Why Manchester City fans should stage protest ‘walk out’

Manchester City are currently taking a lot of criticism from their own supporters over ticket prices. As I wrote for Yahoo last week, the club have announced that the admission fee for the Champions League quarterfinal home tie against Paris Saint Germain will range between £45-£60.

Fans of the club have been left incensed by City’s apparent attempt to milk them for as much of their hard earned cash as possible. It is a grievance that I share. There have been several suggested protests. The 1894 Group, a prominent City supporter group, has announced that there will be protest banners at the Premier League match against West Brom. In my opinion, a ‘walk out’ similar to that carried out by Liverpool supporters at Anfield recently would be far more effective. Here is why I would I support, participate in and encourage a walk-out at an upcoming match.

It has to be nipped in the bud

Well, it seems we’re already a little late for this one to be honest, but we can still have an impact now before things get worse. Consider this; the maximum ticket price for the game against Dynamo Kiev was £40. The maximum price of £60 for the next round represents a 50% price increase.

That is staggering. In the interest of presenting a balanced argument I should mention that, according to the 1894 Group, a minority of City fans that they spoke to were actually fine with the increase. To those supporters I ask, though you are fine with the price, do you really find a 50% price jump between rounds acceptable? Imagine, by some miracle, City progress past PSG and into the Champions League semi-final. A further price hike at the same percentage would result in a top price ticket of £90.

I obviously don’t know what City’s price structure for such a game would be and that is purely conjecture on my part, but it’s worth a moments thought. You may be fine with the price now, but where do you draw the line? Acting now is the only way to stop the club pushing it even further.

We do not owe the club anything

This is important. From the comments and tweets I’ve seen from that minority that support the price hike, there is a common theme that runs through them all; they come from supporters who seem to view themselves as servants of the club. It is, to me, a baffling attitude. One prominent City fan and social media user opined that he would not back a walk out because he felt that the team needed the fans more than ever.

This hints at a strange attitude, the idea that it is our privilege to be able to pay to watch our clubs. Like any City fan, or indeed any football supporter on this planet, I love my club dearly. For the last 20 years they have occupied my thoughts in my free-time, they are usually the first thing I want to talk about with my friends, they make me happy and they infuriate me in equal measure. I fully understand that indescribable, deep-rooted love that a supporter feels for their football club because it has gripped me for my whole life.

However, for all that, for the many pounds – as well as emotions – spent following City, I am aware of one thing; it is not just my privilege to be able to pay to watch them, it is the club’s privilege to have a supporter base that will turn up and part with their cash to follow this team.

We might not like to think it but, as City fans, we are customers of Manchester City. As such, we do not owe them anything. It is not their right to expect us to turn up regardless of the impact on our personal finances, nor should we feel the burden to do so. Within reason, the club should be the servant of the fanbase, not the other way round. You don’t need to worry about abandoning a club that has already abandoned you.

It isn’t ‘just the way things are’

We have been conditioned to believe that £40, £50 or even £60 is just the going rate to watch a team achieving any level of success in the Champions League. It goes with the territory and many clubs are more expensive than City. That doesn’t mean that we just have to accept that this.

Football supporters, as a group, do not realise their power. Ticket prices are dictated by what people are willing to pay. A walk out that left the stadium as good as empty would look terrible. It would force a level of pressure onto the club that they could not ignore; Liverpool fans used it as a tool to protest against their club’s proposed ticket price increase and the club backed down immediately.

The price will only continue at the current level if we continue to pay it and fill the stadium. We have the power to force the club’s hand and force the conversation. Nobody is asking for a hand out here, but it is clear that the club have pushed things too far and many fans are at breaking point.

So why a walk out?

Banners will look good inside the stadium but, beyond that, they will have no lasting impact. However, a coordinated early exit will leave the stadium looking empty and that will come across on TV and be seen worldwide. It will be visually striking and, symbolically, what can possibly hurt the club more than people literally walking away from them?

The players would hate seeing it happen around them whilst they try to play, the board would be embarrassed and the TV companies will not stand for an empty stadium. Televised matches look better and appear more atmospheric; it is an important part of the brand that the big TV companies market and you can bet that if they sensed the club were damaging that brand with unreasonable ticket prices, they would put pressure on them to change things.

So that’s why I back a walk out at an upcoming game. It appears that, due to the 1894 Group opting for protest banners instead, my preferred protest will have to wait. Hopefully the club see sense and reason before such a measure is required but, if they don’t, I hope that many thousands will see it the same as me.