England not selling out their allocation

[~~~]

I was talking about England.

[Lancashirearab]

I was speaking to a big football fan in Burnley yesterday and he agreed with an earlier comment about Northerners falling out of love with the England team. The flags still come out for the big tournaments, but the passion isn't there anymore.

[BFTD]

I get the impression that the Auld Enemy revival has been an attempt by the FA down south to deflect from the national side's slide into undeniable mediocrity. Matches against quality European sides will inevitably result in defeat, so lets administer a few spankings to the Jocks and hope that'll do instead.

The decision to rebuild Wembley tells you everything you need to know about the priorities of those in positions of power in England. Everyone loved the national team moving around the country, but f**k them; London comes first. No wonder anyone north of The Wash is disillusioned.

[BerwickMad]

Wembley isn't even well located in London, never mind the country. It's quicker for me to get to Edinburgh or Newcastle from Berwick than if is from Central London to Wembley.

[BFTD]

Wembley isn't even well located in London, never mind the country. It's quicker for me to get to Edinburgh or Newcastle from Berwick than if is from Central London to Wembley.

Was about to ask how far it was from Lancaster Gate to Wembley, but I see the FA have moved their offices into the new Wembley Stadium. Shockeroonie

I see there's a nice golf club nearby too. Coincidence, I'm sure.

[HibeeJibee]

I think most people would accept that it means more to Scotland fans than it does to England fans. In addition to that we played last year at their place, it's midweek - in November - with big prices... and they had a home qualifier on Saturday which would be as expensive for many people outside London to get to as Glasgow would. There's also Portugal-Argentina in Manchester tonight with a crowd of 50,000 expected according to BBC.

So while I'm still slightly surprised that they didn't sell-out their allocation, it doesn't surprise me that English interest is not riding particularly high.

[PrestersKTID]

I don't know why anyone can be surprised that the English aren't snapping up tickets.

This years game is £60 in November, possibly freezing and close to Xmas time.

Add into the fact that they don't really care too much about the fixture .

Last years game at wembley was £45 iirc, played in august in a scorching hot day and was the first game between the sides for 14 years.

while on the subject does anyone know why there was that 1 empty section amongst the Scotland fans last year? I was right next to it and found it strange we weren't offered the extra seats.

[Savage Henry]

I get the impression that the Auld Enemy revival has been an attempt by the FA down south to deflect from the national side's slide into undeniable mediocrity. Matches against quality European sides will inevitably result in defeat, so lets administer a few spankings to the Jocks and hope that'll do instead.

The decision to rebuild Wembley tells you everything you need to know about the priorities of those in positions of power in England. Everyone loved the national team moving around the country, but f**k them; London comes first. No wonder anyone north of The Wash is disillusioned.

All of which could just as easily go for the SFA.

ETA: 82,000 turned up for the England Slovenia game.

[RedRob72]

Portugal Vs Argentina at Old Trafford a bigger draw tonight perhaps?

[DiegoDiego]

This years game is £60 in November, possibly freezing and close to Xmas time.

Last years game at wembley was £45 iirc, played in august in a scorching hot day and was the first game between the sides for 14 years.

You can't use Christmas as an excuse for poor turnout if you don't also acknowledge the amount of folk away on holiday (or just back from having spent loads of credit/cash on holiday) in August.

Regardless of the relative attraction of the games, it is slightly baffling that a self-professed football mad nation of 50m can't sell out their allocation (what was it, by the way?) for a game four and a half hours away from London, mitigating circumstances or not.

[Carl Cort's Hamstring]

Last years game at wembley was £45 iirc, played in august in a scorching hot day and was the first game between the sides for 14 years.

while on the subject does anyone know why there was that 1 empty section amongst the Scotland fans last year? I was right next to it and found it strange we weren't offered the extra seats.

I paid £35 for my ticket upstairs behind the goal last year. The SFA's prices are taking the p*ss, at a time of year when people are generally starting to look much more carefully at their budgets.

[DA Baracus]

Why is Gary McAllister dressed as a casual?

[HibeeJibee]

Despite the 60,000 capacity at Celtic Park I see the attendance is confirmed as 49,526? This makes it the first sub-50,000 crowd for a Scotland v England game since the 'extra' game in 1972-73 to mark the SFA Centenary, 0-5 in bad weather on a February midweek. Before that - including war internationals - you have to go back to 1904, also at Parkhead oddly enough.

Conclusion? I think we'd have to admit that unduly high prices, plus the traditional rivalry having lost some of its potency over the years, was at work here.

[Diamonds are Forever]

I wonder how the SFA would justify those prices. England will obviously have required a hefty fee for the game, and obviously they've got to hire Celtic Park, but that still doesn't account for such high prices in their own. I think they miscalculated the demand for the game, which was partly influenced by the Ireland game being so close before it. If it had been the only fixture this week I think it would have been a sell-out comfortably.

[Skyline Drifter]

I wonder how the SFA would justify those prices. England will obviously have required a hefty fee for the game, and obviously they've got to hire Celtic Park, but that still doesn't account for such high prices in their own. I think they miscalculated the demand for the game, which was partly influenced by the Ireland game being so close before it. If it had been the only fixture this week I think it would have been a sell-out comfortably.

Would it? Maybe. I'm not so sure though. Speaking for myself I missed it consciously, not because I couldn't afford £55 for a ticket but because I didn't consider paying £55 (plus dieset to get to Glasgow from Dumfries) to watch a friendly that was live on tv as remotely close to worthwhile. Couldn't care less who we were playing. If it had been £30 I might well have gone but it was near double that. I still wouldn't have paid that if it had been the only home game in six months.

[La_Leyenda]

I wonder how the SFA would justify those prices. England will obviously have required a hefty fee for the game, and obviously they've got to hire Celtic Park, but that still doesn't account for such high prices in their own. I think they miscalculated the demand for the game, which was partly influenced by the Ireland game being so close before it. If it had been the only fixture this week I think it would have been a sell-out comfortably.

I think their fee was us selling 20,000 tickets priced between £35 and £65 for Wembley last year.