Letting people in without tickets would be exceptionally idiotic - and land the club in deep shit with the authorities. Safety with regards to access and capacity is taken seriously for very good reasons - as has alrwdh been pointed out above.
Ticketing fiasco aside, my eldest son and I had a wonderful time last night. Luckily we turned up early enough that despite having to queue for a good 45 minutes, we were in 20 minutes before kick off. Having bought tickets in tier 2 on Thursday morning and selected the postage option, I then emailed the club on Monday to confirm that my tickets would be available for collection at the Etihad. I received no response and it was only through checking on Twitter (and later on here) that I became aware of the database that could be filled in online which ensured there were at least some tickets to collect. As it happens, the tickets we received were RIGHT at the back of tier 3 (although thankfully we could easily move to a much better position). The envelope also had someone else's name crossed out on it with mine scrawled underneath. Fairly shambolic stuff, and I have absolutely no doubt that the majority of people collecting had no idea about the online database. First class customer experience indeed.
My son is seven and a half, and I've only ever taken him to smaller League One grounds pre-pandemic. His look of wonder as we emerged from the concourse and looked out over the ground will stay with me for some time, as will the celebrations when we took the lead. Those two moments for me mean that I will always remember it as another very special away day. To have him expressing surprise at how quickly time was elapsing during the game instead of moaning that he was bored after 10 minutes was also pleasing! Maybe starting to take him to games aged 4 was too young after all...
@YorkExile said:
Ticketing fiasco aside, my eldest son and I had a wonderful time last night. Luckily we turned up early enough that despite having to queue for a good 45 minutes, we were in 20 minutes before kick off. Having bought tickets in tier 2 on Thursday morning and selected the postage option, I then emailed the club on Monday to confirm that my tickets would be available for collection at the Etihad. I received no response and it was only through checking on Twitter (and later on here) that I became aware of the database that could be filled in online which ensured there were at least some tickets to collect. As it happens, the tickets we received were RIGHT at the back of tier 3 (although thankfully we could easily move to a much better position). The envelope also had someone else's name crossed out on it with mine scrawled underneath. Fairly shambolic stuff, and I have absolutely no doubt that the majority of people collecting had no idea about the online database. First class customer experience indeed.
My son is seven and a half, and I've only ever taken him to smaller League One grounds pre-pandemic. His look of wonder as we emerged from the concourse and looked out over the ground will stay with me for some time, as will the celebrations when we took the lead. Those two moments for me mean that I will always remember it as another very special away day. To have him expressing surprise at how quickly time was elapsing during the game instead of moaning that he was bored after 10 minutes was also pleasing! Maybe starting to take him to games aged 4 was too young after all...
Love this post, my 10 year old, having not been interested pre COVID is begging to come to games now. The joy it brings me knowing he’s converted is immeasurable.
@Chris said:
My feeling is that if they had played an entire youth team without the big names up front we’d have comprehensively beaten them.
I didn't think anyone numbered over 50 bothered us in the slightest apart from the last goal when we had tired. We would have won last night if the attacking half of the City team were from the Academy.
What really needs to be addressed is why sides like City can hoover up so many youngsters. Having said that the complex around the ground was very impressive. I long for the day Wycombe have a youth set up back
In fairness, that's what happens in Spain, so it's hardly surprising that he'd be for it. Not that it should ever happen over here, of course, where we have the strongest pyramid outside of Egypt.
Was a bit nervous to see we'd rested our front 5, but because we scored first it seemed to sort of justify it. Not many games you get battered where you think like that. But that was their proper A listers midfield and up front. Bar Grealish really.
Sorry to hear of so many ticketing problems.
I did wonder why there seemed so many empties in rows around us. You always get a few no shows but I thought maybe people had bundled into other rows. But reading the above pages clearly it was the ticketing issues and being in other tiers.
Was a little nervous at an 80+ year old in the party, being quite far back in tier 1, as everyone was standing, but he was OK. First game since 1967 apparently!!
