City Fans Leaving Early/Empty seats

[blueparrot]

That doesn't take into account all the non-attendees who pass their ticket on or stick it back up for resale on the ticket exchange. Speaking of which, it seems clear to me that some fans are doing themselves out of extra cash because they don't put their SC seat back up for sale on the exchange, either because they don't know how to or they simply can't be arsed.

Yes, both those things are true. The biggest thing I 've noticed is there seems to be more matchday tickets only available as single seats this season. Not sure how this has happened there used to be little groups that seemed to be set aside for matchday. Maybe years of relocations have caused it not sure, but it's certainly made it more difficult for those of us that want to buy 2 or 3 together for matchdays. I always knew which block and seats to look in now I have to search about even though I buy some as soon as they go on sale in July.
It would help as well if resales went up sooner as a couple of weeks before is too late for those of us travelling to make arrangements if tickets suddenly appear.

 

[dickie davies]

There were about 50 or 51. Vast swathes of the ground were full. No way was one in ten seats empty

A close up shot of a single block. Which block was it by the way? What next? Because Block 210 was about half full, do we extrapolate that to conclude only 27,000 were there?

Personally, I think the pics posted by @jrb and @Pablo ZZZ Peroni tell a far better story as they show a much bigger section of the stadium and for me, I'd say there were something in the region of 2000+ empties in home areas. The pic of the much maligned family stand that Pablo put up where the no-shows tend to be the worst out of all the non-corporate sections show 150-200 empties in a stand that holds over 5000. Look at the pic of the East Stand level 3 - it's rammed with hardly an empty seat to be seen. To take a single block and claim it's 10% across the whole stadium when the stand that is deemed the worst for empties was at around 95% capacity shows that it's you who is living in cloud cuckoo land. And given that a considerable number of fans tend to piss off for a half-time pie or pint from 35 minutes onwards due to the utterly wank service at the kiosks, it renders the 37th minute clip even less worthwhile.

M18, I understand what you're saying but if you stop the video at 5.25 and then look, at first glance it actually seems full, but if you count the empties there are at least 25 in a camera shot of less than 250
The angle of that camera tells me it's lower tier, the age demographic shows it's certainly not the family stand and it's definitely not the cheap seats right at the front

Let me make this perfectly clear. If people want to buy a ticket and not attend then that's entirely up to them. However I do believe the family stand attendance is generally a disgrace and this is why I'd build a third tier at the north end and put the family stand upstairs
I also think that 50% of the attending supporters let the club down by pissing off five minutes (or earlier) from the end. It's no wonder the final ten minutes of the Fulham game was more like a wake than a football match. If the fans can't be arsed then why should the players!

 

[fierydan]

That doesn't take into account all the non-attendees who pass their ticket on or stick it back up for resale on the ticket exchange. Speaking of which, it seems clear to me that some fans are doing themselves out of extra cash because they don't put their SC seat back up for sale on the exchange, either because they don't know how to or they simply can't be arsed.

I had to sell my Newcastle ticket due to holidays but I found it mighty difficult to list.Why can`t we have a heading on the ticket site ,something obvious like Sell Your Ticket?

 

[The Light Was Yellow Sir]

Whilst I know that you cannot please all of the people all of the time, there might be some simple steps that could be taken, to make the seat exchange a bit easier. For example, there are usually 3 of us attending but one cannot make it to the Brighton game. He will put it on the exchange but, as a single seat, it is perhaps unlikely to sell. However, if the two of us could move somewhere else and leave 3 seats together, they would, in all likelyhood, go in an hour or two.
Having written that down I am not especially sure what they could do but there maybe a relatively easy answer.......

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

There's also the suspicion pointed out by a few on here that the club itself is working directly with some of these agencies, which reduces their level of risk even further.

No shit Sherlock. Google Man City match tickets and hey pronto, available tickets!

The club have sold the the tickets to agencies, and those avaricious agencies keep buying them hoping mug punters with deep pockets will buy them.

The prices those agencies are asking are why the supply outstrips the demand, hence pockets of empty seats all over the stadium. When those seats are taken it's often by day drippers who can afford it, as more and more genuine blues are priced out each ongoing season. This is largely responsible for lack of atmosphere in the stadium, and no matter how hard the club tries in drumming up the 'match day experience', they simply cannot manufacturer atmosphere, especially with 'fans' that have no understanding or affinity to MCFC.

