City 3 QPR 2: Worth Every Penny

It was in the dying minutes of the match against Newcastle, in the wee hours of a Sydney Monday morning, that I decided to embark on probably one of the most foolhardy, yet most amazing adventures of my life.

In truth, it was an idea that I had much earlier in the season, when City were scoring for fun and running away with the title. If we were three points clear going into the last game against Queens Park Rangers, knowing that Premier League glory was assured, I started to squirrel away some cash with the intention of "ducking over" (ie. hopping on a 22-hour flight) for the match and revel in the celebrations of the first title in 44 years. I wanted to make sure we were assured of winning the title first of course, as this is City we're talking about, if anything could go wrong...

I'm not proud to admit that part of me was internally cheering on Newcastle during that game. A draw or loss would mean that I would escape having to make that huge decision — one that I would most certainly regret no matter what I decided.

And as celebrations continued after the match, conversations got a bit more drunken and with the bravado that only comes after having several pints too many, announced my intentions to the rest of the group.

"Don't bother, it won't be worth it" they derided. "You're crazy, you won't do it".

Taking a four-figure bank loan to fly halfway around the world and back for just over a weekend is hardly the most fiscally responsible thing to do. But if I stayed at home and we won the league, then I'd regret it for the rest of my life…

And you know what, it probably was crazy, but it would have been crazier not to. After all, how good would it be to say that you were there when we were shit won the league for the first time since 1968? Sure, you could be there the next year, or the year after that. But it wouldn't quite be the same, would it?

But for forty-odd minutes of that second half, my internal monologue was something completely different. Standing in position at the back of 116, arms folded, feeling physically ill, too stunned to sing, there was only one thought that kept running through my head.

'You are the biggest fucking wanker that has ever lived. You've come all this way, spent all this money, and we're fucking losing. You're going to be the biggest laughing stock on the internet, your mates are going to take the piss for life. You absolute dickhead'.

I watched with fingers over my eyes as all nine QPR defenders held out resolutely, and Paddy Kenny managed to make save after blinding save. Even as Dzeko headed in at the start of injury time, no-one around me seemed to celebrate. It all seemed too little, too late. Nice goal, but ultimately futile.

And then the moment any Blue that was in the ground on Sunday will never, ever forget.

Because I was stationed of the ground, it was hard to make out what actually happened in the scramble on the edge of the box as Balotelli got that miracle pass away. However I clearly remember time standing still as Aguero took the ball past the final defender — it was like watching that extreme slow motion footage they shoot at thousands of frames per second.

The sheer wall of noise after the goal is burned into my memory. It wasn't a simple loud cheer of "yes!" like most goal celebrations are. It was a deep, guttural sound, louder than any I've heard at or watching any football game. I ended up in the row in front of me, then somehow back into the row behind where I started, between continual cries of "fucking have it" and "fucking get in", as I discovered upon video review. Unlike many around me, there were no tears — I was simply to shocked to adequately digest everything that happened. But every subsequent viewing of the goal in multiple languages on YouTube and again on Match Of The Day inevitably leads to me welling up.

Walking back to town from the ground was a surreal experience. Not too many people were overtly celebrating. There were some making teary phone calls to mates and loved ones, a few tried to start songs — but I, like most, just simply wandered back to Piccadilly in a daze, trying to get my head around just what had transpired. And whether that actually *had* happened or not?

The earlier feelings of disbelief soon made way for feelings of "let's fucking party!" — and considering the amount of alcohol consumed in the hours following, it's a surprise I woke up at all, let alone with the least offensive hangover of my life, still basking in the realisation that yes, we had won the title for the first time in 44 years, and god damn it I was there to see it.

But where can you possibly go from here? There may never be another goalgasm like that again — hell, there may never be another moment like that in football ever again. And no-one can ever take that memory away from those that were there that day.

It cost me an absolute packet, but was it worth every penny. An unbelievable, unforgettable four days, and a story I can dine out on for the rest of time.

Spotted: Sydney Blue at Wembers!

The inside back of yesterday's Daily Telegraph (the Australian one), featured Fox Sports commentator, Sydney Blues hall-of-famer, and all-round top bloke, Simon Hill, giving his all from the stands at the semi-final of the FA Cup Sponsored By Ian.

