Fa Cup Final Tickets Distribution

[balli hi]

I managed to get my cup final ticket thismorning , so its a relief as there was a real chance i could have missed out , tickets went on sale yesterday to season ticket holders with 85 loyalty points or more , so i had to wait till today as i had only 65 , unlike some members i'm not rich so can't afford to buy a champions league season ticket plus away games season ticket on top of my season ticket ( not to mention FA & League Cup games of which i had purchased ) in order to accrue the neccessary loyalty points to be virtually gauranteed a ticket , anyways panic over , luckily for me i'm there , but i 'm fully aware that many season ticket holders have less than 65 loyalty points and they will be left to fight it out for the remaining tickets tomorrow when the third batch go on sale , if at all any remain that is .

This unacceptable situation in my book has been brought about by the FA'S insistance that the two clubs involved shall recieve only 25,000 tickets each , leaving around 18,000 to be distributed amongst wembley season ticket holders , and 22,000 to be given away to the " Football Family " i,e sports associations affiliated to the FA around the country , i don't know about anyone else but it makes my blood boil to think that someone with no affiliation to iether club can end up at the cup final , where as someone who has attended every home game and every cup game leading up to the final can miss out , its just not right.

This situation can not be allowed to continue whereby everybody and anybody because of their afffiliation to the FA can aquire tickets for free , and the real fans miss out .

Does anyone agree with me or am i wrong ?

[Pompey Gaz]

Wembley itself is set up for the businesses that support it. You can get a CLUB wembley uber ticket (not its real name )Prices range from £74,880 to £296,400 per annum which gets you a box with private seating area, a waitor, meals etc and reserved seats 365 days a year for any event. the season tickets last between 2 and 10 years but the more expensive one also gets you an exclusive chartered train direct to wembley station,

It's rubbish though, tickets should 50/50 go to the two teams supporters, the people who want someone to win, who will feel the emotion and passion, not some big wigs in suits, its disgusting tbh

[Boro Sera]

Maybe when the vastly overbudget Wembley is paid for in 2076 the ticket allocations will be more geared to the fans of the teams that actually play there. Till then there's too much money to be recouped to give a toss about Football fans.

[Parts-King]

Well you wouldnt expect me to agree but..............

The FA family as you call it rewards the literally tens of thousands of people who work tirelessly for their local FA without any payment or expenses whatsoever. Our local FA have an allocation of a handfull of tickets, the tickets are available to anybody within the the FA (Officials, Referees, Assessors, Mentors etc) Our FA hold a raffle to anybody wanting a ticket, names are pulled out of the hat and you then BUY YOUR TICKET at face value. Strict checks are made, and if an FA ticket lands in the hands of a tout, you can expect trouble! I have been lucky enough to go three times in 22 years, some never get to go. Supporters always want a 50/50 allocation, but the FA are rewarding those people for whom without them, the FA could not possibly survive. Its a good and fair scheme, so keep it up I say, and let those who actually run football to get the chance to go to Wembley once in a while

Kingo

[balli hi]

Well you wouldnt expect me to agree but..............

The FA family as you call it rewards the literally tens of thousands of people who work tirelessly for their local FA without any payment or expenses whatsoever. Our local FA have an allocation of a handfull of tickets, the tickets are available to anybody within the the FA (Officials, Referees, Assessors, Mentors etc) Our FA hold a raffle to anybody wanting a ticket, names are pulled out of the hat and you then BUY YOUR TICKET at face value. Strict checks are made, and if an FA ticket lands in the hands of a tout, you can expect trouble! I have been lucky enough to go three times in 22 years, some never get to go. Supporters always want a 50/50 allocation, but the FA are rewarding those people for whom without them, the FA could not possibly survive. Its a good and fair scheme, so keep it up I say, and let those who actually run football to get the chance to go to Wembley once in a while

Kingo

Fair enough then.... let the football family have some tickets for England matches if they want a chance to go to wembley , and leave the FA cup tickets to be distributed amongst the REAL fans who have followed their club through thick and thin !

