After years of ticketing issues, long nights, and frustrated supporters, Derry City FC switched to TicketCo on the recommendation of a fellow League of Ireland club.
“The first days of TicketCo was a dream to me,” says Ticketing Manager Karen Pyne. Since making the move, the club has cut admin time dramatically, improved matchday operations, and freed up staff to spend less time firefighting ticketing problems and more time “doing what I love best, being with the supporters.”
Overview
Club: Derry City FC
Challenge: Derry City’s previous ticketing system created major operational strain. Season ticket renewals were plagued by crashes, fan lockouts, duplicate seat purchases, and manual workarounds that consumed staff time and hurt the supporter experience.
Solution: After a recommendation from Bohemians FC, Derry City moved to TicketCo and experienced a smooth, well-supported onboarding process with a system that was easier for both staff and supporters to use.
Results: The club reduced season ticket admin from weeks of long days to a far more manageable process, saw fan complaints drop sharply, improved entry flow with offline scanning, and gained a more reliable setup that even supported a mid-season stadium move.
The Challenge
Before TicketCo, ticketing at Derry City FC was stressful, time-consuming, and, in Karen Pyne’s words, “always a drama.” What should have been routine too often turned into long days, manual fixes, and a poor experience for supporters.
The club had used its previous provider for several years, but staff had never been fully trained on the system. Reporting was confusing, support was limited, and simple tasks took far longer than they should have. At peak sales periods, especially during season ticket renewals, the problems became much worse.
“Season ticket day was super stressful,” says Ticketing Manager Karen Pyne. “Links didn’t work, the system would crash, and fans got locked out.”
If a supporter clicked a renewal link and then left the process, they could end up locked out of their account. In theory, the account should reopen after 15 to 20 minutes. In practice, it often did not. That left staff to step in manually, often creating reservations and processing payments by hand just to keep sales moving.
The issues did not stop there. Derry City also dealt with duplicate seat purchases, broken purchase journeys, and barcode problems on matchdays. European fixtures created extra complications because they could not be linked properly to season passes, which forced the club into more manual work.
“It was always a drama with our old system,” Karen says. “I had spent days doing manual payments. Definitely the worst part was the customer experience.”
The result was an admin-heavy process that stretched staff to the limit. Karen describes periods of working 14-hour days and staying on her laptop until late at night, simply trying to resolve supporter issues and keep ticketing on track.
Discover how they improved fan experience here
The Solution
Derry City’s move to TicketCo was driven by trust and a clear recommendation from Bohemians FC, another League of Ireland club that had faced similar frustrations. That gave the club confidence to make the switch. As Karen puts it, “It was so simple and effective,” turning what could have felt like a major disruption into a straightforward, well-supported change.
Any worries about a difficult change quickly faded.
“The first days of TicketCo was a dream to me,” says Karen. “The system and the support and training from our customer success team was next to none.”
The transition itself was straightforward. The seat plan was already in place, so the club only needed to share the required data and work through setup and renewals with the TicketCo team. With onboarding, training, and ongoing support, Derry City was able to get up and running quickly.
The impact was immediate. Setting up games became faster. The system was easier to understand. Staff could manage renewals and matchday sales with more confidence, and supporters found the buying process much simpler too.
Most importantly, the club moved from a fragile setup to one it could rely on.
Results
The biggest change has been the impact on Karen’s day-to-day work. “The time I have saved is unbelievable,” she says. “I don’t know myself in the evening when I am not on my laptop half the night trying to sort out tickets.”
What once took two weeks of long days and constant problem-solving now takes around one week of normal working hours. Instead of spending evenings dealing with broken links, failed payments, and supporter complaints, Karen and the team now spend far less time firefighting.
“The time I have saved is unbelievable,” she says. “I don’t know myself in the evening when I am not on my laptop half the night trying to sort out tickets.”
That saved time has real value for the club. Karen is now free to help in other areas, including mascots, matchnight operations, and supporter-facing activity.
“I am now free to help out at the club in different ways,” she says, “and doing what I love best, being with the supporters.”
Photo: Derry City FCThe fan experience has improved just as sharply. Complaints, once a regular part of ticketing periods, have nearly disappeared.
“Massively, I don’t think we have had one complaint this season so far,” Karen says. She recently received an email from a supporter traveling from England that summed up the new experience: “I just thought it polite to let you know I have secured 2 tickets for the game. Very simple procedure.”
Matchday operations have also become smoother. TicketCo’s QR-based entry and offline handheld scanning help the club maintain fast entry even if connectivity drops. After events, scanners can be synced and attendance data is ready to use.
“If the Wi-Fi goes down, we can scan offline,” Karen explains. “This is very useful.”
That flexibility proved especially valuable when Derry City moved stadium mid-season. The club was able to transfer its handheld scanners to the new venue, sync tickets, and continue scanning without major disruption.
TicketCo also supports better crowd flow by helping the club reduce queues and keep gates moving. Combined with a simpler purchase flow and a more user-friendly seat map, the platform has helped create a more reliable and less stressful experience from purchase to entry.
Service & Support
For Derry City, the value of TicketCo goes beyond the technology. As Karen puts it, “The system and the support and training from our customer success team was next to none,” turning service and support into a core part of the club’s success, not just an added extra.
The club highlights the quality of the relationship with TicketCo’s customer success and support teams as a major part of the experience. From onboarding through day-to-day use, support has been hands-on, responsive, and focused on helping the club succeed.
“We have a dedicated Customer Success Manager who is always on hand to help with everything,” says Karen. “On-site visits, Zoom calls, support whenever we need it. They want us to be successful.”
That level of support helped build staff confidence early and has remained important as the club continues to grow and refine its operations.
Learn more about how TicketCo helps clubs streamline matchday operations → Explore Matchday optimisation
Looking Ahead
With a reliable ticketing partner now in place, Derry City is looking ahead with confidence. As Karen puts it, TicketCo is “making my life so much easier as a ticketing manager,” giving the club more time to focus on supporters, plan ahead, and create new opportunities for growth.
The club is exploring season ticket subscriptions to give fans more flexible monthly payment options. It is also considering supporter memberships for fans who live outside Derry but still want a stronger connection to the club. Better branding and sponsorship features are also opening up new commercial opportunities.
With less time spent fixing problems, the team can now focus more energy on planning, supporter engagement, and the broader matchday experience.
When asked what advice she would give to other clubs thinking about switching ticketing providers, Karen’s answer is simple:
“Don’t think—just do.”
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Saved 20 hours of admin per week
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