Away ends and tourists

[SWP COME HOME!!]

I was next to 2 French Liverpool fans in the away end at Anfield back in November 2006.

Openly cheered when Gerrard scored, kept looking at their phones which were adorned with LFC screensavers. I expected Stewards who were stood around to see this potential problem once they had revealed their allegiance but nothing happened and they remained there til the final whistle when they again cheered the annual 1-0 home victory.
A lot easier to get tickets in a City end back then I suppose but it still perplexed me as to why they were stood next to me and getting away with it as comfortably as they were too.

 

[Segga]

Supporters clubs have been around forever and never been a problem before. Their allocation is probably smaller then it used to be ten year ago. It's obvious the club are giving tickets to various different groups and it would be good to be transparent and see where the tickets are going.

 

[Corky]

I feel the same and I'd bet thousands upon thousands feel the same too.

The lack of Manchester about Manchester City Football Club is a big thing for me. The club make me feel like they'd change the name to FC Moon City if they could get away with it. They're obsessed with the Moon and there's a distinct lack of 'Mancunian' about them. They target a worldwide fan base and it's as if they're ashamed of our local support and the city of Manchester in general.

It doesn't help that we don't have any local lads in the team neither. There's nothing better than a local hero who's a top player in a team.

I don't notice the club use any language to imply we're a Manchester club. The website comes out with statements like "Good morning football fans". On the big screen they always speak to foreign fans, Kompany came on the big screen at half time once and said "I'd like to welcome our visitors from the Philippines", the announcer says "please welcome *the opposition* and, your, City", that advert that came out for Londoners to get a train service to games, for years now the faces at the big away games have significantly changed and to see ****s in other football club gear in our away section is a fucking insult (clearly not City fans and have no fucking business being there) but I think the club love it because I think it shows that we have a worldwide reach to fucking no marks from nowhere.

City give off this vibe that they're just some generic football club from anywhere who play in sky blue and I don't like it.

These may only be little things but the club used to do the "Manchester" thing really well:
I remember a video when we were with Umbro where they showed that the old Umbro workshop in the Northern Quarter and they seemed proud to show the kits were designed and badges stitched there;
Remember the promotion for the 2009-10 kits around the city centre walls with the Manchester worker bee graffiti?

And these:

Like you say, if I was a kid right now with the direction the club has taken away from all that kind of thing, I don't think I'd support City neither.

The real city is now London, as with the city in the city experience. Soriano's local/global club paradox means shit on real fans in favour of people who switch clubs like a drink brand or decide to want to go now city start wining things.

The club keeping totally silent on refunds for the BM home, after fans struggled to get there is the lightening rain storm, showed were they are at. A few quid over any loyalty back to fans. It is show business now not football, except when away to Sunderland and Swansea away then it is football again and we are welcome to buy.

 

[jrb]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but it looks like United have gone in the opposite direction. They used give a lot of tourists and day trippers away tickets, and United's away support suffered. There was a lot of resentment about that amongst United's local fans. Now if you look at United's away support it's pretty much full of local looking United fans, with plentry of MIBs in amongst them. Being honest, and this isn't easy to admit, they currently have the best and loudest away support in the PL, and have done so for quite a while.

We on the other hand seem to be heading in the other direction, with more tourists, day trippers, and plastic City fans, who really support other clubs getting tickets in the away end. Not to mention home fans. How insane is that!!

United away. Admittedly this year was better with more local City fans in the United away end, but a couple of season's back there was loads of tourists and day trippers in the United away end. It was discussed on here after the match.

That aside, I've decided to give Everton a swerve. Done it loads of times and can't be arsed. Hopefully my ticket will find it's way to a genuine City fan.

It will be very interesting to see what the club come up with as regards a revised and new away ticketing policy next season. And whether that includes making more tickets available to genuine City fans, at the expense of sponsorship partners, tourists, day trippers, and ticket websites.

