So, its finally happened. I’ve got no tickets for any league games this season. None for the first half of the season in the ballot, and none in the second.
I’m number 20,000 odd in the queue. It’s a little difficult to take in. I’ve been to hundreds of games since I started going aged 14 in 1978. I’ve written articles about how it used to be; I’d get the 68 bus to the ground, and take a fiver which covered my bus fares, entry into the Kop (90p), my programme and a pie dinner on the way home.
I went to Manchester University to study medicine. I felt had to leave home (or more particularly my parental home) in Liverpool but I needed to go somewhere close so I could get back for the game.
It worked out really well. I never missed a home game. I even went to Heysel the day before my 3rd year medical exams and risked failing. I’ve told that particular story elsewhere.
I worked as a doctor for a while firstly in Jersey, and then Australia. I was offered lucrative jobs in both, but my call was to come back home. There were two main reasons; my beloved NHS, and my team.
Folk outside our football bubble don’t quite get it. It’s not just a bunch of lads kicking a footy around. Those who support other teams don’t get it either. We’re not just a team. We’re a family, my family. I belong. I belong at Anfield, singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ before kick off. Not only with my football family, but my own family. It’s been my thing with my two lads that I’ve cherished. Standing together whether it be at Anfield against Barca, at Wembley, even in Paris suffering together at the hands of the French police.
Apparently I’m a ‘legacy’ supporter. An old bloke who doesn’t feel we should be paying 50 quid for tickets and certainly not a grand for internet tickets that the club appears not to have a problem with (I tweeted a picture yesterday showing a site that has over 600 tickets for the Man City game for sale).
I got a bit of stick last night when I mentioned my perceived issue with those paying a fortune for tickets, especially for the term ‘tourists’. I was in no way having a go at those who travel miles to see the boys in red. They come from far and wide; those from Ireland, Scandinavia and various parts of the UK. We’re a global club now, and I love the supporters that travel for hours to get to their beloved Anfield. I was thinking more of those getting selfies in half and half scarves with the Kop in the background during the game, only stopping filming the game to get their photographed memory, but no idea of the songs we sing.
‘Hospitality’ is another one. I’ve paid twice for me and my lads, both European games (Dortmund and Villareal) £400 each for a ticket, a rubbish meal at the Hilton and John Aldridge fielding questions for 10 minutes. Expensive, but worked out well in the end as they got us credits for the Euro auto-scheme.
What a total rip off though. Everything’s about money now. It shouldn’t be. TV money brings far more in and look at the cheaper German model.
We’re being ripped off for expensive memberships every year in the faint hope of getting tickets. I don’t want a new rubbish scarf each year, or a member’s key ring. I want to sing YNWA from the Kop with my lads. I want to be sat with my extended Liverpool family and enjoy their amazing company. I want to chat about the current team while waxing lyrical about the likes of Dalglish and Rush, whom I saw first hand week in, week out. I want to tell folk what the Kop was like back in the day, feet off the floor while my body moved around on a wave of humanity and emotion.
I feel that finally our club’s greed has driven me, and so many like me, away from seeing our team live. They’d rather have money pouring in and they care not where from. We love our club; they know that and totally take it for granted, sitting in the directors’ box singing YNWA. They’ve got absolutely no idea what it means.
I’m off to switch the TV on. I’ve got a football armchair now. A ‘legacy’ supporter indeed.
Jürgen Klopp bemoaned the atmosphere, or more exactly the lack of it, recently. He should have a word with Mr Henry. Atmosphere doesn’t create income, so he sold it to the highest bidders.
If you like Dr Andy Hershon’s writing, check out his book – 15 Minutes With You: Tips on Medical Consulation and Other Musings