Simon will be one of the several Australian Blues making the pilgrimage to London for the final, so if you spot the man at The Roundabout/The Green Man/Wembers (and he's not hard to miss, with him being 6'4" and all), buy him a pint.

Nice one Si!

City 1 Rags 0: We're the famous Sydney Blues and we're going to Wembley!

Normally, we'd do some kind of post-match postmortem, using big words and ham-fisted analogies to make some sort of judgment or comment about the game.

We won't do with this game for a number of reasons — the most pertinent of which is that I don't actually remember that much about the game. I know Berbatov missed a couple of sitters in the space of a couple of seconds. I think we did actually score a goal (that happened, didn't it?), and I remember Wigan winning away at Blackpool because I had them on my multi. Apart from that, nothing.

The one thing that will always remain with me was the sheer unbridled ecstasy of Yaya Toure's goal. I don't think anyone there has celebrated like that in their lives! I had a half full beer at the time, where that went afterwards is anybody's guess. Rohan probably wore it, most likely.

We've had countless nights at Cheers in the past, and this was probably the biggest yet. I would say most memorable, but again I (and I suspect many others), don't remember that much about it.

So to everyone who joined in with the laughs, the songs ("Can you hear United sing? No, noooo.... shooooooooooooooooooooosh"), and the many renditions of the Poznan, thanks for coming down. I know there were some new faces I've never seen before, I'll try to remember your names next time you're down there and I'm more sober. Especially "Troy Dann" in his bloody big hat.

You're all legends.

More photos from the night are on the Lesson In Pride facebook page, here.

Etihad Coming Home: We (well, you) did it!

As you may or may not have noticed (I'm going to go with the former, considering we've been flogging it like a Flemington favourite for the past six weeks), we were finalists in the Etihad Coming Home competition, in which two fans could win a trip back to Eastlands for a match.

We're still waiting on the final word from the Official Site, but by all accounts (ie. email confirmation), we did it!

We haven't got exact details yet, but the game that we will 'come home' to is the clash against Spurs, which has been rescheduled for 10 May.

We thought we were in a with a chance, considering our visible our campaign has been, but never did we think we could actually win. Especially when last years' winner, David and Steve Salt, accrued over 20% of 8000 votes. How were we ever going to get two-thousand-or-so votes?

Thank you to everyone who voted and campaigned on our behalf, and commiserations to the other entrants — it's just a shame Ol' Sheikhy can't put his hand in his pocket to send them all

over.

Now for the Academy Award-style speech... feel free to leave now...

We'd like to thank:

• The fellow members of the Sydney Blues, and especially Brendo The Jet, for without whom there would be no club.
• Sydney Blues-in-exile Andeh, Adam, and Bri for getting behind the bid — we need to catch up for a pint of Coopers (if they have it) in Manchester.
• Fellow City bloggers Jack from TLDORC and Danny from Bitter and Blue for giving us a shout-out.
• Christian and the team from The Football Sack, as well as Lee from Footy Fans Down Under.
• The two sexiest men in Australian television, Ricky M and Frank (you're wasted on 513 Ienco...)
• Ricardinho and Damo from the Bluemoon forum for letting us campaign there, as well as Dave Mooney from the Bluemoon Podcast for plugging us mercilessly.
• Rozzi and the crew from Bluewatch forum — pints will definitely be distributed at Mary D's lads.
• Members of the 'Send Blue Roo Home' facebook page, and the various Facebookers and Twittererers who voted or encouraged others to do so.
• A very special thanks to Monnie and honourary Sydney Blue, Steve Kinsey, for their campaigning at various pubs and football matches.
• Lastly, every person that voted, and especially the loyal readers (all twelve of you) of the Lesson In Pride blog.

And of course, it wouldn't be an acceptance speech without thanking the academy, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and God Bless America!

Etihad Coming Home competition: Voting closes Sunday!

If you didn't know already (and it's hard to see how, considering we have been absolutely flogging the life out this on Facebook, Twitter, the blog, and various forums), but the Etihad Coming Home competition — in which two City fans from around the world will be flown back to Manchester for the match against Spurs — is closing soon. Like, very soon.

Two of the Sydney Blues regulars, Matt and Gav, are a one-in-eight chance of going back home. But we need your votes to make it happen!