Bit too close to what was a rabid set of city youngsters about 5metres to the left, but our lot stoked them ups up can't really complain. Banter they tell me.
Bit embarrassing at them lording it over a heavily rotated league one team!
Otherwise an impressive set up. The penny drops why the press give them such an easy ride for their money doping, as they have milked the community angle to an absolute tee.
Club have issued an apology email swiftly so fair play to them.
Offer to credit your account with any difference in fee if you paid for tier 2 but ended up in 3.
@Chris said:
My feeling is that if they had played an entire youth team without the big names up front we’d have comprehensively beaten them.
I didn't think anyone numbered over 50 bothered us in the slightest apart from the last goal when we had tired. We would have won last night if the attacking half of the City team were from the Academy.
What really needs to be addressed is why sides like City can hoover up so many youngsters. Having said that the complex around the ground was very impressive. I long for the day Wycombe have a youth set up back
My Sarfend supporting colleague tells me one of the players last night was purchased from them for £175,000 as a 13 year old! And as Raheem Sterling's agent has used him to tap up promising teenage players it's perhaps not a surprise City get first dibs!
It's clear though that lots of people had issues last night and with recent games, on sales are late causing postal issues, people aren't clear wether their tickets are coming by post regardless of what they chose online or are told over the phone, info is reactive in replies to rants rather than proactively available and onsite pressence at AP for sorting stuff in person is much reduced and not clear either. One for the trust to get involved in asking questions about really, need to show they are willing to represent.
Exactly this. I ordered my tickets last Wednesday and selected post. If someone hadn't have posted something on here I would not have known I had to fill out a form to say my tickets hadn't arrived in the post. No email from the club on this.
If I'd known I was at risk, I could have tried to collect from the club on Saturday. BY the time I found out on Monday they were shut and I just couldn't go to the club Tuesday morning.
To add some context, this is not an isolated incident. I have also had particularly poor service as a player sponsor as well. I find most things out after they happen e.g. no communication to say the player I sponsored was leaving the club last season, I found out at the same time as everyone else when it was announced on the club website. To be fair the club called me last season and apologised/admitted it is not what they expect but nothing has changed this season.
Take the money and no improvement in service. I wasn't invited to the sponsor photoshoot day last week, I find out from another player sponsor two weeks after the initial communications were sent out by which point I cannot re-arrange work commitments so missed the afternoon.
I'm fed up of being told it's all about the customer experience when I keep getting a shit customer experience and the club keep taking my money! Even though I've fed back regularly through email and continually chase up when they make mistakes, nothing seems to be changing.
Either drop the continual references to "best customer experience" or such like until you can ACTUALLY deliver it OR start putting your money where your mouth is.
Has anyone been invited to the big party with Missy and Rob that was promised for all the STHs that left there money in during the pandemic? Perhaps the party has already happened and I missed the invite!
Rant over...
This should be on the ‘fan feedback’ thread. The club will then read it.
ANYWAY... apart from getting into the ground what a great night. WHAT? After a 6-1 defeat? Hell yeah. We played with dignity and pride and scored a goal that was just great, a thrill to go to an amazing ground, an honour to see some incredible talents on display (current and I suspect future).
When you are so outclassed it would be easy for the manager to say 'kick em and see if you can put them off their stride', and I'm proud that our manager wouldn't do that. Win at all costs is not a thing. Our tactics were as good as they could have been with pressing, just sometimes you have to sit back and go 'shhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiit' when you see a flame haired midfielder break away and coast half the pitch with our best athletes struggling to catch up.
Lots of positives with individual performances but wow oh wow Anthony Stewart, why has he never been picked up? He went toe to toe with Sterling on several occasions and came out on top.
24 hours later and 4 hours sleep in the bag I'm still swelling with pride.
@ReturnToSenda said:
What did people make of the safe standing set-up? I see it's going to be allowed in the Prem and Champ from January.
