Atmosphere 2024/25

[Jazzyblue]

Having attended a few lower league games I agree. You can see it in the demographics. Way more younger fans and groups of lads, which you never really see at the etihad.

Agree. It would be a lie to say everyone at lower league football is jumping up and down for 90mins, because they are not. But if you have small capacity and a standing section with no rail seating, even 30 organised vocal fans can make a huge difference. Throw in younger fans who can wander up on the turnstile or live locally and have a season ticket - at Altrincham, for example, they aren't actually much cheaper than our cheapest, the point is kids/young men and women can actually get one and attend spontaneously if they want - and you have as close to an old school atmosphere as you'll get without the aggro.

 

[Jazzyblue]

I saw a tourist wearing a half and half scarf in the away end at OT.

Unfortunately for the tourist his half and half scarf didn't last long around his neck.

There was no aggression or violence. He was asked nicely to take it off, and explained why he shouldn't wear it in the City away end.

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They are a weird invention. There was a guy in Colin Bell on Saturday, who had the City bit tucked in and the West Ham half hanging out so he looked, without realising, like he was a West Ham fan walking down the steps bold as brass in the home end. He didn't look like he was from overseas either, so no excuse, but he was basically causing a safety risk to himself and others.

 

[Jazzyblue]

I’m hoping what has happened with regards to demand recently has opened one or two eyes at the club as to what they may have to do moving forwards. Finally some realistic pricing for the Salford game, non match day members being able to buy for the Brugge game as two examples. They got cocky, they thought the tourists would be there forever, they thought the good football would be there forever, they thought they would never have to sell to non members again, they thought they could guarantee refunds on the ticket exchange for 12 matches and sell them all every time at inflated prices, they thought they could charge what they wanted and it would get paid. They can’t.

I know Sorriano doesn’t give a fuck, but there must be people high up who do, and are thinking we need to do something about this.

It's the short-termism affecting the whole of society. i completely understand why they would want to grow the club's revenues. But surely the wise way to do that is to keep cultivating people within 50 miles of the ground, or with a strong connection, and lock them in for life. Greater Manchester alone has a population of 2.8m - that's loads of room for more recurring revenue before you even look to the wider commuter zone and all the people nationally from the Manc/Blue diaspora. But clearly selling to a one-off at an inflated price who spends in the gift shop looks better for the numbers today, even if it's not as sustainable for the long-term as finding the next generation of loyal/local fans who will attend across all competitions for decades once they've got the bug.

 

[Bluesince1979]

Having attended a few lower league games I agree. You can see it in the demographics. Way more younger fans and groups of lads, which you never really see at the etihad.

Yeah deffo.

 

[jrb]

If possible I will go in the away end on SSL1 one day. There are always ways to get tickets. Just to see and feel what’s it’s like being an away fan at the Etihad on SSL1, with the singing sections either side of me.

 

[Betterdeedthan red]

It’s football mirroring life. You can’t say anything or do anything in case it offends. Football while be sterile in a decade or two.

You must not have fun or enjoy yourself at football.
Unless your a tourist or youtube prick

 

[Prophet of Doom]

Do some on this thread really think that Soriano and Khaldoon are sitting round a table debating what price to stick on tickets for the Salford FA cup game ?? Do they think in the afternoon they move onto the price of chips and a pint of Asahi.

Sorry to disappoint but the pricing decisions are getting made much further down the food chain.

I doubt either Soriano or Khaldoon would have a clue how much a match ticket costs.

Ticket pricing is all analytics these days. Supply demand and the algorithm says charge £x. Unfortunately, loyalty, legacy, atmosphere, half and half scarves etc are not fed into the calculation. It’s basically what is the highest price that the match will sell out ( or nearly sell out ). If it close to full they will think the algorithm has done its job to perfection. An early sell out indicates it was too cheap !

Every club is at it. Atmospheres around the country are dying a slow death and it will never change.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

We had almost 1,500 supporter responses and our red lines were :

*That the stand should be built with acoustics in mind and the position of "singers" central to the stand.

* Pricing plans for season card and match day prices laid out for the next 5 years for the North Stand and other areas of the ground as a comparison - vital if supporters are expected to make a long term move. 1894's position is two year freeze on season and match day tickets to allow fans to catch up followed by inflationary rises only after the 2 years have been completed.

* Maintaining the current 70% ratio of season card holders amongst the 8,000 extra capacity to reverse the recent trend of not releasing new season tickets. (ie 5,600 season cards - not the extortionate Flexi Gold)

* 7,000 - 8,000 rail seats in North Stand Level 2.

* An 18-25 year old section.

* Additional rail seating in South Level 3 to mirror the noise coming from a higher atmospheric section in North Stand Level 2 so that the two ends are encouraged to sing to each other.

* A re-think from the club on the positioning, indeed the addition of general admission / hospitality seats in an "atmospheric" North Stand from what had been disclosed on images over the last few months.




It's starting to look to me that whoever wrote that statement does not understand what "red lines" are.

The should have stuck to Blue lines!

 

[Edghill OG]

Bar wanting to increase match day revenue which is the main goal of the North stand expansion, the club HAVE TO FILL AN EXTRA 8000 SEATS for every home match, not just for the big matches. At the current match day seats prices, the club won’t be able to do that.(in my opinion)

I got largely scorned and ridiculed on here many months ago for expressing this opinion. Labelled a 'Rag' etc.

However with the dip in form it has been noticeable there's been an increasing number of empty seats. This is what happens when you lust after money instead of looking after the local working class fans who have a genuine attachment to the club. 8000 seats is a fucking lot of seats to fill at current prices and it has to be approached correctly. It appears £70 a ticket is still a lot of money to a football tourist -let alone a local- when performances slide. Ironically this is when the team needs us the most. Should be a wake up call to some of our supporters as well as the hierarchy.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

Which begs the question, where are the new fans going to come from when they open the north end expansion ? Especially with the tickets being so expensive.

There were thousands of fans who weren't going regularly in need of of 3 or 4 seats together / family groups, It's hard to say whether or not our recent losing run or anti City media have impacted on tis demand. In addition, each time the corporate and hospitality sections have been expanded, they seemed to sell out, ay least until recently.

We are pretty much guaranteed hundreds of unsold single tickets for all but the very biggest games. Unless much more imaginative ways are found to sell these tickets as ticket price reductions alone only shifts so many,