As my girlfriend said to me the other day after the problems ive recieved with the ticket office in the past, and once again trying to get my Cup Final tickets, ‘the staff in the ticket office couldnt run a p*ss up (excuse my language) in a brewery let alone organise the best way to sell 31,000 tickets for Wembley’.
And lets be quite honest, despite my love for my club, the managaer and even the chairman, one of the problems Villa have always had is the running of the ticket office.
I will give credit to Nikky Keye (manager of the ticket office), who phoned me very swiftly after i made my complaint and fingers crossed everything is sorted now.
But first we have problems with how the tickets were being sold online, including all the best tickets going so quickly, the fact people would sit on there for hours only to get errors, then the club stopped selling online.
Then ive heard and experienced broken promise’s and lies from staff at the club.
And then this morning i read a article on a website called The Stirrer stating that young youth defender Nathan Baker was caught trying to sell his 10 free tickets (that all players recieve) on facebook for sums of around £200.
The 18 year old is currently on loan at Lincoln, but will now not be aloud to attend the match.
In a statement, a spokesman said: “The Club is saddened that Nathan has been so foolish. All of the players were made aware that tickets for the Carling Cup final are available for their own use only and, following this incident, the message has been repeated to them.
“It shouldn’t be forgotten, however, that Nathan is just 18 years old and he has a lot to learn. His actions were naive and he is extremely embarrassed and regretful at having let down himself, the Club and Aston Villa fans.
“Any tickets that have been given or sold to players are for the use of their friends and family only. The Club has made it clear that no employee may resell any tickets which they have been given.
“All of the Club’s players have been informed that they are not entitled to re-sell any tickets which they have been given or sold and that the Club will take appropriate action if they do so.
“Nathan said, “I wish to apologise unreservedly to the fans for my actions. I appreciate that it is a privilege to be part of Aston Villa Football Club and one day I hope to play in the first team, but I understand that my behaviour off the pitch must speak as loudly as my actions on the pitch.
“I have been informed by the Club that I will no longer be receiving any tickets for the Carling Cup final and, while I will be sorry not to be able to cheer Aston Villa on at Wembley, I understand and appreciate that it would be inappropriate for me to have these tickets given my actions.”
And people moan that us fans are ungrateful? I think you will find we just believe we have rights, after all we do play most of the staff’s wages at Villa Park.
