Loyalty is such a weird concept, in my opinion, and im speaking as somebody who does go home and away most weeks and spends the majority of my disposable income on city, going to games doesn't make you any more loyal than somebody who can't afford to, watching every game doesn't make you more loyal than somebody who has to work to support his family and can't see every match, etc etc. In the main, anybody born a city fan and who has remained a city throughout is as loyal as the next. But were getting sidetracked here. To clarify, any time i used the word loyalty in any of my posts in this thread it was purely meant in reference to the points system and wasn't questioning anybodies loyalty to the club.
As for why you shouldnt get tickets ahead of others, well because it makes a mockery of every single person higher up in the points system that doesnt get the option of purchasing a ticket before you. This isn't having a go at you personally mate and it applies to anybody and everybody who gets tickets that way but with respect, what makes you special? There's a queue, it's not perfect, it has many flaws that can be improved upon but it doesn't mean you or anybody else should get to ignore it and jump the queue.
To use an anaolgy that's probably poorly thought out, If you have been in the same job for say 15 years, working your way up from the bottom, taking the unsociable shifts, doing the nasty jobs and have worked your way up the ladder over time and then the promotion you've been waiting for becomes available and your next in line for it only for the manager to give the job to his mate who has zero experience or qualifications to be in that role, you're not going to be happy about it are you? It's the same principle here. Now of course, that does happen in life but i think the overwhelmkng majority would all agree it shouldn't, and given the power to, we would all vote to make sure it doesn't happen anymore wouldn't we?
In complete agreement with you with regards to overseas supporters obtaining rows of tickets from thin air, I was right infront of the infamous crowd of Belgians at Arsenal a few years ago, this season at Anfield I was directly behind a row of about 5/6 asian fans kitted out in their half and half scarves and cameras, Chelsea away last 3 years I've been directly infront of or behind foreign fans, one turned and asked me the words to a song once, it was blue moon... and there's been plenty more instances, my only issue was the distinction between those fans and SC queue jumpers, i get what you're saying but ultimately, they both have the exact same impact on people that use the loyalty points system in that it unfairly pushes them back even further.
I don't think either issue should be prioritised over the other in terms of importance, both need to be fixed, the only reason I mentioned SC's, aside from it being the hot topic in the thread when I decided to chip in is because it's the easiest thing to fix first. It's wrong, but City as a business have to attract the people with the most money and so it's going to be a hard sell to City for them to cut back on corporate tickets, its absolutely worth fighting for and a battle we need to win as fans if we are to keep the identity of the club local but the SC allocation is an easy fix, the fans get a win and feel like we're being listened to, the club aren't upsetting anybody other than the system abusers by doing it, nor would it cost them financially either in implementing the change or in lost revenue and given the percentage breakdown of the ticket distributions seen in here, it would swell the pool of tickets going to the points system the most which should be the main aim. It's as the old adage says, pick your battles. It's an easy win for both sides and should be the starting point.
