Away tickets

[Ardwick Green Blue]

I’m surprised the club give a fuck who goes to away games.

I don’t go to away games now so these changes don’t affect me but I think it’s part of a wider plan to dislodge older, hardcore supporters who spend relatively fuck all compared to corporate members, tourists and younger fans in general. The demographic of our fan base isn’t what the club wants.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

I don’t go to away games now so these changes don’t affect me but I think it’s part of a wider plan to dislodge older, hardcore supporters who spend relatively fuck all compared to corporate members, tourists and younger fans in general. The demographic of our fan base isn’t what the club wants.

I have no doubt on that last bit. If they could fill an away end and monetize those present at the same time, then I’m sure they would. Those City in the City events but on a mass scale. Fortunately, we don’t have the demand at the top end as shown by the empty seats in corporate areas

 

[Ardwick Green Blue]

I have no doubt on that last bit. If they could fill an away end and monetize those present at the same time, then I’m sure they would. Those City in the City events but on a mass scale. Fortunately, we don’t have the demand at the top end as shown by the empty seats in corporate areas

I’m thinking more about the club wanting to trim a lot of the older support in order to create room for the other demographics I listed. There is obviously no financial benefit to the club with away games BUT if the home demographic gets younger, more corporate and touristy then I’m sure they would be delighted.

 

[fathellensbellend]

As the old saying goes you always hurt the ones that love you the most, a decision that the club will come to regret, many many games in the last decade have been a hard sell despite the success, the core have always picked up the slack, now the incentive has gone I suspect swathes of empties at the unattractive fixtures, and it will be totally deserved

 

[awest]

As the old saying goes you always hurt the ones that love you the most, a decision that the club will come to regret, many many games in the last decade have been a hard sell despite the success, the core have always picked up the slack, now the incentive has gone I suspect swathes of empties at the unattractive fixtures, and it will be totally deserved

Great point.

 

[GortonBlue62]

So your saying to people just starting out that they can go to 3-4 games a year that are unfashionable, midweek and far away- btw you’ll never be able to catch up points wise and the the people on higher points just pass on tickets anyway.

Lots of games have become a closed shop and lots of fans have no chance at all of being able to go to games. Plenty of people think it is an issue- the club apparently aswell.

It's not 3 to 4 it's more like 12 to 15 away games that went to very low points last season.

'Plenty of people think it is an issue'. Eat at Joe's Cafe, 3 million cockroaches can't be wrong? This isn't an argument, it avoids the inconvenient fact that there was ample opportunity for people to build up their points over a period of time. What people couldn't do was quickly qualify for Anfield or Old Trafford.

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

I don’t go to away games now so these changes don’t affect me but I think it’s part of a wider plan to dislodge older, hardcore supporters who spend relatively fuck all compared to corporate members, tourists and younger fans in general. The demographic of our fan base isn’t what the club wants.

It’s been happening for years though. I’d argue a lot of people defend the club though as long as they can still go to go games. Season ticket price rises, champions league price rises - load of posters in here defend. It’s only when it effects them personally....

It’s the problem we have in England people don’t mass boycott or protest. They just keep paying - alright jacks

 

[squirtyflower]

I don't know what you've wrote but there's no need to abuse him if you have. 5% of the away allocation is going to fans who are lucky enough to watch a successful city but unlucky enough to only ever be able to go to the least popular away games (unlike those born in any other era) - and even then, they find out last minute. 5% is a really miniscule amount and all but 150 of those who feel they're entitled to go to every single City game will still get first dibs on tickets. Absolutely no need for the reaction this is getting for doing a difficult job. If you're gonna get abusive towards anyone, direct it towards Sorriano for the ever increasing corporate allocation at away games.

Very few people were against the 5% allocation to the youngsters, but we were lied to.
He claimed the allocation was to spilt evenly across all the groups of supporters, but it has come from one group only which is why you are now getting this reaction.
This is also the same group who will have to track to the away ticket office to be allowed in.

 

[GortonBlue62]

Great move by the club but doesn't go far enough, this should be extended and I'd even have a ballot for every away game.
For the many, not the few old duffers

We could reset the points system to zero today and instigate a ballot for every single away ticket and 2 things would be certain:

1) The people at the front of the queue now, would be back at the front of the queue in 5 years time. They would be the ones who will watch City home and away and make huge sacrifices to do so.

