Man City Tickets

[RoyalBlue]

it was only when man city started selling the othertickets that we realised we werent going to be able to do that. McD even said the same after the game on saturday.

From the wording on the club statement that was subsequently issued, I would suggest that Craig Mortimer did know (or should have known) exactly what the situation was regarding the possibility of getting extra tickets at the time he was asked the question by Tim Dellor in the post M'Boro match interview with McD. However, rather than telling people exactly what was going on he chose to evade the issue and respond by saying that the club would be going back to ask for more tickets but that it would be wrong to say that we would definitely get them.

Some of us on here had been warning on Friday that there would be no more tickets available for Reading fans, based on some pretty detailed info we were being provided with by Man City fans regarding the areas of the stadium where City were selling tickets. I can not accept that RFC did not have access to that same and even more detailed info at least as early as us and probably even before that. For some reason they chose not to go public with a straight account of what was going on as early as I believe they could have done.

[RoyalBlue]

Surely we should HAVE 15%..? And not on the basis we pay for them.

We would have been offered the 15% allocation, but as it has been said by the club...they decided at the time to only ask for 2800...due to the reasons explained on the OS

What's done is done and as remarked some 40 pages back...the club seem by some to be in the in the wrong whatever they do!!!

I would suggest that is because they keep showing that they often are.

Their reasons for opting for such a low allocation were reached from completely the wrong standpoint/approach at best. At worse they were just plain nonsensical.

I would suggest that full honesty and an unqualified apology for the cock-up would be the best approach to this particular case but it would appear they don't like saying sorry whatever happens.

He's been involved with the club for as long as we've been at the madejski I think, mainly in various communication type areas (website, programme etc)

He must have started at an awfully young age then!!

[RoyalBlue]

He doesn't sound convincing does he? What qualifications does he have for being the spokesman? Didn't he used to be the photographer or am I thinking of someone else?

Judging from his LinkedIn profile he got an MBA from Reading University but doesn't appear to have had a lot (if any?) experience prior to joining RFC.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/craigmortimerzhika

quick, organise a witch hunt to oust the charlatan

My personal view is that he is not demonstrating a wealth of communications/PR experience in the way he is handling this particular matter.

That wouldn't be his fault if he hasn't had that experience in the first place. Someone felt he could do the job and appointed him and, at the end of the day, the more experienced someone is, the greater the salary they can usually demand.

[Z175]

Surely we should HAVE 15%..? And not on the basis we pay for them.

We would have been offered the 15% allocation, but as it has been said by the club...they decided at the time to only ask for 2800...due to the reasons explained on the OS

What's done is done and as remarked some 40 pages back...the club seem by some to be in the in the wrong whatever they do!!!

I would suggest that is because they keep showing that they often are.

Their reasons for opting for such a low allocation were reached from completely the wrong standpoint/approach at best. At worse they were just plain nonsensical.

I would suggest that full honesty and an unqualified apology for the cock-up would be the best approach to this particular case but it would appear they don't like saying sorry whatever happens.

He's been involved with the club for as long as we've been at the madejski I think, mainly in various communication type areas (website, programme etc)

He must have started at an awfully young age then!!

He started when he was just a meer mortimer. Now hes a Zhika!

[leicsRoyal]

This is purely speculative but I 'think' City can make Reading pay for the number of tickets they ask for only on the premise that we could sell those tickets ourselves (ie close the third tiers) We could only guarantee that if we close the top two tiers.

ie we can't say to Reading you pay for what you take if we coudln't sell the available tickets ourselves (The argument being that you would be denying City fans tickets by taking seats that you don't then sell)

Arsenal and Chelsea have both done that to us this season hence lower allocations.

Puts an interesting spin on things if they do open the top tiers and it doesn't sell out!

[blueroyals]

Just a series of oxf*rd ups by the club really...

- Firstly not considering the impact of free travel on demand/not considering free travel earlier (in which case why?)
Secondly not communicating with STAR about demand for the game

- Thirdly not communicating with supporters throughout the sale period to inform of how many tickets left (how did those people without internet access heading to the TO know tickets had already sold out at 8am this morning?) in addition to their excuse of "low web space" - how many articles have they posted today? they treat us like oxf*rd idiots

- Fourthly not preparing their ticketing systems for the massive demand (it's an F.A cup quarter final for christs sake yet the website was down for hours on end and there were 50 minute queues on the phone lines!)

