North Stand expansion - seating, ticketing etc

[blueparrot]

The thing I really like about flexi-golds (credit to City Matters) is that they are part of a drive to
get thousands more youngsters into the ground. City put the effort in to sit / stand new flexi-golders with their families. That’s in keeping with the Club’s historical values / “Maybe in another generstion”. Yes it’s a bi-product benefit and not intrinsic to flexi-golds but City weren’t helping with this before. The obsession with maximising income was undermining our fan base.

The reduction in matchday ticket prices (credit to 1894 and others) and the pathway to full season cards are steps in the right direction. We should move towards a situation where there is a genuine choice between season cards and flexi-golds.

I think the Flexi gold is in many ways superior to a traditional S/C.For those using it as a SC then they don't have to worry about listing it or trying to find somebody to use it. For those Matchday fans that can make the minimum 10 games they are getting matchday tickets cheaper and without the hassle of getting in queues when tickets go on sale knowing their seat is safe. Given the choice if I was in the market for a SC I'd go the FG option.

 

[Buckshaw Blue]

Family stand Level 2?

Or is it now level 1?!

 

[Tim of the Oak]

It was Leigh Day that wrote to the club and asked the club to respond.

It’s not tactics we would have done ourselves however it certainly got the restrictions talked about on national media.

Bad PR is the club’s Achilles heel. They bring it on themselves though.

I agree with the Achilles heel. Danny Wilson pulls hair out about this but still it happens, like a few minutes notice for fans being moved in the North Stand etc.

Behind the scenes some fantastic work is going on re City In the Community, trophy visits to ill Blues, greater involvement of ex players etc but the negative headline grab the news.

I do think we sleep walked into this disconnection between fans and the club (1894 may have seen this coming) partly because media visible Blues got perks from City and acquiesced with year after year of ticket prices increases. I know that has changed in the last year or two.

I haven’t been that vocal about price rises either but I’ve regularly posted my views about City’s senior admin / management over the years.

 

[Coatigan]

I agree with the Achilles heel. Danny Wilson pulls hair out about this but still it happens, like a few minutes notice for fans being moved in the North Stand etc.

Behind the scenes some fantastic work is going on re City In the Community, trophy visits to ill Blues, greater involvement of ex players etc but the negative headline grab the news.

I do think we sleep walked into this disconnection between fans and the club (1894 may have seen this coming) partly because media visible Blues got perks from City and acquiesced with year after year of ticket prices increases. I know that has changed in the last year or two.

I haven’t been that vocal about price rises either but I’ve regularly posted my views about City’s senior admin / management over the years.

I fully get the optics of fans getting emails about relocation like half an hour before the announcement drops publicly, and the bad taste and frustration that leaves.

But think, how quickly that notice then gets out on social media, and with any length of gap to an official announcement, starts floating about and rumours spread. And then fans not affected are annoyed by the silence and apparent underhandness of the club.

A bit of a rock and a hard place.

 

[HelloCity]

View attachment 173126

Soriano:

 

[Tim of the Oak]

I fully get the optics of fans getting emails about relocation like half an hour before the announcement drops publicly, and the bad taste and frustration that leaves.

But think, how quickly that notice then gets out on social media, and with any length of gap to an official announcement, starts floating about and rumours spread. And then fans not affected are annoyed by the silence and apparent underhandness of the club.

A bit of a rock and a hard place.

I don’t like to see Blues running to the MUEN or trying to take legal action against City. It’s a step too far for me. Also there’s loads of good work the Club is doing too that gets ignored.

I do think the Club could score less media own goals and better explain the rationale behind decisions. For example, in summary, disabled people were not able to access parking spaces, even though half of the booked spaces were not being filled (sometimes for good reasons linked to medical conditions, being let down with travel etc). A whopping car parking charge was imposed that was like taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Following fans opposition, the charge was removed and a deposit system was introduced that has helped disabled fans to park near the ground.

 

[Gingers Dad]

We probably wouldn't get 8000 wanting to stand ?

Definitely got 8k that want to moan about the atmosphere

 

[Centurions]

I've skipped straight to the last page so apologies if I've missed it but is the consensus that the Cross Bar seats will start at the hoardings and go back for however many rows? Where does the ambulant row go? Presumably the same, perhaps the first row to go in? That would leave the existing front of the tier for GA/existing seat holders and a possibility for flags draped over the edge?

