Firstly credit to Sunderland for making the tickets for the home leg of our League Cup Semi-Final match £20 for adults and £5 for kids, and credit to both Sunderland and Carlisle for agreeing ticket prices of £10/£5 for the FA Cup tie.
We all know that the cup games are less fashionable these days and also that many fans are struggling to afford going to the matches, so this is exactly the kind of gesture we need from SAFC.
Sadly Man United have a clause for their season ticket holders that states:
Subject to certain exceptions, Season Ticket Holders are required to purchase a ticket for all home cup matches and must provide card details which will be used by the Club to make these purchases. Season Ticket Holders can opt out of purchasing League Cup tickets and under 16 Season Ticket Holders can opt out of purchasing tickets for the FA Cup / UEFA Champions League / UEFA Europa Cup – please see your renewal pack for full details.
Any Season Ticket Holder that opts out of a home cup match will receive lower priority in any ballot held if we are oversubscribed with applications for any away match, semi-final and/or cup final in any competition.
So supporters are opted in to buying a ticket by default and in the event that they do opt out, they lose loyalty points to get tickets for future rounds and other cup competitions.
In other words, they can charge pretty much whatever they like for a ticket and get away with it – and they are doing just that for the return leg of the League Cup Semi, which means our fans will have to fork out between £45 and £55 for a match ticket.
Shame on you Man U.
