Priced out? | Club announce that matchday tickets being reduced by up to 43% (p93)

[.db.]

Tell me how you identify tourist fans because I don't know how you do it. I do not have any disdain for long standing City fans but I don't care for fans who can claim at a glance that there are subsets of City fans and some are better than others.

You’ve been told how many times in these threads for a long while now that people can easily spot a tourist. You’re just a WUM when it comes to this, you’re a race baiter over it because that’s where the conversation always ends up going with you about it.

You can spot a tourist and group who’ve bought in chunks of seats from the ticket tout companies a fucking mile off, Marvin. You can just tell!

Yesterday’s random tourist next to me was a nice German woman. It’s a different tourist every week (either that or the seat goes empty). The seat is never on the City ticket website planner for City fans with a membership to buy.

The same sort of visiting fans are everywhere. One of the giveaways is that it’s always the same seats, you don’t even have to look at the person sat there to know it’s a tourist, it’s the seats, often chunks of them in areas together that are clearly from the ticket tout companies.

My and my Father went to Hillsborough watching City in about 1996 (last game of the season)… we were sat in the home end, didn’t wear any colours and didn’t give any obvious signs or behaviours away that we were City fans. We stayed sat on our hands, if-you-will, and tried to blend in… but after about 15-minutes, a conversation started around us about us being City fans. Thankfully, the Wednesday fans were sound and we ended up having a good laugh with them (SheffU got relegated so they were in good spirits).

We didn’t do, say or give any signs away that we weren’t Wednesday fans, but fans can just tell. Just like you can just tell when someone is a tourist. You can just tell!

 

[.db.]

Exactly - & who are all these “legacy” fans who the “tourists” are stopping from attending?
I guess, based on the premise that tourists only like the big games, we should be packed to the rafters for the next low key league cup & FA cup games??

Like someone else said in another post, people just get out of the habit of going.

City have pushed and pushed and pushed prices up going back to about 2012 and it’s pushed too many local fans away. Especially with individual matchticket prices which were as high as £88 for adults and £48 for children in recent seasons, people have just packed it in. And in those dozen years, City have lost a generation of matchgoing fans across the city. Lose the kids and you lose the future support, and that’s what we’re seeing.

There are enough City fans in the conurbation of Manchester and surrounding areas alone to easily fill a 62,000 stadium if ticket prices had been thought with local fans in mind over the years. But in a decade and a half that started with austerity, stagnated salaries, then ever increasing food and energy prices… football just became a luxury that was a step too far with how much prices kept being pushed up.

Now, so many locals are used to not even looking at getting tickets due to the price rises over the years, and are so used to not going to games, we aren’t even selling out 53,000 but will have a 62,000 ground to fill soon.

The culture of Mancunian City fans of going to the football has been massively diluted. I know nine…ten times the number of City fans who don’t ever go to a game than who do go to any games at all. I know around two-dozen ex-ST holders who either never go to games or now only ever go to the FA Cup early rounds, many because it’s the only games they can afford to bring their kids (we get better FA Cup early round attendances than we do CL group game attendances, so that tells you a great deal!… Newcastle had well over 100,000 fans try and get tickets for their recent game with Barcelona, we barely even scrape half that for CL Group games). How have we got to a situation where we’re in the greatest era in the club’s history yet there’s no big local culture of going to the game across our local support?

The price drops this season haven’t made any difference to it, it’s come too late, the damage was already done and we’ve just lost too much of the local match going culture. We are now massively relying on the tourist attendees… and you can hear it in our diabolical atmospheres over the last few years, it’s flat as a pancake every week now. Even the tourists aren’t coming this season like they were in the previous three seasons or so, as it’s clear where the ticket tout sites have returned chunks of seats back to the club late because they’ve not been able to shift them, you can see them around the ground.

 

[mexico1970]

The price drops this season haven’t made any difference to it, it’s come too late, the damage was already done and we’ve just lost too much of the local match going culture.

We became what we always despised, a tourist trap where local fans are disincentivised it's just that people can't see it because gradually over the years the culture has been eroded.

But hey we have a concert hall a hotel and a big open space called the upper North stand so it can't be all that bad.

 

[Franny 1234]

We became what we always despised, a tourist trap where local fans are disincentivised it's just that people can't see it because gradually over the years the culture has been eroded.

But hey we have a concert hall a hotel and a big open space called the upper North stand so it can't be all that bad.

That's the price of success am afraid.
Shouldn't have to be but unfortunately that's the case. CTID

 

[mexico1970]

That's the price of success am afraid.
Shouldn't have to be but unfortunately that's the case. CTID

I agree mate, if only the new regulator could prevent the game being flushed down the toilet it would be a great help.

Our league was built on passion a sense of humour and the Manchester spirit, that abomination of an atmosphere yesterday might have been the worst I have seen for some time.

 

[Pubteam Lomas]

I agree mate, if only the new regulator could prevent the game being flushed down the toilet it would be a great help.

Our league was built on passion a sense of humour and the Manchester spirit, that abomination of an atmosphere yesterday might have been the worth I have seen for some time.

