it did you just can't see the point ...anyhow if you dont get it ,you dont get it
We’ve always had higher priced tickets and lower priced tickets.
The club is and always has been a business - back in the day, John Houlding wanted to sell beer. It has always had to be a successful business to be a successful club. It has never been shy of “ripping off the better off” as some would put it.
The levelling out of prices at Anfield has been a bad thing. We have some of the highest prices for standard tickets in the country.
Less than 1% of capacity are in boxes (312 people). About 5% in total pay premium prices. Increasing the number of premium tickets can only help keep standard prices in check against the upward pressure of player costs. This is a good thing.
Now if you're going to tell me that player costs are going to drop... meanwhile Safestanding can reduce prices and the club can continue to compete.
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To re-use your quote: "The Kop is exclusive, an institution, and if you are a member of the Kop you feel like you are...” - Shankly was talking about the Kop - not the whole ground. Not the hoi-polloi in the Main Stand. Not the 244 people in the Director’s Box.
There’s always been that difference. Like it or not. Socialist or not.
No-one is suggesting plastic flags and song sheets. The suggestion is prices that are closer to what people can afford. If you think that’s patronising, some jolly entertainment for the nobs, take a look at yourself.
You want everyone of a certain type excluded. Everyone with a few bob - or even lots of bobs - need not apply. Not wanted here. Stay at home with your cucumber sandwiches - this game is not for you.
Whereas Shankly’s Kop was ‘exclusive’ because you aspired to be a member - not because he had a chip on his shoulder about the well-off.
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The ‘final’ Taylor Report is about hooliganism and controlling hooliganism. Nowhere does Taylor argue that sitting people down makes them quieter (I’m sure you can find a copy of his report on the internet) His recommendation for all-seating is about control. Controlling numbers, controlling access and exit etc. I’m afraid you’ve just made that up.
And more especially, Taylor recommended knowing who people are (so they can be excluded if necessary). At the time and burning with righteous indignation after Heysel, Thatcher wanted ID cards for football fans and stamping out hooliganism. She didn’t get ID cards but she got names and addresses linked to every ticket sold.
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And yet - you’re quite happy for people to sit! Because that’s not important you say. The common culture, being one, speaking with one voice is all that is important, is what you say.
And still yet - there is an intrinsic unity in standing. Together, as a crowd. As one body. As one voice. With the team. You simply do not get that sitting down. Watching the team. Being a spectator not a participant.
I’m sorry for those who have not experienced it. I believe the club and the sense of unity you are looking for would benefit from it. That is not inappropriate.
And it is not out of disrespect for those who died at Hillsborough. They didn’t die because they were standing. Standing didn’t cause Hillsborough.
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Safestanding is not the terraces of old. It’s not fighting for survival, foot on the bar or in the boys’ pen. In those terms it’s tame. Safestanding is about remaining competitive as a business and gaining access and availability at prices that are not beyond our means.
Taylor said prices needn’t go up because of seating. How optimistic was he... They went up almost tenfold, almost overnight. Now, £45 to watch a football match is ludicrous.
But you say it’s not about cheaper tickets! Presumably you say that as long as you subscribe to a common culture (or done your 1000 posts) that’s all good - even if you can’t afford to go to the game or the club doesn’t work as business.
You say it’s not about standing up or sitting down. It’s about common culture. No matter the price. No matter the availability. No matter the economic viability of the club. Unless we come up with loyalty or some such schemes which bridge the gap - if we can’t float together, we should sink together?