City attacking face value sites - cultural war on supporters ?

[Chappie]

Mike Broadbent his name

From old trafford he came.

 

[CC1]

Fucking disgusting. I hate this club

That must be the weirdest thing a City fan has ever said. Sounds like you need to move on

 

[CΛL]

We still do.

Sheikh Mansour and Silverlake won’t know the ins and outs of the FV pages.

In which case they’re not the best owners are they?

 

[Tim of the Oak]

In which case they’re not the best owners are they?

Everyone will have their view.

They’ve transformed many of our lives. More than most if us could have expected from our football club. This is unpleasant and wrong but doesn’t change everything for me

 

[thegoatsthegoat]

That must be the weirdest thing a City fan has ever said. Sounds like you need to move on

Weird? I do hate City behind the scenes and the list is endless. I obviously love City, I hate what the club has become behind the scenes. If you love being treated like shit, consistently then go for it.

 

[CC1]

Weird? I do hate City behind the scenes and the list is endless. I obviously love City, I hate what the club has become behind the scenes. If you love being treated like shit, consistently then go for it.

So you DON’T hate the club then

 

[thegoatsthegoat]

So you DON’T hate the club then

I hate elements of the club yes. City simply as a football team I love on pitch. Hate everything off it.

 

[Berti No Show]

It’s hard not to see this for what it really is, an attack on the very fabric of our support.

For years, fans on this forum and elsewhere have done what the club claims it wants - kept the ground full, week in, week out. On cold Wednesday nights against Southampton, Burnley, or anyone else, it’s been supporters helping supporters that’s made sure the Etihad hasn’t had empty patches. People pass tickets on at face value or less, not for profit, but to keep a Blue in the seat. That’s loyalty, not exploitation. That’s culture, not commerce.

Now the club wants to threaten and dismantle that? To hand ticketing over to nine faceless “reseller partners” with no guarantee those seats end up with actual City fans? To risk away supporters in home ends? To strip away the generational bonds that make following this club more than just a transaction?

It’s not just about tickets. It’s about trust. About the club choosing to believe in its own supporters, rather than treating us as problems to be managed or revenue streams to be maximised. The irony is glaring it really is. Fans that go out of their way to help fellow Blues being punished, but corporate reselling at inflated prices is legitimised. Absolutely laughable.

The danger here is more than empty rhetoric. If you hollow out the core, if you alienate season ticket holders and silence the natural, organic ways fans have kept this community alive, then the Etihad will lose its heart. Without the voices, the noise, the generational continuity, what are we left with? A stadium that looks full but feels soulless, like it already is today. We had more noise at Boundary Park for the under 21's than we did at the Etihad for Spurs on Saturday.

And for what? So some executive can polish their CV, tick a KPI, and tell Khaldoon they’ve “optimised ticketing strategy”? That kind of short term box ticking exercise is the enemy of long term identity.

City’s rise to the top of world football has always been rooted in something deeper than money: it’s been built on a loyal, passionate base that never walked away, even in the darkest years. We are the people who stood by the club when we were tumbling down the leagues, who lived through York away and still came back in our tens of thousands.

That loyalty is what made the great moments mean what they did. The Aguero goal against QPR wasn’t just a title winning strike - it was a release of decades of pain, belief, and endurance by supporters who had never stopped caring, who never stopped loving the Club. The same with Dickov’s goal at Wembley, that eruption of noise came not from tourists or day trippers, but from generations of Blues who carried the club through the darkest times. Those moments mattered because of us.

If the club now forgets that, or worse, deliberately undermines it, then it risks hollowing out the very soul that makes Manchester City what it is today. Without the continuation of that core support, without those bonds passed down through families and communities, the Etihad becomes just another stadium and City just another corporate “brand.”

City was built on loyalty, not on resale partners and CV padding executives. Lose sight of that, and we lose what makes us different.

We shouldn’t stay silent. We shouldn’t let them rewrite what it means to be a Blue. This isn’t just about tickets, it’s about identity, continuity, and the kind of club we want to hand down to the next generation of supporters.

We cannot, and must not, let those above us take our club away from us. Decisions made in boardrooms might be dressed up as “progress” or “modernisation,” but we know what they really risk. It risks the slow erosion of what Manchester City truly is. A football club is nothing without its supporters, and if those people are sidelined, silenced, or priced out, then all you’re left with is an empty shell wearing the badge and supporters in City shirts filming a Spurs player scoring goals against your beloved team.

