Union FS - Cup Final Tickets and Travel

[Union FS]

 

Ahead of what will be a momentous day for Leicester supporters everywhere, Union FS wishes to place on record its serious concern about the way the ticket allocation and travel arrangements for Wembley have been handled by LCFC.

 

While appreciating the bind the club has been in with regards to the restrictions enforced upon it by higher authorities for the Cup final, this does not explain a number of issues which have arisen in recent days - and answers are now rightly being demanded by supporters.

 

As a group, we are calling on the club to be transparent and accountable in providing an explanation for the following:

 

1. A map of Wembley has shown more than 1,000 tickets had already been allocated before the open sale to season ticket holders began. Can the club provide a breakdown to explain how these tickets were distributed?

 

2. Can the club share the scientific explanation it was given by the government for why all fans in LE postcode areas were required to use official club travel? This has not been the case with fans of any other club involved in a Wembley final this year, and has put many supporters off travelling.

 

3. Can the club explain who gave it the green light to drop this policy once all available coaches had sold out, as multiple sources are now reporting, and what the basis for that decision was? If fans travelling from LE postcodes are not required to use official travel, they all deserve the right to travel in a way which suits them - especially given the extra expense many will incur in order to get to Leicester before heading to London because of this policy.

 

4. Why has the @lcfchelp Twitter handle been inactive since the ticket information was announced? Many fans have had legitimate enquiries that needed answering.

 

Next Saturday is one of the biggest days in the club's history and great personal sacrifices are being made by thousands of fans to attend. The club would do well to treat them with the dignity and respect the occasion demands, and publicly address these points of legitimate concern as soon as possible.

[SemperEadem]

Fair play to Brendan and the team for trying their absolute best here to make us forget how awful the FA Cup Final organisation has been by being even shitter than that on the pitch. Outstanding achievement.

[SantiagoFox]

3 hours ago, Union FS said:

 

Ahead of what will be a momentous day for Leicester supporters everywhere, Union FS wishes to place on record its serious concern about the way the ticket allocation and travel arrangements for Wembley have been handled by LCFC.

 

While appreciating the bind the club has been in with regards to the restrictions enforced upon it by higher authorities for the Cup final, this does not explain a number of issues which have arisen in recent days - and answers are now rightly being demanded by supporters.

 

As a group, we are calling on the club to be transparent and accountable in providing an explanation for the following:

 

1. A map of Wembley has shown more than 1,000 tickets had already been allocated before the open sale to season ticket holders began. Can the club provide a breakdown to explain how these tickets were distributed?

 

2. Can the club share the scientific explanation it was given by the government for why all fans in LE postcode areas were required to use official club travel? This has not been the case with fans of any other club involved in a Wembley final this year, and has put many supporters off travelling.

 

3. Can the club explain who gave it the green light to drop this policy once all available coaches had sold out, as multiple sources are now reporting, and what the basis for that decision was? If fans travelling from LE postcodes are not required to use official travel, they all deserve the right to travel in a way which suits them - especially given the extra expense many will incur in order to get to Leicester before heading to London because of this policy.

 

4. Why has the @lcfchelp Twitter handle been inactive since the ticket information was announced? Many fans have had legitimate enquiries that needed answering.

 

Next Saturday is one of the biggest days in the club's history and great personal sacrifices are being made by thousands of fans to attend. The club would do well to treat them with the dignity and respect the occasion demands, and publicly address these points of legitimate concern as soon as possible.

Spot on. Transparency of decisions seems to have been killed off this year.

i would have gone if we’d been’allowed’ on the train ( as per Man City). Few people seem to question these stupid restrictions. Baaaaa.

[enmac]

I read on twitter the coach costs £45. Is that correct? If so, why? 

[Voll Blau]

6 hours ago, enmac said:

I read on twitter the coach costs £45. Is that correct? If so, why? 

Apparently "subsidised" too!

[filthyfox]

We are gonna get BATTERED!

[Leicester_Loyal]

Only just seen this thread.

 

I am proper pissed off with this announcement, I was told under no circumstances would anyone from an LE postcode be able to attend the game unless they were on the coach, yet now I know plenty of people doing it. My group has now been split up and what should be a memorable day with all my mates is now going to be spent with 2 of them on a coach before being ushered straight into the ground.

 

The club has openly lied to us, but I seem to be one of very few that isn't happy, maybe I should just be grateful I got a ticket, but it's left a really sour taste in my mouth.

 

All those 'missing' tickets have gone to the bus stewards and their 'guest' btw, who I believe are LCFC workers (not necessarily ticket office workers) who are helping out for the day.

 

Fair play to the Union FS on this.

