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2nd March 2008 – Post Cup final Blues
I've just come back from Birmingham.
As the late, great, Fred Dowry used to say, it was a great day spoiled by the
90 minutes.
I got to Birmingham and back
from central London
for £2 return. I arrived at 11am and departed at 7pm. Apart from walking to
the ground, seeing the game and walking back again I spent the whole day in
the Anchor, one of the best pubs in the country with some of the best beer
I've ever tasted. I was joined by some Spurs fans who I know who are just top
notch; without the football it would have been a great day.
I'm not one to look at team line ups or individual players.
Okay, so we had Tainio, Chimbonda and Kaboul at the back. So what. They're
professional footballers. I couldn't give a shit that we had injuries. So
does everyone else.
It was an odd game in the sense that Birmingham
actually didn't play that well but took their chances. The critics could say
that it was the opposite of our League Cup game at home to Arsenal. Whatever;
they finished really well and we didn't.
First and foremost is the fact that our players couldn't be
bothered today. That was evident from the shocking passing and the fact that
we didn't bother to go for 50/50 balls. Win a Cup, the least important Cup we
can win, and then celebrate. Big clubs try to win every game and every trophy.
Small clubs are content with what they've all ready got. We are, at the
moment, still a small club.
11th
November 2007 - Tottenham
Hotspur PLC and the Israel
trip
“There used to be a football club
here.”
We’ve
all heard the phrase by Keith Burkinshaw. He said it famously after Spurs won
the UEFA Cup in 1984. Since then we’ve won just two trophies.
It’s no coincidence that, a year earlier in 1983, we became the first
British football club to become a Public Limited Company. Since then every major
decision made by three different Boards have been to appease the shareholders
over and above the football supporters. This is in great contrast to our
rivals down the road. We’re still talking about building a new stadium
(or making our current one bigger), Arsenal have all ready built one.
We’re still talking about a new training ground, Arsenal have all ready
built one. Arsenal (as much as it pains me to say it) play great football and
are challenging for trophies again. Spurs football has been inconsistent at
best, even in the two seasons we came fifth, and now we’re struggling
at the wrong end of the league. Arsenal charge their fans £10 for League Cup
ties (albeit with weakened teams), we charge up to £25. Arsenal give their
supporters free T-shirts and souvenirs at testimonial matches, Spurs charge
their supporters £10 for a meaningless anniversary programme. Arsenal give
their manager the time and set-up to get things right, Spurs….well,
enough has been written about recent events. I would only comment that in any
other professional organisation in a properly regulated industry those at the
very top would have been held accountable by losing their jobs. Since the
European Cup format was changed to the Champions’ League we have been
one of the top twenty richest clubs on earth yet the only club never to have
competed in the competition. Sadly, notwithstanding recent expenditure on
transfers, the PLC have seemed happy to continue making a healthy profit
without willing to take some risks in order to attempt to get Spurs to the
next level. That’s what happens when shareholders take priority over
fans.
Despite all this I try not to get involved in club politics
and instead stay focused about events on the field only. However when Spurs
played Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel
two days ago at the time of writing Tottenham Hotspur PLC crossed another
line; it tried to fleece its own supporters once more and this time blatantly
lied about the reasons behind it. As much as it genuinely pains me to write
anything negative about the club (not through fear of retribution but through
guilt over criticising something I love) it is something that has to be done
so all supporters know what has happened and where they stand although,
sadly, this piece will have little if any future effect. At the end of the
day we as supporters will, despite our moans, still turn up week in week out.
The club know this and whilst they may read and take note of any criticism
they will turn a blind eye to it safe in the knowledge that supporters’
money will keep rolling in.
On Tuesday 9
October the draw for the UEFA Cup group stage was made. At approximately
13.00 Spurs officially announced the group stage fixtures on their web-site.
Many Platinum members, including myself, then booked up flights to Israel
within minutes in order to get the best possible prices. Supporters did this
because, as part of the Terms and Conditions of the One Hotspur Platinum
membership, fans are guaranteed match tickets for European away matches where
the number of allocated tickets is less than or equal to the number of
platinum members who require a ticket. Given that the Bloomfield Stadium has
an official capacity of 15,700 and that there is a UEFA requirement that away
supporters are allocated a minimum of 5% of the stadium capacity, a minimum
allocation of 785 tickets were on the cards. As the club have declared a
maximum of 500 platinum members for this season all supporters in this group
assumed that they would be guaranteed a ticket. Not only this but gold and
silver members with high numbers of loyalty points also assumed they would be
guaranteed the remainder of the tickets and indeed those tickets that
platinum members would decline; thus numerous gold and silver members also
booked up trips within minutes of the draw being made.
