EXCLUSIVE: Senior Manchester City board member told club officials of ‘no increase to ticket prices’ EIGHT years ago | OneFootball

A high-ranking Manchester City official told an internal club meeting eight years ago that there should be no further price increases to general admission tickets, City Xtra can reveal.

The staggering revelation comes as supporters have accused club decision makers of being “tone deaf” after the Premier League champions announced a new global partnership with third-party ticket resale platform, Viagogo.

Concerns among Manchester City supporters have since grown surrounding hospitality tickets within the Etihad Stadium potentially being sold to away fans, and that standard tickets could be sold at inflated prices through the club’s ninth official ticket resale partner.

Those concerns have largely stemmed from multiple cases throughout the course of the ongoing season when opposition fans in home areas of Etihad Stadium led to the club banning 165 ticketing accounts for touting, with 354 suspended and 223 being ‘closely monitored’.

In the first example of on-the-ground action and protest against the latest deal struck by the club, it is believed that thousands of Manchester City fans will stay on the concourses at the Etihad Stadium until the 9th minute against Leicester City this week.

That comes in direct reference to City officials signing off on Viagogo becoming the ninth ticket resale partner, while it is also expected that hundreds more supporters will join a peaceful demo outside of the Colin Bell stand from 7PM on Wednesday night.

Furthermore, it has since been revealed that Manchester City are also yet to respond to an open letter signed by seven supporter groups on ticket pricing seven weeks ago, while the Viagogo deal comes with the club yet to confirm season ticket prices for next season.

In direct response, representatives of the club’s fan advisory board City Matters have gone on strike for several weeks after the club did not engage in discussions about season ticket prices, while an extraordinary meeting has now been scheduled for Thursday, 3 April.

However, while anguish continues to grow as supporters groups and the club prepare to clash in a meeting later this week, fresh information has surfaced which indicates a dramatic change in direction and the opposing views from within the club’s senior leadership.

In a document seen by City Xtra, Manchester City’s chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak told an internal club meeting in September/October 2017 ‘there should no be increase in GA (general admission) ticket prices going forward as fans’ tolerance limit had been reached‘.

When the meeting discussed the need for a ‘more dynamic‘ ticketing system, chief executive officer Ferran Soriano pointed towards a ‘comprehensive analysis‘ completed in recent months with a decision taken to change the system, the aforementioned senior member stood their ground on general admission ticket prices.

The same document quotes Khaldoon Al Mubarak as saying, ‘There could be no increase in general admission ticket prices going forward as fans’ tolerance limit had been reached. Any price increases would have to be confined to premium seating‘.

Once more, the document seen by City Xtra indicates a clear awareness from the club’s chairman that Manchester City supporters are being hit by price increases and unfairly, further emphasised by his comments in June 2024.

“We’re talking very closely to fans to make sure we’re able to strike that balance in an appropriate way. It’s a balance. I recognise some obviously are not satisfied on the pricing. We have to find solutions,” Al Mubarak told Manchester City’s official club website.

Those comments then followed a season ticket renewal period in which the club were criticised by supporters, and a renewal period which Pep Guardiola himself said that he “absolutely” understood the frustration.

Speaking for the first time since plans for a protest outside and within the Etihad Stadium had surfaced this week, Pep Guardiola was quizzed during his press conference on the seemingly ‘growing divide’ between Manchester City’s local and so-called ‘tourist’ fans.

“The only thing I know is they have a meeting and this has to be talked. This is a club that depends on our fans, since Maine Road, a long, long time ago,” Guardiola told reporters on Tuesday afternoon.

“Clubs belong to people, and when people aren’t in agreement – the same when they applaud when we won what we won, and when they boo because they’re unsatisfied with performance. Imagine going to the stadium with no fans? It wouldn’t make sense. Or nobody watches on TV,” he continued.

“They can legitimately express concerns and feelings and the club is open to listen and try arrive in an agreement that everybody can be satisfied. “The only thing I can say: I NEED THEM! WE NEED THEM!

“We need the fans close to games and support, and in bad moments be there because we’re playing for a lot. But who am I to say don’t be in agreement with people who can express what they want. I can have my opinion, but that is irrelevant.”

For now, it remains to be seen whether Manchester City’s ticket pricing and strategy surrounding season tickets is a flexible scenario, or whether plans are concrete and this week’s expected meeting between club and supporters is merely an explanation of any intent.