Football Programmes Centre

farmersboy · Joined: 25 Jul 2010 Posts: 131 Location: Northampton

I like to start my day by perusing e-bay in case any of the handful of Pompey friendlies that I need to complete my collection, are listed. I also look at the previous days sales. This morning there were 2 2008 cup final tickets that had sold for £30, unused! Who on earth had 2 tickets but didn't go? Couldn't they have found someone to use them?

Not living in Portsmouth, I was way down the list for tickets, but 1500 went on general sale, starting at 6.00am. I rang constantly, re-dialling after every engaged signal, I had a fans forum up on my computer, people were constantly posting that they had got their tickets. Eventually, the message came on that all tickets had been sold. Later, when I got my phone bill, there were 78 re-dials on it.

I used to dream of watching Pompey at Wembley as a kid, I didn't manage to get to either final, but I did go to the Community Shield, semi-final against Spurs and Checkatrade, so luckier than many, but the first cup final in living memory, that would have been something.

Kvaratschelia · Joined: 20 Aug 2010 Posts: 49

It's maybe not as bad as you think. Tickets for hospitality (these were Club Wembley) are often not checked in the same way as you would have at a turnstile.

Also, at any football match there are always unused tickets left over - seats that had to be withdrawn or kept back for segregation, and match organisers always keep back a small number for emergencies. Usually these would be shredded after the match but (having worked in football) I know it is easy for some of them to be snaffled as souvenirs.

GrestytheLion · Joined: 18 Jun 2014 Posts: 203

When I worked in the office for the company I worked for, my mate went on secondment for a few weeks into another area. On the Monday the guy who ran the department said they had two tickets, corporate for that year's FA CUP final, whoever was first to ask could have them.
On Friday as my mate left the office he picked them up and took them as no-one had wanted them. Needless to say there were over 100 people in that office and he went to the game with his son. As he said later, when we were kids, everyone wanted to go to the final, how much has changed.