Man City Tickets

[Royal Lady]

Out of interest bigmike, do you still live in Scotland? How many games do you get to go to?

[Big Foot]

£10 says this makes 100 pages

[bigmike]

Out of interest bigmike, do you still live in Scotland? How many games do you get to go to?

Nope I live in Berkshire

I have not missed a home game at Reading for 10 or 11 years

[Z175]

I think theres rightly a lot of anger and nothing to laugh about, (and i have a ticket). The sight of empty seats and closed tiers and we can't take our largest away support ever?

The sight of people queuing round the stadium from 7am as the club didn't get up early enough to say we sold out?

I have almost never critiscised this club, we are indebted to John Madejski and I am fully behind how this club is run. I also appreciate this is not actually their fault. The FAs draw and allocation proceedure and Man Citys lack of willingness to cooperate are behind it.
Of course no one is suggetsing the fiasco is deliberate by the club, but they are just reacting and allowing this situation to happen. If I was in charge I would have gone to manchester for discussions with the police and the FA about those extra tiers - the threat of away fans mobbing the home end would wake people up enough to sort it out. Instead RFC have gone defensive, possibly as a kneejerk reaction due to all the ridiculous slagging that started with the "wheres the money gone" idiots

However the fact remains we should have realised much earlier this was a cock up.
- Silence on tickets for several days after the allocation was agreed and Man City had been selling tickets for 2 days.
- No hint of an apology for a puny allocation that was dictated by financial reasons.
- Free coach travel to placate fans making the situation worse by increasing demand
- No ticket information published on website - I feel sick when i think of all those people without internet access who queued in vain in the cold when tickets were long gone. One kid working overnight is all it would have taken.

And for all those slagging the "keyboard warriors" its the internet savvy geeks with high speed connections who got the tickets!
In the words of Brendan - If you don't think any more than 2800 deserve tickets then you aren't a fan of this club.

[brendywendy]

So let me get this straight. You know nothing about the situation, haven't been following the developments even as confirmed on the official site, and yet you're going to come on this thread and tell people they haven't got anything to complain about?

You're a pr*ck.

So where is the evidence that RFC DELAYED the sale of tickets? You call me a prick then you provide the evidence that I am wrong........all it says is that they had to confirm the allocation on Wednesday last week, it says nothing about why they didn't go on sale until Monday. My guess would be was because they had to wait for the tickets to physically arrive from Man City so that they could sell them at the ticket office.

And you will also notice that I haven't told anyone they have nothing to complain about. I have stated numerous times that I am not LOLing at the situation. But don't let that stop you getting abusive behind your keyboard.

Alright I apologise for that, I've proved your point by not even reading posts in my irritation this morning, and people using words like "pathetic" and "whiny" aren't helping. The delay on the ticket sales was totally poor but may have been unavoidable for RFC's perspective. It's a silly situation to have tickets on sale so late, rendering the points system pretty impotent, and there must be a way for clubs to organise the process better than this.

yeah, its called the FA not allowing the chelsea game to be delayed for so long, so that we got to play everton about three decades after all the other games in the round had finished.

now stop being so pathetic and whiny!
apologies

[Schards#2]

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.

[RoyalBlue]

So let me get this straight. You know nothing about the situation, haven't been following the developments even as confirmed on the official site, and yet you're going to come on this thread and tell people they haven't got anything to complain about?

You're a pr*ck.

So where is the evidence that RFC DELAYED the sale of tickets? You call me a prick then you provide the evidence that I am wrong........all it says is that they had to confirm the allocation on Wednesday last week, it says nothing about why they didn't go on sale until Monday. My guess would be was because they had to wait for the tickets to physically arrive from Man City so that they could sell them at the ticket office.

And you will also notice that I haven't told anyone they have nothing to complain about. I have stated numerous times that I am not LOLing at the situation. But don't let that stop you getting abusive behind your keyboard.

Where is the evidence that RFC did everything possible to get those tickets on sale by Friday? Could it be that things were delayed because they were trying to work out the logistics of the coach travel which, by their own admission, they only thought to offer at the very last moment?

If Man City did anything to cause a delay then the club should have been straight onto them and the FA.

[Z175]

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.

In fact the remaining tickets sold out in 37 minutes.

[adamh4608]

just out of interest, could we have taken the bookings in advance and then posted the tickets out when they arrived?

