City Matters thread

[M18CTID]

After four and a half years, 2,750 emails, and many meetings and statements, tonight was my final meeting as a City Matters representative.

I’d like to thank you all for your support over the years, and I hope that I’ve been able to reflect your views and help over that time.

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again Alex. You’ve been an absolute credit to our supporters, often going way above and beyond the call of duty in fighting our corner.

I think it’s ingrained into you that much that you’ll keep campaigning on behalf of the fans one way or another but in the meantime put your feet up and enjoy the summer!

 

[Tim of the Oak]

Quite a bit of hypocrisy on social media today. It’s fine for everyone else to take credit for ticket price reductions and season / card flexi-gold deals except the people who negotiated the agreements.

 

[Alex - Not City Matters]

Thank you to everyone for your comments, I really do appreciate them. To be honest, the past few days have been emotional in a sense, which I think reflects the bonds that can only be created as football fans, and particularly at this great club.

 

[jrb]

Thank you to everyone for your comments, I really do appreciate them. To be honest, the past few days have been emotional in a sense, which I think reflects the bonds that can only be created as football fans, and particularly at this great club.

As I said recently, after my journey on City Matters (and particularly in the two years that followed the Istanbul report), I can't simply pack it all in now.

You would make a great Chairperson of a new City fans trust that has been discussed, if the different fan groups all came together under 1 City fans trust. I would definitely vote for you.

I think a new City fans trust is the next step of representing the fans.

 

[mrtwiceaseason]

I know more than most what you've put in to City Matters Alex. You've been a more than worthy successor to Simon and you've established the credibility of the group, and your own, beyond question. You've set the standard that others should strive for.

It's a pity you weren't involved when the last lot sold us down the river and created the set in stone loyalty points system.

 

[wearethesouthstand]

I’m personally glad some of them are leaving Citymatters this week like that Mo fella from the blue crescent branch OSC who didn’t want to support the fans over ticket prices last year. At the FSA agm today sat with Kevin Parker he voted against a motion relating to sexual misconduct in football.

Basically, when footballers and high ranking staff in football get charged or put under investigation for sexual misconduct/abuse, treat them like any other workplace would and suspend them on full pay til investigation is over. Massive massive support in the room. He was one of about 5 people in nearly 200 who voted against it.

As an aside, Mo has left Citymatters now so technically has no right or reason to even be there in the first place ?

I need to add a comment here. Firstly good luck to blue crescent branch but for Mohammed Ullah who you refer to here, no surprise here to see a poor judgement from him again. That motion was very important and to oppose it is disgusting.

He seems to have very entrenched views…

Mo is a someone that 1894 had to call out together with Angela the ticket rep over their refusal to support the calls to freeze season prices. We think he has had a chip on his shoulder ever since. If you are an elected rep but not taking fans’ views seriously then why are you even a rep?

Every time there was a Citymatters meeting where we had worked out with Alex the chair strategy to take to the club, Mo then claimed he had been the victim of racial abuse inside the stadium.

This happened twice apparently right before each meeting, the second one being in the tunnel club, a corporate area of what, 250 people tops, where it would be easy to pinpoint and throw out anyone who make you feel uncomfortable. But even though he got people to talk about it on here we are not sure if any complaint was ever made to a steward there and then. Who would have identified and chucked out anyone who may have been causing a problem.

Each time he claims it only happened because 1894 hate foreigners and the whole tone of the protests was racist !!!

Saturday at the FSA - thankfully being away I was spared his latest incoherent rant (we were treated to one during a meeting between different fans groups whilst some of the Citymatters reps went on strike) - people were looking at him saying what on earth are you talking about.

Putting two and two together there seems to be a (highly unsuccessful) smear campaign based on bitterness and spite and the important things to remember are - nasty incidents do take place and should always be reported- any “made up” incidents are surely a kick in the teeth for anyone actually trying to fight this problem.