[SemperEadem]

Huge amount of transparency lacking on the clubs part.

[Thefox81]

Needs looking into and pressing the club re missing tickets and having to get the coach.

[SemperEadem]

Henry Winter has talked about this on his twitter just now.

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

4 hours ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

Only just seen this thread.

 

I am proper pissed off with this announcement, I was told under no circumstances would anyone from an LE postcode be able to attend the game unless they were on the coach, yet now I know plenty of people doing it. My group has now been split up and what should be a memorable day with all my mates is now going to be spent with 2 of them on a coach before being ushered straight into the ground.

 

The club has openly lied to us, but I seem to be one of very few that isn't happy, maybe I should just be grateful I got a ticket, but it's left a really sour taste in my mouth.

 

All those 'missing' tickets have gone to the bus stewards and their 'guest' btw, who I believe are LCFC workers (not necessarily ticket office workers) who are helping out for the day.

 

Fair play to the Union FS on this.

So the club has a thousand people helping out for the day? Or have I got this wrong?

 

If this is correct I should imagine quite a few made their way to players hands to distribute to their friends and family. 
 

With all the usual nonsense about corporate allocations being just under half, it’s a reminder - if we needed it - that football pays lip service to supporters.

[yorkie1999]

4 minutes ago, Wasyls Pec Deck said:

So the club has a thousand people helping out for the day? Or have I got this wrong?

 

If this is correct I should imagine quite a few made their way to players hands to distribute to their friends and family. 
 

With all the usual nonsense about corporate allocations being just under half, it’s a reminder - if we needed it - that football pays lip service to supporters.

And you can bet your life they won't be travelling on a bus

[Pliskin]

So, if you drive down how will they know? It’s a bit of a joke that we have to go on a bus..... still trying to get my head around it..... I’m thinking of just driving.... what can they do? 

[Vlad the Fox]

18 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

So, if you drive down how will they know? It’s a bit of a joke that we have to go on a bus..... still trying to get my head around it..... I’m thinking of just driving.... what can they do? 

Slash your tyres, it’s what the 1000 workers are doing there. 

[Leicester_Loyal]

40 minutes ago, Wasyls Pec Deck said:

So the club has a thousand people helping out for the day? Or have I got this wrong?

 

If this is correct I should imagine quite a few made their way to players hands to distribute to their friends and family. 
 

With all the usual nonsense about corporate allocations being just under half, it’s a reminder - if we needed it - that football pays lip service to supporters.

Don't think there's a thousand. However many buses there is, I dunno say 150? I think there's two bus stewards per bus, possibly there might even be one. But they then get a guest ticket aswell.

[foxinsocks]

I presume the coaches are expensive coz they are only half full.  It would coats me more that £45 to drive to wembley and park - so not that disadvantaged by this weird rule.

 

Surely it was always clear they would run out of busses?

 

I still think the club hid behind the away ticketing rules - when they were not appropriate... and discriminated against loyal ST holders - who may have had an ST for 40 years etc

 

NB: these same rules means that the age of away supporters is going up - as youngsters are locked out.

[Union FS]

This morning we have written to the Communications Director of LCFC regarding yesterday's statement on FA Cup final tickets and travel arrangements. We will publish any response or lack thereof in the coming days.

[Costock_Fox]

Fair play for this. The amount of people defending the club in all of this is crazy. 
 

Some people just don’t get it

[UniFox21]

2 minutes ago, Costock_Fox said:

Fair play for this. The amount of people defending the club in all of this is crazy. 
 

Some people just don’t get it

Tbf, I've been in two minds in a lot of this. Some of the complaints I've seen have been frankly pathetic. 

 

But, I can't argue here. There's been no transparency with certain decisions. I'm fine to take the coach if they simply told us that the coach travel was part of the testing event. To drop the mandatory coach due to what I can only imagine was a lack of coaches was poor. 

 

Thankful that UFS have challenged this with a strong statement, rather than the Foxes Trust tiptoeing around the subject. 

[singh85]

i brought my ticket on day one of release along with coach ticket.  i then had to wait until friday to purchase a ticket for my nefew as he doesnt have as many points.  i got him a ticket but there was no coaches available for him to go on.  hes under 18 and when i spoke to the club they said i couldnt cancel my travel and had to go on coach and my nefew under 18 would need to make his own way there.  what an absolute joke!  the only thing they have said is to wait until thursday to see if any people who test positive for covid cancel their travel ticket so i can purchase the ticket then for him.  but no guarantee. absolute joke this is.

