The Mail Bag
FA-inal Ticket Farce
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If I thought 31,000 tickets for the semi was bad enough, both Chelsea and Everton have been allocated 25,000 tickets for the final, meaning 40,000 tickets will go to sponsors, ?friends of football? (read as friends of FA) and the like. Wasn?t I reading this morning how the FA are worried about ticket touts ? no wonder when 40,000 tickets just hit the market.
Joeynkoo Ludden, Posted 23/04/2009 at 13:48:58
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Why waste time complaining to the FA, it is the same allocation every year. The FA aren’t interested in the supporters of the teams who have reached the final. If they had allowed Everton more tickets for the semi the ground would have been filled.
25,000 does seem a paltry allocation for both clubs. I think it was mentioned on here somewhere after the semi & Man U have even written to the FA with their objections in fairness to them, the suggestion being that the FA should look after the ’Football Family’ with tickets for England games rather than the cup final.
This makes perfect sense to me, firstly since these games come around a heck of a lot more frequently than the cup final and secondly because surely wouldn’t these people rather be given tickets for a game in which they had at least some degree of interest in that they actually support one of the teams involved i.e England?
This makes perfect sense to me, firstly since these games come around a heck of a lot more frequently than the cup final and secondly because surely wouldn’t these people rather be given tickets for a game in which they had at least some degree of interest in that they actually support one of the teams involved i.e England?
Will there be enough for all season ticket holders this time? How many season ticket holders have we had for this season?
It is an absolute disgrace. I’m livid.
I thought we had about 23,500 ish season ticket holders but again will the allocation be season ticket holders with cup credits first then season tickets without credits then who knows with the rest?
I’ve a season ticket and have all the cup games including the semi and would be outraged if I didnt qualify
I’ve a season ticket and have all the cup games including the semi and would be outraged if I didnt qualify
Bottom line is that the FA must recoup all the money they paid out to have Wembley built in the first place. Thats why they have club Wembley season ticket holders who go to every match at Wembley and pay a fortune for the privelige.
Thats also why every semi final will be at Wembley for something like the next 11 years.
The real football fan is being priced even further out of the game.
At least the new wembley is much better than the old one. There are about 6 million places to buy food.
The only problem is that the toilets are still crap and were packed.
Each club should get a minimum of 35,000 tickets. That would still leave 20,000 to be dished out to all the posh people.
Thats also why every semi final will be at Wembley for something like the next 11 years.
The real football fan is being priced even further out of the game.
At least the new wembley is much better than the old one. There are about 6 million places to buy food.
The only problem is that the toilets are still crap and were packed.
Each club should get a minimum of 35,000 tickets. That would still leave 20,000 to be dished out to all the posh people.
the FA cup semi final will be at Wembley for the next 29 years...
our allocation for the final is disgusting
our allocation for the final is disgusting
I’m going to e-mail the ’out the touts’ address and tell them who it is who supplies the touts with the tickets - the company is called The Football Association. Fact is, give the finalists more tickets (so less demand for touted tickets) and give the hangers on less tickets (so that there are less tickets for the touts to get hold of). The FA are a complete and utter disgrace.
There is also a bizarre economic insanity about all this.
In order to pay off the original cost of rebuilding Wembley, the FA keeps thousands of tickets from the fans. Very many (50%?) of these tickets end up in the hands of touts, then to be bought by (guess who?) fans at vastly inflated prices. The only people who gain from this system are - the touts.
The FA would actually be financially better off retaining more of the tickets for the fans and selling them at somewhat higher prices (a lot of fans are going to pay MUCH higher prices -to touts - anyway). That way the FA gets their money, the fans get the tickets, and the touts are squeezed out.
But that would be too intelligent wouldn’t it? Doing it this way is like the idiotic policy of making drugs illegal. Nobody benefits apart from drug dealers and criminals.