Thus being able to put tickets on sale on Thursday last week.

not sure if there is a law on this, I imagine not as my Mrs spent £200 on take that tickets 6 months before she will get them!

i did put this to the club yesterday and was told it was a good point

[bigmike]

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

[Z175]

The bigger the club we're playing, the bigger the following - particularly when it's a quarter final cup game, on a Sunday afternoon, at a top four team.

775 to Liverpool last season, does playing Man City add 5,000 to that?

Surely even RFC know what day of the week is?

Most of our fans have jobs surely!!

[southbank1871]

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

That's a good point actually. If this was on ITV then we would possibily have struggled to sell 2800.

[Ginger Ninjas]

I think theres rightly a lot of anger and nothing to laugh about, (and i have a ticket). The sight of empty seats and closed tiers and we can't take our largest away support ever?

The sight of people queuing round the stadium from 7am as the club didn't get up early enough to say we sold out?

I have almost never critiscised this club, we are indebted to John Madejski and I am fully behind how this club is run. I also appreciate this is not actually their fault. The FAs draw and allocation proceedure and Man Citys lack of willingness to cooperate are behind it.
Of course no one is suggetsing the fiasco is deliberate by the club, but they are just reacting and allowing this situation to happen. If I was in charge I would have gone to manchester for discussions with the police and the FA about those extra tiers - the threat of away fans mobbing the home end would wake people up enough to sort it out. Instead RFC have gone defensive, possibly as a kneejerk reaction due to all the ridiculous slagging that started with the "wheres the money gone" idiots

However the fact remains we should have realised much earlier this was a cock up.
- Silence on tickets for several days after the allocation was agreed and Man City had been selling tickets for 2 days.
- No hint of an apology for a puny allocation that was dictated by financial reasons.
- Free coach travel to placate fans making the situation worse by increasing demand
- No ticket information published on website - I feel sick when i think of all those people without internet access who queued in vain in the cold when tickets were long gone. One kid working overnight is all it would have taken.

And for all those slagging the "keyboard warriors" its the internet savvy geeks with high speed connections who got the tickets!
In the words of Brendan - If you don't think any more than 2800 deserve tickets then you aren't a fan of this club.

One of the better posts on this thread.

Massive cock up all round.

[brendywendy]

So let me get this straight. You know nothing about the situation, haven't been following the developments even as confirmed on the official site, and yet you're going to come on this thread and tell people they haven't got anything to complain about?

You're a pr*ck.

So where is the evidence that RFC DELAYED the sale of tickets? You call me a prick then you provide the evidence that I am wrong........all it says is that they had to confirm the allocation on Wednesday last week, it says nothing about why they didn't go on sale until Monday. My guess would be was because they had to wait for the tickets to physically arrive from Man City so that they could sell them at the ticket office.

And you will also notice that I haven't told anyone they have nothing to complain about. I have stated numerous times that I am not LOLing at the situation. But don't let that stop you getting abusive behind your keyboard.

Where is the evidence that RFC did everything possible to get those tickets on sale by Friday? Could it be that things were delayed because they were trying to work out the logistics of the coach travel which, by their own admission, they only thought to offer at the very last moment?

If Man City did anything to cause a delay then the club should have been straight onto them and the FA.

is it not simply that the tickets took time to post, on thursday morning, meaning we couldnt get them to the ticket office until they arrived, and couldnt tell people to turn up at the ticket office until we knew they would definitely be there?

its either that or a massive conspiracy.

[Royal Lady]

I explained why we couldn't go to the Everton game - tuesday night, would need to have taken time off work to get up there and either get back really late or have to take time off the following morning. We own our own business and can't just do that. Sunday will mean we can easily get to Manchester for the evening kick-off and yes we'll be late back, but not as late as would be from Everton.
If the club didn't realise that was one of the main reasons that more people couldn't get to Everton, they need a fecking reality check.

[RobRoyal]

they have to draw the line somewhere and as such someone will always just miss out, and with the short notice/confusion due to the late nature of the draw bering finalised etc and wanting the biggest chance of sellinbg them all as quick as possible meant that the large drop between 1600 and 600 was necessary.

as for its on TV being a shit excuse. i think the evidence is conclusive that in general TV games are less well attended.

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.

[Wimb]

I think theres rightly a lot of anger and nothing to laugh about, (and i have a ticket). The sight of empty seats and closed tiers and we can't take our largest away support ever?

The sight of people queuing round the stadium from 7am as the club didn't get up early enough to say we sold out?

