FC United, Ticket Prices and How We Compare To Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool…

I agree in principle but in fairness I think you should point out that Arsenal season tickets (don’t know about others but do work with an Aresenal fan) include the cost of home cup matches. These are additional at United

I have had to give up my ticket… dont like the fact coz nothing better than walking about SMB Way on matchday… but with a young family just cannot afford it now…

I still think we are reasonable with regards to the pricing, the only thing i think is wrong is how they are makin you compulsory purchase cup tickets..

If we want the players and superstars that we buy, yes sometimes overpriced… but if we want these gracing the pitch then they gotta get as much dough in as poss… i aceept that..

And unfortunately with the debt… this needs to be managed correctly, so they will squeeze every penny they can…

I wouldnt mind though we would fill the stadium anyway without this clause.. it just gets peeps backs up.

Although the dearest LFC season ticket is shown as £750, it is only this amount if you choose to obtain it after a set date (To encourage the money to come in earlier). So, unless you choose that option, in reality the most expensive is actually £700.

Regards

Andy

Im not 100% sure on where I stand with FC United to be honest, and Id guess Im not on my own. I appreciated their principles at the time, the amount of work that went into setting FC United up, some of their idea behind the reasoning of it, and how hard it must of been for some of those die hard United fans to turn away from the club they love. I didnt really understand the ins and outs financially of what was going on at Old Trafford at the time, despite the amount of information going around in papers and websites, some of it scare mongering, some of it facts.
I sent FC United a small few quid to help set the club up, while at the same time knowing I wouldnt ever consider walking away from United myself (sounds hypocritical I suppose), I even voted on the name the club should take.
I do follow their results every week, and genuinely like to see them do well and climb the divisions (although this season looks like they are under pressure).
I appreciate the points you make Scott, and would probably agree with most of it, while at the same time feeling a sense of sympathy towards FC, a small sense of attachment, and also have been impressed with what work they’ve put in.
Im 100% United, and that wont change, but I think you’re being a small bit harsh on them, pointing out about them setting up the club during our worst recent season, and of the ticketing prices and the rest.
Yeah, these are some of the facts, but I dont think the FC United issue is a black and white one. Id like to hear from some of the lads involved in FC United, to give their side of things…

ive had to give my season ticket up in the stretford end this season and mine was the cheapest one you could get, i feel sorry for the other people spending a lot more, i dont know how most people can afford it!

i had a look at the official site , i was thinking of going to the QPR game, thinking it would be cheaper like they used to be for league cup games.. cheapest adult ticket for non member? £31 , absolute disgrace

arsenal get some cl games as well as domestic cup games

I’m starting to be concerned that I’m seeing spaces in the ground when watching on Sky Sports( ok I know Murdochs partly to blame for the prices in grounds but so are players wages, etc) To shut my wife up moaning about me going to matches I stopped after 2007, partly because of cost but also due to the fact that majority of games were played Sat evening Sunday lunch, evening or midweek. I want to go Sat 3.00pm as it should be as I work away a lot.

outplayed?
how did you work that out mate?
do u even watch football?

scott, I sometimes wonder how you manage to stay so well informed. Great article! I agree with you that the FC United thing was unnecessary. How could our own supporters abandon our beloved club? Quite strange…

Failsworth Devil and North Stand tier 3…..my sentiments are echoed as always in what you say…

Spot on with all the points you make…i agree and have the same views

“There’s only one United”.. and i dont think there is much more to say with regards to that..

Firstly, Failsworth Devil, North Stand Tier3 and Suhayl, totally agree! I went to FC’s first game and was impressed with the passion shown by the fans. What saddened me was the realisation that these fans were amongst the most vocal previously at OT. The seats they once occupied are now given out as corporate freebies in the Stretford End to people who seem incapable of offering vocal support other than polite applause every now and then! To my knowledge, almost every FC fan still retains love for Utd and sing and cheer in the pubs etc when we play. I may be wrong but i thought that the main concern for them initially was the Glazers ownership and the belief (mistaken) that the Glazers would systematically destroy all that our club stood for. Yes it would be good to hear from some FC fans for their views.