In order to pay off the original cost of rebuilding Wembley, the FA keeps thousands of tickets from the fans. Very many (50%?) of these tickets end up in the hands of touts, then to be bought by (guess who?) fans at vastly inflated prices. The only people who gain from this system are - the touts.
The FA would actually be financially better off retaining more of the tickets for the fans and selling them at somewhat higher prices (a lot of fans are going to pay MUCH higher prices -to touts - anyway). That way the FA gets their money, the fans get the tickets, and the touts are squeezed out.
But that would be too intelligent wouldn’t it? Doing it this way is like the idiotic policy of making drugs illegal. Nobody benefits apart from drug dealers and criminals.
This is so disheartening. I admit, I haven’t been to any games this season but I had pencilled in Fulham away as my brother’s Xmas present. But after Boro we both tried to get to the semi and I had to give up because I have no rights (which you have to accept) and cannot afford the tout rates! My little brother got in by paying £100 to them in the Man U end!
But we both pledged to go to the final. But that’s not the point. I don’t feel like either of us stand a chance for the final but what about all the travelling fans that go every week or the season ticket holders? They have earned the right to pay a normal fair price and they won’t because they’re squeezed out.
What irks me most is that I was in work on Monday morning and thinking about trying my luck for the semi when one of my clients reveals he went to the Semi paid for by another client. He supports Bradford and when asked who he wanted to win - he only cared that it was free. There are loads of Toffees on Merseyside and around the country that would love to have had that ticket!!
I know the FA have bills to pay but I am sick of seeing people filing back late after half time at Wembley. The FA Cup Final is about the fans and the FA are ignoring both sets. They should have at least given them 30k each as that is roughly what fills Goodison and The Bridge at home games.
I already expect to watch the dodgy ITV coverage (Tic Tacs and all) but it will annoy me to see a third of the support ambivalent.
But we both pledged to go to the final. But that’s not the point. I don’t feel like either of us stand a chance for the final but what about all the travelling fans that go every week or the season ticket holders? They have earned the right to pay a normal fair price and they won’t because they’re squeezed out.
What irks me most is that I was in work on Monday morning and thinking about trying my luck for the semi when one of my clients reveals he went to the Semi paid for by another client. He supports Bradford and when asked who he wanted to win - he only cared that it was free. There are loads of Toffees on Merseyside and around the country that would love to have had that ticket!!
I know the FA have bills to pay but I am sick of seeing people filing back late after half time at Wembley. The FA Cup Final is about the fans and the FA are ignoring both sets. They should have at least given them 30k each as that is roughly what fills Goodison and The Bridge at home games.
I already expect to watch the dodgy ITV coverage (Tic Tacs and all) but it will annoy me to see a third of the support ambivalent.
This has always been the case for the cup final, going back years.
Everton and Chelsea buy their combined allocation and shred them in a public display of contempt for the FA and we all watch the game in the pub, drinking sensibly priced beer. Better still, they bus 50,000 X Factor wannabes in to sing Abide with Me for the full 120 minutes. Last singer standing gets to belt the winner past Petr Cech. Talk your way out of that one, Clive Tyldesley.
....or Everton and Chelsea tell the FA to fuck off and stick Wembley up their arse and hire Old Trafford for the day which could accomodate 32.000 fans from both clubs. The FA wouldn’t give us the real Cup to hand to us (when we win it) but we could make a facsimile out of cooking foil!
Sorted.
Sorted.
....or we could all turn up at Wembley whether we have a ticket or not and carry out an organised mugging of the prawn-sandwich eaters as they try to enter the Wembley lounges. That may be bad but it’s not as bad as Kopites stealing tickets off their own mates is it! So we could still occupy the moral slightly higher ground couldn’t we?
....or (finally!) we could just get Chelsea to agree that after last night we are going to win the Cup anyway and we all go to Goodison on 30 May for the presentation. It’s not complicated after all is it?!
