Etihad atmosphere

[Sheikh rattle and roll]

One reason for early leaving is that public transport is a joke, especially at night.

I have one bus an hour in the late evenings. Otherwise it's the best part of a mile walk home from the tram stop. And I have to get to the Arndale to catch that bus. It's a ball ache; and it's not as if I live far out, like the back end of Ramsbottom or wherever. I'm only just outside the M60.

I know I keep harping on about it, but we desperately need a railway station on that line near the ground, and we'll need it even more when the ground expands. The tram service cannot cope with football crowds, there aren't enough buses, road closures lead to one huge traffic jam, and not everyone is up to walking back to the city centre, especially in the dark and the rain.

Maine Road was much easier to get away from. Tons of buses on Lloyd Street, and tons more just a short walk away on Wilmslow Road and Princess Road. No road closures, either.

I can't believe the council didn't insist the new nexion bridge had an off shoot to the tram station so Alain Turran Way could stay open

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

Agree with all the points about atmosphere and a great atmosphere makes for a great experience, but people fining and moaning are not asking themselves a basic question. THe club really needs to understand and get answers to the following.

1 why is it people who have already forked out for a season card not bothering to attend quite a lot of games.why? They have paid for the tickets and are not being bothered to attend quite a lot of games. Why?

2 why do large numbers of our fans feel the need to leave at 80 minutes and miss effectively the climax to the game. Why?

I expect it's not because they are not proper fans or part time blues or day trippers. I expect conversely day trippers will make the effort and do stay to the end. I reckon it's the local die hards who are leaving ( or not attending).

1 - This was called out a while ago by someone who did some checking of the empty seats and it was clear it was season ticket holders who were oonly turning up for the big games. From that there was a suggestion that we employ a ?Bayern? style of lose your season ticket if you dont show up. I thought it was on the cards and City would do it.

2 - Not sure what evidence you are basing that on.

 

[Eds]

Agree with all the points about atmosphere and a great atmosphere makes for a great experience, but people fining and moaning are not asking themselves a basic question. THe club really needs to understand and get answers to the following.

1 why is it people who have already forked out for a season card not bothering to attend quite a lot of games.why? They have paid for the tickets and are not being bothered to attend quite a lot of games. Why? People have too much money and don't care whether they miss a game. Out of 13 who I go with only 6 bothered on Wednesday but I bet their seats will be used on Sunday

2 why do large numbers of our fans feel the need to leave at 80 minutes and miss effectively the climax to the game. Why? Getting home can be a pain because public transport is crap, people feel the need to walk on the road which causes a backlog of cars and when I hoot at people to move they look at me as if to say I have no right to be driving on the road when they are walking on it. Also on a school night with the game finishing at 9.50 parents want their young kids home and in bed.

I expect it's not because they are not proper fans or part time blues or day trippers. I expect conversely day trippers will make the effort and do stay to the end. I reckon it's the local die hards who are leaving ( or not attending).

 

[Tugay One Cup]

When we used to live down south it would take us four and a half hours to get to a match. My dad would always leave ten minutes early to try and beat traffic and it would drive me mad each time. Now I have the "luxury" of living within walking distance it means I can stay until everyone has cleared off. I don't blame people for leaving before full time as they may have valid reasons and who am I to judge what is a valid reason anyway?

What I don't understand is why half of the people sat nearby turn and stare in fixation like I'm a chimp at the zoo when I cheer the players as the lineups are announced.

 

[kevin horlocks wand]

1 - This was called out a while ago by someone who did some checking of the empty seats and it was clear it was season ticket holders who were oonly turning up for the big games. From that there was a suggestion that we employ a ?Bayern? style of lose your season ticket if you dont show up. I thought it was on the cards and City would do it.

2 - Not sure what evidence you are basing that on.

On point 2 I have undertaken a comprehensive fan questionnaire. I cloned myself 50 times and chased them down the street until they told me why they left. Unfortunately this meant I left early too.

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

On point 2 I have undertaken a comprehensive fan questionnaire. I cloned myself 50 times and chased them down the street until they told me why they left. Unfortunately this meant I left early too.

Well you didnt ask me did you~!

 

[Chippy_boy]

I think there's been some really good and thoughtful posts about this and I don't think there's any right or wrong answers. I fully get the perspective of an ST holder who has paid his/her money every year for 20 years and now for whatever reason only wants to go to 5 games a year. It's a free country and all that. On the other hand, I can see how damaging it is, in terms of atmosphere, team's performance, the club's image in the media (and yes, it does matter. "Who cares" is not a sensible response) and matchday revenues etc. Leaving on 80 minutes is also damaging for similar reasons.

So I think this whole thing should be looked at in the round and considered carefully by the club. No need for knee-jerk reactions and harsh punitive measures, but perhaps a balanced approach.

Kevin makes some great points (1 and 2 above). It seems pretty stupid to pay say £600 per year and then only go to a handful of games. Maybe a person doing that is doing it because they plan on going to many games next season but this year they cant (for whatever reason) and they are concerned they won't be able to get their ST back next year? So perhaps we should allow ST "holidays" where you can let you ST lapse and pick it up again in a year or two? Maybe allocate spare seats for former ST holders who want instead to only go to a handful of games?

And yes, we could consider some kind of light penalties for people just generally taking the piss. But not only penalties, also incentives to reward the kind of fan behaviour we'd like to be renowned for. I think there's a lot the club could do to improve things, if they put their minds to it.

 

[Chippy_boy]

When we used to live down south it would take us four and a half hours to get to a match. My dad would always leave ten minutes early to try and beat traffic and it would drive me mad each time. Now I have the "luxury" of living within walking distance it means I can stay until everyone has cleared off. I don't blame people for leaving before full time as they may have valid reasons and who am I to judge what is a valid reason anyway?

I don't blame people either, but it does create a really bad impression when too many people do it and isn't it sensible to try to ask why do they do it and what can be done to make them WANT to stay instead?

 

[3rdgenerationblue]

Here's my story...........

I live 137 miles away. Last wednesday I got home just after 1am following 4 minor traffic jams on the M6 and one major road closure on the M5.

I wait until the the last possible second before making a dash for it otherwise 1am will be 2am if i am lucky and that usually means 91 minutes.

Who would decry my 'leaving early' decision?

I do however wonder why some leave after 80 minutes!!

 

[Ric]

Guardiola at today's press conference:

"When I walk around, (City fans) are really nice people. We need to play as well so they stay until end of the match and support us."