Give the Wigan ticket office a break!
Posted by liam_wafc in Arsenal, Wigan | 11 April 2006
There has been uproar between Wigan fans because of the 'sham' that was the handing out of tickets for the away game at Arsenal, which is the final game to ever be played at Highbury.
But the problem is, the club can't please everyone!
Take, for example, one of my friends, who came back after queueing since three in the morning, and told me he and his four friends got to the front of the queue only to be told there was only four tickets left. My friend very kindly told his mates to take them and he would therefore miss out. He is now irrate at missing out on a ticket.
He pointed out that people were turning out with as many as 40 season tickets and purchasing 40 tickets with them. Now this is obviously not fair on people like my friend. There should have been a limit on how many season tickets one person can have on themselves.
But irrelevant of what the club did, they would end up dissapointing some sctions of their fans. But to say that the club shouldnt take phone calls for tickets, or even say that each person can only have one season ticket on them is unfair on the people who have no choice but to take one of these options.
What if you lived 300 miles away and couldn't get to the ticket office? What if you are unable to queue due to work committments? Should they miss out? No they shouldn't.
So what is the solution to prevent a loyal fan missing out in favour of a Jhonny come Lately (JCL) who will put his ticket on e-bay?
In my opinion, a loyalty scheme based on points should be implemented. For example, for renewing your season ticket and going to away games, you are awarded loyalty points, and for the away games that will have a bigger demand, will require more loyalty points.
No-one has mentioned however, that Arsenal have only given Wigan 1700 tickets, which is in breach of Premiership rules that state you must give the away team either 10% of the ground capacity (which in Arsenals case would be 4000) or 3000 tickets.
In other words, Wigan should demand a further 1300 tickets, irrelevant if the game is a historic one or not. Why should my mate, whos supported them for years, miss out on missing his clubs final game of the season because Arsenal are being stingy on their allocation?
Comments
Come on, if you were moving after 93 years at a stadium you'd want as many home fans to experience the last game as possible. its only fair i'm sure an arsenal fan who missed out on the last game would be more upset than your friend.
Frankly, there is a serious argument to be made for Wigan giving-up all their tickets to this fixture.
The only reason any of your lot are annoyed is because you want to go to the final game at Highbury. It seems to have very, very little to do with actually watching your own team.
So hopefully you will understand why people like me who have been attending Highbury for 17 years but can't get a ticket for the game think it would be a lot fairer if you returned the tickets so we can buy them.
Fair enough if you want to see your own side play. But essentially you don't really.
And remember, you had 6,000 seats for the Cup game earlier in the season and failed to sell-out.
Alex, as he says, why should a Wigan fan miss out on the last match of his season because it's an historic day for AFC? And besides any argument you may wish to put forward, it's against the rules anyway.
As an Arsenal season ticket holder I feel for all those fans of both clubs who are unable to get a ticket for this game. This is precisely the reason we're moving to a bigger stadium.
My sister in law who was a steward at Highbury for several years hasn't been able to get a ticket.
To those Wigan fans who are coming let's hope you have a safe journey and that the game lives up to the hype. Well done this year and look forward to welcoming you to the new stadium next season.
Gareth, Wigan fans should miss out because it is far far more important to AFC fans. They will tell their grandkids that they were at the last match at highbury, whereas to a wigan fan its the last game of the 2005/06 season, which is hardly that important and unlikely to be the lifelong memory it would be to the 1700 arsenal fans who will be there instead.
the few hundred arsenal fans who came to the first leg of the carling semi at the jjb should be guaranteed a ticket that's for sure, as for the moaners on here, get a season ticket and you won't miss out!
yeah thanks for that lefty, "just get a season ticket" oh yeah they've got loads of 'em just lying around. i think they give them away with a coffee nowadays.
