Tickets Tickets for Cambridge Utd away

[Paul B]

"The two clubs are just waiting on final confirmation on the return of away fans that day: we will bring you ticket news just as soon as that confirmation is received."
What exactly does that mean? Sounds like a statement from politicians. Waiting on final confirmation from who? All restrictions have been lifted since 19 July. Plenty of time to have got things sorted. Isn't it that the two clubs should have done the communicating by now so that we know where we stand (I mean sit). Who is doing the talking on our behalf? And according to a post on social media Cambridge have sent tickets to Oxford.

 

[Northstandboy]

"The two clubs are just waiting on final confirmation on the return of away fans that day: we will bring you ticket news just as soon as that confirmation is received."
What exactly does that mean? Sounds like a statement from politicians. Waiting on final confirmation from who? All restrictions have been lifted since 19 July. Plenty of time to have got things sorted. Isn't it that the two clubs should have done the communicating by now so that we know where we stand (I mean sit). Who is doing the talking on our behalf? And according to a post on social media Cambridge have sent tickets to Oxford.

And the fact away fans have been at friendly games!

 

[Robie]

And the fact away fans have been at friendly games!

.. Not at the Kassam though..

 

[captainox]

"The two clubs are just waiting on final confirmation on the return of away fans that day: we will bring you ticket news just as soon as that confirmation is received."
What exactly does that mean? Sounds like a statement from politicians. Waiting on final confirmation from who? All restrictions have been lifted since 19 July. Plenty of time to have got things sorted. Isn't it that the two clubs should have done the communicating by now so that we know where we stand (I mean sit). Who is doing the talking on our behalf? And according to a post on social media Cambridge have sent tickets to Oxford.

Apparently the EFL are yet to confirm with all parties (as in the 72 clubs) that away fans are to be permitted. (for league games)
Whilst restrictions have lifted, the government has very much left it up to individual businesses to operate as they wish - hence why some pubs/restaurants have kept their staff in masks or table service etc etc. In principle, a football club could decide they didn't want to have away fans - I mean I don't know why, as they bring in more revenue. Probably linked to local authority risk assessments etc as well.

In danger of taking the thread off topic, it just highlights once more, how woeful the EFL are. 11 days to go until the first league game of the season and the list of unknowns reads:
- Away Fans
- Squad Cap Size Confirmation
- A consistent protocol/regulation on Covid cases leading to postponements/weakened teams etc.

The third one is arguably the biggy, we're bound to see some cases crop up across the different clubs in the run-up to fixtures. Last season's approach was nothing short of shambolic and in part led to the situations OUFC encountered v Crewe & Swindon. Is there a stance on what is supposed to happen, if a club has a similar issue as OUFC have experienced during pre-season with 12 first teamers unavailable.

 

[Reynolds97]

Pretty poor comms from the club tbh, i get its probably out of their hands, but surely they could shed a little more light on it?

 

[Manorlounger]

"The two clubs are just waiting on final confirmation on the return of away fans that day: we will bring you ticket news just as soon as that confirmation is received."
What exactly does that mean? Sounds like a statement from politicians. Waiting on final confirmation from who? All restrictions have been lifted since 19 July. Plenty of time to have got things sorted. Isn't it that the two clubs should have done the communicating by now so that we know where we stand (I mean sit). Who is doing the talking on our behalf? And according to a post on social media Cambridge have sent tickets to Oxford.

This is what I was reliably informed of a few days ago.

Looking at the government guidelines (not rules ) all that is required is a risk assessment carried out.
What I don't understand is the delay. Everything is delay. "it's down to the Covid guv' innit"

Oxford City friendly was so simple - "wear a mask to go in, after that it's up to the individual to risk assess."
If 60,000 can go to Wembley, what's so difficult about a tenth of that attending Cambridge?

 

[Northstandboy]

This is what I was reliably informed of a few days ago.

Looking at the government guidelines (not rules ) all that is required is a risk assessment carried out.
What I don't understand is the delay. Everything is delay. "it's down to the Covid guv' innit"

Oxford City friendly was so simple - "wear a mask to go in, after that it's up to the individual to risk assess."
If 60,000 can go to Wembley, what's so difficult about a tenth of that attending Cambridge?

Could they be waiting on public transport to commit to having enough trains/busses to cope with 35+ games all over the country?

 

[m]

Apparently the EFL are yet to confirm with all parties (as in the 72 clubs) that away fans are to be permitted.
Whilst restrictions have lifted, the government has very much left it up to individual businesses to operate as they wish - hence why some pubs/restaurants have kept their staff in masks or table service etc etc. In principle, a football club could decide they didn't want to have away fans - I mean I don't know why, as they bring in more revenue. Probably linked to local authority risk assessments etc as well.