So if you like what we do at Lesson in Pride, please drop us a vote (if you haven't done so already). To do so, click the link below and vote for Matt Coleman.

The Sydney Blues are a proactive organisation — no matter the opposition, or if the kick-off is at daft o'clock, we meet up to cheer the lads on, just as we would if we were at Eastlands. To see an example of this against United last month, watch the following vid (and watch out for flying beer!):

To see the entry that got us into the final eight, and was shown on the big screen against Blackpool, watch this one instead:

As much as we love watching the games and making droll observations from Down Under — it's not the same as watching it in the flesh. So please help us to make a dream a reality!

For more information on how you can send us home, like the cause on Facebook.

City 'til we die,

Matt Coleman (Crouchy).

[VID] Manchester Derby in Sydney

Here's a little taste of how we celebrated/commiserated Derby Day from the other side of the planet. Enjoy!

And of course, if you haven't done so already, please drop us a vote in the Etihad Coming Home competition so we can reprise these scenes at Eastlands!

Etihad Coming Home: Voting NOW Open!

As part of the 'Coming Home' promotion, Etihad Airways, Official Club Sponsor, has been offering fans the chance to fly from any Etihad destination in the world to the City of Manchester Stadium for one of the most eagerly anticipated games of the season – City versus Tottenham in April. There are eight finalists to choose from.

Well, we're one of these finalists.

If you want to read about why we think we should be chosen, view our entry, and read a bit more about the Sydney Blues, click this link to go to the Coming Home mini-site and Send Blue Roo Home.

We'd love it if you could take the time to vote, it would make our season. To do so, simply click this link and follow the prompts.

Much appreciated,

Matt Coleman (aka Crouchy)

Etihad Coming Home: THIS time starring the Sydney Blues!

Regular readers of the blog (all 28 of you) will remember our unsuccessful foray into last year's Etihad Coming Home competition, which offered overseas City fans the opportunity to fly back to Manchester to watch the Derby.

But this year, we've gone one better, and made through to the final ten. Public voting will open next month, and don't worry, we'll definitely let you know when it opens, and we'll hound you for your vote then. In the meantime, check out our entry below, and don't forget to visit us on Facebook (facebook.com/LessonInPride) or Twitter (twitter.com/LessonInPride).

"Being a blue is like nothing else.
There's something intangible. Something you can't describe.
You ride every emotion.
The incredible highs. The wonder goals that have you out of your seat and hugging strangers.
The devastating lows. That almost bring you to tears and ruin your week.
Even from 10000 miles away, we support the club like those that live on City's doorstep.
But it just not the same as being there…which is why Gav and I would like to come home…

The Sydney supporters club started off with very humble beginnings, in fact three years ago it was a couple of blokes having a couple of beers in a random pub in Sydney, pleading with the bar staff to turn one of the TVs on to the City game — even if was the one in the corner with no sound.

Through hard work over many months, and by simply turning out at the same venue each week, we began to increase our following.

Two became three. Three became five, and five became ten. Soon, big matches such as the Derby were attracting upwards of forty fans. Some Australian, some ex-pats, some Mancs on holiday, but all part of the City family. We've even managed to get some 'big name' City fans to come down, such as broadcaster Simon Hill and ex- City 'star' Spencer Prior.

Despite being half a world away, we try to bring a little bit of Eastlands to Sydney. Every goal, every missed chance, every injury-time loss — we feel it too.

The Sydney Blues have been recognised on several occasions by the club. We featured had our story published in the Match Programme, we've been on the Official Site in a story about 'Far Away Blues', and our home pub was named as a 'Heart of the City' — one of just eight international venues to be named a safe-havens where City fans can watch matches with like-minded fans wherever they are in the world.

Watching the match on a pub TV is only half the story. We aim to be a proactive supporters club, and spread the Blue Gospel through anyway we can, whether that be through our blog, Facebook, Twitter, or anyway we possibly can. We've been interviewed by FourFourTwo, and appeared on BBC radio — although whether that happens again is unclear, after expressing my disappointment a little too colourfully after losing to Stoke…

We've both made the pilgrimage to Eastlands on previous occasions, but to Come Home with Etihad would be the fulfillment of a dream that's been discussed and poured over many times at Cheers Bar over the past few years."

