AFTER the initial furore over the Glazer takeover at Man Utd it seemed most fans had come to terms with it and some even thought it wasn’t so bad after all.
That was until now…
My Utd fan colleague Mr Orr brought a ticket scandal to my attention and it was discussed on a phone-in last night – what is proposed is ridiculous!
Most clubs have a cup priority scheme for season ticket holders which they can sign up for and will automatically get tickets sent to them for every home cup game.
At Everton I don’t do this because, although I do tend to watch all home games, you never know what will crop up, and as a season ticket holder you get first refusal of tickets anyway.
So imagine my surprise when I was told Utd are making the cup priority scheme mandatory for all season ticket holders at Old Trafford.
This means not only will fans have to fork out for more costly season tickets – at a time when most clubs are freezing and/or dropping prices – but they will have to pay for all home cup games. This means many loyal fans will be priced out and this is a crying shame for the game.
Yes, the tickets will be snapped up by other fans – bit that’s not the point – the ordinary fan is being priced out and I think the FA or Premier League should step in and get this changed.
It seems after smoothing over relations the Glazers are bleeding the fans dry and maybe those who defected to FC United knew what was coming.
I just hope the same happens at Liverpool with the American owners and their fans get ripped off as well!
It seems football is losing touch with its roots more than ever and if it isn’t reined in it will become a sport for the rich and famous and will lose its appeal to many working and even middle-class fans.
Are you a United supporter? What do you think?