I have been to very few home games where there haven't been plenty of empty of empty seats and and that's going back to when the stadium first opened.It would appear that the number of gloryhunters has started to drop off now though
But the Club don't report falling attendances. Are we to believe a) they are lying or b) the empty seats were paid for - but not used?
I would never have thought Arsenal would be suffering in terms of support. I watched the Blackburn game and the number of empty seats I saw, I'd have said the attendance was 45-48,000 maximum
This is partly the reason. But the other reason being that the "real supporters" simply cannot afford to buy tickets for themselves and their children. A lot of well off people are buying up season tickets and can afford to go to occasionally...
Well that's kind of the point I'm making. Clubs do tend to calculate attendances by assuming all season-ticket holders have attended a particular match. If you're playing Blackburn, Bolton or Wigan at home, having had (by Arsenal's own standards) a poor season, will they all really turn up?
My mate who is a season ticket holder was telling me that they stopped saying the attendance for a while as it didn't reflect the real attendance in the stadium as people started booing when they announced 59k but the real figure was around 52k....
I think it is true that the tickets have been paid for as why would the club say a game was sold out if it wasn't the case ? As stupid as it may sound but i know for a fact that "Tout Agencies" hold Arsenal memberships.
The AST reported at their meeting the other night that around 400 Club Level members went to one game or less last season.
But the spaces are everywhere- we don't sell season tickets everywhere surely? Are there really so many speculative tout tickets in this day and age. The Club wouldn't tolerate it. It could be that sales are really down, or 'fans' don't go having paid !!!
I think the games are sold out but it's mainly ST holders who are not going. Go on any tout agency website and you will see Arsenal tickets on sale for both home & away games this includes games where tickets are not on sale. I was having a beer in the Tollington before the Fulham home game last season and got talking to two Dutch lads.They had tickets for the game which had cost the 150 euros from an agency.Their tickets were red membership cards.The cards had been left in the hotel they were staying at.The lads had with them a letter telling them where they would be seated and that they should leave the cards behind the hotel desk when they departed.
CYM - shows how naive I am these days. I am shocked about the Red member cards being provided - to be returned. there must be a lot of 'John Brown' supporters !!!!!
I always thought that in the main Club Level would be sold to corporate types as it's cheaper than an executive box
That is a true story.We told these lads not to give the cards back and to contact the club. http://www.onlineticketexpress.com/event/arsenal_vs_tottenham_hotspur_tickets http://www.livefootballtickets.com/...tickets.html?gclid=CN3cwPbLsa4CFaQmtAodqUm_Og http://www.worldticketshop.com/tickets/arsenal_tickets http://www.ticket4football.com/premiership-football-tickets/arsenal-tickets/ As you can see these agencies are selling tickets that are not yet available at the Arsenal box office
Given the Club is offloading the work, at a discount?, of selling all these tickets - shouldn't AST be asking questions about the ethics of this? Ordinary fans will be fleeced to get tickets using these companies.
