North Stand expansion - seating, ticketing etc

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

It isn’t any different. I went as a teenager to as many matches as I could afford. Then when I married and had kids the same.
The tickets were probably more available granted but that was because City weren’t the greatest.
But I was in my late 40s before I could afford a season ticket.

Can't say that corresponds exactly to my experience, EB. When I could go regularly (i.e. late sixties, right through seventies, until, basically, I changed countries, and then continents for a while) I can't remember ever being turned away from Maine Rd. I always got in on the gate. Even for derbies. And for a while, through the schoolboy gate where it was 2s/6d (or half-a-crown, which is a term you'll understand!). That was the team of Young, Bell etc, and then later the team of Watson, Tueart, Barnes etc., so not exactly charlies. It was good football. Like you, I never thought of getting a season ticket a) because I couldn't afford it at first, and b) because I never felt I needed it. Even taking account of inflation, paying £60 today for a decent seat for one match is a whole level up. Ok, it's fifty years ago, but still.
The experience of going to a football match in 2024 is a whole different level of comfort. I never once used the toilets at the Kippax because I didn't want to go through that gnarly experience (didn't even know where they were!). I held it in, simple as that.
The evolution of football has left the segment of our support which is still definitely working-class (however you define that term) behind. I actually think that prices at City are reasonable if you compare them to most other PL clubs. I won't even talk about the London clubs. But there are plenty of poor people around Greater Manchester. And some of them were match-going blues. They've had to give up. That's just a fact.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

It was completely different for previous generations though. Football was more affordable and accessible for most people compared to now. For most of the time my dad watched city you didn’t need a season ticket, you could just turn up on the day and buy a cheap ticket. You’re looking at £60+ for a lot of games now - most people can’t afford that.

It’s not even just about cost. The club haven’t sold season tickets since 2019 and that’s going to continue. So someone who’s 18 might have to wait until he/she is 30+ just to be able to go regularly. How much patience should people have.

Is it any wonder why most people who attend matches are 50+, where’s the next generation when they stop attending.

We were often treated poorly on tickets during the Swales and Franny eras, especially if you couldn’t afford a season ticket. I have written before on here about finishing work on Saturday morning and buying a ticket at the ticket office they gave me a broken seat and barbed wire above my head that meant I couldn’t stand either.

It’s good to have a season card but it’s just not true they everyone whose ever wanted a season card should have one. That mentality led to Ticket hoarding and thousands of empty seats.

I agree they the Club are greedy but the pressure groups are now moaning about every decision City makes. No thanks.

FWIW, I’ve stated subsidising match day ticket prices in the OSc Branch that I run. Actions speaks louder then word:!

 

[Gone for a Burton]

We sang Best Team In The Land and all the world for years when we were dogshit so surely that was bullshit too. We still sing We never win at home and we never win away. Have you got an issue with that song too?

Love it.

Do you know the words to 'Bless em all' ?

 

[mayo31]

Like you say “Until the exchange system came in the empty seats was worse than now” so why bring in Flexi Gold now we have the exchange system? Personally, if that’s the club’s excuse for Flexi Gold then I ain’t buying it. There are other reasons for empty seats too. Here’s one for starters: how about the hundreds and hundreds of tickets ringfenced for hospitality that magically appear back on the planner for some of the lesser games just days in advance of the match? Or selling Burnley’s returned tickets for £61 a pop for that January midweek fixture last season and hardly any fucker snapped them up so the club had to give loads away? Thankfully they learnt their lesson on that one and have since been selling returned away allocations for the same price that the away fans pay.

This part is interesting about selling spares for the same price as away fans, so £30

That is seen as good by the club

Yet if I was a season ticket holder in another part of the ground or even in the seats nearer the pitch in SS3 I would have paid more than £30

Also if I had bought a ticket in SS3 just for that match before the returns would have paid more than £30

Never a perfect method it seems

 

[Gone for a Burton]

