I can understand where you are coming from but it's the opposite of Utd. It's actually asking people to turn up for the thing (3/4 of the time at least), for something they've paid for..
Sorry for the language, but I had been up 24 hours straight and now I have had a couple of hours sleep (sadly not partying)
As far as your last paragraph goes, I do disagree wholeheartedly. People pay their money and are entitled to go or not as circumstances dictate.
Who cares how it looks? I do feel sympathy for people who cant get matchday tickets, but surely the answer is to increase the capacity even more accomodate them, not penalise people who are legitimately purchasing tickets and then not for whatever reason. I also have concerns regarding the atmosphere but I have seen no evidence that the noshows are contributing to lack of atmosphere. Do you have any?
If the club want to endorse your proposal that is up to them, but it is something I would vigorously oppose.
For me its too similar to the rags forcing their season ticket holders to buy cup tickets. The rags doing that is wrong and if our club do as you propose that would be wrong too
i would put a ceiling on the number of season tickets sold, for now, taking account of the current capacity.
The relatively low acailabity of match day tickets enables the Prices to be hiked up!
And struggle to sell them (like Swansea for starters).For the Sunderland match and other games where the away team doesn't sell their allocation(i.e often) we have circa 9k tickets available for matchday sales.
Whilst you have a point about the big games, you can't just dismiss the floods we've had, if they weren't/aren't happening at those other games.All these floods and family commitments that people have seem to disappear vs Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool though as a rule which is odd.
they're doing that for the coc semi vs everton and are closing off much of the groundWould also be better if all tickets were £20 -25 and fill the ground .
they're doing that for the coc semi vs everton and are closing off much of the ground
And struggle to sell them (like Swansea for starters).
Or a discount for regular attendees. Then everyone knows there is a potential bonus for their loyalty yet without any penalties for missing the odd game or two.Never a bad idea to reduce prices. There is a lot of poverty. As for no shows...maybe a rising levy on people who miss games.
Or a discount for regular attendees. Then everyone knows there is a potential bonus for their loyalty yet without any penalties for missing the odd game or two.
I think the traffic for midweek games is becoming break point for many. My own journey time has increased over the last 15 years from just under 2 hours to around 2 hours 45 minutes. All this is down to around a 20% increase in the number of cars on the road and countless average speed zones.
Worse still is the return journey normally encounters overnight road closures and hideously long detours. Even if I brave the journey myself, I often leave the young lad at home as the tiredness knock on into the next day is unforgiving.
We certainly need to reduce the amount of non weekend football and that could only be done be a reduction in Premier League size, ditching the League Cup for non Football League teams, and finally have all European competitions as straight knock out played at weekends.
By my reckoning a Premier League of 18 teams would give 34 weekend games. The FA Cup would be 6 weekend games (maximum for finalists) and the European Cup based on 32 teams would be played over the 5 Weekends (straight knockout 1 leg) This would allow a 7 week as a minimum.
Hopefully meaningless games would disappear (trailing heavily from 1st leg or already qualified from group stages etc) and every game would have a consequence and be a worthy spectacle.
Fans might feel they are getting less football, but costs would drop and most games would be well attended due to being at weekends.
Dropping none football league teams from the league cup would make no difference as only league teams can take part (the clue is in the name).
They would never reduce either the size of the premier league or the size of the champions league as more games, means more revenue from things like TV and sponsorship.
I think the traffic for midweek games is becoming break point for many. My own journey time has increased over the last 15 years from just under 2 hours to around 2 hours 45 minutes. All this is down to around a 20% increase in the number of cars on the road and countless average speed zones.
Worse still is the return journey normally encounters overnight road closures and hideously long detours. Even if I brave the journey myself, I often leave the young lad at home as the tiredness knock on into the next day is unforgiving.
We certainly need to reduce the amount of non weekend football and that could only be done be a reduction in Premier League size, ditching the League Cup for non Football League teams, and finally have all European competitions as straight knock out played at weekends.
By my reckoning a Premier League of 18 teams would give 34 weekend games. The FA Cup would be 6 weekend games (maximum for finalists) and the European Cup based on 32 teams would be played over the 5 Weekends (straight knockout 1 leg) This would allow a 7 week as a minimum.
Hopefully meaningless games would disappear (trailing heavily from 1st leg or already qualified from group stages etc) and every game would have a consequence and be a worthy spectacle.
Fans might feel they are getting less football, but costs would drop and most games would be well attended due to being at weekends.
I have similar midweek traffic problems but would hate to see midweek games disappear, or curtailed to the extent you're suggesting. I like midweek games. They're different to weekend games. I like both, I like the difference between them.
I can also remember when I used to work at weekends and missed almost entire seasons. And then when I stopped working weekends I was under greater marital pressure to spend weekends with the family, to make up for lost time. Midweek games are inconvenient for many, particularly those of us who travel long distances and fans who take their kids. But there will be significant numbers of fans who will find them more convenient or no different.
There's no possibility of European games being switched to weekends. Firstly the clubs are just not going to agree to such a huge reduction in games. Secondly the majority of clubs do not play in Europe and would not want to have blank weekends. or be competing with CL fixtures.
The thing that irks me most when it comes to fixture planning is the blank weekends when everything stops for international games. I have no problem when these blank weekends arrive because of Euro or World Cup qualifiers, but I detest those weekends that are devoted to friendlies, games where players appear for no more than 45 minutes and where their appearances are completed at a leisurely pace. What a waste.I think the traffic for midweek games is becoming break point for many. My own journey time has increased over the last 15 years from just under 2 hours to around 2 hours 45 minutes. All this is down to around a 20% increase in the number of cars on the road and countless average speed zones.
Worse still is the return journey normally encounters overnight road closures and hideously long detours. Even if I brave the journey myself, I often leave the young lad at home as the tiredness knock on into the next day is unforgiving.
We certainly need to reduce the amount of non weekend football and that could only be done be a reduction in Premier League size, ditching the League Cup for non Football League teams, and finally have all European competitions as straight knock out played at weekends.
By my reckoning a Premier League of 18 teams would give 34 weekend games. The FA Cup would be 6 weekend games (maximum for finalists) and the European Cup based on 32 teams would be played over the 5 Weekends (straight knockout 1 leg) This would allow a 7 week as a minimum.
Hopefully meaningless games would disappear (trailing heavily from 1st leg or already qualified from group stages etc) and every game would have a consequence and be a worthy spectacle.
Fans might feel they are getting less football, but costs would drop and most games would be well attended due to being at weekends.
Wouldnt waste my time, what people choose to do with their season ticket is up to them. Can't quite understand how or why someone would come to that conclusion though.
The attendance for the semi against West Ham 2 years ago was 30,381.
So lets get ready for it now. The way it falls and everything we will be lucky indeed to make 40,000 for the home leg