It was like a 12.30pm KO. The atmosphere was shocking.

 

[Gingers Dad]

Posted this on another thread but it seems appropriate here as well !

lose the tribalism and the passion"

Nail on the head. The game is becoming more prawn sandwich.
Perhaps this is why we haven't made any plans to attend any home games this season for the first time. We normally book a few games up early then add to them as the season goes on. I think the nightmare of trying to get tickets let alone sat together from last season has dampen our sprite.

I dont get that tribalism feeling anymore and I miss it. Ive said a thousand times we do a 12 hour round trip the least I want is to be next to my lad and surrounded by 100% City fans. If I can't get that I'm not doing the trip up, sadly. When I get to the Etihad I want be be surrounded by City fans. I dont want to see a tourist wearing a spuds shirt going into the club shop buy a City shirt to put over the spuds shirt when City are playing Southampton. I thought then ' what the fuck have i just sat in a car for 7hrs for, this isn't what I want' !
Seeing that has really knocked me wanting to travel to games now

I think most of your post says more about you than the club Gordon

 

[Gingers Dad]

Football is on its arse if as I pointed out the average age of a Chelsea season ticket holder is 59, all it takes is a lean spell and the club goes tits up.

There are no younger generations if the club want to just attract club shop attendees with no concerted policy to ensure return consistent visitors.

That new stand is going to be like a vulture casting a shadow over the club if we don't be successful again, the new fanbase wont wait around they'll be supporting a side that's successful and they can boast about on social media.

There's more youngsters going to City than there was 15 to 20 years ago

 

[Betterdeedthan red]

Tell me how you identify tourist fans because I don't know how you do it. I do not have any disdain for long standing City fans but I don't care for fans who can claim at a glance that there are subsets of City fans and some are better than others.

They have a half and half scarf on.
And camera in there hand permanently.
You can find them in the gang ways lost before kick off

 

[CC1]

You’ve been told how many times in these threads for a long while now that people can easily spot a tourist. You’re just a WUM when it comes to this, you’re a race baiter over it because that’s where the conversation always ends up going with you about it.

You can spot a tourist and group who’ve bought in chunks of seats from the ticket tout companies a fucking mile off, Marvin. You can just tell!

Yesterday’s random tourist next to me was a nice German woman. It’s a different tourist every week (either that or the seat goes empty). The seat is never on the City ticket website planner for City fans with a membership to buy.

The same sort of visiting fans are everywhere. One of the giveaways is that it’s always the same seats, you don’t even have to look at the person sat there to know it’s a tourist, it’s the seats, often chunks of them in areas together that are clearly from the ticket tout companies.

My and my Father went to Hillsborough watching City in about 1996 (last game of the season)… we were sat in the home end, didn’t wear any colours and didn’t give any obvious signs or behaviours away that we were City fans. We stayed sat on our hands, if-you-will, and tried to blend in… but after about 15-minutes, a conversation started around us about us being City fans. Thankfully, the Wednesday fans were sound and we ended up having a good laugh with them (SheffU got relegated so they were in good spirits).

We didn’t do, say or give any signs away that we weren’t Wednesday fans, but fans can just tell. Just like you can just tell when someone is a tourist. You can just tell!

But you were doing what you don’t like other fans to do???

 

[Ohrodneyrodney]

They have a half and half scarf on.
And camera in there hand permanently.
You can find them in the gang ways lost before kick off

And look at you in complete bewilderment when you join in the singing.

 

[01282]

Simple solution - and it should be easy to do the numbers - all season tickets are capped at £500 and match day prices £25. That way we might fill the extra tier. If we don’t then we’ll struggle to get close to filling it at current prices.

Anyone with a CBA attitude who persistently misses games loses their seat.

 

[Centurions]

Simple solution - and it should be easy to do the numbers - all season tickets are capped at £500 and match day prices £25. That way we might fill the extra tier. If we don’t then we’ll struggle to get close to filling it at current prices.

Anyone with a CBA attitude who persistently misses games loses their seat.

They will fill the new stand, even at the current (lower) prices. Despite some claims on here, every home league game is sold out.

Your last line is what the club are doing now, trying to weed out the dodgy ST holders (which angers some), unfortunately that will impact on genuine Blues but there are exceptions in place if needed.

 

[Marvin.]

They have a half and half scarf on.
And camera in there hand permanently.
You can find them in the gang ways lost before kick off

Be welcoming to new City fans. I see them too.

 

[.db.]

But you were doing what you don’t like other fans to do???

Not really because I was respectful to the Wednesday fans around me and tried to blend in.