That’s why it’s more important than ever that we, as supporters (and continued rallying from the 1894 group - thank you!) continue to show the strength of our identity. Keep turning up at the Under 21s. Keep filling the stands at women’s matches. Keep showing in numbers, and in voice, that Manchester City is more than just its first team on a Saturday afternoon. It’s a community, a family, and a culture that runs deep in this city. Every time we turn out in droves for the academy lads or the women, we remind the club where its roots are and who has carried it from the lowest points to the greatest heights.

It’s us, the loyal, local, generational supporters who gave meaning to Dickov’s goal at Wembley, who gave soul to Aguero’s 93:20, who turned moments of football into legends that will echo forever. Without us, those memories are empty, and with us, they are timeless. That’s why the club cannot afford to ignore us.

The reality is, the Etihad doesn’t come alive because of corporate deals or reseller partners. It comes alive because Blues hand tickets down to their kids, because mates help each other out on forums and Facebook, because we sing for each other as much as for the team. That heartbeat can’t be manufactured, and it certainly can’t be replaced by profit margins. Tickets are sold to the local fan on those groups 45 minutes before kick off so a local supporter who normally cannot get to games can attend those games (if there are train strikes and fans can't get there).

So we keep turning up. We keep reminding them that the soul of this club is not for sale. And we keep fighting to make sure that, no matter what changes come from above, Manchester City remains ours - a club of its people, for its people.

MCFC.

 

[thegoatsthegoat]

It’s hard not to see this for what it really is, an attack on the very fabric of our support.

For years, fans on this forum and elsewhere have done what the club claims it wants - kept the ground full, week in, week out. On cold Wednesday nights against Southampton, Burnley, or anyone else, it’s been supporters helping supporters that’s made sure the Etihad hasn’t had empty patches. People pass tickets on at face value or less, not for profit, but to keep a Blue in the seat. That’s loyalty, not exploitation. That’s culture, not commerce.

Now the club wants to threaten and dismantle that? To hand ticketing over to nine faceless “reseller partners” with no guarantee those seats end up with actual City fans? To risk away supporters in home ends? To strip away the generational bonds that make following this club more than just a transaction?

It’s not just about tickets. It’s about trust. About the club choosing to believe in its own supporters, rather than treating us as problems to be managed or revenue streams to be maximised. The irony is glaring it really is. Fans that go out of their way to help fellow Blues being punished, but corporate reselling at inflated prices is legitimised. Absolutely laughable.

The danger here is more than empty rhetoric. If you hollow out the core, if you alienate season ticket holders and silence the natural, organic ways fans have kept this community alive, then the Etihad will lose its heart. Without the voices, the noise, the generational continuity, what are we left with? A stadium that looks full but feels soulless, like it already is today. We had more noise at Boundary Park for the under 21's than we did at the Etihad for Spurs on Saturday.

And for what? So some executive can polish their CV, tick a KPI, and tell Khaldoon they’ve “optimised ticketing strategy”? That kind of short term box ticking exercise is the enemy of long term identity.

City’s rise to the top of world football has always been rooted in something deeper than money: it’s been built on a loyal, passionate base that never walked away, even in the darkest years. We are the people who stood by the club when we were tumbling down the leagues, who lived through York away and still came back in our tens of thousands.

That loyalty is what made the great moments mean what they did. The Aguero goal against QPR wasn’t just a title winning strike - it was a release of decades of pain, belief, and endurance by supporters who had never stopped caring, who never stopped loving the Club. The same with Dickov’s goal at Wembley, that eruption of noise came not from tourists or day trippers, but from generations of Blues who carried the club through the darkest times. Those moments mattered because of us.

If the club now forgets that, or worse, deliberately undermines it, then it risks hollowing out the very soul that makes Manchester City what it is today. Without the continuation of that core support, without those bonds passed down through families and communities, the Etihad becomes just another stadium and City just another corporate “brand.”

City was built on loyalty, not on resale partners and CV padding executives. Lose sight of that, and we lose what makes us different.

We shouldn’t stay silent. We shouldn’t let them rewrite what it means to be a Blue. This isn’t just about tickets, it’s about identity, continuity, and the kind of club we want to hand down to the next generation of supporters.

Perfectly put and much better than my attempts. City matters, 1894, other groups. Can we all get together to fight this.

 

[blueste41]

We still do.

Sheikh Mansour and Silverlake won’t know the ins and outs of the FV pages.

If he cares about the fans he should? Or the policy at least.

 

[Manc Born & Bred]

You only have to look at that photo from last week of all those so called fans with their phones out taking pictures of Spurs having scored to see what we have become. A joke of a club with support to match. For years we took the piss out of the rags for their support and we have become them, it's truly sickening to watch. I don't have an issue with fans wherever they come from in the world, what I do take issue with is those who this season are following us, then it's Chelsea, then Arsenal etc. They aren't fans yet they are taking home and away tickets out of the hands of genuine blues. The club are just chasing the next £, the disconnect between the club and fans is now a chasm and I don't see it getting any better any time soon.