At
approximately 17.00 that day Spurs put an announcement on their web-site
stating that “the Security of our
travelling fans is of paramount concern and takes priority - we shall
therefore not be able to offer a match ticket only option [for this game].” (The time that the article appeared on the web-site was actually
16.52 although the article itself had a time of 15.52 which itself was
misleading). Nothing is certain in life until it happens and extraordinary
circumstances last season caused our tie against Feyenoord to be postponed.
Many supporters, including myself, lost flight money to the Netherlands
by booking straight away and, according to the club, “Our
long-standing advice is NOT to book any travel before full match details are
confirmed. This hasn’t changed from last season – and will not
change this season. Your Feyenoord experience is probably the best example as
to why.” On both counts I disagree with the club. Firstly I believe
full match details are the date, venue and opponents (although
kick-off time is subject to change) and no more. Whilst allocations always
have to be subsequently confirmed UEFA have set guidelines in advance of the
whole competition starting and only circumstances that may involve these guidelines
not being met should cause supporters to be wary. Secondly, as
explained above, supporters will always book up as quickly as possible in
order to save money on flight prices (which go up not only as other
supporters book but as other members of the public book trips to the same
destination). Therefore, bearing this in mind, I believe it is the club’s
responsibility to inform supporters of any potential issues with the
fixture or ticket allocation in advance of the fixture being
announced. There was ninety minutes between the draw being made and the exact
fixtures being calculated. An announcement in that time to the effect that
supporters should not book up any trips to Israel were we to play Hapoel Tel
Aviv away until a further announcement is made due to security concerns would
have sufficed.
The
next day hordes of e-mails were sent to the club from supporters who had all
ready booked flights complaining as to the timing of the announcement as
detailed above but also questioning what the safety and security issues were.
It is entirely possible that UEFA delegates informed Spurs that there may
be issues surrounding this particular fixture. However four thousand England
supporters went to Tel Aviv in March without any security concerns or any
restrictions put in place. There has been no advice from the Foreign Office
for UK
citizens not to travel to Tel Aviv or to take precautions when doing so.
There have been no recent security concerns at any Israeli football match.
There have been no recent restrictions or concerns for other British clubs
playing European ties in Israel.
It is well known that Tottenham have a large number of Jewish supporters
(largely due to the club being based in an area with a large Jewish
population); however that, in and of itself, would not result in a greater
security risk without direct evidence to the contrary. At the time the club
produced no evidence of any security information and I’ve yet to see
any subsequently.
By
lunchtime on 10 October an e-mail was sent to all Platinum members. “The
Club sympathises with the situation those supporters are now in and
recognises that the desire to follow the team to all matches home and away,
and the presumption that tickets to all matches are as One Hotspur Platinum
members always available to them, means that supporters in this group are
more likely to book travel without waiting for full match details to be
confirmed by the Club…However, following further discussions
with our safety and security advisers this morning, we will, subject to full
flight and accommodation details and valid passport details being provided to
us, clearly showing non-refundable flight and hotel confirmations, make an
exception to the policy set out in yesterday’s announcement. This
exception will be made for One Hotspur Platinum members only.”
Note
that the last sentence was highlighted by the club. Whilst this was a small
victory for Platinum members this made a mockery of the club’s original
announcement regarding safety and security. To clarify: Silver, Gold and
Platinum members are all season holders but platinum members are also away
season ticket holders (having paid for all away tickets at the start of the
season). However many silver and gold members also attend all or most
matches; the only difference between them and platinum members is that the
latter pay a lump sum at the start of the season whilst the former spread
their expenditure throughout the year. Thus the club, in an instant, split
supporters into two groups for two illogical reasons. The first was that
Platinum members were now safe and secure enough to travel independently
whilst gold and silver members still needed the safety and security of the
official club trips. This, in itself, is nonsensical. The second that
Platinum members were thus able to obtain official away tickets through the
club but Gold and Silver members could not even if they had booked flights.
Numerous Gold and Silver members had many more loyalty points and had been to
many more games than some Platinum members but, officially, could not obtain
tickets because they did not pay the club a lump sum at the start of the
season.
In
correspondence between the club and its supporters the club stated that
official packages and flights would be “competitive in relation to
the current market.” Late on 10 October the details were announced.