In danger of taking the thread off topic, it just highlights once more, how woeful the EFL are. 11 days to go until the first league game of the season and the list of unknowns reads:
- Away Fans
- Squad Cap Size Confirmation
- A consistent protocol/regulation on Covid cases leading to postponements/weakened teams etc.

The third one is arguably the biggy, we're bound to see some cases crop up across the different clubs in the run-up to fixtures. Last season's approach was nothing short of shambolic and in part led to the situations OUFC encountered v Crewe & Swindon. Is there a stance on what is supposed to happen, if a club has a similar issue as OUFC have experienced during pre-season with 12 first teamers unavailable.

That list of unknowns is utterly, shamefully, unforgivable.

 

[captainox]

Carabao Cup starts on Saturday with Bournemouth v MK Dons and then it's Sheffield Wednesday v Huddersfield on Sunday.
Both away sides have ticket allocations and are selling tickets.

Carabao Cup is an EFL competition isn't it?

 

[Manorlounger]

Could they be waiting on public transport to commit to having enough trains/busses to cope with 35+ games all over the country?

Much the same could be applied to home fans on that basis.

Being cynical, I'm tempted to say that someone hasn't got the balls to say, it's good, sell the tickets. Nobody wants to be held responsible.

 

[holdsteady]

Apparently the EFL are yet to confirm with all parties (as in the 72 clubs) that away fans are to be permitted. (for league games)
Whilst restrictions have lifted, the government has very much left it up to individual businesses to operate as they wish - hence why some pubs/restaurants have kept their staff in masks or table service etc etc. In principle, a football club could decide they didn't want to have away fans - I mean I don't know why, as they bring in more revenue. Probably linked to local authority risk assessments etc as well.

In danger of taking the thread off topic, it just highlights once more, how woeful the EFL are. 11 days to go until the first league game of the season and the list of unknowns reads:
- Away Fans
- Squad Cap Size Confirmation
- A consistent protocol/regulation on Covid cases leading to postponements/weakened teams etc.

The third one is arguably the biggy, we're bound to see some cases crop up across the different clubs in the run-up to fixtures. Last season's approach was nothing short of shambolic and in part led to the situations OUFC encountered v Crewe & Swindon. Is there a stance on what is supposed to happen, if a club has a similar issue as OUFC have experienced during pre-season with 12 first teamers unavailable.

Great post summing up what a truly useless organisation the Football league are, unfortunately any reorganisation will just lead to the championship clubs grabbing more money and power so we are probably stuck with the (useless) devil we know.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Re capacity / away fans at games, until last week the plan across all levels of football was for no away fans at any level before Christmas. Regardless of July 19.

Don’t ask me why. This might change but as of last week it had not.

I posted this over a month ago. There have been concerns about a world where there are 40-odd PL and EFL fixtures happening at the same time, sending tens of thousands of fans across the country into ‘foreign areas’ in unison to drink in pubs, use local public transport, pile into the same service stations etc. I’m not agreeing with it, I’m simply saying what they’ve been talking about all summer. Nobody has wanted to leave themselves open to being accused of ‘synchronised super spreading’. This weekend’s EFL Cup games are the only two competitive fixtures taking place, one day after the other, so don’t carry the same ‘risk’ as they aren’t part of a packed schedule that is running concurrently.

The relevant bodies were meant to have made an official decision before now. It’s got to be due at literally any moment. The EFL season starts in 10 days FFS.

 

[Paul B]

Apparently the EFL are yet to confirm with all parties (as in the 72 clubs) that away fans are to be permitted. (for league games)
Whilst restrictions have lifted, the government has very much left it up to individual businesses to operate as they wish - hence why some pubs/restaurants have kept their staff in masks or table service etc etc. In principle, a football club could decide they didn't want to have away fans - I mean I don't know why, as they bring in more revenue. Probably linked to local authority risk assessments etc as well.

In danger of taking the thread off topic, it just highlights once more, how woeful the EFL are. 11 days to go until the first league game of the season and the list of unknowns reads:
- Away Fans
- Squad Cap Size Confirmation
- A consistent protocol/regulation on Covid cases leading to postponements/weakened teams etc.

The third one is arguably the biggy, we're bound to see some cases crop up across the different clubs in the run-up to fixtures. Last season's approach was nothing short of shambolic and in part led to the situations OUFC encountered v Crewe & Swindon. Is there a stance on what is supposed to happen, if a club has a similar issue as OUFC have experienced during pre-season with 12 first teamers unavailable.

