Man City Tickets

[brendywendy]

They have to draw the line somewhere and as such someone will always just miss out? Not if they had bought 4,000, I doubt it. And what would be the upshot of that? They have to pay for the tickets they didn't use, which would be a pittance compared to the wad they're blowing on free travel. We're looking at a club that has gained £20m-odd in net player sales over the last few years, and doesn't feel a responsibility to risk paying for unused tickets to ensure that everyone who wants to can see the team at an FA cup quarter-final.

As for TV, are there non-televised FA Cup quarter-finals that you can compare it to? Obviously not.

why have they taken 20 million in player sales? for jollys? no, because we didnt have enough money to run as we were.
hence why they are a little reticent to buty a load of tickets and end up not selling them.and lol at the ease with which everyone seems to be able to gamble with other peoples money.


you can still go and watch the game, youll just have to sit with the city fans- who im sure will be more than welcoming to fans of such a little team.


the choice was - pay for a load of tickets that we didnt know wed sell to a load of day tripping randoms, or pay for coach travel and guarantee we sell what allocation we did get.
seems sensible to me.

Given that there were less than 2500 with over 1600 points and we have 8,000+ season ticket holders, isn't that remark a bit crass and, well, ignorant?

since im one of the day tripping randoms that didnt manage to get one. no. im as peeved as anyone else. i just have no trouble admitting that while im dedicated, im not as dedicated as those with 1600 points.
the point is we set an allocation based on what we think we will sell. this is based on previous ticket sales for similar games.
i have no problem with that. i guess because im just not gleefully grasping any possible opportunity to slag the club- im ignorant and crass.
fair enough. ill take that.

we probably thought we would be able to go back if we sold out early, and then found out that man city had closed the top tiers, and were now selling the seats around us.

[brendywendy]

Are fans who are buying tickets in the home end planning to pay on the day? Won't it be rather conspicuous if a load of people with RG postcodes apply online for home end tickets?

havent man city a;ready said theyll be accepting reading mamber card holders on the day? or did i dream it?
(that is highly possible!)

[Silver Fox]

Anyone who thinks the club would look at a 20 grand hit as acceptable obviously hasn't been paying attention

[rob the royal]

I really dislike the day tripping random fans talk.

Alot of dedicated fans fall into this category who would have loved to have gone to this match.

yes. ME for one!

but i fully accept, that when i dont go to enough games to get enough points to go to these big matches, its kind of my fault, not the clubs.

if theres a day trip on, ill be there, if its a cold tuesday night in sheffield im generally not interested. so im happy that the people who got to go, are better, less plastic and random than me, and therefore deserve to go more than i do.
do i wish wed got more tickets, do i wish id got one. yes yes.
do i blame the club for me not going?
nope.

I think that's very nice of you... but there must be a lot of people on here who had 600+ points and didn't get to go. It's not been good.

So glad I got a ticket last night, but definitely sympathetic (to an extent) to those who didn't... I'd be annoyed too

[southbank1871]

So the people who got tickets for this game are not proper fans?

These are the 'proper' fans. i.e. those that have been up to Sheffield on a Tuesday night.

[brendywendy]

I really dislike the day tripping random fans talk.

Alot of dedicated fans fall into this category who would have loved to have gone to this match.

yes. ME for one!

but i fully accept, that when i dont go to enough games to get enough points to go to these big matches, its kind of my fault, not the clubs.

if theres a day trip on, ill be there, if its a cold tuesday night in sheffield im generally not interested. so im happy that the people who got to go, are better, less plastic and random than me, and therefore deserve to go more than i do.
do i wish wed got more tickets, do i wish id got one. yes yes.
do i blame the club for me not going?
nope.

I accept that people with more points should get in above me as well. but I do blame the club for not anticipating the demand

i look at previous years, and previous games and can see exactly why they set it where they did.

[TFF]

Oh ffs Bendy - I've already worked out the maths - it would probably have cost the club about £20k in unsold tickets (not that I reckon there would be any) - if you consider how much we're making in just this one game PLUS the fact they seem willing to pay a few quid in travel costs for up to 2,800 fans, then a few thousand is NOTHING in the grand scheme of things. Plus, if they'd asked for more tickets, they didn't need to offer free travel really - so that would have cancelled each other out.

If the club had not offered free travel do you believe that the allocation ot 2800 would have actually sold out ?