As for empty seats, yes there are plenty. I'm in 329 and Saturday I lioloo around me and within 5 metres there were 5 empty seats. Looking down onto NS L1 and there are always at least 2 rows of seats 6+ or more. Let's not try and sugarcoat this fellow blues, I see these empty seats with my own eyes, not from my TV. I do my bit to make sure my seat is taken if i cannot attend,its i a pity we have so many who don't seem to give a shit really.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=M...huawei&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&inm=vs

 

[malg]

We can blame the media all we want, but if you go to games you see it every home game. There must be a shit load of season ticket holders who only make it for Liverpool, Rags, Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal - yep, the big games. Just modern times I suppose, people will just think "is it really worth the bother" knowing that they can watch any game online, with a beer, without the mither of getting there, traffic, queueing up for ages, queues and shite service to pay £4.50 a pint and ridiculously overpriced food.

 

[Eccles Blue]

I have been opposed to the notion of refusing season card renewal to people who miss more than a certain number of PL games but I am slowly coming around to this idea. I am one of those who miss games in a season because we visit out daughter and her family in New Zealand but I ensure my seat is not vacant by loaning my card to my brother in law. I just can't get over the fact that some people just can't be bothered going to games considering the style of football we are playing. Miss more than 5 games and you have to join the SC queue again.

Whilst I can see your point about the 5 games I would hope that the club would check first as to the reason for missing them. If this had been in force when I had my heart op with the complications that followed I would have been rejoining the queue for a SC!! As I was in hospital for most of the time and not in proper contact with my City friends didn't think about my season card or the seat being empty to be honest. All I wanted was to know if I would ever be fit enough to get out!! :-) As you can see I did get out but my away days are very much curtailed now unfortunately. Hey ho, I can still attend the home matches and annoy people!!

 

[City & Blue Brazil]

Whilst I can see your point about the 5 games I would hope that the club would check first as to the reason for missing them. If this had been in force when I had my heart op with the complications that followed I would have been rejoining the queue for a SC!! As I was in hospital for most of the time and not in proper contact with my City friends didn't think about my season card or the seat being empty to be honest. All I wanted was to know if I would ever be fit enough to get out!! :-) As you can see I did get out but my away days are very much curtailed now unfortunately. Hey ho, I can still attend the home matches and annoy people!!

There would have to be provisos for illness but it could be done, ultimately though I doubt the club care very much so long as they sell the seats

 

[M18CTID]

M18, I understand what you're saying but if you stop the video at 5.25 and then look, at first glance it actually seems full, but if you count the empties there are at least 25 in a camera shot of less than 250
The angle of that camera tells me it's lower tier, the age demographic shows it's certainly not the family stand and it's definitely not the cheap seats right at the front

Let me make this perfectly clear. If people want to buy a ticket and not attend then that's entirely up to them. However I do believe the family stand attendance is generally a disgrace and this is why I'd build a third tier at the north end and put the family stand upstairs
I also think that 50% of the attending supporters let the club down by pissing off five minutes (or earlier) from the end. It's no wonder the final ten minutes of the Fulham game was more like a wake than a football match. If the fans can't be arsed then why should the players!

Difficult to tell exactly where in the stadium it is but I don't believe we can take that one very small sample and come up with a figure for the rest of the stadium

I agree with a lot of your other points by the way - I'm not sure why so many fans have to leave early when it's a 3pm kick-off on a Saturday

 

[Roachy]

We can blame the media all we want, but if you go to games you see it every home game. There must be a shit load of season ticket holders who only make it for Liverpool, Rags, Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal - yep, the big games. Just modern times I suppose, people will just think "is it really worth the bother" knowing that they can watch any game online, with a beer, without the mither of getting there, traffic, queueing up for ages, queues and shite service to pay £4.50 a pint and ridiculously overpriced food.

Agree, and I've mentioned it earlier. Get used to Sat 3 pm ko's being like the one just gone, because we won't be playing the bigger games during the Tv curfew slot.

