Open Letter on Season Tickets and Pricing | Club announce price freeze on "general admission season tickets & PL match tickets" for next season (p163)

[Damocles]

Given the number of applicants, there is a shortlisting process before the eventual few go to election amongst fans.

Now, the Club are ultimately in control of that shortlisting. I disagree with that and have written extensively on it, but that’s how it currently is.

Sure I can't talk you round on the "guillotine outside the Etihad" idea?

 

[Dodge]

Almost 10 hours on a fucking 'shuttle bus' that day. No air-conditioning, toilets or water provided. People throwing up, others having to get out and having to have a piss on the roadside.

Drivers that didn't know where they were going and driving aimlessly around Istanbul. One of my buses refused to go above about 5mph uphill and ultimately broke down. Leaving us stranded on the roadside until we were rammed onto an already full coach following.

People having water and suncream confiscated in 30 degree heat or whatever it was at the time.

Extortionate prices for cans of beer (or anything for that matter) which they sold out of pretty much straight away.... unless you paid even extra to the cunts not putting it through the till.

Only one or two places providing food for thousands of fans with ridiculously long queues. Know somebody that wasted about 45 mins in one and they'd sold out before they'd even got to him. I went without food all day due to the buses and queues.

Horrible seats in the stadium that everybody got cuts on.

Car park a silly distance away from the stadium and on gravel making it virtually impossible to pass with a wheelchair. Saw some people getting carried and wheelchairs being dragged backwards.

Nobody giving directions after the game and then greeted with only about half a dozen 'shuttle buses' to take 10s of thousands of fans away from the stadium with planes to catch.

The shuttle buses couldn't move anyway as they'd let hundreds of mafia run taxis into the car park and blocked it. Leaving many as you allude to; playing chicken on the motorway in darkness or having to pay the mafia taxi drivers that had now bumped up their prices amidst the chaos to a 100 euro+ for a couple of miles journey.

People paying for tickets up to 600 euro in face value for the privilege of dealing with all of the above.

It was comfortably the worst organised event I've ever been to and considering it's that high profile and it is competed for annually it was a fucking disgrace. As was our club in the fact that they didn't even mutter a thing. Might have taken a death for them to even acknowledge it which says it all.

Great Post, just about covers all the sorry experiences from that night.

You are @Alex - City Matters and I claim my fiver.

 

[Edghill OG]

The "Uber" driver that took 6 of us to the stadium tried to charge us 400 euros for the trip. Cash only he demanded when we arrived. No cards. Ended up giving him all our spare cash which added up to about 250. Offered the rest on a card he went mad. A copper came across to see what the problem was, we told him expecting the worst, but he actually listened then told the driver to fuck off, with 250 in his sky rocket. The only good thing to happen at that shithole (well apart from the game).

Shocking mate. Absolute cunts over there aren't they? I spent the week in Marmaris and got internal flights from there. They were a nuisance even there following you down the street if they see that you're walking. Just because I'm Western doesn't mean I'm a lazy **** and loaded! Fuck off! Often having to tell them to do one to get rid of them. Must be very intimidating for females when they're on their own. They took it to another level in Istanbul though the rats. Glad the copper stuck up for you, wouldn't have surprised me if they'd sided with them and taken a cut.

 

[Edghill OG]

Great Post, just about covers all the sorry experiences from that night.

You are @Alex - City Matters and I claim my fiver.

Can't claim to be him mate. He clearly has a lot more patience than me when dealing with the club. You only have to see how the club are disrespecting them and their time at the moment. Surprised they haven't all jacked it in.

 

[ftg89]

Any whispers of when the new season ticket prices/flexi gold info gets released?

 

[Dodge]

Can't claim to be him mate. He clearly has a lot more patience than me when dealing with the club. You only have to see how the club are disrespecting them and their time at the moment. Surprised they haven't all jacked it in.

Istanbul was the beginning of the end. To not even acknowledge that life threatening circus is a fucking disgrace. I don't recognise the club any more, even from the earlier days of the takeover.

Me and the Mrs were two of the 100 or so Blues who went to Kharkiv in Dec 2017. We got beat and the players just fucked off without even a glance at the travelling fans. It really pissed everyone off. We met some City staff at the airport and made our views clear. Within a week we got a personal letter from Pep and a free hospitality package for the return leg, food and beer. Big Joe and Tommy Booth had been briefed and apologised on behalf of the players.

The club were superb. Listened and recognised the effort we'd made to travel in winter to Ukraine. Acted upon it and treated us with respect and humility.