- Finally not apologising for it and attempting to blame City for not keeping seats spare in case the club oxf*rd up!

[TFF]

- Fourthly not preparing their ticketing systems for the massive demand (it's an F.A cup quarter final for christs sake yet the website was down for hours on end and there were 50 minute queues on the phone lines!)

Was the site ever down? It struck me as pretty robust tbh.

It wouldn't let me log in for a while and it got a bit slow, but it coped.

[Jeffers217]

Simply put, the club were too scared to purchase a higher allocation due our cloth cutting. We would have easily sold around 5000 tickets and it really is unfair on a lot of fans. ... it's a joke and I think the only way to sort it is to boo Madejski when he next comes on the pitch

FFS, do you really think Madejski decided how many tickets we should take?

Maybe if the several thousand away regulars we appear to have, according to this thread, actually went to away games, the club might have felt a bit more confident about selling more tickets.

For the size of our home crowds, our away support is really poor, and that must have been a big factor.

the season ticket policy is a total joke and a kick in the teeth to fans who have had to sit through some totally dire matches and have not had their money reinvested in the players a club of our statue deserves

I'm not away of any statue at the club, and fail to see how even having a very nice one would mean we deserved better players.

Assuming you mean "our stature", I'd love to know what kind of stature you think our club has.

I'd say we are an average championship club in terms of stature, but somehow you feel we are either far bigger than that, or think it's somehow a disgrace that an average championship club only fields an average championship team.

Madejski is the head of the club's policies- maybe I should have written Madejski and the board (or the people who decide on the tickets). In terms of the comment you made about our away support- what kind of world do you live in? You're telling me that there is the same demand for a normal league game up in saying Preston as there is for only the club's 3rd ever FA cup quarter final away at a premiership club?! Of course more fans are going to want to go. I'm also sure that many of the fans that have made comments on this thread do go to away games, just not every away game. And also, with some of the team's football and the style of football we have played this season, I simply don't blame fans for not wanting to go as some of it has been abysmal. Granted there have been a few good performances but some very bad ones. And now onto the comment about the players and the stature (sorry I mispelt it!) of the club- I wasn't saying we are a massive club but I was referring to the players we have signed and the reinvestment of money. Now many fans were disappointed yet understanding in regards to the sale of Sigurdsson but most expected some reinvestment and what did we get?! A slow ageing left back (granted he scores the odd free kick) and some other rubbish! The reason that the top 6 teams are where they are this season is because they have spent a little bit more cash. It can make all the difference

[PieEater]

Craig Mortimers interview on BRB also did little to placate the situation, he basically said you can't please everyone and they'd handled it ok in the circumstances. What a oxf*rd

[Row Z Royal]

This thread is sponsored by http://www.hindsightsawonderfulthing.com

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Madejski is the head of the club's policies- maybe I should have written Madejski and the board (or the people who decide on the tickets).

the bit in brackets makes rather more sense, unless you have an agenda.

In terms of the comment you made about our away support- what kind of world do you live in? You're telling me that there is the same demand for a normal league game up in saying Preston as there is for only the club's 3rd ever FA cup quarter final away at a premiership club?!

No. I'm saying only taking 912 to Everton for a 5th round tie that's live on tv doesn't make it obvious that we'd sell 6000 for a 6th round tie, equally as far away, that's also live on tv.

I do think the club were wrong to take the lower allocation, but I can see how somebody might have come to the conclusion that we'd probably sell a figure nearer 3000 than 6000.

The reason that the top 6 teams are where they are this season is because they have spent a little bit more cash. It can make all the difference

It can. So can having money to spend.

[Svlad Cjelli]

FWIW : (if it's not already been posted) : http://wp.me/p1i3kq-P

[Jeffers217]

Madejski is the head of the club's policies- maybe I should have written Madejski and the board (or the people who decide on the tickets).

the bit in brackets makes rather more sense, unless you have an agenda.

In terms of the comment you made about our away support- what kind of world do you live in? You're telling me that there is the same demand for a normal league game up in saying Preston as there is for only the club's 3rd ever FA cup quarter final away at a premiership club?!

No. I'm saying only taking 912 to Everton for a 5th round tie that's live on tv doesn't make it obvious that we'd sell 6000 for a 6th round tie, equally as far away, that's also live on tv.

I do think the club were wrong to take the lower allocation, but I can see how somebody might have come to the conclusion that we'd probably sell a figure nearer 3000 than 6000.

