Old Trafford Ticketing Problems
It is well known that it is difficult to get tickets to watch Manchester United, a problem which just seems to be increasing season on season. Demand outstrips supply on every major game with the possibility of buying tickets, for some fans, left to minor unfancied games in competition such as the League Cup when United are likely to field a weakened team.
Chelsea FootballClub
The Premier League 2010/11 season kicks off on Saturday 14th August with Manchester United commencing on Monday 16th August at home to Newcastle United. It promises to be a competitive season with United facing tough competition from reigning champions Chelsea, a resurgent Manchester City as well as Arsenal and perhaps Liverpool, this all contrives to ensuring that the Newcastle game, as well as most if not all over Premier League games will be over subscribed for ticket requests and many fans will again miss out.
It is difficult to foresee events that may change this problem in a hurry. This time last year United lost two major assets in the form of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, yet again last season proved to be one of United's most popular with the fans with their average attendance well in excess of 70,000 fans through the season. When this is considered in context with the anti Glazer (Manchester United's owners) "Green and Gold until we are sold" campaign where many fans allegedly refused to watch their team and gave up the rights to their season tickets and there quickly appears to be no end to the ticketing issues.
A main reason for the problem is their success, obviously a nice reason to create a problem, but with every passing season bringing more trophies to Old Trafford, so their fan base increases, not just around Old Trafford but worldwide as witnessed by their pre season tours of Asia.
Old Trafford has a capacity of 76,212 which is the largest club ground in Britain (only the national stadium, Wembley has a larger capacity). This large stadium is as a result of much reconstruction work. In the early 1990's the Old Trafford capacity was at a low of 44,000 following the removal of all terracing, including the Stretford End. In readiness for Euro 1996, with The Manchester ground lined up to host five matches, the North End was demolished and replaced with an three tier stand that took the attendance up to 55,000. This exact style of stand was built on the East Stand and opened in January 2000 and on the West Stand shortly after which took the ground to it's current standing. There are no current plans to develop the ground further so it looks unlikely that a new breed of fans will have access to tickets. It is believed that the cost of constructions work at the ground as well as the clubs large leveraged debts means that no plans are in place for the foreseeable future.
Manchester United have a large number of season ticket holders which guarantees those fans see every game but as a result decreases the number of tickets available to other fans, add to this the increased number of high value corporate seats in the ground and it is clear to see just why there are such ticketing problems. These problems are unlikely to go away while Champions League and Premiership titles are regularly brought to Old Trafford.
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