Fans don’t accept the National League’s ‘apology’ as another statement is issued on this week’s playoff final between Solihull and Grimsby.
Adult tickets for the game were priced at a minimum of £40 and concessions at £20, with no additional offers for child or OAP fans. This was more expensive that costs for tickets at this year’s Championship playoff final, yet the National League said ticket’s for their final was less that what they’ve issued in previous seasons.
Title sponsors for the league, Vanarama, pledge to give £20,000 to both the playoff finalists, after the backlash to the pricing of tickets for the showpiece at the London Stadium.
This comes after they had raised the same amount through a Mariners Trust fundraiser which will pay for around 1,000 concessions tickets for families unable to afford tickets on their own.
National League Statement: Promotion Final
👉 https://t.co/X930yuCO54 pic.twitter.com/izrq8969re
— The National League (@TheVanaramaNL) June 1, 2022
THE STATEMENT
In light of recent discussion regarding Sunday’s Promotion Final, The National League would like to provide the following background information.
At the National League the staff and management are acutely aware of the current financial challenges facing fans across the country and equally recognise that without the fans the game doesn’t exist.
We don’t always get everything right, but we make every decision in the best interest of our clubs and the competition and we hope that fans will understand the challenge of balancing, securing a showpiece venue and the consequent costs involved with doing that. While we were able to keep the base price tickets lower than last season and that of Under 16’s, we do acknowledge that there is a premium on the higher ticket prices and that the lower priced tickets sold out quickly.
By way of background it was in the spirit of creating a showpiece occasion, befitting a Promotion Final, that we undertook a search for a venue, that began back in October, and the challenge we faced was finding a suitable stadium that wasn’t undergoing a pitch renovation as soon as the current football season had ended, more complicated this year than usual as there will be an earlier start to next season because of the timing of the World Cup.
Both the clubs and fans deserve a memorable final after what has been a fantastic season. We enjoyed an incredible day in Bristol last season and at Wembley in previous years. The competition this year has seen many teams with large followings compete for a place in the play-offs. This meant we needed a stadium that was also capable of providing the capacity to cope with the anticipated high demand for tickets. We didn’t want to disappoint the fans with a lack of available seats.
The London Stadium has shown this season in particular what a special atmosphere it can create for big games. West Ham’s Europa League exploits are a strong reference point to this. It is a stadium with world class facilities, and we believe it’ll stage a brilliant final on Sunday.
Our main goal at The National League is to administrate and deliver income to our member clubs and any proceeds generated from the final and all other commercial activity will go to our clubs. To be clear, The National League will not be taking any profits from Sunday’s final – 100% of the proceeds will go back to our member clubs.
We’re passionate about what we do and we take great pride in the fact that clubs who have joined us from the EFL are able to return there better from being in The National League and likewise that a new breed of clubs proceed through our ranks to challenge the accepted order of the leagues above.
Overall, behind the scenes we are working really hard to generate increasing incomes for our clubs, with the help of fantastic commercial partners like Vanarama and BT Sport.
On that note we have had incredible support from Vanarama who have been actively looking at ways of directly supporting fans in the cost of the final, and The National Lottery who are working with community groups to ensure families and deserving individuals who otherwise would have struggled can get there on the day – with much of the transport costs being covered for this initiative.
If the final is anything like as exciting as the semi-finals and indeed last year’s final, then it should prove to be another memorable occasion. With over 17,000 tickets sold in the first couple of days we are assured of a fantastic atmosphere on Sunday.
We will always listen to clubs and fans to help inform any decisions for future occasions and we always seek to act in the best interests of all parties. Going forward, we want to continue the dialogue with our member clubs and fans to ensure they’re being heard.
– STATEMENT ENDS –
As mentioned, fans don’t accept the National League’s ‘apology’ as another statement is issued on the playoff final…
@GazTrow: Taking a final more than 100miles away from anyone competing in the top 7 is not thinking of the fans
@pforrester12: A boss somewhere has said “right, we best say something because our sponsor has had to put their hands in their pockets”. They then proceeded to write a few paragraphs that actually say nothing about anything and shove it out at 10pm in the hope it goes somewhat unnoticed.
@1864wrexhamafc: @TheVanaramaNL Blah blah blah…. Both Sheffield clubs unavailable? Coventry? Stoke even? Birmingham City.. There are loads of championship clubs much closer.. I’m not buying it.. FOI to see who they approached I reckon! ££££
@2jonkershaw: Why did you only start searching for a venue in October? Were you unaware prior to that of the need to hold a play-off final at the end of the season? What a mess.
