City Fans Leaving Early/Empty seats

oakiecokie said:
People leave early for varying reasons.Some people have trains to catch.If you live miles away from the ground maybe being held up in traffic does have an effect on what time you leave the ground.
You should try and travel getting to City coming up the M56 at knock off time ... its a fucking nightmare and likewise going back home over the Mancunian Way.
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Indeed. My sister made the effort to go last night taking her 6 year old son.it took them an hour and 10 mins to go 16 miles to get there straight from finishing work where she had been in since 7am. They left 5 mins early and got home at 10.30, 2 hrs later than his usual bed time. He had a great time regardless of leaving early. Had they stayed it could easily have been 11.30. I think they should be applauded for making the effort not vilified for leaving 5 mins early.

The trains issue is a big one. Going back to Warrington there is a train at 10.07 and then no other train until 11.07. That makes a big difference to someone who starts work at 6am for example. When you come out of the ground there are no quick ways to get back to the station. I can just about make it but if I was elderly or had a young child I would have to leave early. Who wants to be walking in at 11.45? 8pm kick off games are now a decision. Why have they changed them to that when it isn't on TV? How is that going to encourage more people to go and less people to leave early.

Our stadium was built in the worst possible place for access. You can't park close by anymore without paying and getting stuck, there are not enough trams, buses and now taxis to get back into town.

Those who went and made the effort for their 3rd game in 8 days don't need picking up for leaving early in my opinion.
 
Blue Pete said:
Am I the only one who doesn't care about empty seats? I go, I don't leave early. If others don't go or do leave early why does it matter?
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Doesn't bother me either mate. I do find that some blues hate it as they get grief from rag mates, bla bla bla. As for folk going early, again who gives a fuck. People mention they can't watch the game with folk keep walking past them from 80 mins onwards. You could say the same for fans getting up on 35/40 mins and coming back on 50/55 as they want a pint.
 
jimmygrimblesboots said:
The jist of this thread for many appears to be what other people think about our club , the "embarrassment " of empty seats that can be clearly seen on the telly. Well for a start we know who started this load of bollocks from across the road and they sing it along with their nursery rhymes. The simple fact is on any given Premier league match day it is virtually impossible to buy a seat , so the club have sold all the tickets , other people can say what they want but our support and loyalty cannot and should not be questioned when you take into account the thirty odd barren years many have suffered.
But dont get me started on the early leavers , i can never understand why anyone leaves a match early , does it really matter that much if you get home between 15-30 minutes later because of the congestion after a game ?
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Each to his own, I only travel back and to from the Chester area now but the difference in leaving Block 315 at 87 mins as opposed to leaving at 90 mins + generally doubles my journey time.. If I leave at 90+ It takes around 10-15 mins to get onto the concourse from the stand.. then I am at the rear of the queue for the car park and at the back of the queue traffic wise... I get why people leave early and for me... it's their choice.... I am certainly not going to get my knickers knotted about it....

From my own perspective, whoever designed the new SS Top Tier needs a kick up the arse.. the fact there is only one entrance to the concourse at the foot of the stand is a joke... even worse, in the concourse there is a major safety hazard with a regular double door to get all fans through... it's bad enough at full time, if there was a real panic it would be carnage...
 
Our crowds are great compared to most clubs in Europe. We have been mostly in the top five supported clubs in England for over 100 years. Our supporters remain mostly working class and Mancunian. Don't fall for the rag-driven media propaganda. Crowds are growing but unlike Liverpool and the Rags we don't have millions of plastic fanboys from across the world (and Essex) to take up the slack when we have had three home games in a week. Meanwhile better transport and roads would help for midweek matches.
 
Empty seats don’t bother me I’m looking to count trophies not seats leave that to the rags. One thing though so many people have left this season and missed last minute goals just don’t get it.
 
