Always forget he used to play for Watford. Hopefully a case of curse of the former player tomorrow then. Like Wednesday night was for us
And we paid all through the pandemic....but at least we've got our names up in the dug out "bar".....so not all bad is it..............
I recall passholders didn’t get priority for Liverpool away in 2008 did they? Nor Chelsea when 2 bus loads of never before seen before or since paid hundreds of pounds to get a seat on the posh bus,I can easily see that happening again if we go up next season, away direct got ****ed off by the club after that first season in the Prem, on the premise of data protection, ****s.
You do realise Steve that we now have different owners, so hopefully your points and fears will not become reality if we go up.
Does anyone know a good time to get to the ground for signatures? My son would love to get some more for his book.
12:30 usually ensures you get the majority. Last time my kids wanted to go there appeared to be a new breed of 'ambushers' who don't wait for the players to come to them and just run around intercepting them at their cars so you might have a battle on these days!
I think the team pretty much picks itself for this one… Darlow Coyle McLoughlin Greaves Elder Slater Seri Allahyar Vaughan Traore Tufan
I well remember those two games you refer to Rico and it made my blood boil at the time. I was told by the then fans liason offer, Dan? that I wasnt a proper fan because I wasnt on the away direct scheme, which they consequently dismantled. I replied, I'd been a passholder since the 70's and didn't feel the need to be on away direct because away tickets were always plentiful, upto us reaching the PL. It made no differance at all, I was told they had to attract 'new' fans and my loyalty through a couple of decades of 5hite meant diddly dot. It was a mistake by the club at the time and we became a club who's fanbase was built on sand. I can tell you the club are anxious and working on attracting the people ( fans) who will pay more, they have to, because if they are serious with their intentions of reaching the Premier League the squad needs investment and it cannot be funded on selling seats cheaper than they were more than ten years ago. Which to me, anyhow, means they want more members, those paying full pops, those who turn up every week and to encourage that there must be incentives or what is the point of becoming a member? I can undertand them offering discounts and even freebies now to build up the fanbase, simply because the numbers had slipped so low, but it will not and cannot last. Joe Clutterbrook has performed miracles and jumped through hoops to get three consequestive 20,000 crowds into the stadium at this time of the year with us having little to play for. Like my post a couple of days ago said, the real task is now keeping them.
I can't see it happening but for what it's worth,I think it would be a nice gesture to reward and recognise members in some small way.He's not compelled or duty bound to do so,memberships aren't overly expensive in comparison to other Clubs but he is rewarding day trippers with substantial discounts,so why not? I buy home tickets as and when required and it's no secret that it's been much cheaper this season than previous ones.Generally in previous season's I paid in the region of £28 which dropped to £23 this season,that's now dropped to £15 which is welcomed and appreciated and in some ways offsets rises in transport costs...I applaud it as an occasional visitor and someone who is fairly insignificant in the big picture of the Club's finances. The lifeblood of the Club relies on regular income from members, of which there are 12,000 or so.He values them but without them he wouldn't be in a position to reduce match tickets or in some cases...Give them away. I'm not posting for argument or siding with anyone,simply putting a bit of perspective from someone who wouldn't benefit in any way but thinks that perhaps a pint or a soft drink wouldn't go a miss in recognition of the members who attend in all weather and fund the Club on a regular basis.
