The Yorkshire Evening Post report of Melvyn Flowers battled with the LUFC ticket office to renew his season ticket.

At the start of the campaign a controversial new ruling was introduced meaning that season ticket holders would lose the right to renew if their attendance dropped below 80pc.

With an apparent 26,000 waiting list, the club have justified this move saying its unfair on those who want to be part of the Elland Road experience, if season ticket holders miss lots of matches. For those of us who went in the dark days of League One, the League Cup clash with Blackburn nearly 10 years ago when only 8000 could be bothered to show up and beyond, it seems a kick-in-the-teeth but you are allowed to transfer your ticket to a family member or a friend (providing they're a member) or sell it back to the club for resale.

Apparently the club have been contacting those in danger of missing out and Mr Flowers was bemused to receive a text alleging he'd missed the games against Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth and Middlesbrough.

He disputed this and despite a testimony from his wife, who sits with him in the NE corner and verified she knew where her old man was on those days, the club weren't having any of it!

He reckoned that 30 emails were exchanged on the subject between him and the ticket office. However he used his knowledge of the law to his advantage by obtaining CCTV footage showing him entering the ground on those matchdays!

As he pointed out to the YEP, you have to scan your digital ticket and wait for a green light before pushing a very heavy metal gate to gain access through the turnstile. Having attended matches since 1978, he cited the old boys pen and the trick of pushing someone under the turnstile quickly whilst the gateman wasn't looking is a thing of the past.

Well into the new millennium, we had card/paper season ticket books where you'd tear off a voucher in front of the turnstile operative. These were replaced by plastic cards.

Obviously the digital system hasn't logged his attendance. I wonder if anyone else has experienced this?

In my thirty five plus years going to Elland Road I've often thought the club do sometimes try and make life as difficult as they can for fans willing to hand over their money. However in recent years I feel the ticket office has improved tremendously but clearly no system is unfalliable.

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