Over the coming weeks, we'll post some new videos and reasons why we think we we should Come Home to Manchester. But in the meantime, it's a thrill and an honour to even be considered for the prize. Fingers crossed!

Everyone's "Coming Home" for Derby Day!

The previously discussed Etihad 'Coming Home' competition has closed, and the winners are David and Steve Salt from Toronto, Canada. You can read a bit more about his win here, and read his original entry here.

It's a little bit ironic I guess that the Salt boys won — we submitted our entry for the Sydney Blues in the lead-up to the Liverpool home match, only to be devastated to find out that David's entry was selected ahead of us! And let's be honest, it's a fantastic story, with plenty of colour. It's well worth the read.

They ran a great facebook campaign, without resorting to spamming message boards and the City facebook like some other entries. They're deserving winners and we wish them both all the best.

In other Derby news, the amazing Ste (Ticket for Schalke) has been running a campaign on Manchester City forum 'Bluemoon' to get 75-year-old finalist Gordon Love over for the match.

The young lad has scraped together about £1100 in donations from the Bluemoon site and a facebook group to shout Gordon a flight from Melbourne to Manchester, but he could do with a bit more. If you want to help out, you can use the Donate button on the bottom right of this blog, and 100% of donations will be forwarded on to the fund.

It's people like Ste who make City great — who go out of their way to help fellow Blues. That's why, despite our new-found riches, we're still the real family club (sod Everton).

In addition to the Salts and Gordon, there will now be a total of three Sydney Blues at the match! Gav (the somewhat portly gentleman featured in our 'Coming Home' video) deciding that he too would like to go to the Derby — so he booked a flight on Thursday and is currently on his way to Abu Dhabi.

The lucky sod also managed to talk his way into an upgrade to business class, solely based on the fact he was wearing a City kit with 'Etihad' emblazoned on it at the time! So he joins fellow Cheers Bar regulars Andeh and Adz at the match in two weeks time. At this rate, there will be more Blues from Cheers Bar than in the actual bar come kick-off!

Speaking of which, don't forget the Derby is in two weeks time, kicking off at the delicious time of 9:45pm in Sydney. So there's no excuse — if you've never been to Cheers for a match, this is a fantastic opportunity to get involved. There'll be more info posted about this in the coming days.

Tour Duty: Fulham (Away)

While the lads were back home in Sydney, I was at Fulham to enjoy the heart of the game. I had originally planned not to attend this game due to its ridiculous price however at the last minute I sorted out a ticket for 40 quid. After Spurs win yesterday I knew that we had to take all 3 points if we wanted to stand any chance of playing in the champion’s league next year.

Putney Bridge was the last stop on the tube and as I turned on the automatic navigation system to the ground I took in the good weather and rather nice surroundings. I didn’t really know what to expect coming to Craven Cottage but it was definitely a nice day out.

As I walked into stadium I rather enjoyed seeing the quaint surroundings. A quick walk around the corner lays the river Thames and in another corner is a lovely little Cottage still standing after all these years. I also liked the fact that the Fulham fans didn’t have to be separated by security guards from the city fans and we’re treated like humans, not animals.

Fulham were just coming off a high after a historic win over Italian giants Juventus. The game kicked off and you could tell from the start that we had finally fixed up our shape in our first half dilemma that had cursed us in recent weeks. In fairness it was quite hard to see what went on with the first goal being so far away but Santa Cruz was on hand to bury from close range and the city fans went crazy. A couple of minutes later and with some beautiful inter-play Tevez found the back of the net to put us two up and sailing quite nicely.

From my observations in the first half one player stuck to mind was Vincent Kompany. He kept Zamora at bay all day and really controlled the heart of the defense. Bellamy and Johnson on the wings also gave us that constant threat, not to forget Tevez who gave us that third dimension whilst attacking.

The second half was a bit more balanced with both teams having 50/50 percentage of the ball. On another day city could have scored 4 or 5 goals with some shots just beaming past the goal. A late penalty to Danny Murphy and that really got my nerves going. A few minutes later the whole crowd roared and my heart dropped as their striker Okaka shot which looked like a goal, however looks can be deceiving from down the other end and it went wide for a goal kick. The final whistle went and we had successfully grinded out a result.