Yes. As would maybe 3000, or 3500, or maybe more. We'll never know. The club anticipate 50% of fans will use the coaches (from the radio interview this morning) so at a guess that will cost in the region of £14,000.

The decision to take only 2800 was purely financial, as admitted by the club. Maybe the £14K they're prepared to pay out on free coaches would have been better spent on (possibly unsold) tickets.

[Wimb]

the North Stand will be best although the City fans are expecting tier 3 opening this week so if that happens there will be more than enough to go round

Cheers Leics! will try and get in that end then.

[leicsRoyal]

Are fans who are buying tickets in the home end planning to pay on the day? Won't it be rather conspicuous if a load of people with RG postcodes apply online for home end tickets?

as the club were prepared to offer free travel for upto 2,800 fans of which I imagine there will be half that have taken up the offer, will the club give free travel to those that are having to buy tickets in the home end?

Dosen't affect me as I'm halfway there already but at least some of our affected fans by this chaos can still benefit in some small way.

[brendywendy]

I really dislike the day tripping random fans talk.

Alot of dedicated fans fall into this category who would have loved to have gone to this match.

yes. ME for one!

but i fully accept, that when i dont go to enough games to get enough points to go to these big matches, its kind of my fault, not the clubs.

if theres a day trip on, ill be there, if its a cold tuesday night in sheffield im generally not interested. so im happy that the people who got to go, are better, less plastic and random than me, and therefore deserve to go more than i do.
do i wish wed got more tickets, do i wish id got one. yes yes.
do i blame the club for me not going?
nope.

You’re too accepting of people's mistakes then IMO Brendy. The point is, the 'proper' fans and those that don't go to midweek away games in Yorkshire should have been able to attend this match.

ideally yes, but its not an ideal world, or an ideal situation.
i believe people are too quick to demand blame when mistakes are made- simply put, if i can see that the reasons why a mistake was made are sensible and thought out reasons, that just turned out to be wrong, then i for one wont be asking for anyones head on a platter.

the lateness of the finalised draw, the fact that man city started selling the other seats immediately, the free transport gesture, and the fact that despite all of this, no reading fan who wants to go to the game, will be unable to go if they sit in the home end, mean that im happy that the decisions that were made were made for good reasons.

[The Rouge]

I must admit as SF says - I thought the demand, given:

- Manchester
- On TV
- Late Sunday

would be 2800-3000 max...

I had to try for 45 mins at midnight last night and it was a shambles from the whole midnight/site capability perspective - but I wouldn't blame the club too much for only getting 2800 tickets...

Have to fundamentally disagree Rouge, this is an FA Cup Quarter Final being played on a weekend.

The last away Q/F was the league cup at Leeds where we took 4,000 odd in midweek (IIRC). And one of the last big games away on a Sunday was the Wigan play off in Div 1 where we took 6,000 odd, followed by 30,000 odd to the final.

I never had any doubt we would sell a 6,000 allocation, sadly, the fans never got the opportunity to buy then. To compare the demand for this one in a lifetime event to earlier round ties played in midweek when time needs to be taken off of work (WBA, Liverpool, Everton) is disingenuous spin designed to arse cover.

The fact that the tickets sold out in less than 24 hours tells its own story. It also tells that the club could have done, say 1200-1600 today followed by 600+ tomorrow and still sold them in plenty of time.

Oh and ESPN is not the same as terrestial TV in the effect on demand.

The fact that it is on ESPN would probably mean that people would rather walk to an away game than watch that excuse for punditry

You can't really disagree with me, as all i am saying is that I thought demand would only be 2800-3000... i know i have been proven wrong (as the club have) - I am just saying what I thought demand would be...

(Also, the Leeds game was a looong time ago and we didn't regularly play big teams as we have in recent years.. - so you can see why this may not have had too much impact on their decision..)

[brendywendy]

LOL @ people defending the club on this situation.

Some of you really are mugs!

Like I said - the only way you can really show your annoyance is by not renewing your season tickets or for those non STH's to not attend games for the rest of season. But as I said, you won't. You'll just moan about it on BBRB and that will be that. Hit the club where it hurts, then maybe they'll appreciate the fans more, by clearer communication over tickets.

Best post you've m8de m8.

'snot hard is it

[muddyfeet]

Someone at the club is employed to anticipate demand for matches such as this and has obviously got it wrong. You say look at comparable games, we've been in one quarter final since 1927 or something. This coupled with the fact, it is on ESPN (not ITV), it is at the weekend and is against a top four club.