“Considering that all the money we’re making at the moment has gone in to purchasing of new players, the pockets of the Glazers are less full than John Magnier and JP McManus’ ever were.”

Come on, you don’t seriously believe that do you Scott? All the money we make at the moment goes towards paying off the ludicrous debt. The purchasing of new players is done on the never-never and is funded by player sales or more debt being accrued.

I couldn’t disagree more with the general gist of the article to be honest. FCUM wasn’t for me and I’m still a ST holder at United but I completely sympathise with those who felt enough was enough in 2005. To practically accuse those people of being glory-hunters who fled after the ‘disaster’ of a third-placed finish is laughable and frankly totally disrespectful to a number of people who were going to Old Trafford long before most of us were probably born.

“Yet FC United was formed in 2005, following United’s worst season since 1989, with us finishing 3rd and winning nothing.” - we finished third and won nothing in 2002, so if all these people who walked away are fly-by-nights, why wasn’t FCUM formed then?

Onto the ticket price talk - “It’s not a problem these people have with Manchester United, if it costs too much, it’s a problem they have with modern day top flight football in England.” - I expect most, if not all, FC fans would completely agree with that, so what’s your point?

Going on to say you can pay £26 to watch United on the Stretford End every now and then ’so don’t say you can’t afford to go to Old Trafford any more’. Come on, way to miss the point. People don’t want to go along and watch their team ‘now and then’ or ‘once in a blue moon’, they want to follow their team every week. And the only way to guarantee a £26 ticket to any game is to be one of the lucky ones with a ST in that area - if you’re a member (and anyone wanting to go to a game once in a blue moon would be) then if you’re lucky enough to get a ticket at all, it’s far far more likely to be a £40+ one up in the quadrants somewhere than in Stretty Lower. When you can pay £100 or so at FCUM to guarantee you a ticket for every game then you can see the appeal for those who were starting to feel the pinch financially and objected to the takeover.

Then the ticket price comparisons - Arsenal’s cup ticket scheme has already been mentioned, but more pertinent is the fact that you can’t just compare Manchester prices (or prices in the North in general) with London prices - it’s absolutely pointless. Wages are different, cost of living is different, disposable income is different - it’s a completely different set of financial circumstances.

Finally - “If people no longer go to Old Trafford because of the principle, then they should have stopped going in the early 90’s, when United were one of the first clubs to change their kit on a yearly basis and brought in regular ticket price rises.” - come on, that’s nonsense. Things have massively changed since the early 90’s for starters, and as you’ve already acknowledged Scott, people just didn’t realise the implications of stock market flotation and so on back then.

United fans whining about FC baffle me. As pointed out numerous times in the article, as United fans we are supporting the biggest team in the world, the best team in the country and indeed Europe, we regularly see our team lifting silverware…. so remind me, why the chip on the shoulder about a club in the Unibond League? If you’ve no interest in FC (or even disdain for them) then just ignore them surely? This constant need by some United fans to belittle FCUM or question their fans’ motives seems incredibly petty, bizarrely bitter and only serves to increase the divides between Reds that have developed since 2005.

***scott, I sometimes wonder how you manage to stay so well informed. Great article! I agree with you that the FC United thing was unnecessary. How could our own supporters abandon our beloved club?***
If Scott does manage to stay well informed, Katy, it doesn’t come across in this article. And the answer to why the people at FC have abandoned MUFC is simple. They haven’t. If you spoke to them you’d understand that. The vast majority of FC fans haven’t stopped supporting MUFC, they’ve simply stopped going. Take the worldwide fanbase of MUFC and then subtract the 76000 who go to OT every week and the number you’re left with is the number of Reds who do exactly what FC fans do – support MUFC but don’t attend OT.

