Meet Georgia Bekyra, Senior Manager, Ticketing at Everton FC
The 2022-23 season is Everton's 144th season in existence and the club's 69th consecutive season in the top flight of English football. It is also the second to last season for The Toffeemen at Goodison Park.
The Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock in Vauxhall is under construction and is due to open for the start of the 2024-25 season, replacing the ground that has hosted more top-flight games than any other stadium in England.
How is it to run the daily ticketing operations at a Premier League club, and at the same time plan ahead for the move to a new stadium where the capacity will be radically improved and where everything needs to run smoothly from day one after the migration?
An Impressive Journey from Athens Olympics to Everton FC's Senior Ticketing Manager
Senior Manager, Ticketing at Everton FC, Georgia Bekyra, started her ticketing career at the 2004 Athens Olympics and progressed to the Greek top tier club Panathinaikos FC before moving to the UK in 2012 for a job at British Athletics. Pinnacles before joining The People’s Club in 2021 was hosting the World Paras and IAAF World Championships in London in 2017 with a Guinness World Record for most tickets sold (!), the World Indoor Champs in Birmingham in 2018 and the European Indoor Champs in Glasgow in 2019 - 4 major International events in 18 months.
In this episode of TicketingPodcast.com, Georgia Bekyra shares how the uncertainty around a possible relegation from Premier League is affecting the ticketing department at The Blues as well as the rest of the organisation. She also touches on the need for better away ticket solutions across the league, and why a positive mindset, willingness to put the necessary hours of hard work in, and a constant need to query the norm is paramount to succeed within ticketing.
On the fun fact side, she explains why the rivalry between Everton FC and their opponents at the other side of Stanley Park, Liverpool FC, is so special and why the local derbies between the two sides is known as The Friendly Derby.
How do you get tickets to Everton FC's home matches at Goodison Park?
There is a long waiting list for season tickets at Goodison Park, and it will take you years to be first in line for those. At the same time, all matchday tickets are reserved for official members. That leaves you with very few options if you’re not an official member or a registered away fan, and you want to watch an Everton match.
In this bonus episode of TicketingPodcast.com, Everton’s Senior Manager, Ticketing, Georgia Bekyra, gives her best advice on what to do and what to avoid if you’re an Everton fan looking for a ticket.
Is there a secret backdoor to the ticketing office at Goodison Park? Georgia has the answer, and if you listen in you will have it too.
TicketingPodcast.com is powered and sponsored by TicketCo and hosted by TicketCo’s CEO, Carl-Erik Michalsen Moberg.
The podcast was recorded on 15 February 2023.
