Statement from fan groups ahead of new season

[OntarioBlue]

I became persona non grata due to this 10 game restriction and have not renewed. In fact I will never attend another City game again. They chose to serve the divorce papers, so they can now feck off.

I do feel for those who honestly believed they could work around these restrictions, when it was blatantly obvious this was not going to be the case. So many tickets will go unused, so many fans will be denied the chance to attend, and so many seasoncards will again be lost to genuine fans next year.

In short, this is not your club anymore. It is nothing more than a money making franchise who are using the once great name of Manchester City Football Club to operate.

That’s what I really dont understand. At almost every home game there are empty seats (and at some game loads of them) and the Club will be soon be looking to sell another 6/8000 tickets per game. Pissing off the existing fan base and making it harder for them to transfer tickets when they can’t attend games will mean more empty seats, not less.

This looks like a major misjudgment by the Club imo.

 

[Centurions]

Not so easy when you live hundreds of miles away.

I asked this earlier so apologies if I missed any reply but it looks like you can download the ticket to 2 phones, can you not leave a burner phone with the ticket on with someone trustworthy? Or is that rule just for changing phones and only 1 can be active?

 

[Mike Collard]

Some of us travel from the South; me from Tring, change at MK and then to the game.
Avanti is a mare; line over Stockport viaduct has been closed for 2 weeks
Tomorrow is the first day it is ok and they now say delays of out of Euston
I may not get to the game, so last season would have wacked it on the exchange before 9.30am if I knew at MK it was a problemN
How I am stuffed as I suspect trains will be up the shoot
Would get money back from Avanti but I doubt they would pay for my ticket which may not be used.......
On 6.19 train; becoming painful to go to football these days.............

 

[OntarioBlue]

We won’t have any City season ticket holders from abroad soon.

Or do they get special exemption from the 10 game ban rule?

Obviously we’ll never know as the club will keep that information conditional.

My neighbour in the Stadium lives in the South of France makes it to eight or nine games a season. He’s happy to pay £900 for his season ticket but the way things stand he won’t be able to renew after this season. So, for reasons explained earlier that’s him and me gone.

The 10 game policy is going to seriously backfire.

 

[metalblue]

I'd implore you not to cancel your season ticket. The club have performed plenty of U-turns recently following pushback from fans and it's quite possible they could do the same with the 10 game minimum in-person attendance.

If they don't back down, consider getting a cheap burner phone that supports NFC and downloading your season ticket on to it. Then when you can't attend and family/friends go in your place just hand them the phone to scan themselves in so no need to transfer the ticket to F&F. Of course, if you're moving out of the area then the logistics of getting the phone to them and back to you might be an issue.

Great idea mate but surely them taking out mug shots on entry puts pay to this plan? They’re not taking them for the year book right? Has the club actually said how they’ll use them?

I could well struggle with the 10 games because of my work which takes me here, there and everywhere sometimes with next to no notice. I’m already unsure if I can make the scum game as I’m being told I need to be in Brazil that week. Mid week games are always a hassle for me with my job. I rarely if ever leave my seat empty if I can’t make it.

I’d get it if they had persistent offenders who left their seat unoccupied and never listed on the exchange and were trying to stop that. It feels like they want us many of us legacy fans out the way so they can sell our seats at 3x the price and have someone sit in it who will spend £££ in the club shop etc.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

You’ll have a long wait Tim. ;-)

One thing is for sure Tim, a group of the the OSC hierarchy, who, we don’t know because they didn’t put their names to their votes, decided on behalf of thousands of OSC members, who they didn’t canvas in England and around the world, that the OSC wouldn’t be supporting the fan protests.

Even you as BM’s, PR, for the OSC ;-), must admit that was wrong and unacceptable.

That’s not how the OSC should work or behave.

Don’t forget Tim, I am an OSC member.

Then we had the equally ridiculous situation of City Matters claiming they negotiated the ticket price reductions with the club without mentioning the fans and the fans protest. Maybe City Matters didn’t want to irk the club by mentioning the fan protests?

There are some City Matters Reps who are too close to the club, and who also have too much influence over the other City Matters Reps in my opinion.

I think you are getting confused mate with not going on strike. I can see why some members of CM were annoyed with that but each could vote with their feet. All Branches / members were given a free hand whether to support the protests and I participated in both of those in the ground. The protests were great IMHO and you will be relieved to know I'm not taking credit for the price reductions. 1894 really excelled. That said, taking or threatening to take City to court is now a step too far for me. That was premature IMHO.