***Considering that all the money we’re making at the moment has gone in to purchasing of new players, the pockets of the Glazers are less full than John Magnier and JP McManus’ ever were.***

Of course, the truth is that all the money United is making at the moment has NOT gone into purchasing new players. Every year, of the tons of money United hasmade, £60 million is paid out in interest on the Glazers’ debts. Anything left over after that gets spent on players. So, two points: firstly, the Glazers’ pockets are not less full because, in return for that £60 million a year, they have in their pockets Manchester United FC. Secondly, if the Glazers’ debt did not exist, Alex Ferguson would have £60 million a year more to spend on players.

***It’s not a problem these people have with Manchester United, if it costs too much, it’s a problem they have with modern day top flight football in England.***

Well, that’s one thing you have got right but I suspect not for the reasons you think. People going to FC United are motivated by as many different reasons as there are people but a general disillusionment with professional football is an overarching theme. People put up with the sort of stuff that gets pulled on fans because they;d grown so used to it. It took something as disgusting as the Glazers buying MUFC not with their own money but with our money and turning a debt-free club overnight into the most indebted of all to wake some people up. The Glazers weren’t the cause of people choosing to go to FC United. They were just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

***For the price of the cheapest Arsenal season ticket, you could get to 35 games at Old Trafford, which is close to two seasons worth of games. For the price of Arsenal’s most expensive season ticket, you could go to 70 games at Old Trafford, which is close to four seasons worth of games.***

If you’re unable to afford an OT season ticket, how is it made more affordable by the fact that an Arsenal season ticket is twice as expensive? If you can’t afford to buy a house in Stretford, the fact that a house in Mayfair costs twice as much doesn’t change anything. You still can’t afford the house in Stretford.

***The point I’m making is that the people who go to watch FC at the complete exclusion of going to Old Trafford can’t argue it’s purely for the money.***

I’m not aware that many of them do argue that.

***Whilst FC United can still boast attendances larger than most teams in the Conference, which is very impressive, they’re still some way short of the 6,000 they were bringing in during their first season. It was easier to abondon Old Trafford ‘on principle’ when we were winning nothing, just as it was probably fairly easy to fork out an extra few quid per match ticket to return to watch us play once we’d won the league again.***

Gordon Brown would be proud of your ability to fiddle statistics? FC United’s home gate in that first season was 3125. In their final home match of the season, 6023 turned up to see them receive the trophy. Slightly different from implying that their average gate was 6000 in their first season. Their average gate this season is around 2300. So that’s a drop of 26%, not the nearly 50% you imply.

***It’s like, oh shit, the club is releasing a new shirt every month now. because of this blatant greed of the executives my love for the club is gone. damn these greedy fuckers. if it wasn’t for these shirts, i would still be loving the club.***

You’re just setting up straw men there, Primachenko. Who at FC United has ever said that they were driven away from OT by the frequency of kit changes? The founding ideas behind FC United have nothing to do with the frequency of kit changes and everything to do with ensuring that such things, if they do happen, are decided by the fans.

FC United supporters turned their backs on MUFC because we didn’t win anything? Excuse me. From 1967 to 1981 I didn’t miss a home game. Between 1981 - 2005 I missed 10 home games. In the relegation season I went to 42 league games - out of 42. I also bought shares when United were floated in 91. Yet I walked away because we hadn’t won the league for a couple of years? Yeah, right.

FC could also have been formed in 1999. Are you not aware that the idea was floated when Murdoch came sniffing? The point is, we won that particular battle. The further point is, as a plc, the Club became less and less responsive to fans’ issues (prices, standing, atmosphere, executive seats in the Stretford End anyone? etc) including having a chance to at least put some opinions before the Board. When Glazer took over, any idea of listening to the fans was dead in the water. Sit down, shut up and give us your cash, as much as we can get out of you. THAT is why the idea of FC appealed.

