City attacking face value sites - cultural war on supporters ?

[oldius]

I'm not defending the club here but whether we like it or not, selling football tickets without authority from the club is a criminal offence, regardless of whether they're at, above or below face value. That's the position and I'm a bit surprised the club has let it go on as long as this.

There's also pressure from the PL to adhere to their Rule R.16 which requires member clubs to ensure, as far as practically possible, they know who is in the stadium and have their contact details. This is what's behind the restriction on transferring tickets.

The club therefore is acting within the law of the land and the rules set by the organisation which regulates the competition we play in.

Having said that, I think the rules are ridiculous and football fans are yet again being discriminated against in a way that fans of other sports aren't. I don't have to provide my contact details if I go to a concert, the cinema or a pub.

I think we'd all agree that we don't want tickets ending up in the hands of touts, including the legal ones like viagogo. But there's surely a happy medium where it's not like something out of 1984.

There's two issues here that we as fans need to attack. The biggest is Rule R.16 and I contacted the FSA over this. It's excessive and draconian and needs to be challenged by a broad coalition of fan groups. We also need to challenge the club's over-zealous approach to enforcing R.16, which is somewhat hypocritical when they rarely bother enforcing the rule that requires them to turn up on time for the second half.

My suggestion is that 1894 Group works with the OSC and City Matters, and the FSA, to challenge Rule R.16 withfan groups from other PL clubs, collate data on how those other clubs are dealing with this issue and challenge any inconsistency in City's approach.

I would be surprised if anyone would have an objection to the club reselling at face value to a waiting list of members. Nobody likes to see profiteering taken too far.

 

[Berti No Show]

Don’t think Mexico is actually saying that himself to be fair, more that this is what some might say to defend it

I know I'm not having a go at Mexico, just responding to that question/statement in general.

 

[spider blue]

“Just a business”? That line completely misses what this club means to those of us who’ve lived it, breathed it, and carried it through every storm. Businesses come and go. Manchester City is family, heritage, and identity. It's our City. It’s my Dad going home and away in the 60's, 70's and 80's, my Grandad before him, and me stood at Stoke away with my Brother, Mum and Dad as a child, crying my eyes out, wiping away those tears with my City scarf when Kinkladze left us as we were relegated. That wasn’t business. That was heartbreak, love, and loyalty. That's our club.

If it was just a business, none of us would’ve been there in the dark days. None of us would’ve filled away ends in the third tier, or clung to hope when the club was on its knees through decades of mis management. We kept turning up week after week while our rivals swept up back-to-backs, doubles, and trebles, watching them crowned kings of world football, while we stood by a struggling City.
We were there because City is ours. Because it’s part of who we are, woven into our families and our city.

The Aguero moment, the Dickov goal. They weren’t made by balance sheets or corporate partners. They were made by generations of supporters who never walked away, who gave those moments meaning. Without us, they’re just goals. With us, they’re single moments that define generations.

So no - “if you don’t like it, don’t go” isn’t good enough for me. That’s a coward’s answer, it's what the club want us to say. We have every right to speak out, because we are the club. We’re the ones who kept it alive when success and money were nowhere to be seen. Strip that away and you’re left with a brand, not Manchester City.

And if those running the club can’t see that, then it’s not just short-sighted, it’s betrayal of everything the club was built on.

Brilliant mate, I can’t dispute one word of your post.

 

[pride in battle]

Don’t think Mexico is actually saying that himself to be fair, more that this is what some might say to defend it

He is

 

[thegoatsthegoat]

I love my club. Do they care about my loyalty? No, Would they rather have me sat on a seat there or a chinese tourist? The latter. Is it all about profit? Yes.

Do I hate this club? Never.

Hopefully I clarified my post further on. Obviously City as a football team I love. What we are as a club off the pitch, I couldn't be any more disconnected and I am angry at the levels they are pushing us to.

 

[Whether or not]

I had a look on the page and the email from the club states "moving forwards, tickets need to be listed on the exchange"

This is what they are stopping, they want us to put our ticket on the exchange, they pay 1/19th of your season ticket price and they list it for hundreds elsewhere. I said after the ticket freeze that it was a result but I also warned City will have something up their sleeve to make up for it and here we are. Scum

I will never put my ticket on the exchange if I cannot go. I sit with close friends, and I do not want to put them in harms way. Tickets returned to the club are being sold by their preferred touting agencies for hundreds of quid, to away fans half the time. I couldn’t look my friends in the face if they got caught up in violence involving a visiting fan sat in my seat, because I allowed the club to tout the ticket to the highest bidder.

