City fans have claimed they felt unsafe in their own stadium(Image: Getty ). Manchester City fans have reported feeling unsafe in their own stadium after multiple incidents this season of away supporters buying tickets in home sections, with Blues threatening to stay away from big European nights.. Last week’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid saw the issue come to a head, with widespread reports of Spanish fans all over the Etihad Stadium, while other incidents have been reported in fixtures against Feyenoord, Club Brugge and Manchester United.. Fans recently sent an open letter to City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak raising concerns over ticket price increases, season card availability, and next season’s prices – asking for a freeze.. The official City Fan Advisory Board, City Matters, has voiced concerns over incidents at the Real Madrid game and other home matches this season, and some City fans have posted videos of vocal Real Madrid supporters in home sections, which in some cases prompted scenes of violence.. One viral video appeared to show a fan wearing Real Madrid colours having his hair cut inside the stadium with electric hair clippers, while other reports came in of fans turning up to their purchased seats to find Real Madrid fans sat in those seats with valid tickets of their own from resale websites. Angry confrontations were reported inside and outside the stadium as locals took exception to the vocal support for the visitors.. City insist they have taken the matter seriously, looking into exactly how so many away supporters were allowed to gain access to the home areas. The club’s Ticket Compliance and Safety and Security departments work before each game to identify any potential away ticketholders.. City take a strong approach to any fans breaching the terms of their tickets and any fans who are evidently not City supporters will have their ticket cancelled and handed bans – as will any City season ticket holder found to be in breach of their terms.. A meeting with City Matters this week is believed to have focused heavily on the issue, prompted by a letter written to the club by City Matters chair Alex Howell.. He wrote last week: “There were countless incidents of non-Manchester City fans sat in home areas. Many were ejected from their seats by stewards. Others were celebrating a Madrid victory following full-time.. “There is an important caveat to note that not all non-Mancunians are non-City supporters or tourists. However it is undeniable there were non-City fans in attendance. I have seen one supporter describe it as feeling like an ‘imposter in my own stadium’. It is undoubtedly a security risk, too, without condoning the behaviour of anyone involved in a physical altercation.”. The letter went on to link the incidents to ‘wider concerns about ticketing policies’ and the increasing prices for attending games at the Etihad. Fans have also made the point that the Madrid incidents were the latest in a long line of frustrations, from increasing prices, issues with criteria for high-profile games, and examples of small groups of fans at City away games clearly wearing colours of other clubs.. The 1894 Fan group have raised the issue with Greater Manchester Police, and added: “We have had feedback from fans all season saying it is a clear safety matter. There have been instances of trouble and what we saw against Real Madrid was huge chunks of non-City fans taking up rows and rows of seats in the home sections. It isn’t just individual fans selling tickets back to third party websites. We fear a large number of tickets are bypassing normal sales criteria and going straight to third-party websites.. “One reason there are so many tickets on there is fans have dropped out of cup schemes in large numbers to economise and keep going to matches in the Premier League. The root cause is ticket prices generally, we’ve asked for a two-year freeze, restoration of season tickets. Liverpool have just frozen season ticket and matchday prices, so what are they waiting for? If our competitors are freezing prices, why have City not done the same?. “Once fans drop off they find it difficult to come back. If it keeps happening, they won’t bother coming back any more. City fans are telling us they don’t feel like it is their own ground any more. It was supposed to be a home advantage but it did not feel like that.”. As Champions League games are not part of a standard season ticket, fans either have to sign up for the UEFA Competition Cup scheme which automatically secures their seat at an extra cost per game, or purchase a ticket depending on the criteria for tickets set out by the club for each game.. That allows the opportunity for City to re-sell more tickets for European games, often resulting in more fans who don’t attend regularly. And it is on these fixtures where tickets sold on third-party platforms are naturally more common.. In Premier League games, fans can exchange their tickets for a limited number of games per season, getting a guaranteed refund and their ticket is then resold through the Ticket Exchange.. But fans are growing frustrated that those tickets are being listed for much higher prices – either through the exchange or on third-party sites.. City fans have to go through checks to get tickets for games, and on Champions League nights the chances of getting additional seats for friends and family next to them are remote. Yet it is unclear how it is ensured that anyone buying from third-party sites supports City and not their opponents for that game or somebody completely different.. Illegal ticket sites are one issue but it should be noted that the club have eight authorised selling partners listed on their website, and there prices can rocket; tickets were being advertised in 93:20 in the East Stand against Liverpool for over £200 days before the game, and while some sites offer token warnings that supporting the away team or wearing their colours could see you denied entry to the stadium or ejected from it, others do not even do that.. It is unclear how many tickets go to these official sellers for each game, who is responsible for the pricing, and how much City get from each sale but the prices are way beyond what supporters are charged directly. The club do not have to disclose any of this information and declined to offer specifics when asked by the Manchester Evening News.. Every club in football wants to maximise matchday revenue and City are entitled to tap into the growing appetite from tourists to watch the Blues, but with so little transparency around even the official third-party sites and only warnings that wearing away colours or cheering for the other team could see them denied access to or ejected from the stadium, it is not hard to see how the extra money gained from these deals can come at the cost of atmosphere and safety.. The situation for the home game against Real Madrid, where there were visible pockets of away fans in the home sections despite the away end not being close to selling out, brought flashpoints as some Blues angrily clashed with away fans when they became aware of it.. What made it worse was that supporters do not know how to clamp down on it happening again in other big games, such as Liverpool on Sunday – an opponent where there has often been trouble in the stands in recent years and a team who are chasing the Premier League title at the home of their north-west rivals.. The numbers involved for the Real game means it is unrealistic to think the problem lies solely with Blues who managed to find a way around the ticketing system and sold their seat on unofficially, but there is no clarity with official channels. City fans who give their tickets back to the club have no idea where it is resold, and at what price.. With more and more fans threatening to stay away from future Champions League fixtures over the issue, it is hard to see how it improves. At the very least, the club have opened dialogue this week which should spark some overdue attention on the issue.. Article continues below. City fans want, and will ultimately need, more than words though if they are to escape the feeling that the ticketing policies are harming the atmosphere at the Etihad. As the stadium becomes less noisy on a matchday, more and more supporters are raising their voices to address the issues.