Can't say that corresponds exactly to my experience, EB. When I could go regularly (i.e. late sixties, right through seventies, until, basically, I changed countries, and then continents for a while) I can't remember ever being turned away from Maine Rd. I always got in on the gate. Even for derbies. And for a while, through the schoolboy gate where it was 2s/6d (or half-a-crown, which is a term you'll understand!). That was the team of Young, Bell etc, and then later the team of Watson, Tueart, Barnes etc., so not exactly charlies. It was good football. Like you, I never thought of getting a season ticket a) because I couldn't afford it at first, and b) because I never felt I needed it. Even taking account of inflation, paying £60 today for a decent seat for one match is a whole level up. Ok, it's fifty years ago, but still.
The experience of going to a football match in 2024 is a whole different level of comfort. I never once used the toilets at the Kippax because I didn't want to go through that gnarly experience (didn't even know where they were!). I held it in, simple as that.
The evolution of football has left the segment of our support which is still definitely working-class (however you define that term) behind. I actually think that prices at City are reasonable if you compare them to most other PL clubs. I won't even talk about the London clubs. But there are plenty of poor people around Greater Manchester. And some of them were match-going blues. They've had to give up. That's just a fact.

10,000 fans who were regulars when Maine Road closed had stopped going to City five years later.....10,000 !!

 

[M18CTID]

This part is interesting about selling spares for the same price as away fans, so £30

That is seen as good by the club

Yet if I was a season ticket holder in another part of the ground or even in the seats nearer the pitch in SS3 I would have paid more than £30

Also if I had bought a ticket in SS3 just for that match before the returns would have paid more than £30

Never a perfect method it seems

Yeah, I agree mate. Someone who has bought a match day ticket early on for one of those games when there were no £30 tickets available kind of gets penalised for committing early to a ticket in another section that has cost £20-£30 more but on the flip side what do the club do if 1500 or so extra tickets suddenly become available a week or so in advance of a match that isn’t considered a marquee fixture?

 

[Bellamy's Caddy]

Sorry, the season ticket stuff has kind of passed me by. Can I just check I have this right, that the club are no longer offering season tickets for sale, at all?

Does anyone know if a season ticket holder is an OAP and decided to stop going, whether the family would then get the opportunity to upgrade the ticket price to an adult ticket so another family member could go? Or would they lose the season ticket altogether in that scenario?

 

[NJMCFC184]

Sorry, the season ticket stuff has kind of passed me by. Can I just check I have this right, that the club are no longer offering season tickets for sale, at all?

Does anyone know if a season ticket holder is an OAP and decided to stop going, whether the family would then get the opportunity to upgrade the ticket price to an adult ticket so another family member could go? Or would they lose the season ticket altogether in that scenario?

No new season tickets just the flexi gold bs, if you have a ST now nothing changes.

 

[Invisible Man's Bandage]

Sorry, the season ticket stuff has kind of passed me by. Can I just check I have this right, that the club are no longer offering season tickets for sale, at all?

Does anyone know if a season ticket holder is an OAP and decided to stop going, whether the family would then get the opportunity to upgrade the ticket price to an adult ticket so another family member could go? Or would they lose the season ticket altogether in that scenario?

I can't say I'm 100% sure on this but I have seen on here that a SC can be transferred to another family member in the circumstances you mention but all loyalty points are wiped.

 

[Eccles Blue]

Can't say that corresponds exactly to my experience, EB. When I could go regularly (i.e. late sixties, right through seventies, until, basically, I changed countries, and then continents for a while) I can't remember ever being turned away from Maine Rd. I always got in on the gate. Even for derbies. And for a while, through the schoolboy gate where it was 2s/6d (or half-a-crown, which is a term you'll understand!). That was the team of Young, Bell etc, and then later the team of Watson, Tueart, Barnes etc., so not exactly charlies. It was good football. Like you, I never thought of getting a season ticket a) because I couldn't afford it at first, and b) because I never felt I needed it. Even taking account of inflation, paying £60 today for a decent seat for one match is a whole level up. Ok, it's fifty years ago, but still.
The experience of going to a football match in 2024 is a whole different level of comfort. I never once used the toilets at the Kippax because I didn't want to go through that gnarly experience (didn't even know where they were!). I held it in, simple as that.
The evolution of football has left the segment of our support which is still definitely working-class (however you define that term) behind. I actually think that prices at City are reasonable if you compare them to most other PL clubs. I won't even talk about the London clubs. But there are plenty of poor people around Greater Manchester. And some of them were match-going blues. They've had to give up. That's just a fact.

I understand exactly what you’re saying but don’t even mention toilets to female FOCs (funny old codgers)!! I remember going to a couple of places that didn’t have a female toilet!! :-( :-)
It is different today and I do feel for the younger folk don’t get me wrong. A lot of the times when I can’t make it I give my seat to a youngster.