I can’t help but think that maybe a stadium with a larger capacity might have been a good idea. I’d have thought they would have at least returned to the old capacity of 100,000 or even looked to exceed that figure.
Fellow blues,
I know its probably pointless, but this has really pissed me off and I think as many as possible should lodge a complaint with the FA.
It more than likely won’t get us anywhere, but it is worth an attempt.
Use the link Gary Tudor has provided.
They should of at least matched the semi-final ticket allocation. All fans who made the effort and incurred the expense of going the semi should at least have the option of attending the final, I am disgusted in all honesty.
FA = TWATS
I know its probably pointless, but this has really pissed me off and I think as many as possible should lodge a complaint with the FA.
It more than likely won’t get us anywhere, but it is worth an attempt.
Use the link Gary Tudor has provided.
They should of at least matched the semi-final ticket allocation. All fans who made the effort and incurred the expense of going the semi should at least have the option of attending the final, I am disgusted in all honesty.
FA = TWATS
John McKie
All jokes aside, I already have. Just go to the FA website then to FA Cup and the e-mail address link is provided. I was going to post my e-mail but I don’t know how without typing the whole thing again. For the gist of it , see my post from Monday (now archived) entitled ’And now for the Heartache’.
All jokes aside, I already have. Just go to the FA website then to FA Cup and the e-mail address link is provided. I was going to post my e-mail but I don’t know how without typing the whole thing again. For the gist of it , see my post from Monday (now archived) entitled ’And now for the Heartache’.
As sure as day follows night, there will always be complaints about the number of tickets. It’s a shame but I doubt the FA are worried. As if they’ll be surprised by the avalanche of complaints, they get it every year and it doesn’t bother them!
The FA have always allocated a certain amount of tickets to their "community"... I remember playing as a kid 8-12 years old and every year 1 ticket was available to our club..
Tickets are available and distributed to every club in the country..
Thats the way its always been.
Tickets are available and distributed to every club in the country..
Thats the way its always been.
Just because that’s the way it has always been doesn’t mean we have to accept it. I seem to recall that the allocation in the sixties was about 31,000 per club. Why should it not be the same now. I am not suggesting we can change it this year but for the sake of future generations of supporters we should ensure our feelings are known. Send in your protest.... and might it not be a good idea too if the editors of this website joined with the Chelsea websites to co-ordinate a more effective protest.
John Maxwell,
Did the ticket your club received get used and if so by whom,or did it appear at some stage in the hands of a tout? That’s what is wrong and that is what has to change.
Did the ticket your club received get used and if so by whom,or did it appear at some stage in the hands of a tout? That’s what is wrong and that is what has to change.
I don’t understand the sentiment of small club hand outs and will say thats niaive in the extreme in this day and age, the touts’ sources are these small clubs and the so called friends. The people who own seats is fair enough but the FA is literally causing the tout issue.
The so called whiter than white brigade are just perpetuating the problem. They could say just those who own the seats and tough luck on the clubs who didnt earn a place in the final
The so called whiter than white brigade are just perpetuating the problem. They could say just those who own the seats and tough luck on the clubs who didnt earn a place in the final
The FA and Ticket Fiasco go together. It never changes.
In the mid 80’s I was Sec. of Old Caths, we were members of both the Lpool FA and the Lancs FA.
In each year, we got 3. In ’84 we got 3 tickets, one from L.C.F.A. and two from the Lancs FA.
The one ticket from LCFA was allocated to the Club... BUT, the 2 from the Lancs FA, were, in writing, allocated to me for my own personal use.
As you might imagine this caused quite a stink, when all hands suddenly remembered we had 3 tickets. Which I might add I had to apply for with my own money in Jan every year, ( Club cheques being without a bank card back up, deemed too dodgey )
Any other year I was stooging around trying to sell them off, at face value, to any takers.
So on that time I would not hear a bad word about the FA.
The only trouble was they were for the Watford end.
And the Saga of the coach from the Western Approaches is for another day.