I thought it was great. Most people around me were standing, including me and I usually sit. I was standing in front of a woman of average height (I’m 1.90m), apologised and moved and assumed she would then sit down, but she stayed standing. My conclusion - the railed seating makes it a really pleasant experience to stand and will encourage more people to do so.
This has nothing to do with the game itself but I’m bored in a hotel near Gatwick so…..
Why is it only football and it’s fans that have an obsession with needing to have a physical ticket to enter games?
I don’t think I have been to an event in the last 4 or 5 years that I have needed to have a paper ticket to gain entry. And that includes international flights.
At worst, I have printed off an email incase my phone battery died on the way to an airport. But in most cases you just flash the barcode on an imbedded email/pdf and away you go.
Why do football supporters suggest it’s vital to have a ticket?
@TheDancingYak said:
This has nothing to do with the game itself but I’m bored in a hotel near Gatwick so…..
Why is it only football and it’s fans that have an obsession with needing to have a physical ticket to enter games?
I don’t think I have been to an event in the last 4 or 5 years that I have needed to have a paper ticket to gain entry. And that includes international flights.
At worst, I have printed off an email incase my phone battery died on the way to an airport. But in most cases you just flash the barcode on an imbedded email/pdf and away you go.
Why do football supporters suggest it’s vital to have a ticket?
@TheDancingYak said:
This has nothing to do with the game itself but I’m bored in a hotel near Gatwick so…..
Why is it only football and it’s fans that have an obsession with needing to have a physical ticket to enter games?
I don’t think I have been to an event in the last 4 or 5 years that I have needed to have a paper ticket to gain entry. And that includes international flights.
At worst, I have printed off an email incase my phone battery died on the way to an airport. But in most cases you just flash the barcode on an imbedded email/pdf and away you go.
Why do football supporters suggest it’s vital to have a ticket?
Who is insisting that out of interest?
Just the general push back from supporters when ticketless systems are put in place.
None of this tickets not arriving in time thing would have happened had all clubs gone to technology based systems (which you can print off if you really don’t want to use a phone) much like the majority of the rest of the entertainment industry.
I just don’t get why football hasn’t caught upto what is the norm to gain entry to a place. I can only surmise it’s because fans reject the idea of it because it would make clubs lives a lot easier.
@TheDancingYak said:
This has nothing to do with the game itself but I’m bored in a hotel near Gatwick so…..
Why is it only football and it’s fans that have an obsession with needing to have a physical ticket to enter games?
I don’t think I have been to an event in the last 4 or 5 years that I have needed to have a paper ticket to gain entry. And that includes international flights.
At worst, I have printed off an email incase my phone battery died on the way to an airport. But in most cases you just flash the barcode on an imbedded email/pdf and away you go.
Why do football supporters suggest it’s vital to have a ticket?
Who is insisting that out of interest?
Just the general push back from supporters when ticketless systems are put in place.
None of this tickets not arriving in time thing would have happened had all clubs gone to technology based systems (which you can print off if you really don’t want to use a phone) much like the majority of the rest of the entertainment industry.
I just don’t get why football hasn’t caught upto what is the norm to gain entry to a place. I can only surmise it’s because fans reject the idea of it because it would make clubs lives a lot easier.
I think home tickets and away tickets are different scenarios.
Home tickets seem to be moving more to ticketless.
But I suppose there's simply more risk with aways.
More likelihood of printing off spares or something maybe, I don't know.
@TheDancingYak said:
This has nothing to do with the game itself but I’m bored in a hotel near Gatwick so…..
Why is it only football and it’s fans that have an obsession with needing to have a physical ticket to enter games?
I don’t think I have been to an event in the last 4 or 5 years that I have needed to have a paper ticket to gain entry. And that includes international flights.
At worst, I have printed off an email incase my phone battery died on the way to an airport. But in most cases you just flash the barcode on an imbedded email/pdf and away you go.