That's 8 years ago. Same owners. Same club management. Same senior execs.

What the fuck has happened for it to go from that experience to the Istanbul radio silence from OUR club and the shameful ignoring of our CM reps?

Fucked if I know.

 

[Damocles]

What the fuck has happened for it to go from that experience to the Istanbul radio silence from OUR club and the shameful ignoring of our CM reps?

Just a little one maybe?

 

[Manc Born & Bred]

Almost 10 hours on a fucking 'shuttle bus' that day. No air-conditioning, toilets or water provided. People throwing up, others having to get out and having to have a piss on the roadside.

Drivers that didn't know where they were going and driving aimlessly around Istanbul. One of my buses refused to go above about 5mph uphill and ultimately broke down. Leaving us stranded on the roadside until we were rammed onto an already full coach following.

People having water and suncream confiscated in 30 degree heat or whatever it was at the time.

Extortionate prices for cans of beer (or anything for that matter) which they sold out of pretty much straight away.... unless you paid even extra to the cunts not putting it through the till.

Only one or two places providing food for thousands of fans with ridiculously long queues. Know somebody that wasted about 45 mins in one and they'd sold out before they'd even got to him. I went without food all day due to the buses and queues.

Horrible seats in the stadium that everybody got cuts on.

Car park a silly distance away from the stadium and on gravel making it virtually impossible to pass with a wheelchair. Saw some people getting carried and wheelchairs being dragged backwards.

Nobody giving directions after the game and then greeted with only about half a dozen 'shuttle buses' to take 10s of thousands of fans away from the stadium with planes to catch.

The shuttle buses couldn't move anyway as they'd let hundreds of mafia run taxis into the car park and blocked it. Leaving many as you allude to; playing chicken on the motorway in darkness or having to pay the mafia taxi drivers that had now bumped up their prices amidst the chaos to a 100 euro+ for a couple of miles journey.

People paying for tickets up to 600 euro in face value for the privilege of dealing with all of the above.

It was comfortably the worst organised event I've ever been to and considering it's that high profile and it is competed for annually it was a fucking disgrace. As was our club in the fact that they didn't even mutter a thing. Might have taken a death for them to even acknowledge it which says it all.

Even the mention of that place brings me out in a sweat. It was by far the worst experience of my life watching City and travelling with my daughter made it worse as she was leered at everywhere we went (not by fans) which made it very uncomfortable for me as I had to have eyes everywhere.

The fact that the club said nothing despite the report provided was and still is shameful. Made worse by the fact that Danny Wilson gave an interview on radio which I only caught the end of where he said what a fantastic few it had been and everyone had had a great time. I can only presume he wasn’t talking about the thousands of fans who had travelled but the team, staff and VIP.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

Even the mention of that place brings me out in a sweat. It was by far the worst experience of my life watching City and travelling with my daughter made it worse as she was leered at everywhere we went (not by fans) which made it very uncomfortable for me as I had to have eyes everywhere.

The fact that the club said nothing despite the report provided was and still is shameful. Made worse by the fact that Danny Wilson gave an interview on radio which I only caught the end of where he said what a fantastic few it had been and everyone had had a great time. I can only presume he wasn’t talking about the thousands of fans who had travelled but the team, staff and VIP.

It’s a shame that City’s talking heads, on here and beyond, haven’t challenged Danny and others a bit more over the years. It’s OK for some (other) posters to be outraged now by our Directors but that’s too late if they received help that encouraged their compliance, before.

I’m not disputing Danny is a good guy based on what people have said about him. That said, did he help a few Blues out but ignore the wider fanbase.

 

[urban genie]

I cannot say the events after the game traumatised me as much as others once the night was over

chaos, disorganised, an absolute shitshow, people stranded, no orginasation a shitty gravel car park, overcrowded buses, all of it was horroble and and shameful.

We were on a bus off a bus, ended up arguing with each other through frustration, going back getting he underground , having taxi drivers trying to charge £500 euros back to the airport (we were flying back to antalya at 5am) Eventially got and uber for the proper price just made our flights and though those 3-4 hrs getting back were stressfull and the shittest traveling experience we had, the next afternoon once rested sat in a bar we decided the day prematch and the match won out, and the post match was left as a conversation not something we would let spoil our memory of the trip.

 

[East Level 2]

While we're on Istanbul. From final whistle to airport was about four and a quarter hours. From Istanbul airport to Ringway was also about four and a quarter hours.

 

[.db.]

Istanbul was the beginning of the end. To not even acknowledge that life threatening circus is a fucking disgrace. I don't recognise the club any more, even from the earlier days of the takeover.