@blow_left: And why is it so late? Less games this year as well with 23 teams. By the time a venue was sourced it was clear the teams involved were well north of London as well
@Matt69tomo: Anticipating a big crowd yet you’ve let them remove some of the best seats out the stadium ?
@markbutler1978: There is no point talking about how mindful you are about people’s financial challenges AND then ask for people to have pennies in change from £50 for a game of fifth division football, and for that game to be miles away. You know that.
@blow_left: 1) Why wasn’t a venue sourced much earlier? 2) Why is the final in June? There’s less teams in the National League than the EFL leagues, so their finals didn’t need to be weeks earlier. Should have been a Midlands ground booked much earlier for a date in May
@danbirtless: what a load of waffle for no action taken to reimburse
@iamdidge1976: This is absolute nonsense. So many holes in this reactive statement that is issued at best a week too late. The organisation of these play offs, especially the final has been a joke. You have a great league, with a group of historical well supported clubs. Make the most of it
@WxmSimpson: Hastily arranged statement because of pressure from your sponsors & backlash from fans. You’ve said nothing until this point. Bigging up that athletic stadium in East London with the prices it comes with is desperate particularly trying to tie in West Ham’s Europa cup exploits 🙈
@BDavis197: Most waste of time statement in the history of statements.
@JayTeddy13: A fucking essay that says absolutely nothing. Well done.
@Shanegtfc32: Oh piss off!
@BM____7: What’s the point of this statement? 🤣🤣
@tgilly82: This statement just shows how detached the national league board are from reality and understanding of fans views. £40+ for a adult/child ticket just shows contempt for fans.
@playf_6: So basically, we’ve got your money, thanks very much. As for you that can’t afford it, never mind. Awful league
@lifesprettytuff: You’ve literally said loads without saying anything idiots.
@trevhewsongy: You’ve done nowt. Right from the 99p to send an email to the fact that tickets are more expensive than for West Ham fans to no OAP concessions to the god awful timing of the game. You’ve done nowt. Your mealy mouthed statement is akin to shrugging your shoulders at the whole saga
@daniel14f1: Bunch of money-grabbing bastards
@M180_Transfers: Awful lot of words to say nothing. Sneaked out at 9:50pm. Not even an apology. Awful
@SCFC_Blue_Army: Why should money from extortionate ticket prices go back to member clubs? The prize for reaching the final should be an appropriately priced ticket for the fans and not with an additional supplementary mark up to give everyone else a few quid that they haven’t earned the right to
@Carl73Mariner: You cannot fool GTFC fans with bullshit statements. We have had years of experience! 💩
@sam_jeffs: What a load of rubbish. I’m so glad we have managed to get out. Just feel sorry for the rest of the clubs that have to look forward to another year of the league being ran by jokers
@renny_overton: That’s a lot of words for you to say fuck all
@KlinsmannsDive: You’re ripping people off. Both teams are northern therefore I’m sure Anfield or OT would of taken on the show piece. You’re just as bad as the @premierleague and @EFL genuinely it’s all about the ££££
@RJR19824: Someone who wrote this shite is probably on 100k a year. Wankers
@mjws93: ‘Securing a showpiece venue’. It’s an athletics stadium and the pitch is miles away from the stands. It’s a terrible venue.
@Becur24: isn’t it better to have a near full stadium rather than a what will look empty? You couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery!!
@SamMaloneee: Anticipating such a big crowd that the stadium was dismantled 😂 plenty of stadiums from Birmingham to up north with 35k capacity and not doing pitch work…
@JamesRBeattie: Genuinely pathetic. Should get zero fans to that final, but these supporters love their club and will pay ludicrous prices. No shame.
@MikeyMcMahon: Honestly, I think you could have tweeted a picture of some dog shit and it would have been more informative and helpful to the situation… @Vanarama @TheVanaramaNL #gtfc
@OliParky: They keep on saying the tickets are cheaper than last year, when they were the ones that set the even more ridiculous prices last year?? That’s not the achievement you think it is, it doesn’t make this year’s magically more affordable #gtfc
@HungryHatter: Last time I saw a statement that long that said absolutely nothing it included the phrase “and now for the really mad part of the plan”…
@nick021260: Really…..the stuff of fairy tales…written by folks that don’t understand nor care.
“We acknowledge we’re charging too much money but…” https://t.co/RIjeSqMbOs
— All At Sea fanzine (@AllAtSeaFanzine) June 1, 2022
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