The Manchester United Club Thread **Sponsored by Comedy Central**

[Trusty]

Easily, can’t remember what the name is of the article but on the Athletic they said that Spurs have a waiting list of >20k for seats and are trying to get rid of older season ticket holders because they don’t spend enough.

If they have that much - maybe it’s purely tourist in London making up a vast proportion of that. Utd easily sell out 90k stadia.

Building a new modern purpose built for c. £2bn - would be the way to go. Get the whole thing done in a oner!

Old Trafford should be the pinnacle of grounds in the UK and probably the Europe along with Madrid and Barca. Need to new build to match WHL.

Do you lose something though by moving out of Old Trafford. RM and Barca have both modernised rather than move. The bigger the history, the harder it is to justify a new build i'd have thought. You don't need it to be the best of the best, you just need it to be in that top tier

 

[Martynt74]

You shouldn't conflate season ticket waiting lists with potential increased capacity. Most people on Spurs season ticket waiting list, who would actually take a season ticket if they had the chance, are already attending Spurs games on a regular basis. Clubs restrict numbers of season tickets because they make more money from selling tickets game by game.

I've no idea how easy it is to get a regular ticket at OT but suggesting selling an extra 26000 tickets would be easy is a bit optimistic.

Agreed, i think there's a mid ground. We seem to regularly sell out based on the below chart. A drop in 21/22 but then there's no data for 22/23 or 23/24

I think increasing capacity beyond 75k makes sense, but going as high as 90-100k would be madness, and you'd end up with ~10% empty for most games i imagine.

 

[Converge]

I can imagine it’s better to have the potential to pack the place out for big games and miss out on a sell out crowd occasionally which would still likely be more than the current max capacity anyway.

 

[BaZ87]

I can imagine it’s better to have the potential to pack the place out for big games and miss out on a sell out crowd occasionally which would still likely be more than the current max capacity anyway.

Yes and no. The last thing any club wants is lots of empty seats on a regular basis both from a direct financial point of view in terms of ticket sales but also a brand image point of view. Just using Liverpool as an example briefly, I know for a fact that Liverpool intentionally want demand to outstrip supply as it enables the club to force fans, who would rather buy a standard £50 ticket, into buying £300-400+ hospitality tickets. As soon as there's a surplus of standard tickets then sales of these hospitality tickets reduce.

As @Martynt74 says, they'll need to find a mid point of more tickets but also what can sell out regularly. The main driver for either the redevelopment or the new stadium won't be more ticket sales but better facilities so supporters spend more money in the stadium. An extra 20k tickets (in isolation) only produces circa £20m per season - you're not spending £1-2bn for £20m more, that won't even cover the interest on the loans taken out to fund the work.

 

[Steedie]

I know for a fact that Liverpool intentionally want demand to outstrip supply as it enables the club to force fans, who would rather buy a standard £50 ticket, into buying £300-400+ hospitality tickets.

Yeah, I'm the sort of mug that does this. A few times with Utd this season and last, I've paid for hospitality tickets, even if it's just the cheapy pre or post match museum visits. Which me and my son don't even bother with now as we've seen it a few times already, but I still get the tickets

 

[BaZ87]

Yeah, I'm the sort of mug that does this. A few times with Utd this season and last, I've paid for hospitality tickets, even if it's just the cheapy pre or post match museum visits. Which me and my son don't even bother with now as we've seen it a few times already, but I still get the tickets

I've done it myself a few times with Liverpool as it's the only way to get a ticket. Unless you've been to 13+ games the previous season (which unless you're on that merry-go-round it's impossible to join) then there's circa 3k tickets that go on sale each match which you must be a paid member to apply for. I applied for every match I could this season and the closest I got was 14k on the waiting list. The cheapest hospitality options at Liverpool are upwards of £350 (for a smaller game) and that gets you some cheap buffet style food and the opportunity to spend more money at a cash bar. Sadly the clubs know there are enough supporters that can afford to pay these prices as a one off that they can sell 1000s of them every game.

 

[mid_gen]

I'd be amazed if utd couldn't sell out 90k most match days. They certainly could with a little bit of pricing to entice the vast numbers of locals who have supported the club their entire life but can't afford tickets!

 

[Droolinggimp]

I'd be amazed if utd couldn't sell out 90k most match days. They certainly could with a little bit of pricing to entice the vast numbers of locals who have supported the club their entire life but can't afford tickets!