[SemperEadem]

Just now, singh85 said:

i brought my ticket on day one of release along with coach ticket.  i then had to wait until friday to purchase a ticket for my nefew as he doesnt have as many points.  i got him a ticket but there was no coaches available for him to go on.  hes under 18 and when i spoke to the club they said i couldnt cancel my travel and had to go on coach and my nefew under 18 would need to make his own way there.  what an absolute joke!  the only thing they have said is to wait until thursday to see if any people who test positive for covid cancel their travel ticket so i can purchase the ticket then for him.  but no guarantee. absolute joke this is.

Yeah that is well rough.

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/leicester-city-regret-fans-frustration-5390921

 

Leicester City 'regret' fans' frustration over FA Cup final travel as allocation sells out
City supporters have been left angered by the travel arrangements, with many believing they had to pay £45 for a coach only for some fans to be allowed to travel by their own means

ByJordan Blackwell
13:58, 8 MAY 2021UPDATED15:11, 8 MAY 2021

Leicester City have admitted to “regrets” over the ticketing process for the FA Cup final after the club’s allocation sold out.

City announced on Saturday lunchtime that all 6,250 of their seats at Wembley had been bought by supporters in anticipation of the club taking on Chelsea in what is their first final in the competition since 1969.

However, City also said they acknowledge that fans may have been left frustrated by the travel arrangements.

Initially, the club said every fan with an LE postcode was obliged to book a spot on an official club coach at the cost of £45, otherwise they would be barred entry to Wembley.

But with the club underestimating the number of supporters who would be travelling from Leicester, the final 233 fans with LE postcodes to buy tickets do not have to take the coach, and are free to get to the game by their own means.

This has prompted anger among fans told they needed to take a coach to London next Saturday, given the hefty price, which the club say has been heavily subsidised.

As a pilot event, the government outlined certain criteria that needs to be followed, which included a quota of supporters travelling by coach.

This was a figure set by the government and applied to Leicester-based residents to test travel capacities and logistics in what is the final test event before stadiums open at quarter-capacity.

However, in their initial announcement, the club did not say there was a quota they needed to fill, but rather that all fans with LE postcodes were required to take the coach. That lack of transparency has caused frustration.

It's understood the club were looking to avoid a stand-off whereby fans waited to buy their tickets so they didn't have to travel by coach.

On Friday night, fan group Union FS released a statement in which they outlined their “serious concern” about the way the ticketing process and travel arrangements had been handled by the club.

On Saturday, the club said in its announcement: “Unfortunately, the club’s projections underestimated the precise number of supporters with LE postcodes who would secure tickets through the sequential priority periods. This meant that the government’s required level of coach capacity (and the level of coach capacity which the club had booked) was filled shortly before sales closed, resulting in 233 tickets being sold during the final stages to supporters with LE postcodes for whom the ticketing system defaulted to other methods of transport.

“Leicester City regrets that some LE-based supporters who were required to book onto coaches may have been frustrated that they were not presented with other travel options. The club has acted in good faith throughout the sales process, working extensively with the FA and DCMS to ensure compliance with the ERP (Events Research Programme) requirements, and significantly subsidising the cost to supporters of mandated coach travel.

“The club is grateful to supporters for their cooperation and support in respect of the government’s ERP requirements. Supporters are reminded that they must travel to the final using the method of transport designated during their ticket purchase, to ensure that all match tickets are correctly validated for admittance to Wembley Stadium.”

[foxinsocks]

I am curious about the ticket allocation given to Leicester city and how many were sold through the ticket office or website?  (where did the others go to? - clearly there will be staff and players and families =- but how many?) - shame the mercury didn't look at it.

 

I remain convinced that the way priority points system worked to exclude younger fans form away game and is leading to an aging away fan base.

 

The fa cop final is not an away game ( it is at a neutral venue) - the club not have hidden behind the away ticketing rules - as these exclude longer term ST holders who have paid to see 20 games year in year out.  

 

very poor of the club.

Edited 8 May 2021 by foxinsocks

[foxinsocks]

 X

Edited 8 May 2021 by foxinsocks

[Costock_Fox]

1 hour ago, singh85 said:

i brought my ticket on day one of release along with coach ticket.  i then had to wait until friday to purchase a ticket for my nefew as he doesnt have as many points.  i got him a ticket but there was no coaches available for him to go on.  hes under 18 and when i spoke to the club they said i couldnt cancel my travel and had to go on coach and my nefew under 18 would need to make his own way there.  what an absolute joke!  the only thing they have said is to wait until thursday to see if any people who test positive for covid cancel their travel ticket so i can purchase the ticket then for him.  but no guarantee. absolute joke this is.

Ridiculous, especially when others don’t want to travel by coach so are trying to cancel.

 

Hopefully you get it sorted it mate.