Really; where to start?
Firstly, let me address the matter of singing; Much of the away-fan singing, as it is when we are the away-fans, is almost choreographed, because we/they are a (relatively) small group gathered together. That gives the singing more impact and is easier to pick up on microphone than several disparate singing groups. I find that, when watching a tense game, mindless singing is a distraction. Most singing and chanting is initiated either by an urge to motivate the team or as a response to actions on the pitch. When the game is being played out in the careful, patient-approach way that we play most of the time then singing seems an irrelevance. The 'oohs' and 'ahhs' and shouts of encouragement when we attack at speed are loud and clear. You can only sing for 90 minutes, regardless of the state of the game, when you are totally canned up, and what else do travelling fans have to do?

Empty seats: The core of City fans are Manchester people who attend every game they can; season ticket holders attending the home league games and subscribing for the cup schemes. On top of this, with our success as a team, we are still in every competition going and games are coming thick and fast. Believe me, the time will come when, just like the plastics at the swamp, we will be a larger global entity and be inundated with wealthy-enough tourists paying homage to the brand 'City'. After all, a great proportion of the swamp-attendees are first-timers and once-in-a-lifetimers. If we remain a club supported significantly by a loyal, life-long, local fan-base, then we must accept that we will struggle to fill the stadium for the umpteenth home game in a fortnight, on a Tuesday evening. Some of you would also complain if the stadium was topped-up with tourists watching the action through the rear view of their I-phones.

Leaving early: If people want to leave early then what the hell? Personally I would never leave early, and that's not because I have an easy journey home. I would never leave early because I would have missed some of the most breath-taking and exhilarating moments in our season, or even our history. (I got home at 1.15 this morning, by the way, and I know others who had at least a further hour to add to their journeys).

A previous poster nailed it; Why are we concerned by what others might write or vocalise? We know how much we love City, that the fans in the stadium are 'proper fans' not supplemented by voyeuristic tourists, that we always sell our away ticket allocation, and that we have the best, most loyal fans in the league. Be strong Blues!
 
EddieR said:
Really; where to start?
Firstly, let me address the matter of singing; Much of the away-fan singing, as it is when we are the away-fans, is almost choreographed, because we/they are a (relatively) small group gathered together. That gives the singing more impact and is easier to pick up on microphone than several disparate singing groups. I find that, when watching a tense game, mindless singing is a distraction. Most singing and chanting is initiated either by an urge to motivate the team or as a response to actions on the pitch. When the game is being played out in the careful, patient-approach way that we play most of the time then singing seems an irrelevance. The 'oohs' and 'ahhs' and shouts of encouragement when we attack at speed are loud and clear. You can only sing for 90 minutes, regardless of the state of the game, when you are totally canned up, and what else do travelling fans have to do?

Empty seats: The core of City fans are Manchester people who attend every game they can; season ticket holders attending the home league games and subscribing for the cup schemes. On top of this, with our success as a team, we are still in every competition going and games are coming thick and fast. Believe me, the time will come when, just like the plastics at the swamp, we will be a larger global entity and be inundated with wealthy-enough tourists paying homage to the brand 'City'. After all, a great proportion of the swamp-attendees are first-timers and once-in-a-lifetimers. If we remain a club supported significantly by a loyal, life-long, local fan-base, then we must accept that we will struggle to fill the stadium for the umpteenth home game in a fortnight, on a Tuesday evening. Some of you would also complain if the stadium was topped-up with tourists watching the action through the rear view of their I-phones.

Leaving early: If people want to leave early then what the hell? Personally I would never leave early, and that's not because I have an easy journey home. I would never leave early because I would have missed some of the most breath-taking and exhilarating moments in our season, or even our history. (I got home at 1.15 this morning, by the way, and I know others who had at least a further hour to add to their journeys).

A previous poster nailed it; Why are we concerned by what others might write or vocalise? We know how much we love City, that the fans in the stadium are 'proper fans' not supplemented by voyeuristic tourists, that we always sell our away ticket allocation, and that we have the best, most loyal fans in the league. Be strong Blues!
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Good post with the correct summing up.
 
Millwallawayveteran1988 said:
Indeed. My sister made the effort to go last night taking her 6 year old son.it took them an hour and 10 mins to go 16 miles to get there straight from finishing work where she had been in since 7am. They left 5 mins early and got home at 10.30, 2 hrs later than his usual bed time. He had a great time regardless of leaving early. Had they stayed it could easily have been 11.30. I think they should be applauded for making the effort not vilified for leaving 5 mins early.