The City Hall seats are definitely at the back of tier 0 with the rest of the halls capacity taken up by purchased passes where ever you sit?

 

[remember arthur mann]

£23.68 per game. Back row, halfway line, lower tier. Don't know what all the fuss is about. Not forgetting Guinness at £5.53 a pint. Plus watching the greatest team in the world. BARGAIN !

 

[Coatigan]

I've skipped straight to the last page so apologies if I've missed it but is the consensus that the Cross Bar seats will start at the hoardings and go back for however many rows? Where does the ambulant row go? Presumably the same, perhaps the first row to go in? That would leave the existing front of the tier for GA/existing seat holders and a possibility for flags draped over the edge?

The City Hall seats are definitely at the back of tier 0 with the rest of the halls capacity taken up by purchased passes where ever you sit?

As a summary, Hellocity and bluesmith are pretty convinced re the seats and potentially the bar itself relocating up a level. Based on the wording, their logic is sound, and I get it, and how it can read that way. This I have always acknowledged.

I am of the opinion neither the bar nor the seats are moving, and that the statement doesn't suggest that, the way it is worded. Bluesmith has acknowledged it can be read that way too. But again I recognise it leaves it somewhat confusing re seats 'not' moving.

Both takes have similar holes, because of the vagueness of the statement.

The City Hall bit definitely involves some change, as seats are being relocated, and the capacity is changing/splitting. Whether this is additional hospitality is unclear, but it is a natural enough assumption.

I have also mooted the wildcard possibility that the GA+ has simply swapped to the level below with the city hall, and the cross bar is just a bar amongst others within that concourse. Rather than moved up a level and also added further additional GA+ that was never mentioned before. This also makes sense, in terms of seats affected, without intrusive changes to the actual build. Blue Peanut is the only other poster partly noting potentially seeing that in the statement too.

Time will tell.

 

[TheGhost]

Family stand Level 2?

That’s it get the families in the front of the new NSL2 stand to really get the place rocking

 

[Blumooniac]

Prayer rooms shouldn’t be anywhere near a football ground. Boozers on the other hand….

I pray every home game, usually 2 minutes before full time.

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

View attachment 173077

Why do we have to the city hall seats directly behind the goal?

It’s going to be half empty for large parts of the game. Just like the section in ss2 is

 

[wearethesouthstand]

I fully get the optics of fans getting emails about relocation like half an hour before the announcement drops publicly, and the bad taste and frustration that leaves.

But think, how quickly that notice then gets out on social media, and with any length of gap to an official announcement, starts floating about and rumours spread. And then fans not affected are annoyed by the silence and apparent underhandness of the club.

A bit of a rock and a hard place.

The club can control everything though and do everything right if they wanted to

But they choose not to

No full consultation process with north standers

Plans for a new section wouldn’t have been drawn up yesterday they would have been planned months ago and dropped this week just for damage limitation as packaged with other info on the stand

They could easily have taken a more personal approach to fans there and worked around fans wishes to develop a stand that pleases everyone

They’ve just ploughed ahead with their own plans and it’s basically take it or leave it to the fans.

The massive gaps in between drip feed announcements could have been avoided if they had gone about it another way

Every cock up they go oh we’ll improve our communication but they never do

There are people there on huge salaries who can’t empathise with fans because they are careerists and have no emotional connection to the club

You get threads like this lasting months on bluemoon simply because there is a lack of information out there in the first place so of course people speculate and then get disappointed when their expectation levels are through the roof and then expect the club to do something else

Groups like 1894 felt last summer perhaps the club aren’t taking atmosphere seriously and kept their distance from whatever plan club are concocting

 

[jrb]

We’ve all got it be honest haven’t we. And I don’t think anyone can argue this point. I’m sure 1 person will. ;-) There has been a complete lack of real engagement between the club and the fans regarding the North stand. I don’t include City Matters in that, as they are apparently discussing and negotiating with the club on various fan related North stand aspects, that the wider fan base, who elected them, will never hear about, until the club make the announcements.


That aside, this thread, and other threads have been an absolute treasure troves for the club to get an insight into what the fans wanted for the North stand, and what the fans wanted the North stand to be ‘alongside the clubs plans for the North stand’.

