This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. In many ways watching football on TV has become something of an anodyne experience, sanitised and perfunctory. This season City's Champions League gates have again been below their league average. Lyrics. The amount of empty seats at Manchester City, for a league cup semi-final and they are the best team in the league, is astonishing. Even when they're the reigning champions, or hosting the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in a crucial Champions League knockout games, it's easy to spot the turned-up seats around the ground. “Now the determination is the next one, the Carabao Cup second leg to get to the final. Forces covering Liverpool, Everton, Leicester, Newcastle, Brighton and Huddersfield all claimed not to hold the figures. Powered by Minute Media © 2020 All Rights Reserved. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. Clubs often publish the total of number of seats sold, including season tickets, instead of the actual number of fans passing through the turnstiles. However, the Women’s Super League could prove to be an exception as smaller crowds may allow the planning and trialling of crowd management. November's 2-1 home win against Southampton saw an official attendance of 53,407 when in reality only 38,130 fans attended the game. The last live football game I went to was the 2:1 victory over Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley on 1 March 2020. Ilkay Gundogan scored from the resulting penalty and Bernardo Silva added a second. "I was at the Southampton game and I don't think the crowd was only 38,000. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. Police figures show a number of Premier League clubs are attracting crowds well below published attendances. The club's actual average gate was 17,717 - nearly 3,000 seats below its official attendance of 20,319. "It's a catch-22, the Premier League takes the TV money and as a result get to watch world-class players, then it's the TV companies' prerogative to schedule the fixtures as they see fit. We don't need him, that's the truth': Patrice Evra questions why Manchester United... Rangers 2-0 Livingston: Joe Aribo and Jermain Defoe help Steven Gerrard's men go SIX points clear at top of... 'There's a little bit of fragility': Celtic manager Neil Lennon blames his side's confidence-shy defence as... 'What is the alternative view to feeding hungry kids, Guy? He said: “Now we have three days to prepare (to play) against United. MANCHESTER CITY are the butt of a hilarious internet joke, as GOOGLE MAPS mocks their attendances. As of January 18 - when Sun Online lodged a freedom of information request to police forces covering the Premier League's 20 clubs - City's official average attendance was 53,998 but the actual average gate was 46,229. Manchester City's seeming inability to sell out their 55,000-seat home is undeniably one of football fans' favourite long-running gags. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Get our daily Manchester United email newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. Our. I actually think our ticket exchange system and pricing policy is very good and we don't have any more empty seats than other clubs - even if we are sometimes unfairly targeted. October may be the earliest for fans to return to return to Premier League action, once these test events have been completed. MCFC on iTunes. A club spokesman confirmed to The Telegraph on Thursday that a 'small number in the high prices' were still available for the clash - and that an attendance of just 52,000 was recorded for the rearranged home meeting with West Ham. As the self deprecating City song goes, there have been “blue empty seats at home”. In the heat of the moment you make decisions and sometimes you make the wrong ones.”. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. 109-Year-Old Veteran and His Secrets to Life Will Make You Smile | Short Film Showcase - Duration: 12:39. Secondly there is the hope that allowing home fans to use away areas may allow social distancing to occur and ultimately increase the number of fans in the stadium. Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium. Since the Covid pandemic began, matchgoing Manchester City fans have had to be content with watching games on TV. Even the momentous 3-1 win over Barcelona saw a crowd of 44,757 - the published attendance was 53,340. MANCHESTER City have averaged nearly 10,000 empty seats for Premier League games at the Etihad Stadium this season - despite official attendances claiming … Why Manchester United and Liverpool fans can't really laugh at Man City's empty seats. And it is more their lack of European sell-outs that has drawn the mocking of the footballing world. The comments below have not been moderated. View our online Press Pack. MANCHESTER City have averaged nearly 10,000 empty seats for Premier League games at the Etihad Stadium this season - despite official attendances claiming it's virtually full. In Germany there is a clear assumption that away fans will not be permitted at all for three reasons. Published: 08:55 GMT, 21 February 2020 | Updated: 10:17 GMT, 21 February 2020. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates. Manchester City’s commercial clout questionable with nearly 20,000 empty seats at Hong Kong Stadium. Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. Guardiola said: “We always score goals, especially the last three seasons. Sun Online can reveal how Premier League crowds are often a far cry from those published by clubs boasting supposedly bumper attendances. You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies to your comment. Whichever way you look at it, the disruption is likely to continue throughout 2020/21 season and us match going fans may have to continue to wait on the sidelines, hoping to eventually return one day. Quite how Manchester City may start to implement some of these ideas is unclear although there are some announcements expected this week as the Club prepare for the return of the Premier League on 12 September. Build your custom FanSided Daily email newsletter with news and analysis on Manchester City and all your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and more. (Photo by Peter Powell/Pool via Getty Images). Manchester City are said to have attendances 7,500 lower … Take the piss out of us for something, and we'll just take the piss out of ourselves even more. When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. It's been so bad before now that even Sky Sports have trolled them - and fans have been cosy enough to crack out their laptop and get stuck into a game of Football Manager. There was a thread here the other week that there's 2,000 empty seats at Anfield for league games with ticket holders not turning up and the club are looking to do something about it. THERE were thousands of empty seats at the Etihad on Tuesday night as Manchester City took on Bristol City in the Carabao Cup semi-finals. You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. Want an ad-free experience?Subscribe to Independent Premium. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. But the Metropolitan Police - which polices Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, West Ham and Crystal Palace - claimed it does not collect the figures. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. Germany are also planning no standing in grounds, limited food and toilet facilities and no service of alcohol. Since football restarted in June it has been a fanless experience in empty stadiums, played against the swearing of the players in the vast echoing stadiums and supplemented with fake crowd noise on TV to keep armchair viewers happy. It was always likely to be a tough afternoon for Fulham and manager Scott Parker admitted his plans were ruined in the early stages. The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Premium. The Etihad Stadium looked far from a sell out when they kicked off, but there was a good reason why, Come on in and join the club! Last season, the Blues' 0-0 draw at home to Stoke drew a crowd of just 28,405 - just over half of the official crowds of 52,625. Manchester City's seeming inability to sell out their 55,000-seat home is undeniably one of football fans' favourite long-running gags. Pep Guardiola's side have often been derided for their struggle to sell out the Etihad Stadium on European nights. Since June the British Minister for Culture has indicated the football authorities should start to make suggestions as to how fans may return to stadia as the coronavirus pandemic has started to slow. The former England midfielder said: “We understand the challenge ahead when you come to play a world-class team but the plan and preparation you do goes out of the window after six minutes when you go down to 10 men and they score a goal.