I wasn’t wearing a half’n’half scarf (the Derby the other week had more h’n’h scarves than I’ve ever seen before, clearly not City fans because no City fan would ever wear ‘UNITED’ in red+bkack around their necks), I wasn't wearing City’s half of the h’n’h scarf on show to the annoyance of Wednesday fans around me, I wasn’t wearing a City scarf or City shirt to anger the Weds fans, I didn’t take a Sheffield United club shop bag into Hillsborough to take the piss and make the Weds fans want to rip my head off (has happened with a dickhead with a Rag club shop bag at the Etihad), I wasn’t a wearing football shirt of another club (I’ve seen visitors wearing Hajduk Split, Celtic, Bahia, Albania, River Plate, Mexico, Real Madrid - clearly headlining to everyone who can see them that they aren’t there for City - shirts in our ground and seen a photo on here of one wearing a United shirt in a derby), I wasn’t falling over seats pre-game to film City warming up, I wasn’t screaming City players’ names to get their attention through the game, I didn’t get there early to sit on the halfway line and ask the season ticket holder whose seat it was if he’d sit somewhere else and then act like a moody wanker when he said ‘no chance’ or get there early and sit with six mates even though they weren’t our seats and ask the season ticket holders whose seats they were to move elsewhere and act like a moody wankers when they said ‘no chance’ (regular occurrence on CL nights at the Etihad), my Father didn’t get clippers out and start cutting my hair, I didn’t get excited when City attacked, I didn’t anything beteeen cheer to goad Wednesday fans around me when City scored (happened loads of times at the Etihad when the opposition’s scored, resulting in fights breaking out), I didn’t look around at the home fans around me with a smile on my face when City scored, I didn’t film the City goalscorer, I didn’t get visibly excited when the ball went to my favourite City player, I wasn’t filming through the game talking to the camera, I didn’t stay sat in my seat looking visibly gutted when Wednesday scored, I didn’t get the tickets from a ticket tout website which is a plague to football these days as there are simply too many of them in swathes across stadiums (the Weds fan who tickets we had is our mate who went on holiday), we even joined in with a chant about SheffU getting relegated on the day.

We acted in a way that had the Wednesday fans shaking our our hands after the game and said we’d be welcome back any time. Rather than where I’ve seen these tourists getting twatted by City fans at the Etihad for acting like cunts.

I have a different tourist sat next to me every week at City. There have been a few times where I have been able to tell they’re a fan of the opposition but I make it so uncomfortable for them that they haven’t shown it too much… one Bayern fan ended up giving me a Bayern pin badge after the game as we shook hands as he’d been sound all game. Other times I’ve hated every second of being sat next to them as they’ve been itching for the opposition to score/win or have looked gutted when City scored (which made me shout at one against Brighton and he didn’t come back for the second half).

 

[mexico1970]

There's more youngsters going to City than there was 15 to 20 years ago

Nowhere near, it's not even close. How have you come to that conclusion?

The Premier League’s age timebomb: High prices and low supply are keeping out young fans

The Premier League has huge attendances but there might be an age issue ticking away under the surface

www.nytimes.com

The Premier League has not published the average age of its supporters since 2012-13 when it was said to be 41. It claimed 10 years later that 43 per cent — close to half — of matchgoing fans were aged between 18 and 34

• Under 18 – 1.4%
• 18 to 25 – 6.2%
• 26 to 35 – 12.8%
• 36 to 45 – 16%
• 46 to 55 – 18.8%
• 56 to 65 – 24.7%
• Over 65 – 19.3%

 

[mexico1970]

It was like a 12.30pm KO. The atmosphere was shocking.

It was a 3 o'clock kick off :)

 

[Saddleworth2]

You’ve been told how many times in these threads for a long while now that people can easily spot a tourist. You’re just a WUM when it comes to this, you’re a race baiter over it because that’s where the conversation always ends up going with you about it.

You can spot a tourist and group who’ve bought in chunks of seats from the ticket tout companies a fucking mile off, Marvin. You can just tell!

Yesterday’s random tourist next to me was a nice German woman. It’s a different tourist every week (either that or the seat goes empty). The seat is never on the City ticket website planner for City fans with a membership to buy.

The same sort of visiting fans are everywhere. One of the giveaways is that it’s always the same seats, you don’t even have to look at the person sat there to know it’s a tourist, it’s the seats, often chunks of them in areas together that are clearly from the ticket tout companies.

My and my Father went to Hillsborough watching City in about 1996 (last game of the season)… we were sat in the home end, didn’t wear any colours and didn’t give any obvious signs or behaviours away that we were City fans. We stayed sat on our hands, if-you-will, and tried to blend in… but after about 15-minutes, a conversation started around us about us being City fans. Thankfully, the Wednesday fans were sound and we ended up having a good laugh with them (SheffU got relegated so they were in good spirits).

We didn’t do, say or give any signs away that we weren’t Wednesday fans, but fans can just tell. Just like you can just tell when someone is a tourist. You can just tell!

How to spot a tourist tip one:
They have paper tickets/phone in their hand and are peering at the row numbers then the seat numbers, 70% of the time they start to edge along the row and are told by a season ticket holder they are in the wrong row. Cue more furious examination of ticket/phone/seat numbers/row numbers as they back up the row squeezing past people who are trying to get to their seats.

More tips to follow ;-)

 

[Tim of the Oak]

It was like a SAGA day out in the Hare and Hounds, yesterday!

 

[mexico1970]

It was like a SAGA day out in the Hare and Hounds, yesterday!