The club broadly offered three different packages: a flight only package
without accommodation for £379, a flight with one night’s accommodation
for £429/£445 (3/4 star hotel), and a flight with two night’s
accommodation for £519/£539 (4/5 star hotel). (A VIP package was also
available for the match including a match ticket. However these match tickets
were in corporate sections of the grounds and so did not affect others). I
paid £335 for in-direct flights for two nights. It was possible to book
direct flights for as little £300 and the average price (according to www.travelsupermarket.com
on 10 October) for direct flights to Tel Aviv for two nights (7 to 9
November) was £400. I paid £15 a night for accommodation and many others paid
£30 a night or less for theirs. Thus to some the club’s prices were
reasonable, to others extortionate. However the question was then raised as
to why the club were selling flight only options in which supporters could
book their own accommodation, or even selling packages that involved
overnight stays at all when “the
Security of our travelling fans is of paramount concern.” How could the club look after fans’ security if they were allowed
to roam freely throughout the country? It was thus obvious by this stage that
official trips were only organised for finanical reasons. Spurs had signed an
agreement with Thomas Cook at the start of the season to provide a number of
official packages through them for European away trips. These were cancelled
for our first trip in Cyprus
due to the lack of interest from supporters when these trips were made
optional. Thus Spurs saw what they thought was the perfect opportunity to
make them compulsory this time around using the simple idea that Israel is
known as a volatile country and thus they could play the “safety and
security” card to squeeze every last penny out of supporters who all
ready pay some of the highest ticket prices in Europe. Thankfully they did
not realise that the supporters, far more experienced in travelling with
Spurs than any club official, saw the ploy and, in many cases, decided to
book their own trips regardless.
On Thursday 15 October tickets in the
remainder of the ground were put on general sale through an Israeli
equilavent of Ticketmaster. As detailed on the official Hapoel Tel Aviv
web-site Spurs supporters were able to buy tickets through them in the
“neutral section” (Gate 8) located next to the Spurs part of the
ground. As confirmed to me by the ticket agency and other Spurs supporters
anyone was able to buy a ticket through the agency for collection in their
central ticket office in Tel Aviv or at the ground on the day even if the
registered credit card address was an English one. Thus no Spurs
supporter was obliged to purchase an official package to obtain a ticket,
information that Spurs declined to pass on. As the Tel Aviv web-site is only
in Hebrew many Spurs fans would not have come across this information before
purchasing official Spurs packages. When questioned Spurs commented “we
advise supporters not to purchase tickets elsewhere in the stadium and to
consult our web-site for official ticket information.”
By Tuesday 30 October, one week before the
match, forty seven supporters had booked the official flight only package. On
this day Thomas Cook cancelled this particular trip because they felt that
was not a sufficient enough number to run a chartered flight. The following
day, Thursday 1 November, they cancelled the flight with two nights
accomodation package for the same reason although the number of people who
booked were just into three figures. Again common sense comes into play.
These days modern planes hold three hundred passengers on average. If Spurs
were only awarded seven hundred official tickets and numerous Plantium
members had booked their own packages then it was never going to be possible
for Thomas Cook to fill three planes and highly unlikely that they would get
near filling two. Instead all Spurs supporters booked on the cancelled
packages were offered the choice to go onto the flight with one night’s
accomodation package. This in some cases meant that these fans had to pay more
money and in most cases involved changing their accomodation, their days off
at work and their social commitments at a week’s notice. Whilst all
these annoucements were made to supporters independently and not through any
official channels Thomas Cook realised that even putting everyone on one
plane still wouldn’t fill it. Thus, whilst other supporters packages
were being cancelled, Spurs put an official update on their web-site on 30
October advising that a limited number of Israel
packages were available on general sale. This meant that any person,
Spurs supporter or not, could buy a package to Israel
and a ticket in the official Spurs end at a few days notice. I’m sure
those Spurs fans who booked on the official package for safety and security
reasons were very pleased to here that anyone, including a would be
terrorist, could sit next to them in the stands. Of course even here the club
still managed to get their communication channels wrong by announcing that
all packages were still available whilst at the same time contacting
supporters individually to cancel those said packages.
On Thursday 1 November and Friday 2 November
supporters who had orginally booked onto the flight with one night
accomodation package were contacted independently. Originally these supporters
had booked to go out on the morning of the game, Thursday 8 November, and
return on Friday 9 November. For reasons that are still unclear Thomas Cook
changed the departure flight to Wednesday 7 November and returning on
Thursday 8 November immediately after the game. Thus these supporters too had
to change their travel plans and personal commitments at the last moment.