The reason that the top 6 teams are where they are this season is because they have spent a little bit more cash. It can make all the difference

It can. So can having money to spend.

Everton was a tuesday night, less of a BIG game seeing as it was the round before, the stadium is rubbish and they aren't as big/good as Man City. In terms of the money, the club stated we had a £4 million black hole to fill, The Sig went for £7 million- I'll let you do the maths there and realise we had/have money left over to spend out a few million. I'm not aware of what happens behind the scenes but it's a reasonable conclusion to say Madejski would make some decisions as he owns the flipping club!!!

[Thames]

What would you rather have?

The Club (Madejski) pay for free coach travel or the club take up the offer of more match tickets in the first place?

I appreciate where Madejski is coming from with the free travel gesture but as far as I'm concerned, the less wig wearing face painted replica shirt wearing coach brigade there the better. I'm not having a go at Under 16's but anyone of adult age wearing replica kits and face paint is an embarrasment to this club.

Do the right thing for a change Madejski and arrange more tickets. It has to be possible.

P.S - I've actually got a ticket, I'm just outraged that alot of my friends dont have.

[Big Foot]

We want tickets not cabbies

[S09Royal]

Perhaps the club should have offered free travel TO Wembley (if we were to get there) and not to this tie. Although I doubt that would actually work. So I'd go for more tickets tbh.

[SLAMMED]

More tickets

[Thames]

What is really worrying is the comment made on the official website under the heading "background to our allocation" - it doesn't allow me to copy and paste but can be viewed here.

http://www.readingfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10306~2310588,00.html

The club have no trust in thier own fans and whats more don't seem to realise how much being in an FA Cup Quater Final at a top Premiership team in a state of the art stadium means to us!

Disgraceful.

I support every member of the coaching and playing staff 110% but that is really where my love for the club ends. I have no time for Madejski, Hammond or anyone else in thier corporate clan.

[SLAMMED]

it doesn't allow me to copy and paste but can be viewed here.

LOL @ using Internet Explorer.

Background to our allocation
Clubs have to make their initial indication for ticket allocations when the draw for the relevant round is made, which in this case was back on 20th February, when neither ourselves nor Manchester City had been confirmed in this stage of the competition; we had to face Everton nine days later and they faced Aston Villa ten days later.

At that stage, we indicated to both Villa and City that circa 2,800 would be our preferred allocation, taking into full consideration that the game is live on television, takes place on a Sunday evening, and after analysing our away attendances at previous games of a similar nature. In the last three seasons we have taken more than 3,000 to an away game on just one occasion, Southampton away in late 2008, and for example we took 775 and 1,059 supporters to our replays at Liverpool and West Brom respectively last season, and 1,577 travelled to the north west for our play-off semi final at Burnley on a Saturday evening in May 2009.

When the deadline came to finalise our allocation on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after our win at Everton, free coach travel had naturally not been discussed and could not have an impact on our decision at that time. As a result of the free travel offer, there has been a higher than normal level of demand and our supporters could have bought more tickets, perhaps an extra few hundred, if they were available. City took the decision to quickly go on sale and made seats available in surrounding areas immediately after their own match with Aston Villa, closing the top tiers on the sides of the ground and unable to reopen them for Reading fans on safety advice, despite our supporters' desire for more seats.

Had we received a larger allocation, the club would of course have paid for free travel for those extra supporters going to the game. As it stands, with 2,836 vocal, loyal supporters behind us, we are giving the team fantastic backing and a great chance of success. The offer of free coach travel is a reward for our loyal fans and we look forward to those fans at the game creating a great atmosphere in Manchester.

[Thames]

Thanks Slammed.

The offer of free coach travel is a reward for our loyal fans and we look forward to those fans at the game creating a great atmosphere in Manchester

So anybody not in that 2,800 isn't loyal then?

Had we received a larger allocation, the club would of course have paid for free travel for those extra supporters going to the game

I doubt you would have actually but thats my opinion. Anyway, shove you're free travel a car full of mates is no more than a tenner each - I'd rather share the experience with a couple of thousand more Reading fans.

As it stands, with 2,836 vocal, loyal supporters behind us, we are giving the team fantastic backing and a great chance of success.

Well done for taking yet ANOTHER swipe at anyone outside that 2,836. And also, that 2,836 would be there anyway so surely adding another 2,000 "2nd Class Supporters" would give the team better backing and a greater chance of success!?

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO MONEY MADEJSKI!