Secondly all 3 protests - Leicester villa and wolves - were supported by City fans worldwide and they all understood what it was about culminating in the price freezes and match day price reductions.

Many of our members and followers are of the Muslim faith from countries all over the world.

Mo’s attitude towards 1894 is blinkered prejudiced and misguided and not reflective of anyone else other than his own.


Recently he said come and meet us you won’t meet us will you. When we offered he backed out.

I did find an article online where a certain young man called Mohammed Ullah was in the Manchester Evening News a few years ago claiming that the local community was being priced out of the housing market and no one could get on the ladder.

Just a shame that during his stint on Citymatters he couldn’t make the connection to City fans also being priced out of attending their club.

 

[BertM19]

Quite a bit of hypocrisy on social media today. It’s fine for everyone else to take credit for ticket price reductions and season / card flexi-gold deals except the people who negotiated the agreements.

To be fair, none of the groups involved took credit for anything, they directly thanked City Matters and, more importantly, the fans who actually took the action and did some of the biggest protests the Premier League has ever seen?

 

[Tim of the Oak]

To be fair, none of the groups involved took credit for anything, they directly thanked City Matters and, more importantly, the fans who actually took the action and did some of the biggest protests the Premier League has ever seen?

There’s no tbf about it. I was referring to people who had tweeted criticisms of the OSC and / or City Matters. I can’t be arsed listing their names as I’d rather let sleeping dogs lie. I wasn’t referring to official statements from protest partners.

Tbf there’s still been no retraction about misinformation posted about Scandinavian fans or the currently non-existent OSC Blues flexi-golds

 

[jrb]

There’s no tbf about it. I was referring to people who had tweeted criticisms of the OSC and / or City Matters. I can’t be arsed listing their names as I’d rather let sleeping dogs lie. I wasn’t referring to official statements from protest partners.

Tbf there’s still been no retraction about misinformation posted about Scandinavian fans or the currently nonl-existent OSC Blues flexi-golds

You keep on bringing it up. ;-)

How many more times is that dog going to wake up and bark?

 

[Tim of the Oak]

You keep on bringing it up. ;-)

How many more times is that dog going to wake up and bark?

It must be a quiet news night. No old roof panels taken down for a week!

 

[wearethesouthstand]

There’s no tbf about it. I was referring to people who had tweeted criticisms of the OSC and / or City Matters. I can’t be arsed listing their names as I’d rather let sleeping dogs lie. I wasn’t referring to official statements from protest partners.

Tbf there’s still been no retraction about misinformation posted about Scandinavian fans or the currently non-

There’s no tbf about it. I was referring to people who had tweeted criticisms of the OSC and / or City Matters. I can’t be arsed listing their names as I’d rather let sleeping dogs lie. I wasn’t referring to official statements from protest partners.

Tbf there’s still been no retraction about misinformation posted about Scandinavian fans or the currently non-existent OSC Blues flexi-golds

Hi Tim. The club themselves were implicated and Kevin Parker was named too by a long standing friend in Norway & Denmark OSC.

There was radio silence from the club for a week. Then when Citymatters asked a reply came 2 days later. After a meeting has taken place. (We heard on the Tuesday that it was being discussed on the Wednesday lunchtime)

Denial from club. But without having asked for evidence. When evidence was then presented a further “nothing to see here email from the club”.

If it was a straight yes/no why the week delay and why call a meeting about it (without examining evidence?)

The question remains what happens to people who have had season cards for decades but who stand to lose them because of City’s policy ? No one has an answer for this ???

The same chap has since sent a scripted message to say no agreement in place.

The only way we will actually know is in a year’s time when we can compare number of season ticket holders from that branch compared to now.

When people who normally share their tickets with their friends in the branch but only get over 3-4 times a year will either have lost their ticket or somehow kept it.

The main focus should be challenging the club’s policy here because many fans stand to lose out.