How on earth these ticket websites get away tickets, ie, Bournemouth away, with a restricted allocation, and a high loyalty point mark, and then mark them up to £400+ is beyond me. If it isn't the club selling batches of tickets to make some extra money, which I honestly doubt, then they should at least buy a couple, or buy them all as a one off, and find out who has sold them on.

 

[bluestevei]

We had a French Liverpool fan sat in front of us yesterday, openly celebrated the goal. I spent the rest of the first half waiting for it to kick off and not watching the game. Lower down in the block there were two groups of Chinese people with their half and half scarves on. A big game like yesterday needs the fans to be the 12th man, instead every song died as there were too many in there who either didn't know the songs, had no interest in getting behind the team, or were there to say they went to the game, rather than actually supporting the club.

It annoys me at home games, but I understand why the club do it for commercial reasons. There are enough tickets for home games so it doesn't mean die hard blues missing out. I have been too games as a neutral many times, I would never expect to get in an away end if it was going to sell out to a fans of that club. How a Liverpool fan ends up with a ticket in our end needs to be looked into. I will be emailing the club with the seat details but expect a response saying corporate customers are entitled to away tickets blah blah blah

If it wasn't for the drinking and eating with friends before away games and making a full day of it, I think yesterday would be my last away game, after 28 years. I am so disillusioned with the tourists this season, it annoys me knowing that those who have spent years going home and away are now missing out on tickets to earn the club a few extra quid.
Spurs away - Norweigan sat behind me advising it was his first game. Burnley away, which sold out at 14500, but a couple next to me who didn't know who Nolito was.

corporate customers are entitled to away tickets, but they are not entitled to sell to other people, that is touting and the club is letting them do it
who is Nolito is he a steward or something because I havnt seen him play yet

 

[BimboBob]

There was a time when I went home and away, loved them equally, but secretly enjoyed away games more because it felt like the genuine fans, the ones who had felt the same pain I had over the years following this bastard of a club, were there. The songs, the beer, the feeling that you were a City fan, a select group of proper fans. It just felt right.

And now...


Over the last few seasons the away support has followed the home. More and more new fans, fans not steeped in the history, fans who are there just to say they were there.

You can't blame anyone, it's the way the game has gone. Money, TV, websites, social media...

Unfortunately it's not aimed at me. Used to be, but not anymore.

Pity, because I had a great time.

 

[AshLunn92]

I was at the away game at the swamp in September and I must say that some of the loudest city fans there were the worst. Had a bunch of lads in front of me that did not watch a minute of the game. Spent the whole game stood on their seats with their tops off, with their backs to the pitch singing and swearing at the home fans, then snapchatting the whole thing.

Pissed me right off. What's the point? Just missed every minute of one of our bet performances of the season so far

 

[MadchesterCity]

Phew, I wasn't 100% sure, but if it was the person who posted fair play to him. However I do have a lot of sympathy with those who wanted to go but couldn't get tickets, especially, as I said in an earlier post, as there were so many empty seats around where I was sitting. Plus how did the steward know it was all right to move the lady and her husband and son and tell them that there would be no one in the other free seats on the front row? It's all a mystery to me how the ticket system works!!

Empty seats could be explained by the hundreds drinking on the concourse throughout the game

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

corporate customers are entitled to away tickets, but they are not entitled to sell to other people, that is touting and the club is letting them do it
who is Nolito is he a steward or something because I havnt seen him play yet

Would they be entitled to give them away? as I would imagine that's a possibility for some who are particularly wealthy and see it as a business benefit. Don't Joe's ST holders also get priority for away matches
too?

 

[borassic]

stop talking about tourists for fuck sake, the fans that travel are just not up to it like they are with other clubs. Main reason why i've sacked off away games... home games are even worse. Season ticket is going next year, fully frustrated nowadays with the people that we have supporting our team. As fans it seems like we have just given up and with 5 years trying every single game i'm at a point now where the whole experience is just fuckin boring. Good luck to the lads who are carrying on but for now ('apart from west ham on fri) i'm out.