 

[thegoatsthegoat]

I will never put my ticket on the exchange if I cannot go. I sit with close friends, and I do not want to put them in harms way. Tickets returned to the club are being sold by their preferred touting agencies for hundreds of quid, to away fans half the time. I couldn’t look my friends in the face if they got caught up in violence involving a visiting fan sat in my seat, because I allowed the club to tout the ticket to the highest bidder.

Exactly, and it is disgusting the club allow our fans to be in that position. Yet me stating I hate the club (mainly how we are run, not City in general) resulted in posters getting their backs up with me. The real enemy are the men running the show and making these decisions. Fans should unite against it.

 

[Maccblue]

I could watch Alex Greenwood all night.

Doing what ;)

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

I would be surprised if anyone would have an objection to the club reselling at face value to a waiting list of members. Nobody likes to see profiteering taken too far.

Except plenty whinge that the club refunds them the pro-rata price they paid for their ticket and sells it at what to the club is face value.

 

[Berti No Show]

The Facebook/twitter ticket groups aren’t a threat to the club, they’re a lifeline for our supporters. They’re the way ordinary fans, the ones who can’t afford to go every single week, still get the chance to be part of Manchester City. They’re the reason seats are filled on a cold Wednesday night, the reason a young lad/girl can go with their dad or mum for the first time, the reason single mums/dads can take their children to matches, and the reason a lifelong Blue who’s been priced out can still feel connected to the team they’ve loved all of their life.

And it’s not just about money. On those groups, tickets are often passed on for free when someone’s train is delayed or plans fall through. That’s supporters looking out for each other and it's why my friends who are United supporters are envious of us - because we can get access to tickets for very little prices.
That’s City fans making sure another City fan doesn’t miss out. It’s generosity, it’s community, it’s the culture of of this club.

The reality is simple, the people being priced out are the local, loyal supporters, the ones who’ve given their lives to following this club. For them, Football isn’t some shiny product or weekend novelty. Football, and City especially, is a release. It’s an escape from the grind and the struggles of daily life. For some, those ninety minutes with their mates, their family, their husband or wife, have been the thing that’s carried them through dark times - including myself. This club has literally helped fans through battles with mental health, even suicidal thoughts. Don’t ever underestimate that.

To treat it all as if it’s just a business transaction is to strip away everything that makes Manchester City what it is. Because this isn’t the NFL, where both sets of fans sit side by side sipping slushies, eating popcorn, and waiting for the half time show where a half naked singer is dancing on stage. That’s entertainment. That’s a spectacle. Football is different. Football is raw, it’s lived, it’s generational, it’s tribal. That’s why people in America, Australia, and everywhere else fell in love with it, because they saw the authenticity, the passion, the way it mattered to the supporters.

And that’s why these rules, and the club’s obsession with control, feel like an assault on the very heart of what football is - at every top club in the Premier League enforced by it's owners. They treat it like a gimmick to be packaged and sold, when in reality, for us, it’s our lives. For some, Manchester City is all they've got in their life, and it's more than a ticket, more than a transaction. It’s loyalty, family, memory, and survival.

These clubs and the Premier League honestly don’t realise the damage they’re doing if they think they can swap proper match going fans for silent tourists filming the game on their phones. It’s us that make the noise, the atmosphere, the energy and without that, the whole thing falls flat. And once it’s flat, even the tourists won’t be interested anymore.

Tourists don’t come for silence and empty seats, they come because they’ve seen the Etihad rocking, they’ve seen the spectacle built by generations of supporters. But the second the club prices those supporters out and kills that atmosphere, the tourists will vanish too. They’ll move on to the next “big experience” and we’ll be left with a hollow shell.

That’s why it matters to back fans across the board who are standing up against this. It’s not just a City problem, it’s football everywhere and the clubs supporters have to stick together on this. If we don’t fight back now, in a few years time it’ll be too late and the damage will already be done.

Football belongs to the people who go every week, who pass their tickets down through families, who live and breathe it. That’s what makes this game different to the NFL or the NBA or some circus act, is that Football is real, it’s emotional, it means something.

At some point in the next few years there'll be a real lightbulb moment.

Rant over. Up the fucking Blues.

 

[Dodge]

..and make the club just the same as the cunts we detest like the rags and dippers, with hangers-on being a substantial percentage of the matchday attendance.

The night we lifted the Champions League trophy, everything changed. We became everything we hate about those two clubs.