Therefore the only supporters travelling on an official package who did not
have to change their travel plans were those who booked up the packages on
general sale at the last moment.
Having given Spurs my travel details to Israel
I was expecting two tickets for the match to be sent to me in the post. A day
before I flew out, three days before the game, they had not arrived. I contacted
the club and it appeared that they had “forgotten” to post them.
I went to collect them from the ticket office just before my flight. Numerous
other Platinum members were in the same situation. It seemed that Spurs were
too pre-occupied in organising (or otherwise) their official packages to
worry about those supporters who attend the majority of matches and I would
suspect that some fans would have had to try and obtain duplicates on the day
of the match.
On the night of the game four Tottenham
stewards were present for our safety and security. In previous European trips
over the past two seasons up to sixteen stewards have been present. I did not
see a single policeman present inside the stand at all. As Spurs had
indicated tickets were not available on the night for sale in the official
Spurs section although approximately two thousand were present elsewhere in
the stadium. The Spurs section was in fact three quarters empty but fans in
other sections of the ground were denied entry to the away end. I would
estimate that there were another five hundred Spurs fans in the
“netural section” to the right in Gate 8 and also quite a few in
the main stand to the left. Indeed Thomas Cook officials who stood in front
of me in the away end had numerous unsold tickets in that section but refused
to sell/exchange them with other Tottenham supporters. Perhaps the biggest
irony of all is that Tottenham were officially offered one thousand five
hundred tickets in the away end for this match but only took half that number
to sell on their official packages. Thus instead of having 1,500 Spurs fans
in the away end (the majority of whom could have booked their own flights),
Spurs fans were postioned all over the stadium, meaning friends were split
up, our support looked a lot less than it was for the watching world and most
crucially of all, many Spurs fans stayed at home thinking they wouldn’t
get tickets whilst our end was virtually deserted on the night. The line is
crossed when fans cannot travel to watch their team due to the sheer greed of
their club.
Tottenham’s next trip in Europe sees
us play Anderlecht in Brussels
on 6 December. We have been given an allocation of 1,480 tickets. There are
no issues for platinum members on this occasion although sending all platinum
members an e-mail about the game on 5 November and giving a deadline of 9
November to reply if necessary when most platinum members were in Israel
at the time again reeks of incompetence. Minutes after the draw was made
flights to Charleroi
just outside of Brussels
were available from £40 return and return tickets on the Eurostar direct to Brussels
were available from £60 return. 2,000 people applied for this fixture and the
club have announced that only supporters with 465 or more loyalty points will
be able to get a ticket which, on face value, appears fair. However the club
are also selling official day-trips via Thomas Cook involving a £70 return
coach or a ludcriously priced £200 return flight. While the communication
from the club is unclear at present it appears that anyone who purchases an
official package will automatically be given a ticket unless “demand
exceeds supply” although the club have not clarified how many
packages are on-sale. Crucially they have not mentioned whether tickets for
the official packages are taken from our official allocation; without any
information to the contrary I can only assume this is the case. Thus it
appears a fan who hasn’t been to many games can obtain a ticket by
spending a lot of money with the club and, in so doing, deny another
supporter, who has been to many more games, a ticket. It shows that Spurs
have learnt nothing whatsoever from the Israel
debacle.
Rumours are abound that Daniel Levy and ENIC
are looking to sell the club in the coming months when a share
preference/issue scheme come to fruition and that all recent decisions made
are down to greed in order to get the profits and share prices up. Whatever
the reason every decision made, whether big or small, in Levy’s reign
(in the main also just like his two predecessors) have been for the benefit
of Tottenham Hotspur PLC instead of Tottenham Hotspur FC. As a supporter of
the second and as someone who will never hold shares in the first I for one
would like to see the back of Levy and ENIC as quickly as possible. We need
to get a chairman and an organisation in who care about the football club
whilst, at the same time, realising that taking the football club up to the
next level will also help the business. In the modern era of football though
one can only shrug the shoulders and hope for the best.
This article is dedicated to the memory of those most
loyal Tottenham supporters who are no longer with us. By their loyalty and
dedication over many decades of following Spurs they have inspired others
(including myself) to follow in their footsteps. By their genuine warmth and
affection they have secured a place in the hearts of many forever.
We’ve all been asked the question. Work
colleagues, friends, partners, family; one or all have posed it at some point
in our lives. Why do you do it? Why do you go to all those games? Surely you
haven’t got the time? Surely it must cost you a fortune? We know
they’re right. It does. But we still do it anyway. The irrationality of
football fandom is perfectly straightforward to those of us that do it and
makes no sense at all to those that don’t.
