City attacking face value sites - cultural war on supporters ?

jrb said:
Don't worry mate.

If City do lose 115, and City are either demoted or deducted points which could force relegation, we've got 50,000 diehards who will still stick by the club and follow the team regardless of all the flak, stick and abuse we'll get home and away in the Championship. That still leaves 12,000 empty seats to fill at the Etihad for the home games in the Championship .
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We'll fill those with away fans coming to their cup final
 
Berti No Show said:
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.
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This might be the best thing anyone has ever written and not just on this forum.
 
Axel Freed said:
Faustian pact

A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing

Take what you want and pay for it.

Choose your cliche, they’re all applicable to the terrible situation we now find ourselves in

Has Soriano done more damage to the soul of the club than Swales did. Yeah probably.

SORIANO OUT
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Fuck me.

This is possible the worst post I have ever read.
 
Manchester33 said:
It’s so transparent that they’re doing this to avoid missing out on revenue.

If security or fan safety is genuinely their concern, then why not allow fans to ‘sell’ their season cards to friends at face value on their website? It’s an easy solution, but clearly doesn't tick the matchday revenue box.
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Exactly my thoughts. Thanks for posting
 
wearethesouthstand said:
Not a pop at the Osc here but I am sure club are turning a blind eye when spares get transferred between members of different branches at face value. So there’s no consistency in club’s approach. They challenged APT rules even though that was a premier league rule - they are happy to challenge something which benefits directors but not happy to challenge something that benefits fans.
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Branches of 250 members often get 2 tickets so I am not sure about spares to transfer mate.
 
Berti No Show said:
You know the answer to that question already. We all do.

Those at the top would find a way to charge us for the very air we breathe if it meant another pound in their pockets.
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I am not sure on that point mate and I really like some of your other posts. I am also one of the very few who has spoken out on here in favour of the Face Value groups over several years. I think who fills the expanded North Stand (beyond the hospitality bits) is still up for grabs. There is a big opportunity for City families to be together in the North Stand, partly through the relocation of season card holders, increase in flexi-golds and expansion of rail seating capacity. There is the possibility of plenty of empty seats at the top of the Colin Bell and East Stand, as a knock on affect, if are support doesn't grow.

Clearly the Club are obsessed by maximising money but there have been notable exceptions like the free flights to Porto. There needs to be more than protests. A strong case can probably be made to show the face values pages aren't hitting income and help to increase actual attendances. More fans also need to put more effort into raising the atmosphere so we don't have many more games like Spurs.
 
Berti No Show said:
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.
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Nailed it my friend.
 
what i don't get though is why are they doing all this when the revenue form ticket sales is a tiny percentage of the clubs overall income - they make a vastly huge amount more from sponsorships , tv revenue and prize money?
when empty seats start appearing next year then the tv and sponsors won't be happy and that source of income will ultimately drop and the club will lose out - what they are doing now is so shortsighted
 
Lord Blue said:
I read this thread, and similar threads, and I honestly don’t think we deserve our owners. We just don’t.
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Make them sound like fucking Gods or something. Just happen to be rich beyond belief and happened to pick us, wonder why! We owe them fuck all and people who don’t like seeing their club that they’ve supported for years and have families who for generations went through thick and thin have the soul ripped out of it. Have every right to vent their frustrations.No point in being successful if in the end nobody from Manchester has a season ticket for Manchester City.
 
alib said:
what i don't get though is why are they doing all this when the revenue form ticket sales is a tiny percentage of the clubs overall income - they make a vastly huge amount more from sponsorships , tv revenue and prize money?
when empty seats start appearing next year then the tv and sponsors won't be happy and that source of income will ultimately drop and the club will lose out - what they are doing now is so shortsighted
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The Club have been pursuing this for donkeys mate. Not only is matchday revenue a relatively small (but admittedly important) part of our income, the amount being lost because of the face value groups is peanuts . That said, I am not convinced any money is being lost.

A possible factor at play is that many members of Man City Face Value Tickets and Travel were negative towards the City's admin yonks before there was much disgruntlement across the wider fanbase. The Face Value pager members were definitely on to something.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
That post should be sent to every executive in the club by email. It articulates perfectly. Well done mate.
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I'm currently in touch with the FSA who are helping me with my appeal against my 3 year club ban.

@Berti No Show - hope you don't mind but I sent your post to the FSA this afternoon, as it articulates perfectly the current attack on our fanbase. They commented that it's a similar situation at EVERY PL club and it's THE highest FSA priority to get Clubs to act as custodians, rather than pursuing the current policy, which appears to be the active culling of English fan culture.

They also commented on how brilliantly you put that together.
 
Craig said:
Make them sound like fucking Gods or something. Just happen to be rich beyond belief and happened to pick us, wonder why! We owe them fuck all and people who don’t like seeing their club that they’ve supported for years and have families who for generations went through thick and thin have the soul ripped out of it. Have every right to vent their frustrations.No point in being successful if in the end nobody from Manchester has a season ticket for Manchester City.
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Good for you.
You have every right to speak your piece. As does everyone else.
I for one thought we had our soul ripped out of before they arrived. Through years of mismanagement, and I appreciate everything they have done for us because I know how lucky we are.
But we’re clearly different people.
 
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