My wife and I had to cancel our trip up for the Spurs game because of a last-minute problem with the accommodation we’d booked. As it turned out, this might not have been a bad thing because of the bad weather (our’s is a 400 mile round trip across the wilds of Wales). Anyway, our tickets had sold on TE within a few hour so, presumably, our seats were occupied for the game. Over the past couple of years when we’ve had to cancel there’s never been a problem selling our tickets and there’s no reason to suppose that others who put their tickets on TE have a problem either, so if there were empty seats on Sunday (personally, I didn’t notice them on tv), it must have been due to the absence of supporters who cancelled too late to put their tickets up for sale or simply chose not to. I can’t see any reason to blame the club in all of this.
On groups of school kids at the game, our seats are close to the top of East Stand Level 3: great view but atmosphere intermittent. The previous two seasons there were lots of school parties close to us: sometimes on the same row. Frankly, they were often an irritant, continually getting up to buy food and drink and creating minor distractions in various ways. Having said this, a lot of the kids seemed genuinely engaged with the game and were clearly supporting City. Anyway, I got talking to one of the teachers who had accompanied the kids who told me that they came from a deprived area in Scotland and were there thanks to a PL initiative. The kids didn’t get the tickets for free - the cost of the trip for them was around £90, though I guess there may have been some financial support from various sources. Must admit that the conversation changed my attitude to the presence of these groups, realising this was probably one of the few chances they’d get to attend a top-level game at a great stadium like ours. Who knows, the experience might lead some of them to be committed City fans of the future.