Why do football supporters suggest it’s vital to have a ticket?
Who is insisting that out of interest?
Just the general push back from supporters when ticketless systems are put in place.
None of this tickets not arriving in time thing would have happened had all clubs gone to technology based systems (which you can print off if you really don’t want to use a phone) much like the majority of the rest of the entertainment industry.
I just don’t get why football hasn’t caught upto what is the norm to gain entry to a place. I can only surmise it’s because fans reject the idea of it because it would make clubs lives a lot easier.
It might be that clubs don't seem to be able to get them to work. Not just us, widespread accounts of issues and delays up and down the country including 2 visits of mine to Prem clubs.
I'm not hearing lots of "I hate the internet" , I am hearing lots of "This doesn't work" .
Comments
Letting people in without tickets would be exceptionally idiotic - and land the club in deep shit with the authorities. Safety with regards to access and capacity is taken seriously for very good reasons - as has alrwdh been pointed out above.
Ticketing fiasco aside, my eldest son and I had a wonderful time last night. Luckily we turned up early enough that despite having to queue for a good 45 minutes, we were in 20 minutes before kick off. Having bought tickets in tier 2 on Thursday morning and selected the postage option, I then emailed the club on Monday to confirm that my tickets would be available for collection at the Etihad. I received no response and it was only through checking on Twitter (and later on here) that I became aware of the database that could be filled in online which ensured there were at least some tickets to collect. As it happens, the tickets we received were RIGHT at the back of tier 3 (although thankfully we could easily move to a much better position). The envelope also had someone else's name crossed out on it with mine scrawled underneath. Fairly shambolic stuff, and I have absolutely no doubt that the majority of people collecting had no idea about the online database. First class customer experience indeed.
My son is seven and a half, and I've only ever taken him to smaller League One grounds pre-pandemic. His look of wonder as we emerged from the concourse and looked out over the ground will stay with me for some time, as will the celebrations when we took the lead. Those two moments for me mean that I will always remember it as another very special away day. To have him expressing surprise at how quickly time was elapsing during the game instead of moaning that he was bored after 10 minutes was also pleasing! Maybe starting to take him to games aged 4 was too young after all...
Love this post, my 10 year old, having not been interested pre COVID is begging to come to games now. The joy it brings me knowing he’s converted is immeasurable.
Thank you @micra. Mind you that choc ice sounds nice ?.
My feeling is that if they had played an entire youth team without the big names up front we’d have comprehensively beaten them.
I didn't think anyone numbered over 50 bothered us in the slightest apart from the last goal when we had tired. We would have won last night if the attacking half of the City team were from the Academy.
What really needs to be addressed is why sides like City can hoover up so many youngsters. Having said that the complex around the ground was very impressive. I long for the day Wycombe have a youth set up back
"Pep Guardiola suggests that Manchester City should be able to put their U23 squad into the Championship or League One"
isn't this what we've known was the plan all along? Admission of the U23s into the EFL trophy has always been the thin end of the wedge.
And that loses any positivity towards him after the nice Bayo praise.
In fairness, that's what happens in Spain, so it's hardly surprising that he'd be for it. Not that it should ever happen over here, of course, where we have the strongest pyramid outside of Egypt.
Was a bit nervous to see we'd rested our front 5, but because we scored first it seemed to sort of justify it. Not many games you get battered where you think like that. But that was their proper A listers midfield and up front. Bar Grealish really.
Sorry to hear of so many ticketing problems.
I did wonder why there seemed so many empties in rows around us. You always get a few no shows but I thought maybe people had bundled into other rows. But reading the above pages clearly it was the ticketing issues and being in other tiers.
Was a little nervous at an 80+ year old in the party, being quite far back in tier 1, as everyone was standing, but he was OK. First game since 1967 apparently!!
Bit too close to what was a rabid set of city youngsters about 5metres to the left, but our lot stoked them ups up can't really complain. Banter they tell me.