Also Kevin posted in an OSC portal that he was in discussion with the club to get more flexi gold at a time when others in Citymatters were holding out for the club to offer flexi gold holders the choice of upgrading unconditionally to full season ticket.

This was whilst others in Citymatters were on strike and trying to get the best deal for everyone in the support, OSC member or not.

There’s no misinformation from our groups only information that gets passed on occasionally which we are duty bound to check out.

 

[jrb]

It must be a quiet news night. No old roof panels taken down for a week!

I've been away for a week.

Another section of old North stand roof came down yesterday.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

I've been away for a week.

Another section of old North stand roof came down yesterday.

If you take tomorrow off we might get another section down mate!

 

[jrb]

If you take tomorrow off we might get another section down mate!

I can never take a day of the North stand construction thread.

I'll be doing the stadium tour once the old North stand roof is down, and the pitch is cleared. Hopefully in a couple of weeks?

Looking forward to seeing the new NSL2 tier in all it's glory for the first time from inside the Etihad.

Hopefully some of the new FR turnstiles will be Installed as well.

Looking forward to what City Matters have to say about the FR turnstiles.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

Hi Tim. The club themselves were implicated and Kevin Parker was named too by a long standing friend in Norway & Denmark OSC.

There was radio silence from the club for a week. Then when Citymatters asked a reply came 2 days later. After a meeting has taken place. (We heard on the Tuesday that it was being discussed on the Wednesday lunchtime)

Denial from club. But without having asked for evidence. When evidence was then presented a further “nothing to see here email from the club”.

If it was a straight yes/no why the week delay and why call a meeting about it (without examining evidence?)

The question remains what happens to people who have had season cards for decades but who stand to lose them because of City’s policy ? No one has an answer for this ???

The same chap has since sent a scripted message to say no agreement in place.

The only way we will actually know is in a year’s time when we can compare number of season ticket holders from that branch compared to now.

When people who normally share their tickets with their friends in the branch but only get over 3-4 times a year will either have lost their ticket or somehow kept it.

The main focus should be challenging the club’s policy here because many fans stand to lose out.

Also Kevin posted in an OSC portal that he was in discussion with the club to get more flexi gold at a time when others in Citymatters were holding out for the club to offer flexi gold holders the choice of upgrading unconditionally to full season ticket.

This was whilst others in Citymatters were on strike and trying to get the best deal for everyone in the support, OSC member or not.

There’s no misinformation from our groups only information that gets passed on occasionally which we are duty bound to check out.

Thanks for the helpful reply. Regarding flexi-golds, members at the Branch heads meetings over the last year were asking Kevin to ask if Branches could get any flexi-golds. Some Brsnch Secs asked Danny Wilson directly at one of the regular / monthly meetings that I attended.

I think the Branch Secs saw f-gs as a replacement for the season cards we used to get for members. One per Branch in the latter years IIRC.

I don’t think there was any Masterplan from Kevin and Branch Secs and it wasn’t ever going to be of the magnitude to disrupt the wider season cards and ticket price negotiations. Kevin was doing what members asked him to do. Obviously, there was the contentious decision not to join the strike and help to pitchroll a deal for the wider fanbase who I can understand posters frustrations about.

I don’t see the OSC asking for a small quantity of flexi-golds as a big deal as they were replacing something taken away by the Ckub in the OSC offering. If opinions differ then Que sera. Kevin Parker did to help the deal than hinder it and there have been no flexi-golds issued to Brsnches. Any distributed through their route willl be what’s left rather being at the front of the queue. I could take or leave Brsnches getting flexi-goods and many
Members have sorted their own.

I think the Scandinavians were going to try to retain their season cards in the way, for example, Saddleworth has put the case for retaining his season cards over a few pages.

Kevin Parker says he was never at a meeting with City about this matter.

