Away ends and tourists

The Northern Baptist said:
The worrying thing is that we've got the manager we have craved, an unbelievable group of players as there seems to be tons of apathy amongst the support.

It feels like an absolute chore goingbto the match at the minute
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You're very right here. I'm glad its not just me and my mate who feel like this. To be honest, I've felt like this for a few seasons now. Really find it an effort to go to the games. I've been reading a number of threads on here today, and I'm shocked at how many people are considering giving up their SC at the end of the season. Most of these people seem to be the older generation who have been going for years and don't like the way the club is changing. I'm 22 and I don't like the way the club has and is changing. I'm seriously considering giving my SC up at the end of this year. *Unless we sign Messi.
 
I don't see why corporates are offered away tickets just because they have money? All aways should be sold on points to SC holders first and quite rightly so as these people are the life and soul of the club and the day the club forgets that is the day the club is lost to the corporate world. Then Cityzens get their chance and if theres any left then a general sale. It will be even worse next season as clubs have been told to offer away teams a percentage of pitch side tickets and you know who will have first dibs on them don't you!

Out of interest do other clubs give away tickets to corporates or is this exclusively a city thing?
 
It aint just us with this problem, you can buy tickets for almost any game at any end now if you wanna pay through the nose like most tourists will do.
The clubs hospitality shenanigans are shite but it is just the sorry state of football in the modern era.
 
tramazi said:
Is there a fans group looking into this issue or working with the club, I honestly don't think the club are aware of why things are as they are.
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Of course they're aware. They've even set up City Voice to pretend they're listening to us, but still do fuck all about the issues everyone complains about because they don't give a shit about us ordinary fans, not now there's a waiting list for the cheap seats. 10 scummy fans sat outside and spending nothing else at £750 an ST, or one rich nob sat next to a glass tunnel at £7500 a season who brings his rich mates along? It's a no-brainer until they realise there's no atmosphere and loads of empty seats, except they'll realise they don't really give a shit about that either as long as Joe and Joanne Tourist turn up once a year, spend £400 in the shop and £50 on pie, chips and a couple of pints and post their selfies on Twitter.
 
I won't bore you with all of the details of the "American point of view" (I know how the English just love those), but when the ground (stadium) is not part of the match-day equation, the fire is very hard to maintain. Over the past two decades, we have seen virtually all of our professional football stadiums replaced with things that are more shopping mall than stadia. They are designed solely to generate revenue; and atmosphere, if any, is a lucky, if infrequent, byproduct. Indeed, the television money in the NFL is so great (and I suspect the EPL is similar, if not more) that they don't really need fans, and they sure as hell don't need $20/$40/$60 fans, except as "extras" in the little stage production going on inside. They could play every game on a sound stage in Burbank for all it matters, and perhaps they will some day. However, people apparently have begun to notice (and I"m not even sure they realize what they've noticed), as ratings are way down, and attendance (at least bodies in the seats) has declined precipitously. Most people I know who still go, go more for the tailgating (I don't know if you lot have tailgating - it's eating and drinking in a parking lot) than the game itself. Some don't even bother to go in. You folks may have wondered why we're so crazy for college football over here. The reason, again, are the venues. They tend to be old, often very old. They have relatively few amenities. They tend to be within easy walking distance of some decent bars; or, if they aren't, have a tailgate culture that more than makes up for it. Of course, England has followed, and continues to follow, a similar path to the one we followed here. I risked my life a couple of different times to get to my one and only match at MR (1-3 to Blackburn on Boxing Day). It was like a pilgrimage to Mecca for me. It has literally never crossed my mind to go to the Etihad. Although I am a stadium nut (see my next post asking for help in that regard, likely arriving on BM space tomorrow; LOL), I really don't know what you do when you've sucked the soul out of a place, and driven away many of the folks who would be likely suspects the create atmosphere in the new place. I recall that Arthur Gardner - a postman from Heywood, who I never met, and who, I don't think had a lot of spare money hanging around - used to send me all sorts of City stuff (KoTK, Bert Troutman's Helmet, programs, scarves, mugs, pins; I still have it all). He bled blue. I think the last time I heard from him, he told me he had stopped going since they moved. It's the Arthur's of the world who make a place. Once you lose them, all you've got left is the shopping mall. It's certainly not an issue unique to MCFC; but, considering MCFC is pretty much the only club I worry about, it is certainly a significant concern.
 
I binned off away games the season before last. Did a few last season and done none this season. Each time I went it progressively got worse and worse, the decline of the blue alliance saw the atmosphere quickly deteriorate (yes i appreciate they were not everyones cup of tea) and the increase in corporate/tourists has seen our away support decline into probably the worst of all* the "big" teams who take decent allocations everywhere.

*Besides Arsenal actually.
 
tramazi said:
Is there a fans group looking into this issue or working with the club, I honestly dont think the club are aware of why things are as they are.
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The club won't talk openly to fans' groups face-to-face and haven't done since Soriano arrived. They used to talk to Points of Blue, which a few on here used to attend regularly. It was in that forum that we had numerous discussions about things like standing and we got to understand and appreciate the position of the club. Sometimes we felt we were banging our heads against the wall but there were times when we did get through to the club.

Now we've got to a stage where we still meet, without the club in attendance, pass on our views and get an email back responding to those. It's not good enough, particularly when Liverpool & Chelsea both have a fans' committee that they have regular meetings with. In both cases, the CEO, together with other senior club officials, attends those meetings. Even the rags, who have been totally resistant to any sort of fan engagement, are now talking to & co-operating with groups like MUST, as they see the benefits of two-way communication. Yet the arrogant fuckwit we have as CEO still has not spoken to fans or fan groups (unless of course you pay £199+VAT). They may speak to the OSC but they've never been one to rock the boat in any way. God forbid they might lose access to tickets if they did that.
 
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