Bit embarrassing at them lording it over a heavily rotated league one team!
Otherwise an impressive set up. The penny drops why the press give them such an easy ride for their money doping, as they have milked the community angle to an absolute tee.
I totally agree with @Chris, if they had played their U23 side and not included the world class players, we would have beaten them comfortably.
Club have issued an apology email swiftly so fair play to them.
Offer to credit your account with any difference in fee if you paid for tier 2 but ended up in 3.
My Sarfend supporting colleague tells me one of the players last night was purchased from them for £175,000 as a 13 year old! And as Raheem Sterling's agent has used him to tap up promising teenage players it's perhaps not a surprise City get first dibs!
The only thing stopping Manchester City's U23s playing in the Championship or League One is their contract with Manchester City.
This should be on the ‘fan feedback’ thread. The club will then read it.
What did people make of the safe standing set-up? I see it's going to be allowed in the Prem and Champ from January.
ANYWAY... apart from getting into the ground what a great night. WHAT? After a 6-1 defeat? Hell yeah. We played with dignity and pride and scored a goal that was just great, a thrill to go to an amazing ground, an honour to see some incredible talents on display (current and I suspect future).
When you are so outclassed it would be easy for the manager to say 'kick em and see if you can put them off their stride', and I'm proud that our manager wouldn't do that. Win at all costs is not a thing. Our tactics were as good as they could have been with pressing, just sometimes you have to sit back and go 'shhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiit' when you see a flame haired midfielder break away and coast half the pitch with our best athletes struggling to catch up.
Lots of positives with individual performances but wow oh wow Anthony Stewart, why has he never been picked up? He went toe to toe with Sterling on several occasions and came out on top.
24 hours later and 4 hours sleep in the bag I'm still swelling with pride.
I thought it was great. Most people around me were standing, including me and I usually sit. I was standing in front of a woman of average height (I’m 1.90m), apologised and moved and assumed she would then sit down, but she stayed standing. My conclusion - the railed seating makes it a really pleasant experience to stand and will encourage more people to do so.
This has nothing to do with the game itself but I’m bored in a hotel near Gatwick so…..
Why is it only football and it’s fans that have an obsession with needing to have a physical ticket to enter games?
I don’t think I have been to an event in the last 4 or 5 years that I have needed to have a paper ticket to gain entry. And that includes international flights.
At worst, I have printed off an email incase my phone battery died on the way to an airport. But in most cases you just flash the barcode on an imbedded email/pdf and away you go.
Why do football supporters suggest it’s vital to have a ticket?
Who is insisting that out of interest?
Just the general push back from supporters when ticketless systems are put in place.
None of this tickets not arriving in time thing would have happened had all clubs gone to technology based systems (which you can print off if you really don’t want to use a phone) much like the majority of the rest of the entertainment industry.
I just don’t get why football hasn’t caught upto what is the norm to gain entry to a place. I can only surmise it’s because fans reject the idea of it because it would make clubs lives a lot easier.
@TheDancingYak not sure fans have as much say as your suggesting?
Landed next to me. The guy next to me left it on the floor.
I think home tickets and away tickets are different scenarios.
Home tickets seem to be moving more to ticketless.
But I suppose there's simply more risk with aways.
More likelihood of printing off spares or something maybe, I don't know.
It might be that clubs don't seem to be able to get them to work. Not just us, widespread accounts of issues and delays up and down the country including 2 visits of mine to Prem clubs.
I'm not hearing lots of "I hate the internet" , I am hearing lots of "This doesn't work" .
Also, almost by definition you’re not hearing from all the people who think “this is absolutely fine”.
Black and white response
Ha, whilst that's true it's also a good old argument used in the sort of meetings that probably wouldn't be happening if it things were fine
There was a rumour going round after the game that it was the same badger @micra pretended he'd seen on the patio on April Fools' Day