 

[LangleyBlue1970]

You only have to look at that photo from last week of all those so called fans with their phones out taking pictures of Spurs having scored to see what we have become. A joke of a club with support to match. For years we took the piss out of the rags for their support and we have become them, it's truly sickening to watch. I don't have an issue with fans wherever they come from in the world, what I do take issue with is those who this season are following us, then it's Chelsea, then Arsenal etc. They aren't fans yet they are taking home and away tickets out of the hands of genuine blues. The club are just chasing the next £, the disconnect between the club and fans is now a chasm and I don't see it getting any better any time soon.

The price of success and a by-product of the take over. It was always going to happen. Not that it’s right, it’s just what happens when you get to the head of the table, probably even more so when you emerge from relative obscurity.

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

It's not City it's football. Get together with other club fans. The game is, has, been stolen from us. They're turning it into a frankenstein sort of a game, far removed from what we play, whilst they extract as much money out of it and Us that they can get away with.

Or fuck em, spend your money where the clubs care for fans rather than customer traps and subscriptions. We go watch Crewe nowadays, no politics, no prima donna shite, no VAR, no extortion, decent people watching something they love.

 

[Moss Side's Finest]

Soriano is the problem - heartless bloke and absolute twat of a human being who only sees pound signs. Unfortunately he is trusted by the higher ups.

Ah, so you know him personally do you fella?

 

[Saddleworth2]

It’s hard not to see this for what it really is, an attack on the very fabric of our support.

For years, fans on this forum and elsewhere have done what the club claims it wants - kept the ground full, week in, week out. On cold Wednesday nights against Southampton, Burnley, or anyone else, it’s been supporters helping supporters that’s made sure the Etihad hasn’t had empty patches. People pass tickets on at face value or less, not for profit, but to keep a Blue in the seat. That’s loyalty, not exploitation. That’s culture, not commerce.

Now the club wants to threaten and dismantle that? To hand ticketing over to nine faceless “reseller partners” with no guarantee those seats end up with actual City fans? To risk away supporters in home ends? To strip away the generational bonds that make following this club more than just a transaction?

It’s not just about tickets. It’s about trust. About the club choosing to believe in its own supporters, rather than treating us as problems to be managed or revenue streams to be maximised. The irony is glaring it really is. Fans that go out of their way to help fellow Blues being punished, but corporate reselling at inflated prices is legitimised. Absolutely laughable.

The danger here is more than empty rhetoric. If you hollow out the core, if you alienate season ticket holders and silence the natural, organic ways fans have kept this community alive, then the Etihad will lose its heart. Without the voices, the noise, the generational continuity, what are we left with? A stadium that looks full but feels soulless, like it already is today. We had more noise at Boundary Park for the under 21's than we did at the Etihad for Spurs on Saturday.

And for what? So some executive can polish their CV, tick a KPI, and tell Khaldoon they’ve “optimised ticketing strategy”? That kind of short term box ticking exercise is the enemy of long term identity.

City’s rise to the top of world football has always been rooted in something deeper than money: it’s been built on a loyal, passionate base that never walked away, even in the darkest years. We are the people who stood by the club when we were tumbling down the leagues, who lived through York away and still came back in our tens of thousands.

That loyalty is what made the great moments mean what they did. The Aguero goal against QPR wasn’t just a title winning strike - it was a release of decades of pain, belief, and endurance by supporters who had never stopped caring, who never stopped loving the Club. The same with Dickov’s goal at Wembley, that eruption of noise came not from tourists or day trippers, but from generations of Blues who carried the club through the darkest times. Those moments mattered because of us.

If the club now forgets that, or worse, deliberately undermines it, then it risks hollowing out the very soul that makes Manchester City what it is today. Without the continuation of that core support, without those bonds passed down through families and communities, the Etihad becomes just another stadium and City just another corporate “brand.”

City was built on loyalty, not on resale partners and CV padding executives. Lose sight of that, and we lose what makes us different.

We shouldn’t stay silent. We shouldn’t let them rewrite what it means to be a Blue. This isn’t just about tickets, it’s about identity, continuity, and the kind of club we want to hand down to the next generation of supporters.

We cannot, and must not, let those above us take our club away from us. Decisions made in boardrooms might be dressed up as “progress” or “modernisation,” but we know what they really risk. It risks the slow erosion of what Manchester City truly is. A football club is nothing without its supporters, and if those people are sidelined, silenced, or priced out, then all you’re left with is an empty shell wearing the badge and supporters in City shirts filming a Spurs player scoring goals against your beloved team.