Whilst us mere mortals were celebrating footballing glory, our owners were celebrating commercial glory. The playing staff celebrated as the supporters did, with raw passion. The board room celebrated monetisation and profit. It was then that the slide from legacy to tourist began. It was then that the dismantling of the seasoncard system became priority. It was then that the board pressed ahead with the long planned realignment of the demographic.

Within a few hours of the final whistle, the evidence of this new order was manifested to us all with the complete and utter abandonment of our supporters at that shithole of a stadium.

Up the fucking Blues.

 

[Ballosteve]

“Just a business”? That line completely misses what this club means to those of us who’ve lived it, breathed it, and carried it through every storm. Businesses come and go. Manchester City is family, heritage, and identity. It's our City. It’s my Dad going home and away in the 60's, 70's and 80's, my Grandad before him, and me stood at Stoke away with my Brother, Mum and Dad as a child, crying my eyes out, wiping away those tears with my City scarf when Kinkladze left us as we were relegated. That wasn’t business. That was heartbreak, love, and loyalty. That's our club.

If it was just a business, none of us would’ve been there in the dark days. None of us would’ve filled away ends in the third tier, or clung to hope when the club was on its knees through decades of mis management. We kept turning up week after week while our rivals swept up back-to-backs, doubles, and trebles, watching them crowned kings of world football, while we stood by a struggling City.
We were there because City is ours. Because it’s part of who we are, woven into our families and our city.

The Aguero moment, the Dickov goal. They weren’t made by balance sheets or corporate partners. They were made by generations of supporters who never walked away, who gave those moments meaning. Without us, they’re just goals. With us, they’re single moments that define generations.

So no - “if you don’t like it, don’t go” isn’t good enough for me. That’s a coward’s answer, it's what the club want us to say. We have every right to speak out, because we are the club. We’re the ones who kept it alive when success and money were nowhere to be seen. Strip that away and you’re left with a brand, not Manchester City.

And if those running the club can’t see that, then it’s not just short-sighted, it’s betrayal of everything the club was built on.

Great post...

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

Exactly, and it is disgusting the club allow our fans to be in that position. Yet me stating I hate the club (mainly how we are run, not City in general) resulted in posters getting their backs up with me. The real enemy are the men running the show and making these decisions. Fans should unite against it.

I said this the other day in the thread about turnstiles and the shit show over trying to get in to the game - fan groups need to pick one game, be it a Champions League game or League Cup game and organize a total boycott. Not first 5 mins but a total boycott of the whole game.
The club need to face the power of the fans and that is the only way to do it.

 

[threespires]

Traditional fans have been subjected to the frog in the pot treatment for some years now but this recent club behaviour feels like the heat is being turned up. As has already been said the club are weaponising the rules and general mistreatment of football fans for their own agenda. I suspect we're now at the point where if fans don't find a way to coordinate and push back quite dramatically then it'll be game over sooner rather than later.

 

[johnnytapia]

He is

This is what he posted. I interpreted this as him saying how others might defend it, not himself. Guess it doesn’t really matter in grand scheme - the club don’t care if this kills helping one another out, which is essentially what they’re doing.

“But it's just a business.
The club have to do this to compete and buy nice new players.
If you don't like it don't go.

That'll be the defence of this mob by some, tiresome but true.”

 

[johnnytapia]

I said this the other day in the thread about turnstiles and the shit show over trying to get in to the game - fan groups need to pick one game, be it a Champions League game or League Cup game and organize a total boycott. Not first 5 mins but a total boycott of the whole game.
The club need to face the power of the fans and that is the only way to do it.

Never going to happen.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Mr Reasonable in the propaganda videos, needs to understand the fans more.
Used to love match days and nights, no matter how shit we were. Now the fun is being constantly sucked out of it and going is almost just for something to do out of years of routine and loyalty. Crap match day experience entertainment, the tracking of if you are purchasing enough, the officious monitoring of your ticket, the over stewarding etc.

 

[johnnytapia]

Why? Its a great day out with the kids. The support is mostly local and loyal and the passion reminds me more of the old days at Maine Road than the stagnant Etihad does. It's great value, free parking and creating loads of new young city fans (many of whom can't afford or get tickets for the men's game). The standard is improving all the time and the game has come on in leaps and bounds over the last decade and City are one of the handful of teams leading the way. What's not to like?

It’s shite.

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

Never going to happen.

Then fans should stop complaining.

 

[TheGhost]

I'm not defending the club I'm explaining what some fans would excuse then with.

Yeah I understand that it’s still a shite excuse.