90-100k stadium, top tier seating (what you think 15-20 rows of seats all the way around?), priced at £30. Easily fill a bigger stadium.

*disclaimer: I know bugger all about footy finance and ticket pricing and returns on investment into new stadiums. I just know the 'old' Nou Camp, the top few rows of seats were cheap.

 

[bingham67]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1770802994407174542

We looked a lot better with everyone fit, what do people think to the final run in 4th a real possibility?

 

[Shamikebab]

3 of those were in the squad playing before the international break. Not really news is it

 

[adam cool dude]

IF no more injuries and the AWB/Dalot full back roll can get running smoothly then we are in with a shout.

If we get 4th then it is a miracle season really.

 

[Converge]

I’d be really cautious about using Martinez if it was me… but what choice do we have if we want to at least fight for CL qualification

 

[Droolinggimp]

I’d be really cautious about using Martinez if it was me… but what choice do we have if we want to at least fight for CL qualification

wasn't this injury due to a bad foul though, so not connected to the previous one where he was off for a long time. Dont think there is need to be cautious with him.
E: when I say not connected I mean this injury wasnt caused by him not being fit enough

 

[Shamikebab]

Don't think many of our issues have been caused by coming back too quickly. Maybe Shaw's. Martinez' would have happened no matter how long he was given.

 

[Robbo]

If we get 4th then it is a miracle season really.

We've endured a season of mostly horrendous performances, we shouldn't be in this position to start with. Injuries haven't helped but blaming it solely on that is just crazy.

 

[Converge]

Don't think many of our issues have been caused by coming back too quickly. Maybe Shaw's. Martinez' would have happened no matter how long he was given.

Well that’s what I mean, I suppose. Is he coming back too soon? I guess only time will tell. I don’t have much faith in our medical team based off of ETH comments regarding Shaw and Malacia and the story going around about Casemiro’s injury.

 

[adam cool dude]

We've endured a season of mostly horrendous performances, we shouldn't be in this position to start with. Injuries haven't helped but blaming it solely on that is just crazy.

Well we see what our run in performances are like with players returning who haven't played all season. Then we can make that judgement.

Luke Shaw has made just 12 league appearances, Martinez 8, Mount 8, AWB 12. Malacia hasn't even played a game. We are 28 games into the season. Getting 3 out of those 5 back into the team can only be a good thing.

Klopps Liverpool dropped off a cliff last season due to injuries and Newcastle have gone from the best defence in the league and 4th to mid table again due to injuries.

 

[fez]

Well we see what our run in performances are like with players returning who haven't played all season. Then we can make that judgement.

Luke Shaw has made just 12 league appearances, Martinez 8, Mount 8, AWB 12. Malacia hasn't even played a game. We are 28 games into the season. Getting 3 out of those 5 back into the team can only be a good thing.

Klopps Liverpool dropped off a cliff last season due to injuries and Newcastle have gone from the best defence in the league and 4th to mid table again due to injuries.

I think our injury issues have been downplayed partly because we haven't looked good at any point in the season. Other teams can at least point to being good before injuries. Its amazing how many times I have seen other teams injury issues mentioned and how few times I have seen our mentioned even when we were playing Lindelof and Evans in our defence.

I think that with a fully fit team we would be having a far better season than we are but as Robbo says, you can't explain all our performance problems with that excuse.

 

[adam cool dude]

I think our injury issues have been downplayed partly because we haven't looked good at any point in the season. Other teams can at least point to being good before injuries. Its amazing how many times I have seen other teams injury issues mentioned and how few times I have seen our mentioned even when we were playing Lindelof and Evans in our defence.

I think that with a fully fit team we would be having a far better season than we are but as Robbo says, you can't explain all our performance problems with that excuse.

A lot of teams have had injury issues in patches whereas ours has been ongoing since the get go this season. That is why. In fact you could argue it was playing a part towards the end of last season.

It would be interesting to know the back 4 partnerships we have had throughout the season. It has almost been a different one each game we have played! That is never a good thing no matter how good a team you have on paper.

ETH currently sits at a 61% win percentage even after our abysmal season. That would be closer to the 70 mark if we didn't have the injury issues that we have had this season. The gutter press laughed at him when he said this in a presser a couple of matches ago but he is right really.

 

[Shamikebab]

Last time I saw it we'd fielded 23 different back fours this season.