That’s why it’s more important than ever that we, as supporters (and continued rallying from the 1894 group - thank you!) continue to show the strength of our identity. Keep turning up at the Under 21s. Keep filling the stands at women’s matches. Keep showing in numbers, and in voice, that Manchester City is more than just its first team on a Saturday afternoon. It’s a community, a family, and a culture that runs deep in this city. Every time we turn out in droves for the academy lads or the women, we remind the club where its roots are and who has carried it from the lowest points to the greatest heights.

It’s us, the loyal, local, generational supporters who gave meaning to Dickov’s goal at Wembley, who gave soul to Aguero’s 93:20, who turned moments of football into legends that will echo forever. Without us, those memories are empty, and with us, they are timeless. That’s why the club cannot afford to ignore us.

The reality is, the Etihad doesn’t come alive because of corporate deals or reseller partners. It comes alive because Blues hand tickets down to their kids, because mates help each other out on forums and Facebook, because we sing for each other as much as for the team. That heartbeat can’t be manufactured, and it certainly can’t be replaced by profit margins. Tickets are sold to the local fan on those groups 45 minutes before kick off so a local supporter who normally cannot get to games can attend those games (if there are train strikes and fans can't get there).

So we keep turning up. We keep reminding them that the soul of this club is not for sale. And we keep fighting to make sure that, no matter what changes come from above, Manchester City remains ours - a club of its people, for its people.

MCFC.

That post should be sent to every executive in the club by email. It articulates perfectly. Well done mate.

 

[TheGhost]

But it's just a business.
The club have to do this to compete and buy nice new players.
If you don't like it don't go.

That'll be the defence of this mob by some, tiresome but true.

That’s not true though is it. Get the players on the pitch pm time and it would pay for the amount of money made in this way without pissing the core support off.

 

[Saddleworth2]

That post should be sent to every executive in the club by email. It articulates perfectly. Well done mate.

And every member of City Matters so they can distribute it at the next meeting.

 

[Moss Side's Finest]

Daz Clarke page under threat from City now, we should not be silent on this surely - this very forum has had fans get tickets for fellow supporters at face value or less for many years - it’s fans using this site and others on Facebook that helps fill the ground on a wet Wednesday night against Sunderland or whoever…

That’s bums on seats and extra revenue for the club once people are inside buying food drink merchandise- that’s more noise helping the team - creating a passionate home atmosphere.

It’s an attempt to rid the club of season ticket holders over time. A great replacement which we must fight. It’s an attempt to change the culture within the stadium and a loosening of the generational links.

Without a continuation of the core support the club loses its’ soul.

And why ? Because some idiot here to boost their CV for 2/3 wants to impress khaldoon and get a promotion before moving off somewhere else?

Surely we and I mean this board should not be passive or silent here .

The context here is that these sites ensure a Blue / his family gets a ticket. They don’t go to away fans.

Club are doing this when :

1 no guarantees of filling the seats in an increased capacity

2 no guarantees the seats sold by 9 reseller partners are going to Blues each time - yet obsessed with Blues selling to blues at face value and not trusting the vast majority of fans who use these sites for good reason.

Galatasaray at home - 15000 of their fans got into old Trafford. What can we expect when they come to ours?

The problem is simple. Darren's page is not regulated and is therefore subject to potential fraud etc. Whereas the robbing bastard reseller sites are. I'm not saying it's right what they are doing, and I do agree with Darren and his page. However, from a legal standpoint, the club will simply see it as unregulated/unapproved ticket sales....

 

[AJS1961]

It’s hard not to see this for what it really is, an attack on the very fabric of our support.

For years, fans on this forum and elsewhere have done what the club claims it wants - kept the ground full, week in, week out. On cold Wednesday nights against Southampton, Burnley, or anyone else, it’s been supporters helping supporters that’s made sure the Etihad hasn’t had empty patches. People pass tickets on at face value or less, not for profit, but to keep a Blue in the seat. That’s loyalty, not exploitation. That’s culture, not commerce.

Now the club wants to threaten and dismantle that? To hand ticketing over to nine faceless “reseller partners” with no guarantee those seats end up with actual City fans? To risk away supporters in home ends? To strip away the generational bonds that make following this club more than just a transaction?

It’s not just about tickets. It’s about trust. About the club choosing to believe in its own supporters, rather than treating us as problems to be managed or revenue streams to be maximised. The irony is glaring it really is. Fans that go out of their way to help fellow Blues being punished, but corporate reselling at inflated prices is legitimised. Absolutely laughable.