In the mid 80’s I was Sec. of Old Caths, we were members of both the Lpool FA and the Lancs FA.
In each year, we got 3. In ’84 we got 3 tickets, one from L.C.F.A. and two from the Lancs FA.
The one ticket from LCFA was allocated to the Club... BUT, the 2 from the Lancs FA, were, in writing, allocated to me for my own personal use.
As you might imagine this caused quite a stink, when all hands suddenly remembered we had 3 tickets. Which I might add I had to apply for with my own money in Jan every year, ( Club cheques being without a bank card back up, deemed too dodgey )
Any other year I was stooging around trying to sell them off, at face value, to any takers.
So on that time I would not hear a bad word about the FA.
The only trouble was they were for the Watford end.
And the Saga of the coach from the Western Approaches is for another day.
Da dirty rotten bolloxes. I had hope of getting tickets coz I thought we?d get 40,000 at least! I fuckin hate this about sport nowadays. Corporate shite. My fuckin cousin who works for E-On for the last year, and wouldn't know Dixie Dean from the Dixie Chicks has more of a chance of getting a ticket than I, who have been a blue for 25years! Friends of football my arse ! Same with all sport though, it's all shites in suits talking shop.
To be honest I think people need to stop moaning. Based on other parts of the thread all the season ticket holders should get a ticket.
Others who don’t have a season ticket need to be prepared to stick their hand in their pocket and pay a premium to get a ticket anyway they can. Unfortunately thats the way of the world nowadays whether everyone likes it or not.
Others who don’t have a season ticket need to be prepared to stick their hand in their pocket and pay a premium to get a ticket anyway they can. Unfortunately thats the way of the world nowadays whether everyone likes it or not.
The touts (or agencies) on the web are entirely legal. There are of course good ones and totally crooked ones, but the agency we deal with at work are amazing. They will always find a ticket for any game, right up untill the same day sometimes. Fact is, many season ticket holders, they?re in it for the money. Especially at the big four.
Going rate for Everton end? £750!
All this illiegal stuff from the FA is nonsence. So long as they are online and state face value, they are fine. Its not so much the agencies I mind, more the FA for passing blame when it is they who place the tickets into the hands of people passing them on.
The obvious problem of giving the tickets to all the associations and clubs is that then most of the tickets go to the touts. The FA talk like imbeciles about ’the footballing family’ - but the only family to which these tickets are headed is ’the family of ticket touts’.
Since the FA must know this (where on earth do they think all the touted tickets come from?), it is absolutely ridiculous to continue this absurd practice. We all know that there will be over 60,000 genuine fans in the ground for the Final, and that 20,000 odd will have paid over the odds to touts. It’s completely moronic.
Since the FA must know this (where on earth do they think all the touted tickets come from?), it is absolutely ridiculous to continue this absurd practice. We all know that there will be over 60,000 genuine fans in the ground for the Final, and that 20,000 odd will have paid over the odds to touts. It’s completely moronic.
Irrespective of the reduced allocation which is hardly a surprise I think there is a bigger stink here.........
Why on earth have the seats shot up in price because it is a round further.
It’s just another cash in and it stinks.
Why on earth have the seats shot up in price because it is a round further.
It’s just another cash in and it stinks.
This issue has been around as long as I have been a supporter (40 odd years) and the only way it will change is if a fairer ticket allocation gets some BIG backing from Sky or whoever happens to be the FA’s latest paymaster. Either that or some sort of legal challenge, but presumably that side of things is well sewn-up.
I do remember that for the ’Hillsborough’ Final in 1989 between us and Liverpool the FA did relax their stance so that I think both clubs got over 30,000 tickets. But they did stress at that time that it was a one-off. The don’t have a natural sense of shame or decency - it had to be forced on them!
I do remember that for the ’Hillsborough’ Final in 1989 between us and Liverpool the FA did relax their stance so that I think both clubs got over 30,000 tickets. But they did stress at that time that it was a one-off. The don’t have a natural sense of shame or decency - it had to be forced on them!
