'Red Issues' updated by Peter Talbot

Last updated : 02 April 2002 By Peter Talbot, Red Issues

Anyone who has gone to the Anfield Ticket Office this season will have noticed that when you buy your tickets, you are also asked for your name and address. Needless to say this adds to the time you have to wait and creates a few moans amongst the fans queuing. Last season you could just queue up, ask for your tickets, pay for them, and off you go. But the little added time to give your name and address is in the best interest of the loyal fan.

And about time too!

If only Shanks was around to organise things

Remember the ridiculously long queues stretching right the way around the stadium for the Barcelona match? Granted, it was the biggest home match of the season and there is bound to be a greater demand than usual. The problem was, the tickets were on general sale, which meant that anyone could queue and buy one.

Imagine some bloke reading the paper the night before the tickets go on sale. He likes football but he's not really that bothered, he doesn't really follow anyone and he hasn't been to a game for years. One of those people who support Liverpool AND Everton, because he likes them both to win, "cos it's good for the city." His girlfriend is going out with her mates that night so he has nothing to do. He sees the tickets are on sale so he goes down and buys one because he has nothing else to do.

Meanwhile, a die-hard Liverpool fan who hasn't missed a match in years is stuck in work and can't get to the ground till the following day. The tickets sell-out and he is left without a ticket.

One bloke who really couldn't care if Liverpool win or not gets a ticket whilst the other will have to make do with watching it on TV. You would have to ask, is the system fair?

There was a similar problem with the distribution of the FA Cup final tickets last year. Priority, as always, was given to season ticket holders. OK, fair enough, they do pay £400 odd quid a year to guarantee their tickets for each home Premiership game, and rightfully so they should be given priority as loyal fans.

But what happens when there aren't enough tickets to go around for all season ticket holders, like the situation Liverpool were faced with for the FA Cup final? The men upstairs decided that it depended on what number your serial number ended in. Not how many extra games you'd been to. No priority was given to those who had forked out £45 for a semi-final ticket against Wycombe Wanderers. None was given to those who had bothered to support the club in the third round against Rotherham.

No, at the end of the day you could have gone to none of the previous rounds, but managed to qualify for a final ticket because your season ticket serial number ended in the relevant number.

Something had to be done.

Fortunately, the men upstairs took action. By giving your name and address in when you purchase tickets now, the club know exactly how many games you attend. The club is planning a loyalty scheme to be introduced next season to reward loyal fans to attend the not so glamour fixtures against the likes of Rotherham and Wycombe.

To qualify for a Bayer Leverkusen ticket, you must produce a match stub from the Roma and Dortmund matches.

In other words, if you want to go to the big games in the later stages of the competitions, you are expected to support the club in the lesser games too.

Anfield was not even close to being full against Boavista or Dynamo Kiev this season. Perhaps fans might think twice next season about giving the lesser games a miss - they might end up disappointed later.