 

[M18CTID]

No shit Sherlock. Google Man City match tickets and hey pronto, available tickets!

The club have sold the the tickets to agencies, and those avaricious agencies keep buying them hoping mug punters with deep pockets will buy them.

The prices those agencies are asking are why the supply outstrips the demand, hence pockets of empty seats all over the stadium. When those seats are taken it's often by day drippers who can afford it, as more and more genuine blues are priced out each ongoing season. This is largely responsible for lack of atmosphere in the stadium, and no matter how hard the club tries in drumming up the 'match day experience', they simply cannot manufacturer atmosphere, especially with 'fans' that have no understanding or affinity to MCFC.

As for empty seats, yes there are plenty. I'm in 329 and Saturday I lioloo around me and within 5 metres there were 5 empty seats. Looking down onto NS L1 and there are always at least 2 rows of seats 6+ or more. Let's not try and sugarcoat this fellow blues, I see these empty seats with my own eyes, not from my TV. I do my bit to make sure my seat is taken if i cannot attend,its i a pity we have so many who don't seem to give a shit really.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=M...huawei&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&inm=vs

Nobody's sugar-coating anything from what I can see. There's clearly an issue which is acknowledged by many fans as evidenced by 259 pages of posts in less than 2 years. However, I just think some of the estimations of no-shows are often on the high side, particularly in that BBC article last week (something that the author himself agreed might be the case). Anyone who thinks there were nearly 9000 less than the official attendance against Spurs last season, over 5000 less against Liverpool, nearly 15000 less for West Ham's game against Arsenal, over 6000 less for Chelsea's game against Spurs, while at the same time United's official figures are miraculously accurate to the very last fan for every single game that was scrutinised (fucking hell, I know one red who several times last season didn't attend games and his 2 tickets went unused) is off their fucking rocker.

 

[jitsubluedan]

Difficult to tell exactly where in the stadium it is but I don't believe we can take that one very small sample and come up with a figure for the rest of the season

I agree with a lot of your other points by the way - I'm not sure why so many fans have to leave early when it's a 3pm kick-off on a Saturday

My lad couldn't come to the game with us on Saturday as he had to work so we let a friend have it rather than let the seat go empty, as others do.

As for leaving early, I suspect that is more to do with people wanting to avoid getting grid-locked in a car park (whether this is at the ground or over at Asda/the velodrome). We had the unfortunate experience of parking at the velodrome on one of the night games (Bristol City I think) and it took us 1-hour just to get out on to the main road outside the ground. The problem is there are too many traffic avenues streaming into the main carriageway.

I don't know what the answer is; maybe if there was a one-way system around the ground (just for match days), it would ensure that everything kept moving, rather than cars jibbing into spaces because they want to get out which then blocks other cars coming from the other side.

 

[M18CTID]

My lad couldn't come to the game with us on Saturday as he had to work so we let a friend have it rather than let the seat go empty, as others do.

As for leaving early, I suspect that is more to do with people wanting to avoid getting grid-locked in a car park (whether this is at the ground or over at Asda/the velodrome). We had the unfortunate experience of parking at the velodrome on one of the night games (Bristol City I think) and it took us 1-hour just to get out on to the main road outside the ground. The problem is there are too many traffic avenues streaming into the main carriageway.

I don't know what the answer is; maybe if there was a one-way system around the ground (just for match days), it would ensure that everything kept moving, rather than cars jibbing into spaces because they want to get out which then blocks other cars coming from the other side.

Yeah, I can fully empathise with the much documented traffic problems but I don't believe everyone who left early on Saturday was parked up in one of the car parks. The numbers of early leavers were too great for that to be the case

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

Wouldn't the best way to fuck the ticket touts off be to flag these empty seats up and track it back to the cityzens matchday member? How many tickets can you buy at one time anyway? This is why we need a Bayern like system all the more, if they do it at the start of the season for all home games, void their tickets on the seats they don't sell if it happens for more than 5 games.

Fans from all clubs hate ticket touts in general don't they? Even if they complained to the press the club could easily turn that into good press for stamping out ticket touts.