The danger here is more than empty rhetoric. If you hollow out the core, if you alienate season ticket holders and silence the natural, organic ways fans have kept this community alive, then the Etihad will lose its heart. Without the voices, the noise, the generational continuity, what are we left with? A stadium that looks full but feels soulless, like it already is today. We had more noise at Boundary Park for the under 21's than we did at the Etihad for Spurs on Saturday.

And for what? So some executive can polish their CV, tick a KPI, and tell Khaldoon they’ve “optimised ticketing strategy”? That kind of short term box ticking exercise is the enemy of long term identity.

City’s rise to the top of world football has always been rooted in something deeper than money: it’s been built on a loyal, passionate base that never walked away, even in the darkest years. We are the people who stood by the club when we were tumbling down the leagues, who lived through York away and still came back in our tens of thousands.

That loyalty is what made the great moments mean what they did. The Aguero goal against QPR wasn’t just a title winning strike - it was a release of decades of pain, belief, and endurance by supporters who had never stopped caring, who never stopped loving the Club. The same with Dickov’s goal at Wembley, that eruption of noise came not from tourists or day trippers, but from generations of Blues who carried the club through the darkest times. Those moments mattered because of us.

If the club now forgets that, or worse, deliberately undermines it, then it risks hollowing out the very soul that makes Manchester City what it is today. Without the continuation of that core support, without those bonds passed down through families and communities, the Etihad becomes just another stadium and City just another corporate “brand.”

City was built on loyalty, not on resale partners and CV padding executives. Lose sight of that, and we lose what makes us different.

We shouldn’t stay silent. We shouldn’t let them rewrite what it means to be a Blue. This isn’t just about tickets, it’s about identity, continuity, and the kind of club we want to hand down to the next generation of supporters.

We cannot, and must not, let those above us take our club away from us. Decisions made in boardrooms might be dressed up as “progress” or “modernisation,” but we know what they really risk. It risks the slow erosion of what Manchester City truly is. A football club is nothing without its supporters, and if those people are sidelined, silenced, or priced out, then all you’re left with is an empty shell wearing the badge and supporters in City shirts filming a Spurs player scoring goals against your beloved team.

That’s why it’s more important than ever that we, as supporters (and continued rallying from the 1894 group - thank you!) continue to show the strength of our identity. Keep turning up at the Under 21s. Keep filling the stands at women’s matches. Keep showing in numbers, and in voice, that Manchester City is more than just its first team on a Saturday afternoon. It’s a community, a family, and a culture that runs deep in this city. Every time we turn out in droves for the academy lads or the women, we remind the club where its roots are and who has carried it from the lowest points to the greatest heights.

It’s us, the loyal, local, generational supporters who gave meaning to Dickov’s goal at Wembley, who gave soul to Aguero’s 93:20, who turned moments of football into legends that will echo forever. Without us, those memories are empty, and with us, they are timeless. That’s why the club cannot afford to ignore us.

The reality is, the Etihad doesn’t come alive because of corporate deals or reseller partners. It comes alive because Blues hand tickets down to their kids, because mates help each other out on forums and Facebook, because we sing for each other as much as for the team. That heartbeat can’t be manufactured, and it certainly can’t be replaced by profit margins. Tickets are sold to the local fan on those groups 45 minutes before kick off so a local supporter who normally cannot get to games can attend those games (if there are train strikes and fans can't get there).

So we keep turning up. We keep reminding them that the soul of this club is not for sale. And we keep fighting to make sure that, no matter what changes come from above, Manchester City remains ours - a club of its people, for its people.

MCFC.

Rhetorical question................I wonder who tickets for the new stand will be sold to?? 5,000 'Tourist Fans, who spend £100 in the Club Shop, wearing their half and half scarf and, rock up to their seat at a minute before KO and only figured out where Manchester was the day before from Google Maps! MCFC are disenfranchising 'true fans'! The Club needs to take note of the posts on this Forum!

 

[thegoatsthegoat]

The problem is simple. Darren's page is not regulated and is therefore subject to potential fraud etc. Whereas the robbing bastard reseller sites are. I'm not saying it's right what they are doing, and I do agree with Darren and his page. However, from a legal standpoint, the club will simply see it as unregulated/unapproved ticket sales....

Yet Dazs page will see tickets going to blues on the whole, with the reselling sites not. The reselling sites you can be anybody, you don't need a city membership whereas if we transfer to friends and family they do. You can ensure it is City fans entering this way whereas where City sell to you cannot. That is as unregulated as it comes.