[Parts-King]

The answer is in the name of the cup. The Football Association cup, it is their cup and they invite teams to play in it. It is not the Man U or Chelsea cup, so the FA decide the ticket allocation NOT the clubs. Whilst the FA are the governing body in the UK, there are probably less tickets available to fans at an England game due to the massive amounts of corporate and sponsorship ticket allocations

Keep the ticket allocations for the real fans of the sport, the ones who work tirelessly throughout the year in order that the majority can play the game, I cant see any other reason to increase the amount of tickets available to fans

At last years final, Portsmouth V Cardiff, you could buy any number of tickets you wanted, it's only when the big clubs reach the final that this perenial argument of ticket allocation pops up

Kingo

[balli hi]

The answer is in the name of the cup. The Football Association cup, it is their cup and they invite teams to play in it. It is not the Man U or Chelsea cup, so the FA decide the ticket allocation NOT the clubs. Whilst the FA are the governing body in the UK, there are probably less tickets available to fans at an England game due to the massive amounts of corporate and sponsorship ticket allocations

Keep the ticket allocations for the real fans of the sport, the ones who work tirelessly throughout the year in order that the majority can play the game, I cant see any other reason to increase the amount of tickets available to fans

At last years final, Portsmouth V Cardiff, you could buy any number of tickets you wanted, it's only when the big clubs reach the final that this perenial argument of ticket allocation pops up

Kingo

Sorry Kingo , i think you are doing portsmouth & cardiff fans a disservice there , and as for the real fans of the sport as you refer to them , they may work tirelessly but i imagine they get paid for their efforts , and the ones that don't , obviously do it for the love of the game , as for england games , they are not always a sell - out , but if the FA were that concerned in rewarding their servants why don't they arrange a game or two in the form of a friendly with a high profile nation and reward their football family that way , or let them have a 25% allocation for the Community Shield .

you can dress it up how you like , but at the end of the day , the real fans miss out , and the very fact that the majority of tickets that are given away by the various associatins that recieve an alloction from the FA is in my view yet more proof that the system needs to change ,

For example.... An affiliation gets say , 4 tickets , 3 of those tickets are iether given away to people that they know or are sold on at a vast profit , i was at a party on saturday , and Armchair was there ( as i refer to him ) he was grinning from ear to ear stating that he had 2 cup final tickets obtained from just such an affiliation as yours , he claims to be a chelsea fan but never go's and yet he gets the ultimate reward of not 1 but 2 cup final tickets ,he's taking his nethew along , who lives in Luton & is a Luton fan , CLEARLY A FAVOURABLE OUTCOME

The FA is run by dinosaurs just like that inept government of ours , out of touch with the real world and the oppinions of the people that count THE REAL FANS .... ITS TIME FOR A REVOLUTION PAL

[Parts-King]

No I'm not doing anybody a disservice, I'm stating facts, just because two lesser known teams ended up in the FA cup final doesnt take away from them the tremendous acheivement in getting there. Sure that final was a sell out, as will all FA cup finals, but it was a darn sight easier to get a ticket for it than say Man U or Chelsea getting there.

The FA at it's height might be run by Dinosaurs as you call them, but the FA could not possibly operate without the 1000's of unpaid helpers who actually run the FA at a local level. You might not like the way the tickets are allocated, but it is a little something to look forward to at the end of the season, the hope that you "might" get one of half a dozen tickets on offer

As for tickets being sold on, well I dont think you could ever stop it, it is a fact of life that some people will see a profit in selling their precious ticket, just like tickets for concerts or Wimbledon. My Wembley ticket last year was £80, plus fuel, train, parking, food etc ended up costing me about £180 for a day out. Now theres another thing, don't get me started on why we should all have to travel down to London, if two North West clubs make it to the final then it should be staged up here, never mind the "Real" fans having to spend a fortune getting darrrrn sarrrrf

[balli hi]

No I'm not doing anybody a disservice, I'm stating facts, just because two lesser known teams ended up in the FA cup final doesnt take away from them the tremendous acheivement in getting there. Sure that final was a sell out, as will all FA cup finals, but it was a darn sight easier to get a ticket for it than say Man U or Chelsea getting there.

The FA at it's height might be run by Dinosaurs as you call them, but the FA could not possibly operate without the 1000's of unpaid helpers who actually run the FA at a local level. You might not like the way the tickets are allocated, but it is a little something to look forward to at the end of the season, the hope that you "might" get one of half a dozen tickets on offer

As for tickets being sold on, well I dont think you could ever stop it, it is a fact of life that some people will see a profit in selling their precious ticket, just like tickets for concerts or Wimbledon. My Wembley ticket last year was £80, plus fuel, train, parking, food etc ended up costing me about £180 for a day out. Now theres another thing, don't get me started on why we should all have to travel down to London, if two North West clubs make it to the final then it should be staged up here, never mind the "Real" fans having to spend a fortune getting darrrrn sarrrrf

LoL , we can't agree on this one either kingo , in the interest of diplomacy , i'll call it a draw , and in fairness i think we have both raised some decent points

[balli hi]

It was interesting to see Bill Kenwright on sky sports news yesterday , bemoaning the poor allocation of cup final tickets to the two clubs that reach the final each year , he argued that he was not critisising the poor allocation just because its everton in the final this year , but that he has argued long and hard for many years about the way the FA distributes tickets , and that it is grossly unfair to allocate just 25,000 tickets apiece to the two finalists , he continued that he will follow up his arguement after the final , win or lose , and untill something is done about it .