A quick hug to the random city supporter next to me and I left to enjoyed the sun shining brightly over the Thames as I made my way back home. Once again, another perfect day supporting the mighty Manchester City FC.

City til we die.
Adam

Tour Duty: Chelsea (Away)

There was only one thing on everyone’s lips and that was the Bridge/Terry saga. Even though city were playing away, it was a home game for myself only having to travel 40 minutes by tube. Fulham Broadway was the last stop on the way to Stamford Bridge and it was packed with fans from the Russian Empire, I felt a little out of place but it just added to the experience.

I didn’t really have any expectations before kick off but I would have been happy to take a draw. My seat was nicely placed in row 2 of the upper tier and I have to thank a particular celebrity poster from the forum ‘Bluemoon’ for helping me with a ticket.

The paparazzi were in full force as Wayne Bridge approached John Terry for the handshake and as Wayne ignored Terry’s hand a chorus of boos rang around Stamford Bridge. I must say that this shows the true class of Chelsea fans considering his done nothing wrong and was a loyal servant for their club.

The game started and the city fans were in full voice from kick off. It was a tactical battle from the get go and Chelsea took the lead from a typical Lampard strike. After the goal we started singing the chant of ‘34 years and we’re still here’ and at that moment I just felt so proud to be a blue. Little did I know what the football gods had in store for me on this afternoon in London when Tevez made a dazzling run around the defense and put the ball in to the back of the net just before half time.

The second half truly came to life with great goal to Bellamy, a red card, another goal for Tevez, another red card, another goal for Bellamy and another goal for Fat Frank. For my first away day I don’t think I’ll be able to top that for quite some time.

As I walked out of the stadium and got back onto the tube with the thousands of Chelsea fans I couldn’t help but smirk the whole way home. Karma has a funny way of coming around to bite you in the ass, so to all them Chelsea ‘fans’ that decided to boo Bridge during the game, I think karma just bit yours.

CTID.
Adam

Tour Duty: Liverpool (Home)

After the last 6 months of listening to commentary online, watching dodgy streams and enjoying the Spanish commentary whilst watching the games on TV, I finally reached my spiritual home of Eastlands.

Liverpool was the fixture and when I overheard some blues on the train talking about the snow in Manchester the reality started to hit me. 2 hours later I had arrived at Manchester Piccadilly and caught the 216 straight to Eastlands.

The first casualty of the starting lineup didn’t come from the squad, it came from the deflated Blue Roo which wasn’t match fit for travel and still recovering from some injuries incurred back home in his sun burnt country.

I arrived into the stadium at around 2pm to soak up the atmosphere and I must admit since my visit 5 years ago the place seemed to be a lot more polished and the vibe was better. Sitting in Mr Matt Coleman’s seat in the South Stand 1 I enjoyed some great views and was placed nicely right next to the red Scousers.

The game was always destined to end in a draw. Both sides really weren’t going for it and were hoping to get lucky late on in the game. It wasn’t the best game of football but just being back at Eastlands took away from what was being shown on the pitch. It was tense, scrappy and there were limited opportunities.

In the middle of the second half a bit of light snow came down and with my feet now numb all I could think about was Carlos Tevez’s banner of ‘Welcome to Manchester’.

The result was ok and the day out was great. Next week I’ll be cheering the blues on from Stamford Bridge and hopefully we can see City pull out the double of their rich rivals.

City til we die,
Adam

Benjani move confirmed (and a history lesson thrown in for nothing)

As expected, Benjani's loan move to Sunderland has finally been completed.

With his contract set to expire at the end of the season, it probably save to say that we've seen him in a City shirt for the final time. And although the 'Offside Smiler' had very few admirers, I for one, will miss him.

You know those players that may not be the best on the park, but you still have an affinity with them? Benjani's mine.

Whilst not brilliant talented by any stretch, Benjani is the antagonist in some of my favourite moments as a City fan.

Benjani's debut was the Munich Memorial derby on February 10, 2008. I had arrived back in Sydney the day before from my first trip to England, and tired and still a little jet-lagged, fronted up to one of the first decent Sydney Blues screenings. Having just observed first-hand some poor football in the week prior... I thought we'd get pummeled.