You’re right about one thing, though, too many of YOU did absolutely sod all to protect the Club you profess to love so much. You know, the ‘Club’ that no longer exists. In case you hadn’t noticed, it is now a global sports brand. I shall always - always - be a fan of the team that wears the red and white colours of MUFC, but I shall never pledge my allegiance to a commercial brand. MY Manchester United is the United of Newton Heath, 1908, 1934, 1948, the Babes, Best, Law and Charlton, Eric. Not the brand of Gill and the Glazers.

“I, like most United fans, did sweet fuck all.”

Good for you! Shows what a top red you must be that you think so little of your beloved club.

Factually your piece is all over the place, in fact it’s so full of basic errors I simply can’t be mithered offering it anything other than a contemptuously sarcastic response. Put quite simply - you know nothing.

Ive never read such an amount of crap. Well youve acheived your aim, your getting the attention you were obviousely seeking. Why are you trying to cause a divide between reds. Some made their choice to walk away, some made there choice to stay. Manchester United FOOTBALL CLUB, could do without self styled top reds like you.

And some of us at FC were actually supporting United back in 1989 - and we didn’t stop supporting then because we had a poor season, and we didn’t drift away in 2005 because we had a poor season either (nor in 1998 and 2002 when we also won precisely fuck all). Your frankly ludicrous premise that FC United supporters are glory seeking Johnny Come Latelies makes no sense to anyone with a modicum of itelligence.

Try again, but this time put a bit of effort into your attempts at red one- upmanship.

So you’re saying FC United is a good idea but the timing was all wrong? I’m surprised you’ve still got the nerve to reply as your piss-poor article has been so thoroughly debunked. Your credibility rating is zero - except in your own mind clearly.

Scott, I don’t understand this “if they were formed after the treble season i’d have more respect for them” diatrabe. For once, let’s look at the facts shall we?

By your logic, MUFC’s “worst season since 2005″ was in fact in 2002, when we also finished 3rd and won fuck all. We didn’t even have a cup final to fall back on. So why wasn’t FCUM formed back then?

Also, if we’re so affected by the lack of success at Old Trafford, why are FCUM’s attendances this season currently at a higher average than this time last season, despite Manchester United becoming the Champions of England AND Europe in 2008? Shouldn’twe have all come crawling back by now?

FC United is more than just about money and the cost of OT. As you said yourself in your own article, it’s more to do with the state of top-flight football across the country. The catylist for the club’s formation was obviously the Glazer takeover (which is why we formed in 2005, geddit?) but ask anyone at FC and there are a million reasons why we now prefer to watch football at non-league level, whilst still feeling art of the United family.

Come along to an FC game one day Scott, meet some of the fans face-to-face and if you still have the same opinions as before after that, then so be it. At least this time you won’t have built them on hearsay and half-truths. Who knows, you might even enjoy yourself. Thousands of your fellow reds do every week.

Scott. Despite saying otherwise, you clearly think that FC was formed because United were “in decline”.

Now if you were the “top red” you think you are you would not consider a mere two years without a Title “in decline”. I find your “about” page astonishing: “The blog was intended to reflect the more optimistic United fan, who didn’t feel as though we were dead and buried…despite going another year without winning the league”.

Many of the people who watch FC United saw United go over twenty years without winning a title. These people didn’t lose interest or stop going because the team weren’t winning much. And I can guarantee none of them thought United were “dead and buried” after three years without a league title (three years which included three domestic cup finals).

So you are wrong in a big way on two counts. Firstly, proper United fans wouldn’t consider United to be in decline in 2005. And secondly, such fans wouldn’t stop going even if United were in decline.

The reason FC wasn’t formed in 1999 is that the hostile bid was defeated. It is not because United won the Treble. You say you would feel different if FC had been formed in 2000, but the only difference between 2000 and 2005 is that United won something in 2000.

Surely not even you believe that a group of fans would drop nine divisions and watch Counties football just because United went a season without winning anything. So why would 2000 have been so different to 2005? Don’t you think the catalyst might have been the Glazer takeover, and not the absence of trophies?

If you accept that is was the takeover that broke the camel’s back, then you can now understand why FC didn’t happen in 2000.

An extremely poor article.