The Architects of Matchday: A Special Interview with the 2025 Ticketing Award Winners

What does great ticketing look like when you’re the person making matchday happen under pressure every single week?

In this special edition of Don’t Forget Your Tickets, host Clare Kenny sits down with the three winners of the 2025 Ticketing Manager of the Year Awards: Andy Gate of Oxford City Football Club, Ollie Gout of Dorking Wanderers Football Club, and Sarah Rowntree of Hartlepool United Football Club. Together, they share an honest, funny, and insightful look at the realities of running ticketing operations at football clubs where no two matchdays are ever the same.

Published on the same day that public voting opens for the 2026 Ticketing Manager of the Year shortlist, this episode shines a light on the people behind the turnstiles, the inbox, the data, and the fan journey. From last-minute headaches and player ticket requests to long-term strategy and supporter loyalty, Clare explores what it really takes to deliver a better experience for fans.

This is a conversation about more than ticket sales. It’s about community, innovation, accessibility, women in football, and the legacy ticketing professionals can leave behind when they help make clubs more welcoming, more responsive, and more connected to their supporters.

In this episode, we cover:

• Matchday Pressure: The early starts, last-minute changes, and unpredictable problems that ticketing managers handle before most fans even arrive.
• How They Fell Into Ticketing: The very different career journeys that brought Andy, Ollie, and Sarah into football operations and supporter experience.
• Fan Experience and Innovation: Why flexibility, affordability, subscriptions, and smarter systems matter for modern clubs and modern supporters.
• Supporter Data That Makes a Difference: How better data can help clubs understand loyalty, personalise offers, and improve matchday for different types of fans.
• Community Outreach and Club Identity: From grassroots engagement to youth initiatives and fan-first thinking, how clubs build lifelong connections beyond the ticket office.
• Women in Football: Sarah reflects on her journey in the game, the progress being made, and the importance of creating pathways for women and girls in football.
• Collaboration Between Clubs: How ticketing teams work together, especially around high-demand fixtures, away allocations, and supporter safety.
• The Legacy of This Era: What each guest hopes people will say they got right 10 years from now, from removing barriers to making football more accessible and community-led.

Whether you work in sports ticketing, run fan operations, or want a closer look at the people shaping supporter experience behind the scenes, this episode offers practical insight and real perspective from three of the best in the business.