If it is touts, the new system, agencies or whatever, it really seems to be a problem this year.
I am questioning what the point in me buying three cityzen memberships for the family if the likelihood of getting three seats together is so limited.
I only go two or three times a year because of flights and accomodation costs.
If this problem of seating persists, I'd be better off saving the money I give to City for membership and buying my tickets at higher prices from "whoever" and getting to go to the match I want to.

 

[The blue phantom]

Yeah, I can fully empathise with the much documented traffic problems but I don't believe everyone who left early on Saturday was parked up in one of the car parks. The numbers of early leavers were too great for that to be the case

I don't blame anyone for fuckin off from SS3 early, what a mess this stand is for getting out at the final whistle.

 

[Dubai Blue]

If it is touts, the new system, agencies or whatever, it really seems to be a problem this year.
I am questioning what the point in me buying three cityzen memberships for the family if the likelihood of getting three seats together is so limited.
I only go two or three times a year because of flights and accomodation costs.
If this problem of seating persists, I'd be better off saving the money I give to City for membership and buying my tickets at higher prices from "whoever" and getting to go to the match I want to.

That's the position I now find myself in too. Me and the missus tend to get over for 5 or 6 games a season. Not been able to get two together for any of the 3 games I've bought so far. Won't bother wasting that £70 again next year as there's always single tickets available on open sale nearer the games.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Well it so happens that 93:20 seats are on sale for all our home games on Viagogo. However! if you go to sell a seat yourself (to test this) no matches come available.
So who exactly are selling these seats.....

Basically someone personally can't be doing this.....

https://www.viagogo.co.uk/Sports-Ti...mier-League/Manchester-City-Tickets/E-2839113

Have viagogo bought up a load of seats in 93:20 to sell themselves? through the affiliation they had with us the other season. And they will just sell them to the highest bidder, they don't care.
Explains the empty seats for lesser cat games and they will still make a profit selling top 6 matches are the inflated prices.
Somethings not right about it.....

I've said for ages that's exactly what it is. And it's the same with loads of random seats all over the stadium, sometimes chunks of them together (look at Block 210!). City have already made their money on the seat so they do not give a shit that loads of local Blues or long standing Blues could take up those seats but can't, they don't give a shit that they're empty and they don't give a shit if it's away fans taking them up for the top 6 games.

It fucking stinks though the club should hang their fucking heads in shame instead of boasting about record fucking profits!

And i'll tell you what something needs to be done about it, something more needs to be made of it. The club are taking the piss out of our fanbase and getting away with it. I might even email the Football Supporters Federation and see if they'll go to the media about it. The club need to be fucking strung up for this shit. Fuck these ticket agencies off and sell tickets to City fans on the City Ticket website.

 

[Thomas Hearns]

Leaving early is a sign that our fan base aren’t just entertainment seekers who only come to matches to take selfies and be part of the “match day experience”

Many blues go to the match to see City win and if we’re three up with five mins left then it’s job done and we go home happy. If it’s one all or two one entering injury time then we’re more likely to hang on.

Sanctimonious keyboard warriors can naively bang on about letting city down all they want, bless em, but their blatant virtue signalling will rightly fall on deaf ears.

It’s always happened and it always will. Each to their own

 

[Bluemanc100]

I don't blame anyone for fuckin off from SS3 early, what a mess this stand is for getting out at the final whistle.

Amen to that... we are on row PP in 315.. If I leave at 87 mins.. all good, if I leave at 90+ its a proper fucking ballache to get out

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

Nobody's sugar-coating anything from what I can see. There's clearly an issue which is acknowledged by many fans as evidenced by 259 pages of posts in less than 2 years. However, I just think some of the estimations of no-shows are often on the high side, particularly in that BBC article last week (something that the author himself agreed might be the case). Anyone who thinks there were nearly 9000 less than the official attendance against Spurs last season, over 5000 less against Liverpool, nearly 15000 less for West Ham's game against Arsenal, over 6000 less for Chelsea's game against Spurs, while at the same time United's official figures are miraculously accurate to the very last fan for every single game that was scrutinised (fucking hell, I know one red who several times last season didn't attend games and his 2 tickets went unused) is off their fucking rocker.

Did you go Saturday? If so , how many you guessing? From my seat I can see the stadium except CB 1&2. I would say around 48k.