The trains issue is a big one. Going back to Warrington there is a train at 10.07 and then no other train until 11.07. That makes a big difference to someone who starts work at 6am for example. When you come out of the ground there are no quick ways to get back to the station. I can just about make it but if I was elderly or had a young child I would have to leave early. Who wants to be walking in at 11.45? 8pm kick off games are now a decision. Why have they changed them to that when it isn't on TV? How is that going to encourage more people to go and less people to leave early.

Our stadium was built in the worst possible place for access. You can't park close by anymore without paying and getting stuck, there are not enough trams, buses and now taxis to get back into town.

Those who went and made the effort for their 3rd game in 8 days don't need picking up for leaving early in my opinion.
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Very good post.

The public transport is a nightmare. The trams are useless, carrying what 200?? people a time back to the City every 10 mins? I have used them once a couple of years ago and the queue was awful. My mate used them earlier this season and had to wait 50mins.

The M60 is a nightmare most weekday nights. There is effectively one road going back to town, which they now close off for traffic from near the tram crossing because there are tens of thousands of fans walking back down Ashton new road to the City. Busses struggle to get down this road and i only ever see about four buses, why isnt there 30 busses lined up?

You then get to Piccadilly and if like me you live near Congleton the last train leave at 9.45pm which is no use!

Parking near the ground is a now more difficult as the Council have extended the resident's permit areas and there are less car parks.

All of this will get worse if further stadium expansion is undertaken.

Imo the Club and Council need to make Ashton Road and Merrill street one way towarss the city centre after a match. Put on 30 busses. More trams lined up if possible. And the train companies need to consulted about delaying the last trains on match days. All a long shot I know.
 
I watched from my couch last night. First ten minutes saw loads of empty seats but they slowly filled up and by half time there were a lot more in.
The only game i've seen lately that didn't have empty seats was the scouse derby.
 
You all know why everyone talks about empty seats in the media and it’s always us any other team evening the scum who closed stands and have 30k less in games different is those clubs never get on constantly talked about on the radio and in the papers.
 
EddieR said:
Really; where to start?
Firstly, let me address the matter of singing; Much of the away-fan singing, as it is when we are the away-fans, is almost choreographed, because we/they are a (relatively) small group gathered together. That gives the singing more impact and is easier to pick up on microphone than several disparate singing groups. I find that, when watching a tense game, mindless singing is a distraction. Most singing and chanting is initiated either by an urge to motivate the team or as a response to actions on the pitch. When the game is being played out in the careful, patient-approach way that we play most of the time then singing seems an irrelevance. The 'oohs' and 'ahhs' and shouts of encouragement when we attack at speed are loud and clear. You can only sing for 90 minutes, regardless of the state of the game, when you are totally canned up, and what else do travelling fans have to do?

Empty seats: The core of City fans are Manchester people who attend every game they can; season ticket holders attending the home league games and subscribing for the cup schemes. On top of this, with our success as a team, we are still in every competition going and games are coming thick and fast. Believe me, the time will come when, just like the plastics at the swamp, we will be a larger global entity and be inundated with wealthy-enough tourists paying homage to the brand 'City'. After all, a great proportion of the swamp-attendees are first-timers and once-in-a-lifetimers. If we remain a club supported significantly by a loyal, life-long, local fan-base, then we must accept that we will struggle to fill the stadium for the umpteenth home game in a fortnight, on a Tuesday evening. Some of you would also complain if the stadium was topped-up with tourists watching the action through the rear view of their I-phones.

Leaving early: If people want to leave early then what the hell? Personally I would never leave early, and that's not because I have an easy journey home. I would never leave early because I would have missed some of the most breath-taking and exhilarating moments in our season, or even our history. (I got home at 1.15 this morning, by the way, and I know others who had at least a further hour to add to their journeys).

