complete purchases due to expired cards or insufficient funds. While we understand the need to address abuse, we firmly stated that the answer wasn’t to punish genuine fans by scrapping the scheme entirely.
Importantly, many of you backed this position. Your emails to the Club, explaining how the scheme supports your matchday experience, made a real impact. We believe this show of unity helped change minds.
The Club will now retain the scheme but with stricter oversight. It will be targeted at fans who genuinely intend to attend all home cup games and appreciate the convenience of automatic ticketing. We support this approach, provided the Club applies common sense in the rare case of unavoidable absence.
This is a victory not just for THST and the FAB, but for the wider Spurs community. It’s proof that when supporters speak up, we can shape the decisions that affect our matchday experience.
Ticket reselling and allocation
Supporters will likely have seen the Club’s recent statement outlining the disciplinary action taken against fans involved in the unauthorised resale of tickets for the away match at Liverpool. Sanctions included the removal of season tickets, loss of loyalty points, and indefinite bans.
In the lead-up to the game, it became clear that some individuals were selling tickets at well above face value, fully aware they would be snapped up by Liverpool fans eager to see their team potentially win the Premier League. We urged the Club to act — and they did. While we welcome this decisive action and the resulting sanctions, we remain concerned that this represents only a small fraction of a wider, ongoing issue: tickets being transferred to away fans at both home and away fixtures.
We have previously issued a statement supporting initiatives to make the ticketing system fairer for Spurs supporters. This is one of the issues we receive the most correspondence about, and we know it’s of great concern to many fans.
We support the loyalty points system as a fair way to allocate away tickets. However, that system only works if points are earned by fans who actually attend the matches. There is anecdotal evidence that some supporters with high loyalty point totals do not attend all the games themselves — instead, they pass tickets to friends or resell them via third-party sites or social media.
As a result, long-standing season ticket holders are finding themselves locked out of Premier League away fixtures and may never have the opportunity to attend. The current system risks becoming a closed shop, with some effectively touting tickets to maintain their ability to choose which games they attend.
We will continue to raise these issues with the Club and push for stronger action to clamp down on unauthorised reselling and ensure fairer access for all loyal Spurs supporters.
Fan engagement and atmosphere initiatives
What an amazing night at the Stadium for the game against Bodo/Glimt. Every supporter did their bit to create one of the best atmospheres ever – and the team did us proud.
Superb atmosphere for the Europa Cup game against Bodo/Glimt
We were delighted to support THFC Flags and their fantastic work, which is now being backed by the Club to deliver the kind of visual displays fans have wanted for years. Supporters have a deep understanding of what creates and sustains a great matchday atmosphere — they know what works. But to bring these displays to life, they needed the Club’s help: amplifying calls for volunteers, enabling the organisation of TIFOs and flags, and making the necessary financial contributions.
Spurs quiz night – a success
Gary Mabbutt chats with quiz attendees
The annual Spurs Quiz Night, one of the Trust’s most anticipated events, was held at The Antwerp Arms in April. The event sold out, and Trust members enjoyed a lively and entertaining evening with a very special guest in the one and only Gary Mabbutt. Gary was extremely generous with his time, went around to chat and meet with everyone there, supported the team from Studio306 with their answers, and read out a round all about his career, where it’s safe to say he likely knew most of the answers…
Theo Delaney, of Spurs Show and Life Goals fame, hosted the evening with rounds on Spurs Music, 90s Spurs, and the Spurs academy to name a few. There was a mixture of gimmies and downright fiendish questions, with some teams having incredible all round Spurs knowledge on display!
The quiz was an incredibly hard fought off affair with only a couple of points separating the top teams, with the coveted prize eventually going to Mabsolutely Fabulous, who rose like Peter Crouch at the Etihad and fought off the Bobby Buckle team at the death.
Quiz winners – Mabsolutely Fabulous
The event raised over £1500 for the Studio 306 Collective, a brilliant charity working with those recovering from mental health issues in Haringey, through creativity in arts and crafts, and they expressed their gratitude to all members of THST for the support. We would also like to thank The Antwerp Arms for hosting, those who helped run the evening from the Board and to all of those who donated the amazing raffle prizes. These included a signed first team shirt, an original cap commemorating the 1984 UEFA cup win donated by Spurs, a beautiful cockerel from Studio306, Gareth Dace’s excellent book on Spurs in the 90s and a host of other memorabilia.
We look forward to next year as we seek to continue the tradition of hosting a very special evening in the THST calendar.
FSA/FSE
Trust Board members participated in a regular meeting of the FSA’s Premier League network, where fan representatives from most PL clubs share experiences and coordinate action to ensure fan voices are heard by the PL, the FA, government and other bodies that have influence over the fan experience. Topics discussed at this month’s meeting included progress on the establishment of the Independent Football Regulator, the danger of overseas PL games, access to tickets, and away tickets in particular, season ticket price rises, digital ticketing and 3rd party ticketing ‘partners’.
We remind fans travelling to away fixtures in Europe (inc. those lucky enough to have a ticket for Bodo away) to record their experiences via the FSE survey. Survey results are fed back to UEFA to address issues that may have arisen for future matches.
Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame
Through our representatives on the Fan Advisory Board, we’ve been invited to consider how the Club’s Hall of Fame for past players might evolve in the future.
Traditionally, inductions have taken place at a special dinner, attended by supporters. While this has been a valued event, we’re now exploring alternative ways to honour former players — particularly approaches that could involve a wider range of fans.
We’ll be attending a meeting to discuss potential options and we’d love to hear your thoughts.
- How should past players be honoured?
- How can we ensure more supporters can take part in the celebration?
Please send your ideas to info@THSTOfficial.com, or join the discussion on our Forum
Tottenham Hotspur Foundation – Six-a-side tournament
*BREAKING NEWS* The team from the Trust were victors in the Foundation’s tournament, run to raise urgently needed funds for Haringey Food Banks.
More in next month’s newsletter.
Women of the Lane – petition
It’s well known that the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium attracts high profile bands, artists and sporting events. The Club state that profits are used to support the football operations. As such we, broadly speaking, support the optimisation of the stadium and the generation of additional income.
However, we can understand the dismay felt by many when it was announced that Chris Brown had been booked to perform via Live Nation.
Women of the Lane invite those who feel let down by this decision to sign their open letter to Live Nation. They state: “ Women of the Lane are calling on Live Nation to cancel the upcoming Chris Brown concert at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. As football supporters and members of the public, we believe that public platforms should uphold safety, accountability, and respect — not promote artists with a history of violence against women. ”
Here’s the link if you would like to sign it.
Have your say
Our Forum is a great place to ask questions and new member Roy Beck will be paying close attention to your issues over there.
Please continue to email your concerns to info@thstofficial.com but for a more interactive response head over to the Forum and get interacting now.