To not decide about the free travel until after deciding the allocation is bad management and bad planning and is not a good example of a well run business. By doing this, they have increased demand and pushed out many fans who would have originally gone.

They should have brought more tickets and then offered free travel to the first 2800 or something - this would have kept demand high but still allowed more people go.

If the reason is not wanted to commit the money, then it is somewhat depressing they paid a 40K fine as our players who could not control themselves at cardiff but could not take a proper fan base to watch what is a historical match

all imo

[brendywendy]

yes. ME for one!

but i fully accept, that when i dont go to enough games to get enough points to go to these big matches, its kind of my fault, not the clubs.

if theres a day trip on, ill be there, if its a cold tuesday night in sheffield im generally not interested. so im happy that the people who got to go, are better, less plastic and random than me, and therefore deserve to go more than i do.
do i wish wed got more tickets, do i wish id got one. yes yes.
do i blame the club for me not going?
nope.

You’re too accepting of people's mistakes then IMO Brendy. The point is, the 'proper' fans and those that don't go to midweek away games in Yorkshire should have been able to attend this match.

So the people who got tickets for this game are not proper fans?

no i think its the opposite, hes saying not just proper fans who do go to away games midweek in yorkshire should be able to attend if they want, and also all the fans who dont go to yorkshire on tuesday nights.

[Royal Lady]

Re the money Brendy - this cup run will not have been "budgeted" for, because we wouldn't have known how far we'd get. We're making something like £100,000+ just for the tv revenue aren't we, I'm sure the figures are further back in this thread, so if the club couldn't take a hit of a few thousand out of that unexpected windfall of getting to the quarter finals, there really IS a major cash flow problem at the club.

[Wimb]

i look at previous years, and previous games and can see exactly why they set it where they did.

How many did we take to big games in the PL era? how many did we take to Highbury, how many went to Wigan for the 2001 playoff semi, how many went to Cardiff, to Wembley etc.

Comparing the demand to midweek games or a playoff semi-final off the back of relegation and the crest of appalling form/mood around the club was folly.

I have no problem with the 'proper fans' getting first shot at the tickets and I don't think anyone is moaning about that. What's hurting fans today is being denied a chance to go to City based on a few thousand pounds and an overly cautious ticket request.

You can forgive the club and understand their reasons but that doesn't make them right and they should certainly apologise and launch a review/have better consultation with fans on this.

[Royal Lady]

And, for the record, I haven't been to many away games at all this season, yet I have 1600+ points.

[Rex]

The second PL season seriously dropped off. Curiosity tended to wane a little. Also we were getting beaten consistently which made it lose it's shine to some.

'boro away.

[No Fixed Abode]

LOL @ people defending the club on this situation.

Some of you really are mugs!

Like I said - the only way you can really show your annoyance is by not renewing your season tickets or for those non STH's to not attend games for the rest of season. But as I said, you won't. You'll just moan about it on BBRB and that will be that. Hit the club where it hurts, then maybe they'll appreciate the fans more, by clearer communication over tickets.

Best post you've m8de m8.

Cheers m8. I just get fed up with fans who whinge and moan, but will ultimately accept the situation over this debacle and carry on going. - Imagine if you boycotted just one game, think how much money RFC would lose! The club is nothing without the fans, it wouldn't survive. So they need to appreciate how important you guys are.

[brendywendy]

I really dislike the day tripping random fans talk.

Alot of dedicated fans fall into this category who would have loved to have gone to this match.

yes. ME for one!

but i fully accept, that when i dont go to enough games to get enough points to go to these big matches, its kind of my fault, not the clubs.

if theres a day trip on, ill be there, if its a cold tuesday night in sheffield im generally not interested. so im happy that the people who got to go, are better, less plastic and random than me, and therefore deserve to go more than i do.
do i wish wed got more tickets, do i wish id got one. yes yes.
do i blame the club for me not going?
nope.

I think that's very nice of you... but there must be a lot of people on here who had 600+ points and didn't get to go. It's not been good.

So glad I got a ticket last night, but definitely sympathetic (to an extent) to those who didn't... I'd be annoyed too

i am annoyed , at myself, for not renewing my ST sooner, or maybe just going to more away games over the last couple of years.
i am sympathetic to everyone who tried and failed to get a ticket like me.
but no ones stopping you going anyway. you just wont be able to sit with the rest of them. but like at man united a few years back, no one in the home end is going to get the hump with you clapping or cheering reading throughout the game.