2) The people who have fallen behind now would have fallen behind again because they really only want to go to Anfield and Old Trafford. They would of course insist that 'something should be done'.

When 'old duffers' like me have faded away (or been driven away by the club), I hope the younger generation don't have the cheek to reply 'we were there when we were shit' when away fans taunt us, because lads you really weren't.

 

[jrb]

Here's a more democratic way of doing things in the future.

After the club have discussed idea's with the reps, they should give every season ticket holder a chance to vote on it.

There should be a page on the OS where the idea is posted, you need to be a season ticket holder, you need to log in with your OS user details, then you vote. Once you have voted you cannot vote again. And there is a set tme to cast your vote. Once the votes are counted, the decision is final, and displayed on the OS.

That way you involve as many sesdson ticket holders as possible, and not just the reps, and small selected groups of City fans.

 

[wolfie1988]

Very few people were against the 5% allocation to the youngsters, but we were lied to.
He claimed the allocation was to spilt evenly across all the groups of supporters, but it has come from one group only which is why you are now getting this reaction.
This is also the same group who will have to track to the away ticket office to be allowed in.

Is this definitely true?

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Just read the OS statement briefly.

The club have played a blinder on this one.

No away points.

But points for all home games, including cup games.

So, now I’m forced to rejoin the FA Cup and League Cup schemes that I decided to drop out of, to make up missing out on the now stopped away points.

Prestwich Blue.

Not going to call you. You can’t win.

And I know you don’t post on here anymore.

So I would like you to forward a reply from the club on to Ric or to a Mod, please.

Can you find out from the club if the Collect in Destination checks also apply to Tunnel Club members and other corp members, or is it only season ticket holders?

I stand corrected on this, but don’t Tunnel Club Members get 1 away ticket each? If so, where are they ending up, because I’m 99% sure most of those away tickets don’t get used by the Tunnel Club members. They are either sold or passed on. Do the checks include sponsors as well, who get free away tickets?

Can you also ask the club to explain why resale ticket sites manage to get hold of away tickets and sell them on at inflated prices. The club are fully aware of this, and always have been. Can you ask the club what they are actively doing to stop this, because it is still going on.

If the club are doing random checks on season ticket holders, they should be doing random checks on Tunnel Club members, corporates, and sponsors, or are they not being randomly checked?

I look forward to your reply.

Many thanks.

Good post.

I have the feeling that City are the ones who put tickets on the tout sites and have them sold on at a huge upscale.

There was a Panorama or Dispatches (can’t remember which) programme about this a few years ago and it showed that it wasn’t just criminal gangs who were buying concert tickets from reputable places and putting them on these tout sites, but also the record companies and/or the concert venues who were putting them on there.

 

[i kne albert davy]

So your saying to people just starting out that they can go to 3-4 games a year that are unfashionable, midweek and far away- btw you’ll never be able to catch up points wise and the the people on higher points just pass on tickets anyway.

Lots of games have become a closed shop and lots of fans have no chance at all of being able to go to games. Plenty of people think it is an issue- the club apparently aswell.

By lots of games have become a closed shop do you mean the ones you fancy going to that don't put you out to much and are popular with most fans,or is it because the lads and ladies who've put the effort in to do the shitty ones happen to have got them first.

 

[didsburyblu]

Having read this whole thread there is a staggering number convinced that all the older lot who have been going for years literally to a man no longer go and pass tickets on earning the title 'points whores'
Where is the evidence of this cos I'm seeing the same faces game after game whether its Bournemouth away on a bank holiday weekend or Newcastle away on a wet Wednesday night in February and have done for years.
By all means debate things but I'm yet to see any evidence to support this.... Not saying it never happens but just like any supporter there are reasons why you can no longer make a certain game and there is nothing that I can see that's ever been produced to support this theory that it's widespread so it's certainly disappointing that the club seem to have accepted it as fact without the slightest but of evidence to support it, there again given they're happy to wave the ban hammer at fans before even giving them a chance to respond it shouldn't really surprise me

 

[squirtyflower]

Agreed on everything there
the reason Celtic went wrong was because with it being so close people didn't turn up in dribs and drabs so couldn't cope with the surge. i had no problems collecting in paris. plus this will only be a small amount collecting not the full allocation.

Lucky you not having a problem.
I was with a group of 13 of us who had to travel for 45 minutes to the hotel, costing us all money on the Metro, followed by 45 minutes back to get rid of our passports.
That was after the one and a half hours we queued for our tickets.