Something about that day was magical, from start to finish. The sun blazing down on Vermin Towers after two weeks of cold and drizzle. The impeccably observed minutes' silence. Deadly Darius' goal on the second attempt. And then... Benjani's shoulder. With the exception of Bellamy third goal at the swamp earlier this season, I have never celebrated a goal as enthusiastically as that. An amazing day and an amazing team performance, without big names such as Elano. Probably our best win since the 4-3 over Spurs in the FA Cup.

Then later in the year, another overseas journey saw myself and Blue Roo land in Schalke in City's first proper Euro away day in many a year. I had stayed overnight in Hong Kong the day before (or maybe two days, who the hell knows with the time difference), and originally planned to fly straight to Manchester before the Derby on the Sunday. However when the UEFA Cup fixtures were released I decided to add Germany to the itinerary. To get to the Veltins in time, I flew direct to Heathrow, changed planes, and then on to Dusseldorf, before a train to Gelsenkirchen. I can't begin to comprehend the amount hours spent travelling or time zones crossed. After a few beers in the Square, I was ruined.

The game itself was a complete blur. But we won, courtesy of goals to Benjani and Stephen Ireland (and even that goal Benjani had a hand in). My first, and only City win was in the Veltins.

And Benjani even managed to score in my favourite away game attended, nodding in the opener in a 1-1 draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Benjani is up there with my favourite ever City players, holding weight with such names as Shaun Goater, Danny Tiatto, and Carlos Tevez. I'll miss his finger-pointing goal celebration, his shocking first-touch, and his clapping when caught offside for the sixth time in the half.

I'll keep possession of his shirt with pride. All the best Benji, the one who comes from Zimbabwe and scores on Derby Day.

Win a chance to go to the Derby!

Interesting link this one on the Official Site — Etihad Airways are giving two City fans from around the world the chance to catch the Derby at Eastlands in April.

Are you a City fan living outside the UK? Would you like to "come home" to the City of Manchester Stadium for derby day?

Or do you live in the UK and have friends and family living around the world who you’d love to bring home to visit for the City v United game in April 2010? Well, here’s your chance!

As part of the "Coming Home" promotion, Etihad Airways, Official Sponsor of Manchester City, are offering fans the chance to fly to Manchester for the biggest game of the season.

Send us your reasons WHY we should pick you as a winner to fly two people home from anywhere in the world. The prize includes return flights for two people from any of Etihad’s 57 worldwide destinations, three nights’ accommodation, VIP hospitality at the game and executive seating.

Looks like a great competition, and we'll definitely throw our hats in the ring. If you have any ideas or suggestions as to what would make a good video, let us know. I do guarantee that Blue Roo will make an appearance somewhere...

City terminate SeatExchange deal

Announced on the Official Site:

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the Club would like to inform supporters that the Seat Exchange service has been regrettably terminated. All transactions that have taken place for the Burnley, Hull and Chelsea games will be honoured by the Club.

Supporters who have yet to receive confirmation of their ticket for any of the above games are advised to contact Supporter Services on 0870 062 1894 option 2 or email supporterservices@mcfc.co.uk

This leaves me in a bit of a predicament.

Access to a guaranteed seat was the main advantage of getting involved with the Sydney Blues. The SeatExchange "service" was one of the reasons I justified getting a Seasoncard, as I could recoup a bit of the money outlaid for the games that either myself or other Blues could not attend.

However, from the first match it was painfully apparent that there were problems with the system.

The service was unavailable for the first home game against Wolverhampton, and when I finally used it for the Arsenal match, I was less than impressed.

The ticket, valued at the retail of £38, was sold for £33.63. Which I could live with — I thought that cut sounded decent, especially when considering they charged the buyer an additional 15% on that retail price (£43.70 all up).

However, I received an email twelve days later that this would not be the case.

Unfortunately there was an error with some of the automated seller emails sent out recently to season ticket holders, who sold their seat for this fixture. The email may have quoted an incorrect refund. We apologise for this.

Please find below confirmation of your sale and the correct refund you will receive, payable 14 days after the fixture.

If you have any questions, please feel free to send us a message via the Contact Us link at the foot of each page on the website.