Me and the Mrs were two of the 100 or so Blues who went to Kharkiv in Dec 2017. We got beat and the players just fucked off without even a glance at the travelling fans. It really pissed everyone off. We met some City staff at the airport and made our views clear. Within a week we got a personal letter from Pep and a free hospitality package for the return leg, food and beer. Big Joe and Tommy Booth had been briefed and apologised on behalf of the players.

The club were superb. Listened and recognised the effort we'd made to travel in winter to Ukraine. Acted upon it and treated us with respect and humility.

That's 8 years ago. Same owners. Same club management. Same senior execs.

What the fuck has happened for it to go from that experience to the Istanbul radio silence from OUR club and the shameful ignoring of our CM reps?

Fucked if I know.

The only thing that I can think of is that lockdown football made them realise that they don’t need us. They didn’t miss us. Didn’t Omar Berada say that running the club was better without the fans being a pain to deal with? They started to forget about us, forget they were a Manchester club for Manchester people and the wider City fanbase.

In that time, I reckon they took stock of which clubs make the most money from ticketing and how they do it, and then they just went for the soulless worldwide tourists dollar.

Slowly but surely they are getting rid of us because we aren’t worth anything to them. We bring in barely any money, and that’s all they care about now. I think they’ve put so much concentration on money for the shareholders that they’ve even taken their eye off the football team.

 

[Manc Born & Bred]

It’s a shame that City’s talking heads, on here and beyond, haven’t challenged Danny and others a bit more over the years. It’s OK for some (other) posters to be outraged now by our Directors but that’s too late if they received help that encouraged their compliance, before.

I’m not disputing Danny is a good guy based on what people have said about him. That said, did he help a few Blues out but ignore the wider fanbase.

Danny contacted me out of the blue many years ago about the family stand development. I think I must have filled out a survey in which I said giving over both tiers of the stand was ridiculous (that’s the polite version). Danny called me one day to have a chat about my views and to explain why the club were doing what they were and that if he was wrong he would call me in the future. Well I was proven right but I am still waiting for the call. But in those days he and Lisa Eaton would take the time to talk and listen to fans, those days are long gone.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

Danny contacted me out of the blue many years ago about the family stand development. I think I must have filled out a survey in which I said giving over both tiers of the stand was ridiculous (that’s the polite version). Danny called me one day to have a chat about my views and to explain why the club were doing what they were and that if he was wrong he would call me in the future. Well I was proven right but I am still waiting for the call. But in those days he and Lisa Eaton would take the time to talk and listen to fans, those days are long gone.

I think you’ve hid the nail on the head EDS. Danny and other Execs/ managers will have too much on their plates. Danny will have a busy day job that’s been added to with having an overview of the North Stand expansion and keeping an eye on all litigation. Part of the Prem’s approach has been to tie up our leadership capacity / capability.

When people are stretched for too long, we know from other sectors like healthcare and teaching, it’s usually the caring attributes that gets stretched out of people. For example, Danny should have made sure there was another date in the diary for City Matters whose staff reps feel disrespected but when you are really under the coach you tend think, what’s the point of a meeting for a meeting’s sake when we can’t decide anything until after the legal decisions are announced and the North stand is sufficiently advanced (both look imminent). It’s easy to make those errors.

The other side of things is there’s only so many times people can go to the MUEN and expect the Club’s Directors to come running. If it isn’t escalated to national media, fans protests etc it becomes a bit like the boy who cried wolf.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

The only thing that I can think of is that lockdown football made them realise that they don’t need us. They didn’t miss us. Didn’t Omar Berada say that running the club was better without the fans being a pain to deal with? They started to forget about us, forget they were a Manchester club for Manchester people and the wider City fanbase.

In that time, I reckon they took stock of which clubs make the most money from ticketing and how they do it, and then they just went for the soulless worldwide tourists dollar.

Slowly but surely they are getting rid of us because we aren’t worth anything to them. We bring in barely any money, and that’s all they care about now. I think they’ve put so much concentration on money for the shareholders that they’ve even taken their eye off the football team.

In my experience, people who think like Omar do have always got that in them. Pressure points like Covid might exacerbate their thinking. I worked for a company that moved from having a few big public sector contract to going independent and having loads of contracts of varying values. The finance managers complained they they preferred the few big public sector contracts, despite revenue tripling in the new world.

I think it more likely that some of our Directors /‘Senior managers are overstretched and appear to have lost compassion. Especially, those with good reps before. I wouldn’t give the same reasoning for people who employed cameras to spy on their own staff.