Loads of posters give Kevin P flack. I guess he can handle it. I was more disappointed with the posters / groups who felt a Supporters Club Branch couldn't lobby City officials for flexibility against the new rules. Everyone else seems to be lobbying against them.

As I have said repeatedly, I tend to stick up for the groups under fire including the flexi-gold holders who were sometimes made to feel like second class Blues.

Can you try to answer the question I posed in another thread about objections to the North Stand singing section. I could concur with the argument that singers wanted the same Blues around them for every home game. Now this doesn't seem to be a priority (10 games might be too many), is it just the Premium seats area that you object to. I know we don't have price details.

Btw, I've always said there is nothing special about OSC membership.

I hope everyone gets behind the lads on Saturday and we raise the roof.

 

[There is a Light]

Maybe waiting for the misinformation posted about the OSC at the end of last season to be corrected.


Good post mate. Unfortunately, it was also assisted by some other posters who mocked flexi-golders for only attending a minimum of 10 games per season.

That gives the impression the groups are going to ask the OSC to contribute! Why on earth would they do that ? They opposed the groups last season and tried to undermine them and failed … spectacularly.

The Norwegian OSC rumours came from a member of Norway OSC. The only public correction needs to come from them.

Those fans from Norway also now stand to lose their season tickets. What are the OSC doing to help them ? Answer = Nothing.

 

[There is a Light]

I think you are getting confused mate with not going on strike. I can see why some members of CM were annoyed with that but each could vote with their feet. All Branches / members were given a free hand whether to support the protests and I participated in both of those in the ground. The protests were great IMHO and you will be relieved to know I'm not taking credit for the price reductions. 1894 really excelled. That said, taking or threatening to take City to court is now a step too far for me. That was premature IMHO.

Loads of posters give Kevin P flack. I guess he can handle it. I was more disappointed with the posters / groups who felt a Supporters Club Branch couldn't lobby City officials for flexibility against the new rules. Everyone else seems to be lobbying against them.

As I have said repeatedly, I tend to stick up for the groups under fire including the flexi-gold holders who were sometimes made to feel like second class Blues.

Can you try to answer the question I posed in another thread about objections to the North Stand singing section. I could concur with the argument that singers wanted the same Blues around them for every home game. Now this doesn't seem to be a priority (10 games might be too many), is it just the Premium seats area that you object to. I know we don't have price details.

Btw, I've always said there is nothing special about OSC membership.

I hope everyone gets behind the lads on Saturday and we raise the roof.

The way you wrote that looks like 1894 taking the club to court.

The legal action is trade union blues who are acting independently. No other group involved.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

That gives the impression the groups are going to ask the OSC to contribute! Why on earth would they do that ? They opposed the groups last season and tried to undermine them and failed … spectacularly.

The Norwegian OSC rumours came from a member of Norway OSC. The only public correction needs to come from them.

Those fans from Norway also now stand to lose their season tickets. What are the OSC doing to help them ? Answer = Nothing.

Norway wasn't the Country named during the protests IIRC but you may well be right.

Let's deal in facts. There were no extra value golds for Branches. The nationality of the Supporters Club Branch was used against them. Thousands of OSC members joined the protests.

I couldn't care less if the OSC was asked to endorse the statement or not. I run a Branch and that's enough for me.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

The way you wrote that looks like 1894 taking the club to court.

The legal action is trade union blues who are acting independently. No other group involved.

I know it was Trade Union Blues but other posters on here have acquiesced.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Well we all engage with the club to some degree

However they are a new group and not even had their first official meeting win the club yet. The chair Lee is a serving policeman so he will be busy but we are sure they will update as and when they can.

Alex was the gold standard of course but everyone has day jobs.

I have emailed angela worrall and asked her for her views on the issues raised in the fan note.
Everyone has day jobs and I am sure writing minutes of the June meeting is part of someones role within the club.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Exactly this. I live 150 miles from the stadium, have had a ST for over 40 years and I feel like they would prefer me not to renew.
My son lives even further away (and has to rely on Avanti) so can't always make it, especially weekdays. He's had a ST since he was 11, in 2007 and he's a very likely candidate for being 'unrenewable" especially if fixtures are rearranged at ridiculously short notice.
Still, if they were to remove him I'd be gone as well, so that would be 2 tickets they could try to sell every week.
They'd better hope that, once Pep leaves, they don't suffer from the 'Ferguson effect' because there won't be thousands of Scandinavians, Irish and Cockneys desperate to get in.