A previous poster nailed it; Why are we concerned by what others might write or vocalise? We know how much we love City, that the fans in the stadium are 'proper fans' not supplemented by voyeuristic tourists, that we always sell our away ticket allocation, and that we have the best, most loyal fans in the league. Be strong Blues!
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Nobody mentions the empty stand at the Swamp in the FA Cup. The rags do their best to ensure the cameras don’t show it. They have empty seats at all Cup games. Also - the media avoid mentioning the fact that the poor rag fans HAVE to buy home tickets for FA & European games.

Our attendances for cup games are voluntary and, as such, are are good & on the increase but don’t let facts get in the way of rag biased reporting. It was the only thing talhshite’s Goldstein’s has to hit us with last night.
 
I'm not sure what the issue is but regular seasoncard holders don't tend to go to the League Cup games.
I sat in block 128 for 15 years and rarely saw the regulars near me at a LC match. The guy in front hardly ever missed and he lives in Worcester. I was lucky that I had a well paid job that finished at a reasonable time so that I could get to the game.
Why didn't they go? I always thought it was apathy.

Now we have been moved into the corporate-lite of 93:20. On our row the regulars are there week in week out but last night our row and the one in front was empty of about 20 seats blocked together. Why weren't they there?
Cost I hear some of you say, well it wasn't cost as the ticket for last night was included in the price.
Distance maybe? I don't know them well enough to know where they're from, except the lad next to me is from Warrington.

So if it's not cost and it isn't distance it can only be apathy.
And it got to me as well, sat there on an empty row. Went down for a pint at half time and didn't bother coming back up, so stayed in the bar.
 
CC1 said:
Nobody mentions the empty stand at the Swamp in the FA Cup. The rags do their best to ensure the cameras don’t show it. They have empty seats at all Cup games. Also - the media avoid mentioning the fact that the poor rag fans HAVE to buy home tickets for FA & European games.

Our attendances for cup games are voluntary and, as such, are are good & on the increase but don’t let facts get in the way of rag biased reporting. It was the only thing talhshite’s Goldstein’s has to hit us with last night.
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The Dipper derby had an empty top-tier, Tottenham barely half-filled Wembley for their league derby last week too.
 
whatever way we dress it up last night was embarrassing, we are getting laughed at in the media, slaughtered all over social media. This is our best ever team, we are playing in a cup semi final and there were swathes of empty seats everywhere, our support was far better when we were in Div 2, I'm fucking ill with the way our support is being portrayed these days.
 
squirtyflower said:
I'm not sure what the issue is but regular seasoncard holders don't tend to go to the League Cup games.
I sat in block 128 for 15 years and rarely saw the regulars near me at a LC match. The guy in front hardly ever missed and he lives in Worcester. I was lucky that I had a well paid job that finished at a reasonable time so that I could get to the game.
Why didn't they go? I always thought it was apathy.

Now we have been moved into the corporate-lite of 93:20. On our row the regulars are there week in week out but last night our row and the one in front was empty of about 20 seats blocked together. Why weren't they there?
Cost I hear some of you say, well it wasn't cost as the ticket for last night was included in the price.
Distance maybe? I don't know them well enough to know where they're from, except the lad next to me is from Warrington.

So if it's not cost and it isn't distance it can only be apathy.
And it got to me as well, sat there on an empty row. Went down for a pint at half time and didn't bother coming back up, so stayed in the bar.
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The League Cup used to be the only thing we could win. Now, as Pep's selection last night suggests, if we happen to win it then fine but in the eyes of the club and plenty of fans now, winning a PL and CL double is more important than winning a quadruple including the League Cup. It doesn't appear to matter to the club or the manager so why should it matter to the fans?
 
BurnageBob said:
whatever way we dress it up last night was embarrassing, we are getting laughed at in the media, slaughtered all over social media. This is our best ever team, we are playing in a cup semi final and there were swathes of empty seats everywhere, our support was far better when we were in Div 2, I'm fucking ill with the way our support is being portrayed these days.
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It’s the only thing the media can “ laugh” at but our attendances are on the increase & are no worse than any other team’s - indeed, better than most
 
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