 

[Coatigan]

I've skipped straight to the last page so apologies if I've missed it but is the consensus that the Cross Bar seats will start at the hoardings and go back for however many rows? Where does the ambulant row go? Presumably the same, perhaps the first row to go in? That would leave the existing front of the tier for GA/existing seat holders and a possibility for flags draped over the edge?

The City Hall seats are definitely at the back of tier 0 with the rest of the halls capacity taken up by purchased passes where ever you sit?

A bit more expanded to my previous post, since you haven't read the discussion on that.

It kind of seems to hinge on what 'the start of the expanded section' means.

To bluesmith and hellocity, that is 'the start of the new bit' i.e rows 16 and up. That happens to coincide with no seats installed there yet behind the hoarding. Which logically makes it easy to assume that padded seats can be intalled there without replacing ones currently at the front. And if you add the comment about no seats relocating to accommodate the Cross Bar, their take is perfectly sensible within that description.

My issue with it is this. If you assume 'the expanded section' to mean 'the new bit' i.e rows 16 and up. The cross bar is clearly stated as being 'at the start of the expaned section'. That means the current GA+ bar HAS to move up a level. To a concourse that holds far more people, it loses its 'exclusivity' and connection to the seats. That is also quite an intrusive change, to something that has been planned so far back, approved, costed, structured, being built. The sections through the building then don't match the wording.

If you go with my take, that 'the expanded section' is the whole tier, the start of it is rows 1 of tier 2 and onwards. This is then exactly where the seats have been approved and shown all along, where the cross bar is shown on the actual drawings, and where it is presumably being built. Not that people maybe notice such subtleties, but graphically, all material to date has also shown the tier as one. There is then no change involved whatsoever, and the wording lines up with the drawings. BUT, the issue then is the statement says no seats are affected or moved for the cross bar, and that is then a confusing anomaly. This I fully acknowledge.

Does that make sense pal? If I have been unfair or got something wrong in bluesmith and hellocity's take, happy to be corrected.

FWIW the 'swap' take actually ticks both boxes above and leaves no obvious anomalies in the wording. But for some reason does feel counterintuitive, and I don't really know why.

 

[gkmcfc]

But if they forget to buy the ticket in time they can’t claim ownership of the ticket it goes to someone else. It’s not their ticket to start with whereas ownership of the ticket is always the case with an actual season ticket.

Why would you forget? You know the conditions when buying one. Attend the games and it can be upgraded. Why do you suppose the club introduced these tickets in the first place?

 

[wearethesouthstand]

Why would you forget? You know the conditions when buying one. Attend the games and it can be upgraded. Why do you suppose the club introduced these tickets in the first place?

Could be away on holiday , family emergencies, didn’t change bank card. Could be many changes of circumstances. Some people on weekly pay and have to juggle paying bills and perhaps didn’t have money at that window

 

[johnnytapia]

I've skipped straight to the last page so apologies if I've missed it but is the consensus that the Cross Bar seats will start at the hoardings and go back for however many rows? Where does the ambulant row go? Presumably the same, perhaps the first row to go in? That would leave the existing front of the tier for GA/existing seat holders and a possibility for flags draped over the edge?

The City Hall seats are definitely at the back of tier 0 with the rest of the halls capacity taken up by purchased passes where ever you sit?

Where do the ambulants go? I’ve got an idea….

 

[Tim of the Oak]

We’ve all got it be honest haven’t we. And I don’t think anyone can argue this point. I’m sure 1 person will. ;-) There has been a complete lack of real engagement between the club and the fans regarding the North stand. I don’t include City Matters in that, as they are apparently discussing and negotiating with the club on various fan related North stand aspects, that the wider fan base, who elected them, will never hear about, until the club make the announcements.


That aside, this thread, and other threads have been an absolute treasure troves for the club to get an insight into what the fans wanted for the North stand, and what the fans wanted the North stand to be ‘alongside the clubs plans for the North stand’.

That works two ways mate. You are not going to get real engagement if you rush to post articles from the Manchester United Evening News slating the club, with people complaining that they’ve been asked to move with their “29 year old kids” out of the family stand. Sometimes, maybe just take a beat before posting these articles.