Villa return some of their 1700 allocation - on OS now

[The Pink Panther]

I don't understand the issue about a club returning a block of tickets.

The segregation arrangements won't allow us to sell part of the away fans blocks to home fans. We can sell the upper tier or lower tier as a whole ut not split fans within either tier.

That doesn't matter because if the away side does take the full allocation and they don't sell them all, City receives the ticket money anyway
But it is better for us that the tickets go on sale to fellow blues

It is a win for the club. But isn't that short term?

One of the characteristics of English football has been the atmosphere in the ground, and away fans create that. It is also a sign that the game is not as healthy

Away fans are the most passionate and committed fans. if they are travelling in reduced numbers doesn't it suggest there's something wrong?

Affordability, Lack of belief. A bit of both. When it's more or less every club that's taking less fans away it suggests that something is going on, and is that change good or bad, or something we can do anything about

Why the fuck does the majority of this board think we'd be better moving the away fans up to the third tier then?

 

[VOOMER]

Gather round children. It's time for the first meeting of the reduce away fans prices committee.

Yes quite amusing, but doesn't it disappoint you when you walk into the ground, take your seat and see a half empty away end

It's good for football to have a vibrant atmosphere. And there's been so much incompetence in the boardrooms of football clubs over the years that you can't help but formulate solutions.

If you were Chair of a fan owned City how would you approach this matter?

I would tell the away team that if they couldn't even sell 1200 tickets for a 3pm Saturday kick-off at the home of the Champions then they could fuck off in future as we have plenty of fans that would use those tickets.

*ucking A!

 

[Marvin]

I don't understand the issue about a club returning a block of tickets.

The segregation arrangements won't allow us to sell part of the away fans blocks to home fans. We can sell the upper tier or lower tier as a whole ut not split fans within either tier.

That doesn't matter because if the away side does take the full allocation and they don't sell them all, City receives the ticket money anyway
But it is better for us that the tickets go on sale to fellow blues

It is a win for the club. But isn't that short term?

One of the characteristics of English football has been the atmosphere in the ground, and away fans create that. It is also a sign that the game is not as healthy

Away fans are the most passionate and committed fans. if they are travelling in reduced numbers doesn't it suggest there's something wrong?

Affordability, Lack of belief. A bit of both. When it's more or less every club that's taking less fans away it suggests that something is going on, and is that change good or bad, or something we can do anything about

Why the fuck does the majority of this board think we'd be better moving the away fans up to the third tier then?

Someone might have said it but I don't think most fans would.

You're clearly not bothered whether there are any away fans, or where they are. For me they are central to the game. When I stood on the Kippax, I chose to sit next to the away cage. When the away fans went to the North Stand, I moved next to them there. And that's where I am now. Perhaps I'm just a loon. But there are quite a lot like me

I don't mind what you think. I'm just explaining my point of view. The attraction for football for me has always been the passion of the fans, not just the beautiful game on the pitch (for 35 years it was garbage).

 

[bluestevei]

i can remember when we hadnt won a away game all season, yet we still took thousands to villa park and we won 2-1

Were the tickets the equivalent of 40 quid back then?

fuck know how much they cost, but thousands still went even thou we didnt win agame away up to then. and im sure m wages are better now

 

[Marvin]

i can remember when we hadnt won a away game all season, yet we still took thousands to villa park and we won 2-1

Were the tickets the equivalent of 40 quid back then?

fuck know how much they cost, but thousands still went even thou we didnt win agame away up to then. and im sure m wages are better now

Real wages have been falling for a couple of years. ie what the money in your pocket can buy. And Ticket Prices have risen much faster than things like food

There are some pluses such as more people in employment and the profile of the game is much higher than it has ever been. It does annoy me though when you see Arsenal charging fans about £80 for the North London Derby and you think of people who have followed their club through thick and thin being asked to make big choices about whether they support their club or keep the money for their family

You make choices. But do we always have to be like lap dogs accepting everything that comes our way? I didn't think humanity was like that. We are supposed to be able to shape our world and make a difference. Sadly when it comes down to it, we're just used to thinking well other people know best. There are of course much bigger issues in the world that football ticket prices so perhaps it's me who's just lost some perspective!

 

[VOOMER]

If you look at German football you see big away crowds.

It's ticket prices, and football has to decide whether they are bothered or not. It must have their attention by now. So we conclude that football's bosses aren;t bothered.

