Book tickets to the various music and other events hosted at Utilita Bowl
Visit Hampshire Cricket and Utilita Bowl's online store to get your hands on official replica and supporter kit as well as a range of other merchandise.
As the 2020 cricket season approaches, Hampshire Cricket's historian Dave Allen looks at a Hampshire Cricket Membership
Why do we become Members? There might be a variety of reasons but among those who join and remain, perhaps three stand out. The first is purely economic – if you know you are going to watch a lot of cricket, it usually works out as a money-saver (weather permitting!). The second is that it brings with it a mix of privileges and advance offers for tickets, where the demand is likely to be high. In the twenty-first century for Hampshire members this means most obviously international matches on our ground, to which can be added advance deals on other competitions – currently the Hundred and Southern Brave fixtures. The third, less easily measurable, has to do with a sense of identity and belonging – just as being a football season-ticket holder expresses at the least a season-long commitment to ‘my’ team.
‘Signing up’ pre-season, or even more optimistically as a Life Member requires of course, sufficient funds, and it is perhaps indicative of the hardships of many ordinary people before the war that Hampshire’s 1939 membership figure of 2,285 was their highest on record. More remarkably, although county cricket ceased from 1940-1945, around 500 members continued to pay their subscription ensuring that when the Championship resumed in 1946 Hampshire had a ground and a team to support. The joy at the resumption of our most English of games was reflected in an increased membership of almost 3,700 with over 90,000 more paying at the gates. Within two years there were almost 6,000 members and, in an Australian summer around 108,000 paying on the day.
They were great days for English cricket, despite the post-war economic hardships and rationing, but when the ‘Aussies’ came again in 1953 and as many still paid ‘on the day’, membership had fallen to 4,644. Over the next decade, it hovered around 5,000 although the 1961 Championship and 1963 Centenary took it back above 6,000. By 1971 it had fallen again to just over 5,000 but then Richard Gilliat’s side embarked on one of our most successful periods, winning three titles (and deserving at least one more) soit is perhaps unsurprising that the Sunday League title of 1978 came in a season with just over 8,000 members.
It then began to fall rapidly, below 5,000 in 1982 when the number of subscribing Hampshire clubs fell by almost 100 in five years. Then came the Nicholas years with a succession of semi-finals at Northlands Road plus three Lord’s Finals. Those of us who were members then will remember the vouchers for tickets to be cut from our coloured mini membership booklets, and the queues in the Northlands Road car park as we obtained precious tickets for the great days. By 1992 and the last of that first phase of Finals membership was back around 5,500 but then began a period of major changes.
The first was that Bournemouth saw its last game in 1992 which meant a decline in the numbers of those members from the town and nearby. There were also fewer matches in Portsmouth, while plans were laid for the move to the Rose Bowl. By the end of the Northlands Road era, the number of members had fallen to just over 4,000 which included 450 Life Members, but over the first 15 years of the new century the overall figure rose to around 4,500 while the number of Life Members doubled.
By this time too, the Executive Club venture, housed originally in the Mead Stand at Southampton, had become a success with individual members upgrading their original facilities (including the car park!) and enjoying a fine social atmosphere and good dining to accompany the various matches on offer.
The world of Hampshire County Cricket has changed enormously since the days when 8,000 members followed the exploits of Richards, Greenidge, Jesty, Sainsbury and the others, but one key element of membership remains – the sense of commitment and identification with ‘our’ county. We belong.
There's never been a better time to join or renew as a Member with Early Bird discounts available until Friday - so secure your spot in the Hampshire family by then to enjoy a summer filled with world class cricketing action and exclusive benefits reserved only for the Club's most valued fans.
More information on each Membership offering can be found online via the link above, over the phone on 02380 472002 (Opt. 2) or in person at the The Ageas Bowl Ticket Office (Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm).
Please note, the Early Bird Membership & Parking Pass Upgrade discounts end on Friday.
