footyhead
31st August 2003, 07:21 AM
( So much for the working class / grass roots club )
Reading this one might assume that Eddie is just another coporate parasite out to line his own pockets and persue his own agenda at the expense of the long suffering traditional supporters of AFL.
Magpie fury on tickets
By IAN HABERFIELD
31aug03
GRASSROOTS Collingwood members will miss out on Grand Final tickets because their club has committed its entire allocation to corporate and premium package supporters.
The club dropped its bombshell in a letter to about 15,000 supporters late last week when it announced that no tickets would be available for season ticket holders.
In the letter, Collingwood blames the AFL for its inability to offer Grand Final tickets to rank-and-file members.
"The AFL allocates the number of Grand Final tickets to the two competing clubs based on the amount of adult members that each club has," the letter says.
"As Grand Final tickets are strictly limited, only Legends, Captains and Social Club members will have access to purchase a Grand Final ticket.
"Unfortunately, due to this allocation, the club will be unable to offer access to Grand Final tickets to our season ticket holders."
Last year, Collingwood set aside 3000 Grand Final tickets for a ballot among season ticket holders.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire confirmed yesterday that season ticket holders would miss out.
He said the only supporters guaranteed a ticket were the Legends, Captains and Social Club members who purchased their memberships before December 18 last year.
"We've told our people from the word go that it was going to be hard and we have not given them false hope," he said.
"We have 41,000 members and we are trying to grab tickets from everywhere, but the simple fact is we are not going to get them all in."
Magpies membership manager Anthony Trainor said even the Legends, Captains and Social Club members still faced a ballot.
These memberships cost between $305 and $655 while a season ticket is $140 for 11 home games.
Angry season ticket holder Brendan Stanford yesterday said it was unfair.
"You buy a membership in the hope that you will go into a draw for a ticket if we make the big one," he said.
Mike, who did not want to give his surname, said "it gets to the last Saturday in September and our own club and the AFL sell us out".
Garry, who also did not want to give his surname, said the AFL should ensure an amount of tickets was set aside to be balloted for the two Grand Final clubs.
"There will be 20,000 people at the Grand Final who have only been to one or two games for the year and there will probably be another 20,000 who don't actually support either club," he said.
"They're treating us with contempt."
Essendon marketing manager Mike McKenna said the club capped its priority memberships to ensure grassroots supporters had a chance.
"We will make sure that some tickets are reserved for our season ticket holders, should we make the Grand Final," he said.
The MCG capacity is expected to be 80,000 for the Grand Final, down from 96,000 last season.
The cheapest adult Grand Final ticket is $127, up from $120 last year, and premium seats cost $147, up from $135.
Half the crowd will be AFL or Melbourne Cricket Club members.
Victorian Sports Minister Justin Madden earlier this year introduced anti-scalping laws to make Grand Final tickets more accessible for loyal fans.
The new laws ban "corporate scalping", such as clubs on-selling tickets at increased prices, and require the AFL and clubs to be transparent with how they allocate tickets.
The AFL has allocated 1000 Grand Final tickets to each of the 16 clubs, down from 1250 last year.
Reading this one might assume that Eddie is just another coporate parasite out to line his own pockets and persue his own agenda at the expense of the long suffering traditional supporters of AFL.
Magpie fury on tickets
By IAN HABERFIELD
31aug03
GRASSROOTS Collingwood members will miss out on Grand Final tickets because their club has committed its entire allocation to corporate and premium package supporters.
The club dropped its bombshell in a letter to about 15,000 supporters late last week when it announced that no tickets would be available for season ticket holders.
In the letter, Collingwood blames the AFL for its inability to offer Grand Final tickets to rank-and-file members.
"The AFL allocates the number of Grand Final tickets to the two competing clubs based on the amount of adult members that each club has," the letter says.
"As Grand Final tickets are strictly limited, only Legends, Captains and Social Club members will have access to purchase a Grand Final ticket.
"Unfortunately, due to this allocation, the club will be unable to offer access to Grand Final tickets to our season ticket holders."
Last year, Collingwood set aside 3000 Grand Final tickets for a ballot among season ticket holders.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire confirmed yesterday that season ticket holders would miss out.
He said the only supporters guaranteed a ticket were the Legends, Captains and Social Club members who purchased their memberships before December 18 last year.
"We've told our people from the word go that it was going to be hard and we have not given them false hope," he said.
"We have 41,000 members and we are trying to grab tickets from everywhere, but the simple fact is we are not going to get them all in."
Magpies membership manager Anthony Trainor said even the Legends, Captains and Social Club members still faced a ballot.
These memberships cost between $305 and $655 while a season ticket is $140 for 11 home games.
Angry season ticket holder Brendan Stanford yesterday said it was unfair.
"You buy a membership in the hope that you will go into a draw for a ticket if we make the big one," he said.
Mike, who did not want to give his surname, said "it gets to the last Saturday in September and our own club and the AFL sell us out".
Garry, who also did not want to give his surname, said the AFL should ensure an amount of tickets was set aside to be balloted for the two Grand Final clubs.
"There will be 20,000 people at the Grand Final who have only been to one or two games for the year and there will probably be another 20,000 who don't actually support either club," he said.
"They're treating us with contempt."
Essendon marketing manager Mike McKenna said the club capped its priority memberships to ensure grassroots supporters had a chance.
"We will make sure that some tickets are reserved for our season ticket holders, should we make the Grand Final," he said.
The MCG capacity is expected to be 80,000 for the Grand Final, down from 96,000 last season.
The cheapest adult Grand Final ticket is $127, up from $120 last year, and premium seats cost $147, up from $135.
Half the crowd will be AFL or Melbourne Cricket Club members.
Victorian Sports Minister Justin Madden earlier this year introduced anti-scalping laws to make Grand Final tickets more accessible for loyal fans.
The new laws ban "corporate scalping", such as clubs on-selling tickets at increased prices, and require the AFL and clubs to be transparent with how they allocate tickets.
The AFL has allocated 1000 Grand Final tickets to each of the 16 clubs, down from 1250 last year.