I thought the whole content was extremely bland but that may be just how the minutes have been written by the club. I hope the discussion about the 10 personal attendance rule went much further than has been minuted. We shall see.View attachment 177108Was this the only recommendation City Matters had for helping ensure local fans continue to feel important?
How about things like:
- Reduced ticket prices for people with an M postcode?
- Significantly reduced ticket prices for people living in areas close to the ground like Ardwick, Newton Heath, Beswick etc
I'm not saying these suggestions are perfect and am sure there are better ones. More that if this was the only suggestion City Matters had then that's disappointing.
Be good to get an answer to Mike’s question if possible @CityMatters-LeeBView attachment 177108Was this the only recommendation City Matters had for helping ensure local fans continue to feel important?
How about things like:
- Reduced ticket prices for people with an M postcode?
- Significantly reduced ticket prices for people living in areas close to the ground like Ardwick, Newton Heath, Beswick etc
I'm not saying these suggestions are perfect and am sure there are better ones. More that if this was the only suggestion City Matters had then that's disappointing.
This is a good point to raise.So after 6 PL games 200ish have already defaulted 4 times and possibly lose their season tickets with no way of making up the numbers.
I surprised there wasn't much made of this, there will be others with 3 and 2 likely to do the same over the coming months and could end up in the 1000s.
Yeah I was looking at the 0.6% already done nothing for 4 which is likely over 200 as a starting point.This is a good point to raise.
As per the February 2025 City Matters minutes, there are 37,000 season ticket members. That number will have changed slightly since given the new Flexi Gold tickets issued over the summer. However, we know that there are 2,400 Flexi Gold tickers (as per the June minutes).
If we go by the 95% compliance figure cited by the Club in the most recent minutes, that would mean that you are looking at roughly 1,850 individuals who would not meet the Club's ticket management policies at the end of the season (let alone those who may drop off if their relative or friends can no longer attend).
Reckon the club are relying on fans not knowing about it and not kicking up a fuss, just like all the previous years til the protests last yearSo after 6 PL games 200ish have already defaulted 4 times and possibly lose their season tickets with no way of making up the numbers.
I surprised there wasn't much made of this, there will be others with 3 and 2 likely to do the same over the coming months and could end up in the 1000s.
I still cant get round this idea that there are people who auto-renew season tickets, yet don't go to 4 out of the 6 matches. I get that if you're unable to attend for proper reasons like ill health, work patterns etc it might happen, but you'd like to hope that if they attended all the remaining games, the club would be sympathetic.Yeah I was looking at the 0.6% already done nothing for 4 which is likely over 200 as a starting point.
How many don't know? Some will have passed away or no longer be capable of going or even sort out their ticket, but others on auto renew won't bother with club emails as no need too. It could already be too late for some after that 5 week holiday or hospital stay.
Agree up until your last line as the 4,000+ new FG's coming plus the last batch in the summer just gone rather negates that point. Perhaps some of this 200ish figure being used (and then randomly being extrapolated up to the 1,000s laughingly) are ST's belonging to ticket touts or people who only buy a cheap ST in order to go to the half dozen big games and don't give a toss about their empty seat for palace or Wolves? Is that a good thing or not?I still cant get round this idea that there are people who auto-renew season tickets, yet don't go to 4 out of the 6 matches. I get that if you're unable to attend for proper reasons like ill health, work patterns etc it might happen, but you'd like to hope that if they attended all the remaining games, the club would be sympathetic.
In a parallel universe, if we had a big waiting list of true blues wanting to purchase season tickets but unable to because there were people holding STs that they never used, I'm sure the outcry would be in the opposite direction - we only have an issue because the club would want those seats for full price sales rather than new STs.
Agree up until your last line as the 4,000+ new FG's coming plus the last batch in the summer just gone rather negates that point. Perhaps some of this 200ish figure being used (and then randomly being extrapolated up to the 1,000s laughingly) are ST's belonging to ticket touts or people who only buy a cheap ST in order to go to the half dozen big games and don't give a toss about their empty seat for palace or Wolves? Is that a good thing or not?