Bill Kenwright is in my oppinion one of the most respected chairman in the game today , if not the most respected , in equal measure with steve gibson at middlesborough , and that when he speaks , its with passion honesty and integrity ..... He will be talking on Talk Sport Radio on friday , on the Townsend & Parry show about the cup final tickets allocation & i suspect all things Everton , it will be worth tuning in to see what he has to say .

[Boro Sera]

if not the most respected , in equal measure with steve gibson at middlesborough

I'll let you off the spelling mistake - this time !! :o

As kingo rightly pointed out though, the ticket allocation is spread around all that the FA encompasses. It's their cup after all. Fair enough IMO.

If you want a near 50/50 split on the tickets then get to the Carling Cup final. Less games in the run up too.

I remember the Boro getting there ( at the old Wembley ) and the stadium was Half red and white ( Boro fans ) and half Blue ( Chelsea ). We lasted nearly a minute before we lost :(

Good day though, and the atmosphere was cracking with so many partisan fans in attendance.

[balli hi]

I'll let you off the spelling mistake - this time !! :o

LOL , sorry about that its ( middlesbrough ) of course ,

[Pompey Gaz]

At last years final, Portsmouth V Cardiff, you could buy any number of tickets you wanted, it's only when the big clubs reach the final that this perenial argument of ticket allocation pops up

I would hardly say Portsmouth are a small club tbf we made it to the final and we got shafted just as much as this years finalists. So yeah we may not have won 18 titles, or a million other mickey mouse cups or even been to europe but don't think we aren't a big club. Have you ever been to fratton? 20,000 seats isn't the biggest ground ever but it aint the smallest and you can guarentee ALL of our fans have the passion and the pride of the club. How many ManUre fans can say the say? heck 90% of them are from Asia and its a well known fact nearlly all of Manchester is Blue

[balli hi]

If theres one thing pompey fans have its passion , and they are amongst the most vociferous in the land , ( thats 2 things :D ) i don't know of any opposing fans that could go to fratton and out-sing the pompey fans in their own back yard , and yet many a club have come to stamford bridge & done just that , there's too many people at our club that don't remember the hard times & have become spoilt , and just go quiet when things don't go our way , then when they do make a noise its to get on the backs of the players , i hate them myself , i wish they would ***** off & support ar-senal or who-ever , speaking of which , after 60 minutes of our match with them , remaining , they started to leave in their droves , what kind of support is that ..... only rats desert a sinking ship ! .

you would'nt see pompey fans doing that and as said gaz portsmouth are hardly a small club

[Pompey Gaz]

its not just at home Balli, away we can give it our all,

I don't get to enjoy many matches live as my 'home' stadium is liek 400 miles away, but i been to fortress fratton when we beat manure 2-1 and a few away matches, and yeah the atmosphere is different but we gave it 100% behind our boys. Also you speak to most pompey fans and we were behind the boys weather at the fa cup final or when we lost our manager to the scummers and facing relegation. Would any man u fans or chelski fans be there if they were in the bottom 3 with a handful of games to go?

You can win 18 titles, play in europe every year, win most of your matches but when does it get boring for you? where is the challenge when you are guarenteed a win pretty much week in week out?

[balli hi]

its not just at home Balli, away we can give it our all,

I don't get to enjoy many matches live as my 'home' stadium is liek 400 miles away, but i been to fortress fratton when we beat manure 2-1 and a few away matches, and yeah the atmosphere is different but we gave it 100% behind our boys. Also you speak to most pompey fans and we were behind the boys weather at the fa cup final or when we lost our manager to the scummers and facing relegation. Would any man u fans or chelski fans be there if they were in the bottom 3 with a handful of games to go?

You can win 18 titles, play in europe every year, win most of your matches but when does it get boring for you? where is the challenge when you are guarenteed a win pretty much week in week out?

we might be going a little with this gaz , but.... as said there are too many fans at the bridge now that don't remember the bad times , they simply turn up each week expecting to win , in fact i don't think it would do us any harm to be out of things for a while , cos it will sort the wheat from the chaff , i'd rather we got 20,000 each week as opposed to 41-42,000 , and they sung their hearts out for the cause , rather than whinging & moaning , if we are not carefull theres a real danger we could end up like ar-senal , where they believe that winning is a right , i might seem like i am contradicting myself a little because i had a right moan- up over our exit in the champions league , but that was about the manner of our exit as opposed to the fact that we lost on away goals .

I don't think kingo meant anything derogatory towards your club when he indicated that they were say not as big as your manchesters or your chelsea , and to be fair he clarified the point in his follow up post .