It'll be like fucking Spotify where they'll be emailing ex ST holders with 'special offers' to rejoin and 10 matches free if you agree to a 3 year ST...

I still hope someone will see sense within the club and bin this bloody nonsense. They are doing a fine job at pissing loyal fans off though.

 

[There is a Light]

Norway wasn't the Country named during the protests IIRC but you may well be right.

Let's deal in facts. There were no extra value golds for Branches. The nationality of the Supporters Club Branch was used against them. Thousands of OSC members joined the protests.

I couldn't care less if the OSC was asked to endorse the statement or not. I run a Branch and that's enough for me.

That’s lies. The nationality wasn’t an issue it was a claim of special favours for a particular branch. That’s on a par with you calling protest groups racist or having racist overtones which you did last year and had to publicly withdraw. Muddying waters on purpose then making a tactical retreat.

The groups actually made an issue of it to highlight the clubs’ policy is wrong and unfair.

Again what are the OSC doing to help their members over there? Nothing.

What happens at the end of the season to those supporters many of whom have had season tickets for decades.

The person named Kevin Parker specifically.

The groups actually made their representation to the club for independent verification privately first to avoid KP receiving a pile on.

Whole thing is a discipline issue within the OSC.

 

[super_city_si]

Some of us travel from the South; me from Tring, change at MK and then to the game.
Avanti is a mare; line over Stockport viaduct has been closed for 2 weeks
Tomorrow is the first day it is ok and they now say delays of out of Euston
I may not get to the game, so last season would have wacked it on the exchange before 9.30am if I knew at MK it was a problemN
How I am stuffed as I suspect trains will be up the shoot
Would get money back from Avanti but I doubt they would pay for my ticket which may not be used.......
On 6.19 train; becoming painful to go to football these days.............

Train schedule from Euston looks ok?

 

[TheGhost]

It’s a good response. Transparency on away ticket allocations and the number of fans on each number of points should be a minimum.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

That’s lies. The nationality wasn’t an issue it was a claim of special favours for a particular branch. That’s on a par with you calling protest groups racist or having racist overtones which you did last year and had to publicly withdraw. Muddying waters on purpose then making a tactical retreat.

The groups actually made an issue of it to highlight the clubs’ policy is wrong and unfair.

Again what are the OSC doing to help their members over there? Nothing.

What happens at the end of the season to those supporters many of whom have had season tickets for decades.

The person named Kevin Parker specifically.

The groups actually made their representation to the club for independent verification privately first to avoid KP receiving a pile on.

Whole thing is a discipline issue within the OSC.

Who are you calling a liar. One of the worry things about this forum is this sneering at Supoorting Club members.

I will leave it there as this conversation is going downhill.

I will be at the OSC AGM on Sunday and I know some of the Norwegian chaps so I can pick it up with them.

 

[BLUE THUNDER]

I agree with most of what you said but there is no exemption for shift workers I have asked the club this they currently recommend you switch to Flexi gold if you're a shift worker .

If you don't attend 10 games on flexi gold you lose that "season ticket" as well.
Pretty poor from the club

 

[There is a Light]

Who are you calling a liar. One of the worry things about this forum is this sneering at Supoorting Club members.

I will leave it there as this conversation is going downhill.

I will be at the OSC AGM on Sunday and I know some of the Norwegian chaps so I can pick it up with them.

Do whatever you like at your Osc meeting no one gives a shit

You soured this thread by making all about Parker and the Osc which you always do and snide remarks about others which you always do

 

[Betterdeedthan red]

Are some of these changes even legal? Take the minimum ten game attendance one. If a person has paid their money to attend a game upfront but can't attend what right does the club have to demand an explanation, or penalise the person for not showing up? They paid for the seat it's their decision what they do with it surely?
If clubs hadn't sold themselves to tv then they might have a point, but people have lives outside of football and have to plan ahead. They do but tv then alters everything throwing those plans up in the air.
We all know this is the start of making it more and more difficult to retain a season ticket until eventually they are gone forever. Nobody likes being dictated to, attending a football game is supposed to be a pleasure not a chore.

Just about had it with city and football.
Have to go to ten games.
Max 2 season ticket downloads per season.
My dad's tickets on his phone and mine.
What if he breaks his phone

 

[bladdered]

Keep your faces covered when going through the new turnstiles on Saturday. Don't let them steal your identity.