Some of us though have been asked the more difficult
question. How much does it actually cost, in real terms? When asked
this question most of us mutter something about the cost of our season
ticket. Depending on who we support the response will either be something
like, “oh, not as much as I thought then” or “blimey
that’s a lot, I don’t know how you do it.” Either way the
inquisitor walks away content in the knowledge that they have the answer,
content that they have found something out about the football supporter. In
reality they will only have been told a partial truth; the real cost, as we
all know, is so much more. For the 2007/2008 season I will aim to quantify
the amount that I spend on football during a year, as much for my own
interest as anyone else’s.
I don’t think the final amount will be that which
the “average” football supporter spends. On the football
supporting spectrum I’m more towards the extreme end than most, yet
many others will spend much more than I over the football year. I don’t
even think it will be a reasonable guide to the amount that I spend
year in year out. Spurs are in Europe again which will obviously cost more
than many previous seasons and yet, due to my own financial situation, I will
need to save money in ways that I haven’t previously (for example, by
getting coaches instead of trains to domestic away games). Even so, I believe
the final total will be more than I (and many others expect) and more than I
have estimated to be the true total in previous seasons.
I believe that there are broadly three types of football
spending and the question I have to ask myself is whether to include them all
in this article.
·
Direct Costs – These are costs which have to be accrued
in order to attend the football match. The cost of the match ticket is the
most obvious example. Another is the cost of a train ticket purchased for the
express intention of travelling to or from a match. All these costs will be
included in this article.
·
In-direct Costs – These are costs which arise during the
course of a football trip but do not directly affect attendance at the game.
For example, a round of alcoholic drinks before the game or the cost of a
programme from the game. Some may say that these costs have nothing to with
the actual football at all. Others would suggest that, were I not to attend
matches, I would spend my money on items or consumables such as these anyway.
I disagree on both counts. Drinking beer before and after games is, for me
personally, an essential part of the social fabric of football; it’s
all part of the football day. We all have to eat and drink but, when not at
football, I tend to try and eat at home as much as possible in order to save
money. Yes, that is partly in order to save money to spend at football but
that isn’t the point. Were I not attending a match that kicks off at
12.45pm I wouldn’t be in a café near the ground at 10am having a fry-up.
Indeed I wouldn’t be having a fry-up at all (I don’t eat
breakfast at home). Therefore I am going to include these
expenditures in the final reckoning.
Associated Costs – Most of my football trips start and end at
home. Thus any money I spend in between leaving my house and arriving back
again when on a football trip could in theory be detailed here. However that
shouldn’t necessary be the case. I could for example buy a present for
someone, or see a tourist attraction, whilst at a football match abroad. This
falls into neither of the above categories and, while the expense would not
have occurred were it not for the trip, it has nothing to do with the game at
all, and nothing to do with the match day experience either. Therefore
these costs will not be included.
The above isn’t black and white. Does a session in
a pub with other Spurs fans the night after a game in a foreign
location count? Probably. As the old saying goes I’ll take it one game
at a time.
Having decided what should and shouldn’t be
included I’ll now break things down into various categories. For each
category in each match the amount shown will be to the nearest fifty pence.
Where costs are accrued outside of the UK
the amount shown will be based on the approximate exchange rate at the
time.
·
Match
Ticket –
The cost of admission to the stadium. Booking fees, card fees, etc. will be
excluded (most fees can be avoided if tickets are bought in person so, in
most cases, the fees are avoidable). Where a match is included in the home
season ticket the cost shown will be £29 (the amount of the season ticket,
£609 for me in the South Lower, divided by the total number of games it
covers, 21 in total). Where a match is included in the away season ticket the
cost shown will the face value of the ticket plus £2 to account for the away
season ticket service charge (as an average of the £35 it costs over the 21
games it covers).
·
Programme – The cost of the
glossy brochure available at most games; I collect one from each. At some
foreign stadiums programmes are not available and thus I get teamsheets
instead. These are of course free.
·
Travel
–
The cost of travelling to or from a game both directly (e.g. a train to Manchester
on the day of Manchester
City
away) or in-directly (e.g. travelling from one city to another as part of a
pre-season tour abroad).
·
Accommodation – The cost of
staying overnight in order to attend a game both directly (e.g. the night
before Everton away in mid-week) or in-directly (e.g. as part of a three-day European
away trip).
·
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