Whether we like it or not we have to be honest and recognise that we simply don’t have the reservoir of fans that the rags and Liverpool have. So if 15,000 decide they aren’t going then there aren’t 15,000 others who will willingly take their places. Maybe that’ll change in 20 years time but it’s not that way at the moment.
So why would 15k decide not to come? I think there’s a few reasons. The main one is that probably a third of our season ticket holders live a considerable distance away and for most it’s simply not practical. That was what stopped me and many others getting to midweek games when I worked in London Monday to Friday. Many younger kids won’t be there as it’s a school night and I bet there’s a couple of thousand of those at least. Even if you live locally, if you’re reliant on public transport to get home then you might well not bother.
Some will have limited funds and will only be able to afford their season ticket and not much else. Some (like me) simply don’t like the CL. It’s third on the list of trophies I’d like to win, behind the PL and FA Cup. I also dropped all Cup schemes as a protest against the last price rise, which was both unnecessary and I understand had originally been decided against by the club. So they’ll get less money out of me this season than last because of that. If I want to go to a Cup game I will but all CL games I can watch from the comfort of my own living room, which I already pay for. In fact I’ve so little interest in the CL that I only had the game on in the background last night while doing some reading I needed to do.
And if we’re expecting day-trippers to take up the slack then we need to make it a damn sight easier to get tickets. It’s hard enough for SC holders at the moment.