Was Dan the fans liaison officer who was organising buses to Man Utd a few years earlier, or was that a previous one? What they did to the original Away Direct fans was a disgrace. That lad you know from Brid who was a fanatic, only missed 1 game home and away all through the grim years under Dolan, including all the midweek away games in .Mickey Mouse competitions,flying back from Spain to see one game at Southend or Torquay and back out again, doing the same when his son was playing in a football tournament in Germany. He was one of the 42 who signed up when we were in the 4th division. Then Duffen said it was unfair to prioritise some over others and scrapped Away Direct priority but gave a one year extension to the original 42. Could get tickets first season in first season in PL but his 3 mates who weren’t in it but had been to most of those games couldn’t so he was at Liverpool, Arsenal, Man Utd etc on his own for most of them. This resulted in situations where a life long fan, as you know yourself, could find themselves on their own sat next to a couple of kids at Arsenal playing on their mobiles whilst their mother asked them if they could tell them which players were which as it was the first time they had been to a City match. Poor lad collapsed and died the Monday after we beat Man City in our second season which was shock because, as you know, he was as fit as ****. How you prioritise season ticket holders when there are 20,000 of them and the maximum number of tickets is 3,000 is a different matter, Though it always amazed me how other clubs always seemed to have tickets that ended up with fans who stood up cheering on their team whilst so many of ours seemed to end up with the sit down shut up brigade who were more interested in seeing the big names on the other side,
I really don't get all this calling for a little gesture. Members already have a great deal and have all sorts of benefits. And then there have been surprise bonuses along the way too, only available to members, the like of which we've never seen before. I'm sure along the way he's more than once said 'thank you' and has communicated his appreciation, which is worth far more than a coke or whatever. We have an owner that's done and keeps doing so much for the club, and is trying his upmost to build the fan base (as well as the success of the club), doing things most on here have called for previous owners to do. He doesn't deserve such sniping / criticism. We should surely be more than happy that he's doing what he's doing (especially after the previous few years), not looking for little things to have a go at. And it's ridiculous dredging up things from 10+ years ago - the club is now in totally different hands thankfully.
Around the time, Duffen told a group of us that it was an unfortunate oversight during the run up and preparations for the new league, which promotion had been relatively unexpected and that it was too late to reinstate it when they became aware, as data had been deleted due to legal obligations - he meant it was a mistake rather than a deliberate attempt to exclude/get new fans. Obviously everyone can believe what they want, but that's what he told me. Wasn't there a period around that time that those of us, mainly out of towners, who had early on set up online accounts and received low figure membership numbers got some kind of advantage buying tickets a day earlier? I could be misremembering that, but again was seen as unfair as back in the late 90s/early 2000s many city residents bought over the phone or direct and so didn't have online accounts. Hard to please all a large and diverse customer base.
I had seven months of back and forth emails with James 'Everton supporter' Mooney regarding away direct, early in them he told me more than once that it would be sorted within the week. Eventually they came up with some data protection guff as to why it wouldn't be coming back. The views expressed in my posts are not necessarily mine.
Well, it was strange that he said they were scrapping it but gave a years extension to the 42 that were in it from the start. Suggests they did have records. Can’t remember the online thing. Though in those days in the late 90s early 2000s apart from the odd Cup game there was not much advantage in getting tickets a day early,
I don't see it as sniping/criticism as such.It's a handful of individuals with memberships putting up an opinion for debate,they're fully entitled to comment. Of course he's trying to build the fan base,anyone who's bought into this Club needs to in order to survive and move it forward and more importantly,not to suffer financial loss year upon year? 12,000 members won't cut it long term,it will wash It's face,no more,no less. It's common knowledge that you and many others had an intense dislike for Allam and Allam,I'm not averse to that overall, but does it need to amount to downgrading their achievements? Didn't we achieve under them in our call for them to succeed? Acun Illicali has invested in a business which he can Ill afford to continually bail-out,it's detrimental to his own personal wealth not to succeed.He's doing some good things at the Club,no-one of sound mind can deny that but the one and only way he will fill that stadium on a weekly basis is promotion to the top flight...Has he got the money or balls to push that to the maximum? The Jury is still out for me on whether or not be will achieve what he has said he will do,I hope he does,the City could do with it!!
What’s wrong with saying look after the fans who’ve stuck with you through thick and thin? seems reasonable to me That’s how you build up loyalty I’m sure they won’t be able to go back that long but why not a bronze member after five years Silver after ten Gold after fifteen
