wearethesouthstand
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 5 Feb 2008
- Messages
- 1,892
From : www.facebook.com/1894groupmcfc
First of all, we want to put on record we have a line of communication with the club and we work with the club in as much as we notify the club of forthcoming displays and we know that there are many good people behind the scenes who share the same aims as ourselves.
That said though, we have had a huge amount of correspondence from City supporters who feel the pricing policy for the PSG game has gone over a line and the concern is growing that the club, as a general point, do not listen to the fans anymore on issues such as ticket prices. On occasion we have to reflect that and make a public statement in order to reflect what people are saying to us.
We have been asked to organise walkouts and to try and reverse the club's decisions on ticket prices. Whether this game is "the tipping point" for City fans remains to be seen. It's likely that a lot of fans will wait and see what happens in the first leg before purchasing a ticket for the return. Then there's a concern of higher prices in the event of us reaching a semi-final. This , on the back of a lot of unhappy supporters flooding social media when season ticket prices were announced last season.
We feel the club need to really listen to the fans now on ticket prices. It's not just a Manchester City problem. However there are a number of things we want the club to take into consideration :
The club's view is that the Champions League as a product should not be "devalued" and that ticket prices should reflect the competition.
Our view is that the club have not shown any consistency on pricing for this competition which has resulted in thousands of empty seats for games. The prices were too high for too long. Our view is that even if the club signed Messi, Pogba and Neymar but the prices were too high - fans just would not go. The club have got to get it right consistently. The club didn't listen to this advice on prices and of course attendances in the Champions League slumped to the point where the club sent out thousands of free tickets - a buy one get one free offer - for the CSKA Moscow home game in November 2014. Nothing devalued the competition more than giving away free tickets. Only half the people given free tickets took their places.
The issue is not Manchester City having a lack of support. It is a lack of fan engagement and a lack of understanding of what our fan base wants.
City were traditionally a family club. Certain Champions League games have been £5 for children but local parents will not be bringing their children if it costs £25 a year to get them a Cityzens membership in the first place. Those seats , which should be filled with passionate supporters who have seen the club through the hard times , will either be filled by a tourist (who will only go the once though because the lack of atmosphere means a very poor spectacle) - or the seat will remain empty.
The same applies for league games. The support is there but maybe they are just turned off by the surveys which pretend to value an opinion , by the ticket prices and by the "Garry Cook" NFL-type "experience" we are supposed to be embracing.
Of course the fan base is growing but it seems that the priority for the club is to price the traditional fans out in favour of anyone who can and will pay top dollar. For the City fans who went year after year in the dark days, that's a very bitter pill to swallow as "trade-off" for having a successful team now.
The club sees the "product" we have on offer as being comparable with Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea and therefore our prices should be on a par with those.
City's support base is different to those clubs. Man Utd are a tourist attraction, Liverpool boast worldwide support (they still manage to integrate tourists successfully into home games because their club avoids the razzmatazz of just sucking up to the new fans) and Chelsea and Arsenal are two London clubs with more affluent fan bases.
There are not the same financial fair play restraints on the club now and there is a nationwide movement across supporters of all clubs that ticket prices need to be reduced which the club should take note of.
The club will say all 55,000 tickets have been sold yet there will be empty seats on show at many games.
Simply, if a traditional fan is priced out of watching their own club and a less passionate fan takes their place because they can afford to buy a season ticket, then will that new fan bother to go to every game ? The answer is no.
If the club gets prices right we get the right people going, we get the noise and The Etihad becomes a fortress. If the club gets price wrong the apathy from the stands transmits to the pitch and look at where we are in the League.
We also feel that the solution is not just simply asking the corporates to pay more either. Everyone deserves to receive value for money. We just feel there is enough money floating about to ensure that prices can be kept at a level where the traditional City fan can afford to go without having to pick and choose which games to attend.
We will continue to monitor fans ' views and take stock of their opinions over the next few days.
First of all, we want to put on record we have a line of communication with the club and we work with the club in as much as we notify the club of forthcoming displays and we know that there are many good people behind the scenes who share the same aims as ourselves.
That said though, we have had a huge amount of correspondence from City supporters who feel the pricing policy for the PSG game has gone over a line and the concern is growing that the club, as a general point, do not listen to the fans anymore on issues such as ticket prices. On occasion we have to reflect that and make a public statement in order to reflect what people are saying to us.
We have been asked to organise walkouts and to try and reverse the club's decisions on ticket prices. Whether this game is "the tipping point" for City fans remains to be seen. It's likely that a lot of fans will wait and see what happens in the first leg before purchasing a ticket for the return. Then there's a concern of higher prices in the event of us reaching a semi-final. This , on the back of a lot of unhappy supporters flooding social media when season ticket prices were announced last season.
We feel the club need to really listen to the fans now on ticket prices. It's not just a Manchester City problem. However there are a number of things we want the club to take into consideration :
The club's view is that the Champions League as a product should not be "devalued" and that ticket prices should reflect the competition.
Our view is that the club have not shown any consistency on pricing for this competition which has resulted in thousands of empty seats for games. The prices were too high for too long. Our view is that even if the club signed Messi, Pogba and Neymar but the prices were too high - fans just would not go. The club have got to get it right consistently. The club didn't listen to this advice on prices and of course attendances in the Champions League slumped to the point where the club sent out thousands of free tickets - a buy one get one free offer - for the CSKA Moscow home game in November 2014. Nothing devalued the competition more than giving away free tickets. Only half the people given free tickets took their places.
The issue is not Manchester City having a lack of support. It is a lack of fan engagement and a lack of understanding of what our fan base wants.
City were traditionally a family club. Certain Champions League games have been £5 for children but local parents will not be bringing their children if it costs £25 a year to get them a Cityzens membership in the first place. Those seats , which should be filled with passionate supporters who have seen the club through the hard times , will either be filled by a tourist (who will only go the once though because the lack of atmosphere means a very poor spectacle) - or the seat will remain empty.
The same applies for league games. The support is there but maybe they are just turned off by the surveys which pretend to value an opinion , by the ticket prices and by the "Garry Cook" NFL-type "experience" we are supposed to be embracing.
Of course the fan base is growing but it seems that the priority for the club is to price the traditional fans out in favour of anyone who can and will pay top dollar. For the City fans who went year after year in the dark days, that's a very bitter pill to swallow as "trade-off" for having a successful team now.
The club sees the "product" we have on offer as being comparable with Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea and therefore our prices should be on a par with those.
City's support base is different to those clubs. Man Utd are a tourist attraction, Liverpool boast worldwide support (they still manage to integrate tourists successfully into home games because their club avoids the razzmatazz of just sucking up to the new fans) and Chelsea and Arsenal are two London clubs with more affluent fan bases.
There are not the same financial fair play restraints on the club now and there is a nationwide movement across supporters of all clubs that ticket prices need to be reduced which the club should take note of.
The club will say all 55,000 tickets have been sold yet there will be empty seats on show at many games.
Simply, if a traditional fan is priced out of watching their own club and a less passionate fan takes their place because they can afford to buy a season ticket, then will that new fan bother to go to every game ? The answer is no.
If the club gets prices right we get the right people going, we get the noise and The Etihad becomes a fortress. If the club gets price wrong the apathy from the stands transmits to the pitch and look at where we are in the League.
We also feel that the solution is not just simply asking the corporates to pay more either. Everyone deserves to receive value for money. We just feel there is enough money floating about to ensure that prices can be kept at a level where the traditional City fan can afford to go without having to pick and choose which games to attend.
We will continue to monitor fans ' views and take stock of their opinions over the next few days.