arriving back at Villa Park on Saturday morning at 1am - made me realise that the supporters who go to every away game, deserve all the praise.The effort, commitment, time and money that goes to watching Villa away is unbelievable - well done to all who do it.I enjoy the odd away journey to watch the team, but I would not be able to do that on a regular basis.
Just been told by a Newcastle fan - that they have a new way of issuing away tickets. You are sent /print off the away ticket - however when you get to the away ground a random selection of the away tickets will not work due to being a dud ticket (scanning of the ticket at the turnstile will fail) - you then have to go to a designated area to collect the real ticket, but you have to produce your ID to get this ticket.If you don't collect the ticket you lose loyalty points and if on numerous occasions you fail to collect the ticket then you will lose your season ticket.If you fail to collect your away ticket the club contact you the following day to ask for the reason why the ticket was not collected.Also for home games due to demand for tickets, you have to pay an annual £37.00 membership fee - you will then be entered into a ballot / lottery for a home ticket, for some games you may get a ticket but for other games you will not.
The boom has come from-£30 cap on prices making the tickets more affordable than they've been at any point in the last 25 years or so-£30 cap on prices disincentivising host clubs from giving anything more than the minimum required allocation, as they can sell to their home fans for a higher prices-Unprecedented demand for match tickets for all clubs in general post pandemic-A virtuous circle, where the above factors make the tickets coveted, so those at or near the top of the 'rankings' feel the need to protect their ranking, by buying a ticket and not showing up, if needs be (a £30 hit to ensure you're able to go to any away game you want to is worth it to many)
Our away following in Europe has surprised me - it’s not cheap to travel anywhere these days, yet our away numbers are incredible. It’s the same with England - I know lads who follow them round the world, even for friendly matches, yet they don’t have particularly brilliant jobs, they’re always there. Impressive.
People still have some residue cash from not being able to do anything during the pandemic so feel flush and will spend stupid money on gigs / sport etc. This will run out soon and the bubble will burst.
Quote from: VillaTim on March 12, 2024, 06:13:08 PMPeople still have some residue cash from not being able to do anything during the pandemic so feel flush and will spend stupid money on gigs / sport etc. This will run out soon and the bubble will burst. 😂