Well said Neil Pearse.
The FA simply don’t know their arse from their elbows.
The FA simply don’t know their arse from their elbows.
If I remember right, the finalists used to get about 15,000 each in the sixties. I think it was increased to about 25,000 in the seventies.
In 1983 I won a cup final ticket (Brighton Manure) in an ESCLA raffle. I wasn?t really bothered but went to it anyway, little knowing that I?d be returning in 84,85 & 86.
In 1995 I was playing Saturday football, so I only saw EFC on a handful of occasions (in those days football was always played on a Sat, happy days!). I still got a cup final ticket from the club I played for, because every year they had the option of applying to the FA for tickets which were allocated by lottery.
The whole distribution of the tickets stinks. It?s no wonder that tickets end up on the black market & as some other contributors have mentioned, it?s the FA who are completely to blame. The FA then have the nerve to say they?re clamping down on the touts. It?s just pathetic!
In 1983 I won a cup final ticket (Brighton Manure) in an ESCLA raffle. I wasn?t really bothered but went to it anyway, little knowing that I?d be returning in 84,85 & 86.
In 1995 I was playing Saturday football, so I only saw EFC on a handful of occasions (in those days football was always played on a Sat, happy days!). I still got a cup final ticket from the club I played for, because every year they had the option of applying to the FA for tickets which were allocated by lottery.
The whole distribution of the tickets stinks. It?s no wonder that tickets end up on the black market & as some other contributors have mentioned, it?s the FA who are completely to blame. The FA then have the nerve to say they?re clamping down on the touts. It?s just pathetic!
log on to some of the ticket agencies sites, the prices are sickening, one of them - worldticketshop.com - are asking for 800 quid for the Chelsea end and wait for it . . . . . 1250 QUID for the Everton end. These are not even corporate.
That’ll get season tickets for an entire family of four for next season.
That’ll get season tickets for an entire family of four for next season.
I know it will NEVER happen but shouldn't we have a system where we actually vote for who we want to run the FA like we do with political parties running the country? After all, it's OUR game and it's OUR money that keeps the FA in a job.
And let’s guess Dave W where worldticketshop.com are getting their £1250 tickets? Yes, indeed, the famous FA ’football family’. The FA knows, we know, everybody knows. So why do they continue this fiasco?
Anyone know how many season ticket holder Everton have? and more importantly how many of the 25,000 tickets are actually going to the fans?
I read it was about 22,500, obviously they wont all be able to make it to London, so I would guess it would be fair to say if you have a season ticket, you’ll be ok
I Don’t normally use foul language on here but here goes. Wish me luck
Its always the same and not just football. The corporate Johnny’s have taken over sport full stop. Just watch the World Snooker, now you’ll see normal bods on the front watching a sport they love. Come the final and some twat with a chain round his fat fucking neck, and the fucking dickiebow brigade will be sitting there, having been wined and fucking dined for the past 3 fucking hours for fuckall who wouldn’t know one end of a fucking snooker cue from a fucking 5 iron. The same fat horrible overstuffed bastards will be sitting at Wembley come May 30th having been wined and dined for 3 fucking hours for fuck all who wouldn’t know Phil Jagielka from Phillis fucking Diller. I hate them all. I wonder if Michael Barrymore will get a ticket ?
There that’s off my chest.
Its always the same and not just football. The corporate Johnny’s have taken over sport full stop. Just watch the World Snooker, now you’ll see normal bods on the front watching a sport they love. Come the final and some twat with a chain round his fat fucking neck, and the fucking dickiebow brigade will be sitting there, having been wined and fucking dined for the past 3 fucking hours for fuckall who wouldn’t know one end of a fucking snooker cue from a fucking 5 iron. The same fat horrible overstuffed bastards will be sitting at Wembley come May 30th having been wined and dined for 3 fucking hours for fuck all who wouldn’t know Phil Jagielka from Phillis fucking Diller. I hate them all. I wonder if Michael Barrymore will get a ticket ?