A great post, captain.
Hopeless all round. So why didn't OUFC say we (and all clubs) are waiting on the EFL.

 

[lodeyellow]

I reckon the EFL's quandary about whether or not to continue streaming games on iFollow might possibly have something to do with the delay on any ticket news for away fans.

 

[Tomox]

I posted this over a month ago. There have been concerns about a world where there are 40-odd PL and EFL fixtures happening at the same time, sending tens of thousands of fans across the country into ‘foreign areas’ in unison to drink in pubs, use local public transport, pile into the same service stations etc. I’m not agreeing with it, I’m simply saying what they’ve been talking about all summer. Nobody has wanted to leave themselves open to being accused of ‘synchronised super spreading’. This weekend’s EFL Cup games are the only two competitive fixtures taking place, one day after the other, so don’t carry the same ‘risk’ as they aren’t part of a packed schedule that is running concurrently.

The relevant bodies were meant to have made an official decision before now. It’s got to be due at literally any moment. The EFL season starts in 10 days FFS.

Regarding the 'no away fans at any level until after Christmas' point - Do we know what the actual logic was with that statement? If everyone has been double jabbed are they still planning to wait until this date? Seems a bit strange to me, especially since cases are likely to be much higher after Christmas too...

 

[Paul B]

This is from the EFLs FAQ about getting fans back to matches dated 21 August 2020. Eleven months later I can't find anything more up to date.

"Will away fans be admitted? (We would prefer home fans only to maximise space) We understand that Clubs will have different views in relation to the admittance of visiting supporters. There are some who are not in a position to accommodate their own season ticket holders so would like to utilise the away areas for increased home capacity. There are also some Clubs who will have some spare capacity within their ground and would like to maximise revenue by selling tickets to away supporters The EFL intends to use a Board Directive to suspend the existing Regulations that require clubs to accommodate away fans meaning that this will be a decision for individual clubs. The EFL believes that away fans are an important part of matches played in our competitions, therefore this measure is only being introduced temporarily due to the significant challenges involved in staging matches in the current period. The EFL will keep this issue under constant review."

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Regarding the 'no away fans at any level until after Christmas' point - Do we know what the actual logic was with that statement? If everyone has been double jabbed are they still planning to wait until this date? Seems a bit strange to me, especially since cases are likely to be much higher after Christmas too...

Couldn’t tell you with certainty. I’m not sure that the footballing authorities understand how trousers work, let alone anything else.

It honestly wouldn’t surprise me if a decision is made at basically no notice, not only on away fans but also things like the squad cap and covid protocols in the event of outbreaks affecting fixtures etc. If they only decide all this 48 hours before the season starts I honestly won’t bat an eyelid. They are atrocious.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

This is from the EFLs FAQ about getting fans back to matches dated 21 August 2020. Eleven months later I can't find anything more up to date.

"Will away fans be admitted? (We would prefer home fans only to maximise space) We understand that Clubs will have different views in relation to the admittance of visiting supporters. There are some who are not in a position to accommodate their own season ticket holders so would like to utilise the away areas for increased home capacity. There are also some Clubs who will have some spare capacity within their ground and would like to maximise revenue by selling tickets to away supporters The EFL intends to use a Board Directive to suspend the existing Regulations that require clubs to accommodate away fans meaning that this will be a decision for individual clubs. The EFL believes that away fans are an important part of matches played in our competitions, therefore this measure is only being introduced temporarily due to the significant challenges involved in staging matches in the current period. The EFL will keep this issue under constant review."

This seems like the same approach the Government uses. "We aren't going to tell you what to do any longer, we are going to leave it to you to decide for yourselves. And then if it all goes horribly wrong, it's your fault."

 

[m]

Regarding the 'no away fans at any level until after Christmas' point - Do we know what the actual logic was with that statement? If everyone has been double jabbed are they still planning to wait until this date? Seems a bit strange to me, especially since cases are likely to be much higher after Christmas too...

This is the EFL.

I don't know how to break this to you...

 

[Paul B]

This is the EFL.

I don't know how to break this to you...

Remember Peter Ridsdale - ruined Leeds.

From Wikipedia - Ridsdale's sports consultancy firm WH Sports Group Limited, which provided advice to football clubs from 2003, failed in 2009 with debts of more than £475,000. Ridsale was found to have diverted payments by football clubs totalling £347,000, due to the company, into his personal bank account. In October 2012, he was disqualified as a company director until April 2020 after an inquiry by the Insolvency Service.

A couple of weeks back there were changes on the EFL Board – three new Championship representatives. The one who got most votes Peter Ridsdale.

How little faith I have in the EFL.