This has not been the happiest of seasons for Manchester City but for many fans the on-pitch struggles have not been the biggest source of frustration.
Over recent months, a number of incidents at City matches,
both at the Etihad Stadium and away from home, have piled up to cause a growing
sense of disillusionment, especially as many fans believe those incidents are a
direct consequence of the club’s ticketing policies.
Earlier in February, City fans wrote to the club’s chairman,
Khaldoon Al Mubarak, to request that season ticket prices be frozen, almost a
year on from price rises that sparked a protest banner inside the stadium which
read ‘record profits but record prices, stop exploiting our loyalty’.
Fan calculations show that season ticket prices have risen
15 per cent on average over the past five years. In some areas of the stadium
it is as high as 25 per cent.
Following complaints about the treatment of supporters at
the Champions League final in Istanbul the previous summer — a UEFA problem but
something that fan groups feel City did not back them on — it has become a
regular occurrence to see supporters complaining about the club’s attitude
towards its own fans (although it should be said that similar complaints have
been heard at a number of other Premier League clubs, including Manchester
United and Fulham).
The Athletic has spoken to several supporters
who each have stories of how tickets they — or family members — have listed for
sale on City’s official ticket exchange have ended up being resold for far
higher prices, sometimes to non-City supporters.
City acknowledge that the presence of away fans in the home
end is a key issue, and a recent meeting, held before the Liverpool game,
between the club and supporters was dedicated to finding solutions.
This week, ahead of Saturday’s home game against Plymouth
Argyle in the FA Cup, the club have written to a small number of supporters in
the Plymouth area with no history of having bought tickets at the Etihad and
who have purchased tickets close to the away end to inform them that those
tickets have been cancelled.
One fan commented: ‘I’m contemplating giving up on European
games altogether at the Etihad. In the last couple of seasons we’ve seen far
too many away fans in the top tier of the East Stand. It feels unsafe. Just
this season a frightening punch up erupted about ten rows behind us when
Feyenoord scored their last minute equaliser this season which ended up with
people falling over seats into the rows below and a single Dutch fan surrounded
by stewards and isolated until the rest of us could leave. Against Real Madrid
another fight broke out in the row below us at the final whistle between a home
fan and a Madrid supporter. Stewards were nowhere to be seen and the culprit
seemed to escape unnoticed.
The club either don’t know or don’t care who they are selling tickets to. Many
of the season ticket holders we’ve sat amongst for years don’t sign up to the
Cup schemes. You can’t resell your ticket for Cup games so you’re gambling on
whether you’ll actually be able to get to games - even if you can afford it. So
for European games in particular it feels like as soon as the game starts
you’re waiting for something to kick off. I’m too old for that kind of
nonsense. I thought I’d eventually be
priced out of my seat - I didn’t expect to be giving it up for my own safety.’
The more general issue of ticket pricing in the Premier League is being pursued by the Football Supporters’ Association and arguably reinforces the case for a football regulator which leading clubs are pushing back against, most recently at this week’s Business of Football summit organised by the Pink ‘Un. Fans are more than just customers to be exploited.
Comments
Post a Comment