There that’s off my chest.
I don’t think you needed luck there Kevin! Obviously a master of the written expletive.
Why don’t you forward it to the FA?!
Why don’t you forward it to the FA?!
I hope so Dave, don’t fancy having to pay £400+ for a ticket on some dodgy site.
The thing that makes me think that there are more as the OS states that they believe renewals will hit 20,000 this week.
The thing that makes me think that there are more as the OS states that they believe renewals will hit 20,000 this week.
Just jib in ? it's fucking easy.
Tony Williams,
They?ve extended the early bird scheme to this Saturday so at the moment it is only renewals. They would have to sell 2,500 by close of play Saturday just to stand still as I can?t imagine many wanting to renew missing the early bird price reductions (but I could be wrong!)
After that, if anybody wants to renew at the full price and keep their own seat they have a period to do that. I think it?s the end of May. Any new applications will only be allowed after that.
Our window cleaner (who is a steward at Goodison on matchdays) reckons we have 22,000 Season ticket holders. We?ve just moved our seats to Upper Bullens from the Park End and the full-time steward who showed us around reckoned it was 22,000 too. So I will go with that.
It is these ?executive? ticket holders that worry me because I don?t know how many of them there are. I had all the cup games and the European game so I was about halfway in the queue but the ?executives? were all in before me. Are they included in the total of season ticket holders or are they separate?
Starting to panic now!
They?ve extended the early bird scheme to this Saturday so at the moment it is only renewals. They would have to sell 2,500 by close of play Saturday just to stand still as I can?t imagine many wanting to renew missing the early bird price reductions (but I could be wrong!)
After that, if anybody wants to renew at the full price and keep their own seat they have a period to do that. I think it?s the end of May. Any new applications will only be allowed after that.
Our window cleaner (who is a steward at Goodison on matchdays) reckons we have 22,000 Season ticket holders. We?ve just moved our seats to Upper Bullens from the Park End and the full-time steward who showed us around reckoned it was 22,000 too. So I will go with that.
It is these ?executive? ticket holders that worry me because I don?t know how many of them there are. I had all the cup games and the European game so I was about halfway in the queue but the ?executives? were all in before me. Are they included in the total of season ticket holders or are they separate?
Starting to panic now!
Tom, some lad bunked in with one of my mates (both skinny) flashed the ticked and walked through with him. I was suprised how easy it actually was
I have new found respect for Man Ure, for that season they opted not to participate in the FA Cup.
Since we have already qualified for the Europa League (UEFA Cup) by virtue of being in the final, and of course as FA Cup holders next season, wouldn’t it be great if, in protest to the ticketing fiasco for the semi and final; and in order to reduce our fixtures and concentrate on being the first club to win the Europa League - we opt out of the FA Cup next season. The FA Cup without it’s holders bothering playing, that’ll learn ’em...
Since we have already qualified for the Europa League (UEFA Cup) by virtue of being in the final, and of course as FA Cup holders next season, wouldn’t it be great if, in protest to the ticketing fiasco for the semi and final; and in order to reduce our fixtures and concentrate on being the first club to win the Europa League - we opt out of the FA Cup next season. The FA Cup without it’s holders bothering playing, that’ll learn ’em...
don’t forget out of the clubs 25,000 tickets, not .all of these will be passed onto fans. Club Sponsors etc.. will get loads, players, Kenwrights guests so maybe only 20,000 to the fans
That’s my biggest worry David
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1 Posted 23/04/2009 at 14:26:54
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Some of these tickets will end on the black market and the £93 ticket will be closer to £300. I am going to contact the FA and would like other Toffeeweb readers to do the same.
Quote from FA Website-
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Complaints link.http://www.thefa.com/feedback
I wonder if EFC will beam back? We can have our party at Goodison?