Here's an idea.
Make all new season tickets normal season tickets.
Any lapsed season tickets make them available to other City fans.
Make all match tickets and hospitality tickets available to purchase on the club ticket website only.
Make tickets transferable to named family and friends again.
Remove attendance criteria when purchasing tickets apart for the big games.
Show all seats available on the seat planner from the start of the tickets going on sale without any greyed out seats or blocks.
Etc.
If City did that and more and made the ticket buying process much easier and more user friendly the Etihad would be full for every game.
Leave things as they are and there will be 1000's of empty seats around the Etihad next year when the new NSL2 is operational.
OK, so a few points back for discussion...
1 - still cant get past the fact that FG tickets are actually pretty useful for those on a budget, or cant get to every game for the multitude of reasons we all know. If the club made the admin charge something more sensible (or better still withdrew it) and reset the match price to ST pricing, then what's the difference?
2 - you're still butting up against the idea that on one hand we want flexibility to transfer tickets to others in our friends groupings (either formal or not) yet don't want away fans in the home end. What would you class as a "big game"? - Leeds? Sunderland? Any....
So, yes, fully agree to make it easier to buy tickets, but you risk opening it up to away fans finding it easier as well...
There's a huge challenge about the Galatasery game - I suspect the club will be very wary of opening this up to as many fans as possible as it'll get filled with away fans like happened at OT the other year.
Auto-renew means they don't have to do anything - they clearly are not cherry picking big games or touting so it suggests something has gone wrong on their lives or they don't know the new rules and are on holiday etc as that has been okay the last 60 years they had one.I still cant get round this idea that there are people who auto-renew season tickets, yet don't go to 4 out of the 6 matches. I get that if you're unable to attend for proper reasons like ill health, work patterns etc it might happen, but you'd like to hope that if they attended all the remaining games, the club would be sympathetic.
In a parallel universe, if we had a big waiting list of true blues wanting to purchase season tickets but unable to because there were people holding STs that they never used, I'm sure the outcry would be in the opposite direction - we only have an issue because the club would want those seats for full price sales rather than new STs.
how do they do that then mate?Anyone can get around the new rules without too much problem
You can have them on 2 phones for a start, just needs someone nearbyhow do they do that then mate?
When they live 250 miles away from the Etihad.
So after 6 PL games 200ish have already defaulted 4 times and possibly lose their season tickets with no way of making up the numbers.
I surprised there wasn't much made of this, there will be others with 3 and 2 likely to do the same over the coming months and could end up in the 1000s.
I think the more general point he's making is that if you're clued up, aware of the rules, and have access to places like here, that's full of tips about how to circumnavigate the rules, there's usually a way around most things.how do they do that then mate?
When they live 250 miles away from the Etihad.
That will catch some for sure. Our issue is we live 250 miles away, have missed 4 games already, attended 4. Reasons, Covid x 2, Car packing up at Tebay x 1, Family commitment x 1.I think the more general point he's making is that if you're clued up, aware of the rules, and have access to places like here, that's full of tips about how to circumnavigate the rules, there's usually a way around most things.
The sort of person he's talking about is a guy I know from our pub. In his 80s, no family left, had a season ticket since Christ knows when. Never been on the internet, never sent an email. Doesn't even know what a Smart Phone is. But goes to the vast majority of home games and has done for many decades, but is totally oblivious to any of these new attendance rules. I've tried explaining to him the implications if he were to miss a few games. But he just shakes his head and says he drives down to the ground and sorts out any issues he has in person at the ticket office.
It's highly likely that at some point in the not to distant future, he'll have some sort of medical reason why he can't attend so many games. So what will happen to him? Will they send him a letter asking if he's ok? Will they phone him and ask why he's suddenly missed a run of games? Or will he turn up at the ground to renew his season ticket one year and be told.. Sorry mate, thanks for your support over the last 70 years and everything, but you missed 10 games last year, so there's nowt down I'm afraid? I hope to God it isn't the last one, but I can't say I'm over confident it won't be.