Ah ok. Well I wouldn't claim to know everyone who goes to City regularly but after 13 years of walking past pubs, through concourses and stood on terraces you tend to recognise faces. The people who went all the time under Pearce/Sven/Hughes are usually the same people who are going all the time now.
I do actually know a Person A. He's 27 and went all the time from being 17-23 and got in the top bracket. He then started living abroad for long stretches, he went travelling round the far East in Jan/Feb til May, his ticket was used every week and booked his flights home from travelling so he could go to Brighton away. But these examples are really few and far between.
The other thing I cannot understand is why people should go to acquire as many as nine season tickets and pay out not an insignificant amount of money plus the buggering about with different names and addresses just to accumulate points to get a number of points for the high demand matches.
The term in it's most basic form comes from the view that the following has been rife amongst our support:
Person A on 25k points buys a ticket for Southampton away with no intention to go, but knows that it will not go down past 10k points - he has been asked by Person B on 8k points if Person A can get a ticket for Person B. Person A will not be making a profit for the ticket but will - in the old system - acquired 40 more loyalty points (if on Platinum).
This process happens throughout the season so that Person A is collecting points for every away game that they can get a ticket for, at least maintaining their position in the points ladder.
Person B and his mate Person C want to go to Old Trafford or Anfield. Person A can get a ticket as he's collected all these points despite not going to Newcastle midweek, and wants to go to this one so he does. Person C tells Person D that "Person A has been whoring his ticket out all season to Person B but has decided to go to the derby, the prick". Person C and D miss out on tickets for the derby and believe that there's thousands of people doing this and everyone who goes to the big games cannot possibly do all 19 away games in a season. They ignore the 40% of away tickets which may have been given to Lord McTouchesdogs and his party of 8 who have got a box this season, the Guantanamo Bay Supporters Branch, or Johnjo and his mates who's brother works in the ticket office somehow pocketed 6 tickets.
Person A ears are burning as they goes to the derby. Person A looks around in the away end and they're stood next to someone who doesn't know where Grey Mare Lane is, in the row in front has 3 men with bags from the United store.
... Now - Person A does exist, I know Person A does exist. But the amount of Person A's out there are massively exaggerated by Person's C and D.
Last time was a 12-30 ko prob only took about 1k , six trains in total their and back !
Car and prem inn this time
Edit bleeding 0-0 too !!!
I have to say that I agree with this, especially the last 2 sentences. I go to as many aways as I can on my midtable points level. I see and meet up with people who go to most or all away matches. Sometimes they help a mate out if they cant go. The idea that the ones at the top are only picking and choosing, is way overstated.
The ones who want to pick and choose are the ones that are happy with away points being abolished. T
The thing is - the "whore" term is so widely used, it has become believed and now being abused to hammer genuine matchgoing fans.
A lot of the people moaning about the points system being unfair (I don't mean on here particularly, I mean in general) have no idea or concept of how it works and no interest in going to an away game the majority of the time, until one suddenly takes their fancy.
Remember having an exchange on twitter with a middle aged bloke a couple of years ago who kept replying to supporter services tweets about sales criteria for what I think must have been a champions league home game, ranting about how the points system was so unfair and discriminated against long-term supporters. He wound me up so I pointed out that points rewarded loyalty and going to games, pretty basic. He replied angrily that he had been a season ticket holder for the last 25 years. I questioned then why he hadn't reached the ticket criteria which at that point was only about 8k and not in the cup scheme, as I knew it was possible without even attending any away games. After a delay he said he had checked and he did have that amount but was not in the cup scheme so was being discriminated against. I pointed out again that the criteria was 8k and Not in the cup scheme so he could go. After disputing that again and being shown a screenshot he then said he couldn't go to the game.
Still see his name pop up in reply to supporter services with the same old whinge yet despite plenty of away games going to low points and even general sale (along with most cup games) I doubt he has been to many if any since, yet still rants on.
The valid criticism of the points system as it was was that younger supporters didn't have the same opportunity to catch up which I do understand but as has been said all it needed was a change to a rolling points system which I think most would agree was Reasonably fair, as long is it was a minimum of 5 years I think (although I do think some bonus points should be included for turning up when we were shite! )
I've seen this posted about a rolling system before
If it started tomorrow wouldn't the same people at the top stay at the top and the youngsters under 10k points still be pretty much excluded ?
I think the main issue here is people keeping their powder dry for the Champs League. We could be away in Europe on the Tuesday or Wednesday after Norwich and that will be the favoured trip.