Everything was in place and ready to go. The patterned sheet had been placed in the centre circle.
The kids had practised lifting it up and waving it in the air to the strains of Handel. The players were out and warming up, and in half an hour’s time the Champions League group stages would be under way for another season.
I was presenting for 5live at the Etihad and we were in the middle of a discussion about what the competition means to Manchester City. In the middle of interviewing a City fan, one of the 5live commentators not known for his cheery disposition (I’m sure you can work out who) wondered how on earth the ground could not be full for a game against Juventus in the Champions League.
‘Do you know how much it costs to come tonight?’ replied the fan and in one fell swoop highlighted the general arrogance in the media when it comes to the supporter experience.
https://twitter.com/CalcioComedy/status/643863955996299265
Journalists, presenters, commentators and pundits watch match after match – usually at the highest level – for free. Not only that, we are often offered a pre-match meal that would put some restaurants to shame and we can normally park our cars for free near the ground.
Of course, there are some who get out of the media bubble and go to games as fans too, and therefore have a better grasp of the financial cost. I think my yearly supporting experience for myself and my family – when you throw in kits, food, travel, ticket schemes you can’t opt out of and the rest – will be well over £2,000.
Pop the Sky and BT sport subscription on top and it will hit £3,000. Written down in black and white that is frightening. And yet there are people who have the temerity to suggest empty seats at games are a lack of loyalty. A sign that a club isn’t ‘big’.
Fans have a part to play in this interpretation too. Every Monday night, while Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher are in their nice warm studio with their nice big gadgets, I’m at the game for 5live freezing my knackers off. If that comes across as jealousy, it’s meant to. I like gadgets and more importantly I like warmth. Anyhow, I digress…
At a lot of those games last season, the away followings – and in turn the atmospheres – were poorer than expected. On a few occasions I tweeted a picture of the away fans. Southampton were the visitors to Villa one Monday night and accompanying the picture of the barely half-full away end, I added ‘This is what happens when you charge away fans £45 on a Monday night.’
I was expecting there to be a lot of agreement, and there was to an extent. But there were also plenty of comments criticising the loyalty of the Southampton fans. ‘We went to Villa on a Monday night and nearly sold out’; ‘We’re travelling to St Mary’s next week and they are charging us X amount and we’ve sold out’; ‘Call themselves loyal fans’ etc.
I was also at Hull when a lot of Liverpool fans boycotted that game in protest at the prices. Again, when I tweeted a picture, there was a mixture of praise and criticism.
Surely as fans, the group that ought to matter most in the game but evidently doesn’t, we ought to be sticking together? A large away following is great but size isn’t everything. No sniggering please this is a website for men not lads!
Sold out grounds are great but do they really demonstrate loyalty? In an era of sky high prices and TV controlled kick off times they demonstrate more how wealthy the supporters are, how many hoops they are prepared to jump through and how many passing football tourists they can attract. A full away end on a Monday night indicates more fans with a bit of spare cash or more fans with understanding bosses or families.
Empty seats should concern us all. In financially difficult times they are the biggest indicator the game is taking the piss out of the fans. They should not be used to take the piss out of fans for not being loyal enough or a club not being big enough.
Who cares about that? We should all be in this together. A lot of people need to remember that when they are tucking in to their free pre-match meal before being paid to watch a game of football.