Yeah, dead straight forward mate.

Or what about the five of us trudging through the snow in Kiev to get to the tickets?
Or the one and a half hour walk to the ground in Bucharest and then another one and half hour back to the town.

Cheers for you being so magnanimous about the use of my free time.

 

[squirtyflower]

It will be interesting to see what happens now though. If high points can’t be arsed going to Bournemouth and early cup games etc then surely that means that other fans get a chance to go to games that they never would have had a chance to attend.
If we don’t sell these tickets then the club can say they tried something and it never worked so they can go back to points again. Personally, I think the former. High points supporters don’t need to worry as they will always have first shout.

You mean like the 15 away games that either didn’t sell out or went on open sale.
Yeah I regularly see the clamour of these thousands of fans desperate to go but don’t have the points.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

We shouldn’t accept it you are bang on. I have spoken to Supporter Services this afternoon and changed my season card from platinum to gold and expressed my disgust at the decision

I did that this Summer after the club upped ticket prices for the eleventh time in thirteen years.

Had enough of it now so they can give me £50 back.

 

[GortonBlue62]

Why are people objecting to these changes? If you are a high points holder who goes to the majority of games home and away (as your points total suggests) then nothing changes for you.

I feel the protests are precisely because this is what a lot of the longstanding high points holders no longer actually do. They simply preserve their previously hard earned points totals by buying tickets they have absolutely zero intention of attending and farm the tickets on. Thus preserving forever their ability to pick and choose the games they want to attend. It had become a closed shop.

Anything that is intended to stop this surely has to be welcomed?

If you think that a high percentage of high pointers don't attend all the away games they qualify for, you aren't engaging with reality. You are 100% wrong on this. I'm not sure how you come to this conclusion, it's absurd,comically so. The same old faces are there time and time again at away games, especially at the games that went to low points and the games that didn't sell out at all.

I'm all right Jack. It's true. I'll be able to go to over 95% of games and for the ones I miss out on (points wise) someone with higher points than me who isn't going will sort me out. So this change does nothing to inconvenience me or solve the (exaggerated) problem of points whoring.

There are 2 main reasons this annoys me:

1) The club are dismantling the most meritocratic points system in existence. I say the 'most meritocratic' because the system predated the money and success arriving. It rewarded long term loyalty and people at the front of the queue deserve to be there. They don't deserve to be tarnished by the club as points whores.

2) The club are disadvantaging its hard core (away) support. They can do this because they know that people like me will keep turning up, so they can treat me like shit.

Well I've got news for you pal and the fuckers that run our club and the knobhead reps and their knobhead apologists on here, you won't stop me watching City away, I'll find a way, points or no points.

 

[sam 1980]

As the old saying goes you always hurt the ones that love you the most, a decision that the club will come to regret, many many games in the last decade have been a hard sell despite the success, the core have always picked up the slack, now the incentive has gone I suspect swathes of empties at the unattractive fixtures, and it will be totally deserved

Exactly it I’m not knocking our fan base but the club think we have a fan base of united or Liverpool and if a few fuck it off someone will take their place I think they maybe in for a shock

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Why are people objecting to these changes? If you are a high points holder who goes to the majority of games home and away (as your points total suggests) then nothing changes for you.

I feel the protests are precisely because this is what a lot of the longstanding high points holders no longer actually do. They simply preserve their previously hard earned points totals by buying tickets they have absolutely zero intention of attending and farm the tickets on. Thus preserving forever their ability to pick and choose the games they want to attend. It had become a closed shop.

Anything that is intended to stop this surely has to be welcomed?

It’s because not everyone is just out for themselves.

Despite some high pointers only looking out for themselves, many people on high points (20000+) have many mates on mid-points (15-18000) and they know that those people have also put in the years of support home and away just like them but just not quite as much or maybe didn’t have the money to go to everything.

But mid-pointers are falling further and further away from the pack due to the ever decreasing number of away tickets being available to pointers.

Corporates, supporters clubs, ticket tout sites, friends of players, club employees and their +1s, vloggers and fanTV organisers and their +1s, foreign travel agencies, and now 18-25 year olds have all decreased the size of the allocation to pointers. So some high pointers are going to fewer away games with their mid point mates, so they are sticking up for them and pointing out this isn’t fair.