I have almost never critiscised this club, we are indebted to John Madejski and I am fully behind how this club is run. I also appreciate this is not actually their fault. The FAs draw and allocation proceedure and Man Citys lack of willingness to cooperate are behind it.
Of course no one is suggetsing the fiasco is deliberate by the club, but they are just reacting and allowing this situation to happen. If I was in charge I would have gone to manchester for discussions with the police and the FA about those extra tiers - the threat of away fans mobbing the home end would wake people up enough to sort it out. Instead RFC have gone defensive, possibly as a kneejerk reaction due to all the ridiculous slagging that started with the "wheres the money gone" idiots

However the fact remains we should have realised much earlier this was a cock up.
- Silence on tickets for several days after the allocation was agreed and Man City had been selling tickets for 2 days.
- No hint of an apology for a puny allocation that was dictated by financial reasons.
- Free coach travel to placate fans making the situation worse by increasing demand
- No ticket information published on website - I feel sick when i think of all those people without internet access who queued in vain in the cold when tickets were long gone. One kid working overnight is all it would have taken.

And for all those slagging the "keyboard warriors" its the internet savvy geeks with high speed connections who got the tickets!
In the words of Brendan - If you don't think any more than 2800 deserve tickets then you aren't a fan of this club.

100% agree.

Pathetic from Reading and they should be ashamed of themselves. Whoever is making ticket based decisions recently should hang their head in shame.

Farce

[Royal Lady]

BBCRB asked Craig Mortimer - "will you be able to get more tickets" - his response "I don't think so" - he bloody KNEW he couldn't get any more tickets, so why try and give people any hope. I hope he got mobbed when he arrived for work, by the unfortunates who were stood out in the cold queueing for non-existent tickets.

[brendywendy]

I think theres rightly a lot of anger and nothing to laugh about, (and i have a ticket). The sight of empty seats and closed tiers and we can't take our largest away support ever?

The sight of people queuing round the stadium from 7am as the club didn't get up early enough to say we sold out?

I have almost never critiscised this club, we are indebted to John Madejski and I am fully behind how this club is run. I also appreciate this is not actually their fault. The FAs draw and allocation proceedure and Man Citys lack of willingness to cooperate are behind it.
Of course no one is suggetsing the fiasco is deliberate by the club, but they are just reacting and allowing this situation to happen. If I was in charge I would have gone to manchester for discussions with the police and the FA about those extra tiers - the threat of away fans mobbing the home end would wake people up enough to sort it out. Instead RFC have gone defensive, possibly as a kneejerk reaction due to all the ridiculous slagging that started with the "wheres the money gone" idiots

However the fact remains we should have realised much earlier this was a cock up.
- Silence on tickets for several days after the allocation was agreed and Man City had been selling tickets for 2 days.
- No hint of an apology for a puny allocation that was dictated by financial reasons.
- Free coach travel to placate fans making the situation worse by increasing demand
- No ticket information published on website - I feel sick when i think of all those people without internet access who queued in vain in the cold when tickets were long gone. One kid working overnight is all it would have taken.

And for all those slagging the "keyboard warriors" its the internet savvy geeks with high speed connections who got the tickets!
In the words of Brendan - If you don't think any more than 2800 deserve tickets then you aren't a fan of this club.

One of the better posts on this thread.

Massive cock up all round.

except:

1-Silence on tickets for several days after the allocation was agreed and Man City had been selling tickets for 2 days.
2- No hint of an apology for a puny allocation that was dictated by financial reasons.
3- Free coach travel to placate fans making the situation worse by increasing demand
4- No ticket information published on website - I feel sick when i think of all those people without internet access who queued in vain in the cold when tickets were long gone. One kid working overnight is all it would have taken.

1-the two days that our tickets were in the post you mean?
2- theyve been putting statements out all week- not sure if they need to apologise, would that stop you feeling so sick?
3-free coach travel as a very nice gesture- feck all to do with placating anyone for anything
4-if theyd put that one kid on working through the night to process 600-1000 online ticket applications, those people would still have been queuing in the rain until he finished and came out and said- sorry, none left

[Schards#2]

they have to draw the line somewhere and as such someone will always just miss out, and with the short notice/confusion due to the late nature of the draw bering finalised etc and wanting the biggest chance of sellinbg them all as quick as possible meant that the large drop between 1600 and 600 was necessary.

as for its on TV being a shit excuse. i think the evidence is conclusive that in general TV games are less well attended.

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.

We're also looking at a club that would appear not to be prepared to spend £200 on a courier in order to have an extra two days to sell the few tickets there were more fairly, (if we accept the premice that the late arrival of physical tickets was a reason for the delay).