 

[halfcenturyup]

None taken, and given the Club have already turned that specific point down, I’m not under any illusion that it’s currently likely.

That said, I think it’s important to sketch out what the Fan Advisory Board should look like in an ideal world - particularly given the concept is here to stay given the Premier League’s support. Even Spurs, with all their fans’ frustration about the club’s management, are able to get that point right.

Right in principle, but I think people on the forum here, and probably more widely, confuse roles when it comes to talking about Khaldoon and Wilson, for example.

A few thoughts, for what it's worth.

Khaldoon is a non-executive director and Chairman of the Board (the real board). And, as such, isn't at all the right person to be dealing with fans about ticket prices, or any operational issue. Which is why I tried to make the point before that open letters to him won't make the slightest difference. Firstly, because it isn't his responsibility and, secondly, because I doubt it will even register with him and, anyway, it wouldn't get past Soriano's secretary, let alone Khaldoon's. @Damocles is right, Khaldoon meets Trump and other world leaders, he won't have much time for ticket prices. I doubt he is even aware there is a problem because Soriano will be feeding the Board carefully chosen surveys that show how wonderful everything is. It's what management consultants are good at.

You mentioned Levy. He, on the other hand, is executive Chairman of Spurs and so is finally responsible for ticket prices which is, presumably, why he has to turn up.

Wilson, though, is nowhere near the board. So he can't be your board level representative on ticketing. He is an executive, under Soriano, so he may be on an "executive board", ie management committee. But he isn't board level. He may even be very good at what he does, but he won't fart if Soriano tells him not to.

@Prestwich_Blue has spoken before about the problems with the governance aspects of not having any executives on the board and, maybe, this is one area where that has practical consequences.

In a nutshell, you are stuck with Soriano and his executive team unless you can find a way to get a message through to Khaldoon that the ticketing strategy is weakening the bond between fans and owner, which is something he should care about as a representative of the owner. Fire-bombing may be going a little far, but if we can't get some direct action to the attention of Khaldoon, you really are just stuck with Soriano, imho.

 

[Damocles]

I think you’ve hid the nail on the head EDS. Danny and other Execs/ managers will have too much on their plates. Danny will have a busy day job that’s been added to with having an overview of the North Stand expansion and keeping an eye on all litigation. Part of the Prem’s approach has been to tie up our leadership capacity / capability.

When people are stretched for too long, we know from other sectors like healthcare and teaching, it’s usually the caring attributes that gets stretched out of people. For example, Danny should have made sure there was another date in the diary for City Matters whose staff reps feel disrespected but when you are really under the coach you tend think, what’s the point of a meeting for a meeting’s sake when we can’t decide anything until after the legal decisions are announced and the North stand is sufficiently advanced (both look imminent). It’s easy to make those errors.

The other side of things is there’s only so many times people can go to the MUEN and expect the Club’s Directors to come running. If it isn’t escalated to national media, fans protests etc it becomes a bit like the boy who cried wolf.

He's not Henry Kissinger mate. A phone call takes 5 minutes abd its literally his job for which he is paid.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

I'm not shocked or surprised by this but given the lengths that various supporter groups are going to in order to have meaningful discussions with the club, it might actually be time to fuck it all off

I spend my week helping Man City fans get match tickets - the club want to ban me

The unauthorised Man City ticket seller trying to help Blues fans

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Yes, helping fellow Blues with reduced price tickets might be a memory in a year or two.

It may be the beginning of the end.

 

[BlueMoonPodcast]

It’s a shame that City’s talking heads, on here and beyond, haven’t challenged Danny and others a bit more over the years. It’s OK for some (other) posters to be outraged now by our Directors but that’s too late if they received help that encouraged their compliance, before.

I’m not disputing Danny is a good guy based on what people have said about him. That said, did he help a few Blues out but ignore the wider fanbase.

Every single year since at least 2019 (barring the pandemic years being behind closed doors), we have tried to engage with the club specifically on ticket prices when rises have been announced, but also on the odd other occasion when things like the open letter have been news stories.

Every time, the club has sent us “off the record” background information. They haven’t put anyone up for interview to explain and defend the decisions. They haven’t even provided a statement (barring for the recent open letter, where they did give a statement) to be used in the show.

If the club don’t engage, there’s only so much challenging that can be done. We’ve ‘empty chaired’ them in every discussion about tickets for six years, because we’ve had no other option.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

He's not Henry Kissinger mate. A phone call takes 5 minutes abd its literally his job for which he is paid.

That’s how it should work mate. It’s fallen apart.