Thank you for using the Manchester City Seat Exchange!

Consequently I received a cheque for £19.52. However, the biggest complaint came from those selling junior season tickets... people selling tickets for over forty pounds on the website received a refund of just £4.43.

SeatExchange posted the following response on Bluemoon after several complaints:

The reason for the difference exists because the Club has also determined that Seasoncard holders should not be able to profit from the sale of the ticket, but buyers should also not be able to purchase for less than the matchday price to ensure that the service does not affect sales from its own Box Office.

Furthermore, whilst the difference between the selling price and the purchase price is shared with the Club to pay for the operation of the service, the portion retained by Seat Exchange also goes towards offsetting the significant sponsorship fees we pay to support the Club as an Official Partner.

Seat Exchange provides a number of benefits to supporters and the Club, including giving Seasoncard holders greater value by being able to sell their seat for matches they cannot attend, and giving supporters the opportunity to buy additional tickets, even when areas of the Stadium or the entire match has sold out at the Club's box office.

Seat Exchange also contribute to the Club through our sponsorship fee, by sharing revenues from the secondary ticketing service itself, facilitating additional concession revenue from seats that would otherwise be empty, and increasing Seasoncard sales and renewals.

Now the first paragraph is completely reasonable — Seasoncard holders shouldn't be able to profit from selling individual games, nor should people be able to buy the ticket for less than face value. Fair enough.

The second paragraph is the one that leaves you scratching your head. "Offset the significant cost of sponsorship"? That cost is all part and parcel of being a sponsor! You pay the club a certain sum of money to advertise on the website, at the ground and in the programme, and as a result of the increased exposure, you should see an increase in sales to match that investment.

The difference between the sale price and the refund (as shown in some cases, around 90% of the purchase price), should have gone to the football club, or an equivalent charity, such as City In The Community — not to pay for the company's sponsorship of the club.

So in a way I'm glad that the arrangement has been cancelled, as SeatExchange were cowboys and rip-off merchants... however, without a service that allows me to recoup some of my season ticket investment, I'll have to consider cancelling it for next season.

Season ticket update...

According to reports, City have sold a remarkable 30,000 Seasoncards (season tickets) for the 2009-10 season.

There are less than 50 seats available in the whole of the South Stand — just half a dozen in 117, 15 in 118, and 28 in 119. As you can see from the diagram below, there are vast areas of the ground that are completely booked. It is likely that the only tickets you will be able to buy in the lead up to matches will be up in the third tier.

For this reason, it is important for any Blues heading over to Manchester to check the earlier blog post here. There is a seat available for any Australian to use (Adz has already booked six games, congratulations sir).

Get in contact and I can sort you out with a spot. After all, it would be heartbreaking to travel all that way only to have to sit in the nosebleeds, or worse, miss out altogether...

UPDATE 05/07: Over the last few days, the insatable demand for season tickets has continued. Since Wednesday, the South Stand has completely sold out. Blocks 127, 210, 221, and 230 are also completely occupied for the 2009-10 season.

It is a clear indication of just how far the club has progressed in just a couple of years. Prior to the 2007-08 season, renewals were at levels not seen since the lower division days. The club had just avoided relegation, and fans had just observed only ten goals in nineteen home games. But with the promise of superstars and trophies on the horizon, suddenly City are the hottest ticket in town.


Note: Light grey means allocation exhausted, blue means very limited availability, and navy means plenty available.

Aussie Blues going to Eastlands?

If any Australian fans plan on attending any matches this season, please let me know.

I bit the bullet and purchased a season ticket for this campaign. "Why? How the bloody hell are you going to get to games?" I hear you ask.

Well for most matches, I'll transfer the ticket to another fan in Manchester for under the price of a walk-up purchase. Thus saving the lucky punter a few quid and eventually making back the money I outlaid for the seasoncard. So it's win/win.

Besides, by purchasing a season ticket now will secure me a seat forever, and you can bet your life as City becomes more and more successful there will soon be a waiting list to purchase.

But if there are any Australians wishing to travel to Eastlands for a match, there is a guaranteed seat in a mint position — not up in the gods. The seat is in the singing section, block 111, row U. Trust me, it's a good spot. And for cheaper than you'd be paying in Manchester.