Away tickets

[Tim of the Oak]

They hadn’t when I met them, they may have gone on to later

Cheers Squirty

 

[squirtyflower]

Can I say how nice it was to see members of the exec committee on their annual outing to an away game.

 

[Bill]

I have two family members on lowish points (2000+)who go to the vast majority of away games with a SC.
At the same time I have mates with 10000 plus points who have missed out

that's plain wrong.

 

[Chris Smithson]

Because they are given other peoples tickets by the SC.

The SC harbour some of the worst offending point whores. Imho

Spot on. Always the ones close to the secretary. Usually their own kids and such like

Then come United away, said kids come out of the woodwork waving their 23k points at the age of 22

This is a real life scenario at one of the bigger branches

Saw his ugly mug on the Tele as well yesterday

 

[Chris Smithson]

As annoying as it was logistically, the year we went to the Semi of the Champions League actually highlighted the issue we have

When we were made to collect in person, the games went down to low points each and every time

It completely removed the ability of SC and individual points whores to over commit and then try and shift them later

Like I say, the fact a game as big as a semi final abroad went to the points it did should have been proof enough

But so much noise was made about the inconvenience (some warranted I must admit) that it was shelved

Yesterday was a prime example, over commitment to cheap tickets and guess what, empty seats

The solution to all this is staring us in the face, a bit of inconvenience yes, but it was the ultimate leveler in terms of fairness as 2015-16 proved

 

[ninjamonkey]

Surely the biggest issue is the amount of away tickets ending up in the hands of NON city fans, and that is what should be challenged above anything else. I'm sure there will be a discussion about supporter club allocations too which is fair enough but getting so angry about supporters clubs when at least they are blues unlike a lot of those who end up with tickets for away games, is a bit like how it works in politics with people in the same position (we are all blues after all) attacking each other rather than focusing on those who are unfairly jumping the queue in a far more outrageous fashion.

Not disputing this is also a big problem, but to the person sat at home yesterday on 17k points that missed out on a ticket, it doesn't matter to them whether a ticket goes to somebody from overseas attending their first ever match that couldn't tell which silva was which or a person born and raised in moss side, who used to attend as many games as possible, buys all the merchandise etc but doesn't have the points for whatever reason. Regardless of who it is, it's still somebody at the match who should be behind the person sitting at home who missed out.

I would defend supporters clubs getting an allocation. I belong to one that the club use as a go to branch for the shitty away league cup games that we sometimes struggle to sell occasionally early in the season.
My personal “loyalty” points are not that high despite watching city away for most of the eighties and nineties. Unfortunately I had three young kids when the points system kicked in and also refusing to pay platinum meant I soon dropped off the radar for getting tickets for away games.
Thankfully through my branch I still get to go to some now but rightly there is still a pecking order within the branch.
The overall system though does need looking at by the club.
I am old school. I would still have a few tickets on sale at the office first come first served. I remember the days of getting to Maine rd at about 5 in the morning thinking I would be one of the first there , only to find 500 people already waiting in the queue . And then seeing the look on the faces of the people who turned up at 8 am

Your defence is based entirely on them being beneficial to you personally, i understand from your point of view wanting to defend something that benefits you but why should you get tickets for games ahead of others on more points not belonging to a SC? Thats the key question, and one that still hasnt been answered. The diversion tactic of shifting the blame to an arguably bigger problem doesnt make this less of a problem. There might be a hierarchy within the branch itself but every person in that branch is still skipping the queue ahead of everybody else. There is simply no legitimate reason for people belonging to a branch getting priority.

 

[colbee59]

I've tried to join my local supporters club a few times by email and text, never get a reply, just think they are a closed shop so they can keep tickets amongst themselves

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Because it was fake news, was it made up by the Supporters Club?

Read Bilboblue’s post that tells you it wasn’t tickets delivered to the wrong person. Although the defenders of Supporter Clubs are still claiming it was their branch’s fuck up

I can’t quite get my head round why you defended the Supporters Club on a matter that they got wrong? Did you guess it was the wrong tickets, were you told it was the wrong tickets, I just don’t understand.

But bilboblue said they were asked if they wanted tickets, said no then got some anyway. So someone got it wrong and I’d say it was the club on that evidence but we don’t know what actually went on. It didn’t sound like the branch did anything wrong from what I read.

You and I have had this conversation before about SC’s. Whether you like the system or not, I’m sure that branches act responsibly and within the rules most of the time. But we both know that’s not always the case.

It would be interesting to do a 100% ID check at a game like yesterday’s, without prejudice or blame, to see how many tickets aren’t used by the people who ordered them. I’m sure that clubs exchange data on away tickets, which should be easy enough to do when just about all clubs have electronic access systems these days.

 

[Eccles Blue]

You and I have had this conversation before about SC’s. Whether you like the system or not, I’m sure that branches act responsibly and within the rules most of the time. But we both know that’s not always the case.

It would be interesting to do a 100% ID check at a game like yesterday’s, without prejudice or blame, to see how many tickets aren’t used by the people who ordered them. I’m sure that clubs exchange data on away tickets, which should be easy enough to do when just about all clubs have electronic access systems these days.

98% of the branches do the highlighted bit but most people know there are some who do not unfortunately and it is more obvious nowadays. They are the ones who get the system a bad name. (IMHO) :-)

Not sure how you would do the bit mentioned in your last paragraph without photo ID check and I for one would not be in favour of that. We have lost enough of our privacy without being photographed to prove that we used a ticket we bought. (And before people kick off, that is not because I let others have my ticket, except with the club's permission over Christmas, I am the only one who uses my tickets!) :-)

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

There might be a hierarchy within the branch itself but every person in that branch is still skipping the queue ahead of everybody else. There is simply no legitimate reason for people belonging to a branch getting priority.

They aren’t getting priority though. The system of distributing tickets via branches long pre-dates the points system so they’re getting tickets from a pool that they’ve always had access to. We know there are 4 pots - club, supporters’ clubs, seasonal hospitality and ordinary season ticket holders/Cityzens members - and each has an allocated quantity of tickets.

If the club were offering SC’s first crack then giving out any left over to those with points, you’d have a case. But they aren’t.