This is not about 1894 but on X the Scandavians were treated in the opposite way to, for example, how Esme Morganwas reported as big hero going to America for a few years and how it was essential that she retained her season cards. Maybe she should and City would make sure Esme got a ticket anyway, whose Beian a great player for City Women and a top
Pundit for the Blues. Good luck to anyone who gets leeway from City but obviously there needs to a great deal of consistency in terms application. There should be a lot of sympathy and transparency from the Club re exemptions. In fact I would go further and say the 10 game policy shouldn’t be introduced next season. There needs to be a thorough impact assessment. Many including the Club and City Matters were taken by surprise by the number of fans who felt the 10 game rule would affect them.

I made a point in the thread about taking credit and I think City Matters, 1894, Trade Union Blues, MCFC Foodbank and all protesting fans should be proud of what has been achieved.
City have listened and credit to them too.

Thanks agin for a lot of the top
Work from 1894

 

[wearethesouthstand]

Thanks for the helpful reply. Regarding flexi-golds, members at the Branch heads meetings over the last year were asking Kevin to ask if Branches could get any flexi-golds. Some Brsnch Secs asked Danny Wilson directly at one of the regular / monthly meetings that I attended.

I think the Branch Secs saw f-gs as a replacement for the season cards we used to get for members. One per Branch in the latter years IIRC.

I don’t think there was any Masterplan from Kevin and Branch Secs and it wasn’t ever going to be of the magnitude to disrupt the wider season cards and ticket price negotiations. Kevin was doing what members asked him to do. Obviously, there was the contentious decision not to join the strike and help to pitchroll a deal for the wider fanbase who I can understand posters frustrations about.

I don’t see the OSC asking for a small quantity of flexi-golds as a big deal as they were replacing something taken away by the Ckub in the OSC offering. If opinions differ then Que sera.

I’m sure Kevin can speak for himself without a spokesperson !!

 

[BertM19]

I've just been on the club website, reading through the City Matters meeting minutes from May 1st it seems like there's confirmation here that - given this meeting happened the day before the Wolves protest - the club wasn't going to change the fact that matchday prices for the upcoming season would be frozen, not reduced, despite all the vital protestations from CM reps.

This seems to put paid (in writing) to the idea it was anything other than the protests that changed the club's mind? Makes the club's claim that this happened after "consultation with City Matters" feel a bit hollow.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

I’m sure Kevin can speak for himself without a spokesperson !!

Fair doos mate. The stuff about not attending any meeting with City and the Scandanavian Blues was taken for on the notes of the last OSC Branch Heads meeting. You may have used the same source re flexi-golds.

I do seasonal work and can’t always get to the OSc Exec meetings. The person / people
Leaking info within the OSC and passing it on (sometimes without sharing the full context) make it more difficult for Blues like me to run a Branch. The notes get more sanitised. Yes more transparency would be better but it’s difficult when routine events appear to get spun by somebody with a grudge in the OSC, as though there’s a smoking gun.

The OSC has its faults and I’ve often said it’s overrated.

 

[There is a Light]

Fair doos mate. The stuff about not attending any meeting with City and the Scandanavian Blues was taken for on the notes of the last OSC Branch Heads meeting. You may have used the same source re flexi-golds.

I do seasonal work and can’t always get to the OSc Exec meetings. The person / people
Leaking info within the OSC and passing it on (sometimes without sharing the full context) make it more difficult for Blues like me to run a Branch. The notes get more sanitised. Yes more transparency would be better but it’s difficult when routine events appear to get spun by somebody with a grudge in the OSC, as though there’s a smoking gun.

The OSC has its faults and I’ve often said it’s overrated.

The conspiracy theories are out in force - someone with a grudge - same source - always the victim it’s never his fault

 

[Tim of the Oak]

The conspiracy theories are out in force - someone with a grudge - same source - always the victim it’s never his fault

Not really. Some won’t like Kevin Parker. That’s life. Not everyone gets on.

That said, I’m taking bets on who is the Rui Pinto of the OSC!