Why Manchester City fan groups have planned nine-minute boycott in Leicester City game | OneFootball

Manchester City supporter groups are calling upon fans attending Wednesday’s Premier League match against Leicester City to take a stand against the club’s ticketing policies.

City recently announced a partnership with online marketplace company Viagogo, the latest blow to regular match goers and season ticket holders as the club continue to price local fans out of match tickets by globalising the Etihad Stadium.

Partnerships with ticket resale companies – Viagogo being Manchester City’s ninth ally in the space – has caused unrest amongst regular match goers amidst soaring ticket prices and third party sellers allocating home end seats to away fans paying substantial figures.

Eyebrows were raised when several sections of the Etihad Stadium’s home end saw Real Madrid fans allotted home end seats in February, with a Liverpool fan sitting amongst Manchester City fans beaten up en route to being removed from the stands by stewards later that month.

Starting with a winnable game against Leicester City on Wednesday, Manchester City enter their final nine Premier League fixtures in a bid to secure UEFA Champions League qualification next season.

Ahead of the game, a trio of Manchester City supporter groups – 1894, Trade Union Blues and MCFC Fans Foodbank – have come together to make a plea to attending fans not to take their seats and stay on the concourse in the opening nine minutes of the game against Leicester City.

This boycott is a strong message to the Manchester City board as fans protest against the club’s ticketing policies increasingly pricing out regular match goers of tickets, which has given birth to fan complaints of an increasingly subdued atmosphere in the stadium.

City sealed their place in a record seventh consecutive FA Cup semi-final by coming from behind and claiming a 2-1 win against Bournemouth at the weekend.

The Blues will miss striker Erling Haaland to an ankle injury for the next five to seven weeks, with the 24-year-old spotted in Barcelona on Tuesday to conduct further tests on the issue following a preliminary assessment in Manchester on Monday.

A successful FA Cup campaign and a top four Premier League finish would represent a very decent return in what has largely been a disappointing campaign for Pep Guardiola – judging by the standards his side have set for themselves over the years.