Ok, so I know you’ve erased last season’s FA Cup final from your mind, but do you remember the hassle of getting tickets for the big day out?
With only 25,000 being made available per team (leaving 40,000 for the football family and sponsors), for many a die-hard fan it was a struggle to get a golden ticket. Granted, it was more of an issue for Arsenal fans with the amount of season ticket holders they have and their close proximity to Wembley, but when so many sponsors were offering up tickets for competitions and the FA was reported to give a considerable amount of comps to the finance sector there was a bad taste leading up to the game.
It also creates a black market in which supporters are ripped off to the tune of hundreds of pounds, sometimes even thousands.
Before the FA Cup final, MOMS had been in contact with leading Arsenal supporter groups who had offered their support to the issue we had with the FA and Wembley over the surfer flag we organised for the day, that was banned. Talk frequently turned to the ticket allocation for the final and they were more than annoyed by it. We had both mentioned the issue to the Football Supporters Federation (FSF) and proposed doing something when the 2016 version of the FA cup kicked off in earnest.
It is good to see the FSF officially address the matter by sending a letter yesterday (Thursday 7th January 2016) to the FA, which My Old Man Said has signed.
The letter calls on the FA to cut the number of FA Cup final tickets redistributed to the football family in half.
This would free up 10,000 tickets every year for loyal, match-going fans.
The full letter and signatories below. You can download the letter in its original format here
FSF letter to the FA (Thursday 7th January 2016)
Dear FA,
The FA Cup has supplied countless special memories across generations of fans and, with the Third Round only days away, we’ll see many of those famous images again and again.
We’re sure many more FA Cup memories will be created in the years ahead but, unless the FA act, tens of thousands of supporters will see those scenes on TV rather than from their seat at Wembley.
That is because season-after-season thousands of loyal fans miss out on final tickets. Wembley holds 90,000 yet only 25,000 tickets are given to each competing club. The remaining 40,000 are redistributed to the “football family” and Club Wembley.
Every year the FA Cup’s reputation takes a blow because of this.
All-too-often supporters who have followed their side through the early rounds of the FA Cup and the semi-final miss out on the big day or are forced to pay extortionate prices for tickets which have been sold on the black market. Those tickets should be going directly into the hands of fans.
The Football Supporters’ Federation and all our affiliates and associates listed below call upon the FA to listen to supporters and increase the number of tickets it gives to fans of competing clubs.
If the FA cut the number of FA Cup final tickets it redistributed to the football family in half, this would free up at least 10,000 tickets every year for loyal, match-going fans.
We understand that the FA must convince its members to voluntarily take fewer tickets but we also believe that this is the right thing to do for both the good of the game and the long-term health of a competition that we all love.
Yours sincerely,
Kevin Miles
Chief Executive,
The Football Supporters’ Federation
SIGNATORIES
A Love Supreme – Sunderland
Arsenal Independent Supporters’ Association (AISA) – Arsenal
Arsenal Supporters’ Trust – Arsenal
Association of Millwall Supporters (AMS) – Millwall
Aston Villa Supporters Trust – Aston Villa
avillafan.com – Aston Villa
Bangla Bantams – Bradford City
Barnsley FC Supporters’ Trust – Barnsley
Blackpool Fans’ Progress Group – Blackpool
Blue & Gold Supporters Society Ltd – King’s Lynn
Bradford City Supporters’ Trust – Bradford City
Brentford Independent Association Of Supporters’ – Brentford
Brighton & Hove Albion Supporters’ Club – Brighton and Hove Albion
Bristol City Supporters’ Trust – Bristol City
Cambridge Fans’ United – Cambridge United
Canaries Trust – Norwich City
Cardiff City Supporters’ Club – Cardiff City
Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust – Cardiff City
Chelsea Supporters’ Trust – Chelsea
Coalville Town Supporters’ Club – Coalville Town
Crawley Town Supporters’ Society Ltd – Crawley Town
Crystal Palace Supporters’ Trust (CPST) – Crystal Palace
Denbighshire Liverpool FC Supporters Club – Liverpool
Everton South Wales Branch – Everton
Everton Supporters’ Trust – Everton
Exeter City AFC Supporters’ Trust – Exeter City
FC United of Manchester
Forces2Canaries – Norwich City
Forever Bury – Bury
Fulham Supporters’ Trust – Fulham
Gloucester City AFC Supporters’ Trust – Gloucester City
Grimsby Town – Grimsby Town
Halifax Town Supporters’ Club – Halifax Town
Harrogate & District Everton Supporters’ Club – Everton
Huddersfield Town Supporters’ Association – Huddersfield Town
Hull City Supporters’ Trust – Hull City
Ipswich Town Independent Supporters’ Trust – Ipswich Town
Leeds United Supporters Trust – Leeds United
Leyton Orient Fans’ Trust – Leyton Orient
Level Playing Field*
Liverpool FC Supporters’ Committee – Liverpool
Liverpool Supporters’ Club (Deeside) – Liverpool
Liverpool Supporters Union – Liverpool
Manchester City Disabled Supporters’ Association – Manchester City
Manchester City Official Supporters’ Club (1949) – Manchester City
Manchester United Supporters’ Club (Oxford & Banbury Branch) – Manchester United
Manchester United Supporters’ Trust – Manchester United
Merseyside Socios of Torrevieja
My Old Man Said – Aston Villa
Newcastle United Supporters Trust – Newcastle United
North West Sussex Seagulls – Brighton and Hove Albion
Nottingham Forest Supporters’ Club – Nottingham Forest
Notts County FC Official Supporters Association – Notts County
NUFC Fans UTD – Newcastle United
Official Wycombe Wanderers Supporters’ Club – Wycombe Wanderers
Pompey Supporters’ Trust – Portsmouth
Port Vale Supporters’ Club – Port Vale
Portsmouth FC Supporters’ Club (Central Branch) – Portsmouth
Preston Supporters’ Group – Preston North End
Pride in Football
Pride of Irons – West Ham United
QPR1st Supporters’ Trust – QPR
Rams Trust – Derby County
RamsActive – Derby County
REDaction – Arsenal
Rochdale Fans United – Rochdale
Saddlers Club – Walsall
Saints Disabled Supporters Association – Southampton
Satis – Everton
Scunthorpe United Supporters’ Trust – Scunthorpe United
Shareholders for Albion (S4A) – West Bromwich Albion
Shrewsbury Town FC Official Supporters Club – Shrewsbury Town
Sky Blue Trust – Coventry City
Stevenage FC Supporters Association – Stevenage
Stoke City Southern Supporters’ Club – Stoke City
Sunderland AFC Supporters’ Association – Sunderland
Swansea City Supporters Trust – Swansea City
Swindon Town Supporters Trust – Swindon Town
Tangerine Knights – Blackpool
The Blue Union – Everton
The Cards Trust – Woking
The Foxes Trust – Leicester City
The United Trust – Carlisle United
Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust – Tottenham Hotspur
True Faith – Newcastle United
Union FS – Leicester City
Vale Park Beano – Port Vale
Vikings Supporters’ Co-Operative – Doncaster Rovers
Wolverhampton Wanderers London Supporters Club – Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers Trust – Wycombe Wanderers
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