And I must conclude that they are idiots because it's one of the main attractions to the game

Yes there are clubs who have fickle supports. And Villa do have a reputation for that. But it's not like this is a one off. Sunderland used to bring loads. They didn't this season and when they came they were unbeaten

Germany is a very different country with a very different league. Britain is now a very different country with a very different league to the way it used to be.

Germany has heavy government intervention, which, for instance includes public transport in the price of a match ticket. Would never happen over here in a million years. We're too market-based to take that approach. You can imagine Virgin and the like throwing shit fits from losing the money of football fans. We can't go back to the days of football specials because it's now all privatised and no-one keeps dilapidated rolling stock anymore.

As to our league, the English Premier League is the most popular in the world, and mark my words, it will become the dominant league. It is the only league worth bothering about in all the emerging markets. The money contributed by the fans will become less and less and so the idea of a supporters boycott will become less and less powerful. Soon clubs won't need working class fans at all, only corporates. The only way tickets will get cheaper is via the benign actions of owners, but even that is circumvented by the intense market pressures of competition of players wages. Think about it. Could footballers earn 10k a week tops, and the fans have virtually free tickets, and could it all work. Absolutely. Can that happen? No. There's your answer. Get rid of free-market capitalism.

100% correct. We are in the dominant league which is looking at £5 billion minimum over the next 3 years. It doesn't take the top 4 steaming away from the likes of Real, Barca and Bayern, but it takes the other teams from 5th to 20th away from all the other teams in western europe. Shit there will be half a dozen teams in the championship who will have parity with most teams in Spain, France , Italy, Portugal, Holland and Germany. It won't be long before we can pay to watch all City games via sky. Larger, modern stadiums, with adequate public is what we need to aim for Most of the EPL teams play in either inadequate, or poorly serviced stadiums, ours won't be one of them. By 2015, it from take of to landing a day tripper from say Paris, will be in there seat within 2 hours of left off. By then our revenue will be £10 billion over 3 years, there's no way Scudamore is going to allow anything that will effect the brand. A self inflicted FFP WILL damage the brand so there's no chance of that happening, until say 2020. By then the EPL could (should), be so strong that we will be able to dictate costs across Europe!
Rant over.

 

[Marvin]

Accept those clubs from 5 to 20 are all losing money and are competing against 1-4 who are operating on a different scale

The competition has to be somewhat credible to survive

And the gap is going to get wider and wider and wider until fans of the 5-20 decide I'm not having this, and then we all lose

 

[paulchapo]

I would say it is pretty much the cost.It isn't only the cost of the match and in my humble opinion no match should exceed £35,except possibly cup finals,but the cost of the travel too.You will probably be looking at £70 minimum before buying any food or drink.Fans are being priced out,pure and simple.

I also think the blindly loyal fan is a dying breed too.You know the one who would go to EVERY game even if they had to go hungry,they would follow the team no matter what.

When we were kids football was pretty cheap,as was travel.There were football special trains and even cheaper coaches.There were less games,well it seemed less,so you looked forward to matchdays more.There was no satellite tv,internet,teletext and instant scores,or pirate games in pubs.You couldn't watch the goals online hours later ,or read instant reports,your earliest chance was buying the football pink between 6-7pm.Even match of the day only showed one,maybe two games.If you didn't go to the match live you missed it,simple as.

Now there are numerous sites and places to watch a game free,or for the price of a couple of pints down the pub and without travelling far,or sitting/standing in the cold,sometimes the rain or snow.

I predict a downward trend in travelling fans as the diehards literally get too old to go and/or die off literally.Football needs to wake up fast the warning signs are a sprouting!

 

[Hung]

It is very likely that in most of our lifetimes, the ‘away fan’ will a be thing of the past. The financial power of the top 4 means that they only really compete with each other. The rest make up the numbers. Eventually, this will lead to a breakaway and the creation of a true ‘European League’, following which, due to excessive cost and distance, fans may go to one or two away games a year. I hope this doesn’t happen. Whilst the UCL is still a novelty to us at the moment, personally, I’d rather be facing Villa this week in an English League, rather than Milan in an elite European League. Then again, I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s and I’m a bit of a traditionalist.

 

[Fuzzy Logic]

If i didn't have a seasoncard i wouldn't pay £40 for the Villa game just as i wouldn't pay £35 for Ajax or £45 for Real Madrid so i can fully understand Villa fans not coming to the game.

I feel lucky for getting good value with my £490 seasoncard but i understand why around 75% of my blue friends and family don't even consider going to matches at The Etihad.

Prices are a rip off and need to be brought down before we alienate even more potential fans and fans who have stopped going due to the cost.