Birmingham City 'just have no class'

Simon Wright reflects on the price-war between the Blues and the Bulls and gives a realistic view of what to expect next Tuesday when Hereford United 'invade' Birmingham.

I freely admit to a degree of bias here but Birmingham City just have no class. Their latest attempt to impose their will on Hereford once again makes them sound like the schoolyard bully. No other club in the area causes so many problems with their pricing – perhaps because they just can’t help tinkering with it. The club advertise home matches in the local press – the only one of the local outfits who feel the need to do so. Second cheapest Premiership side? You’re having a laugh! The club owners are loud and crude – but what else would you expect for a club built on pornography?

You may ask yourself why a promoted side has fewer season ticket holders than a Championship club six miles down the road. Too many ill-timed ticket offers, too many kick-off times changed and too many complaints from the Blues board have much to do with it.

There’s always questions around the Blues – like why they feel the need to surcharge their own supporters who wish to buy tickets to away matches and my oh quickly we’ve forgotten how the local Trading Standards Office prosecuted the club. Blues advertised admission for a friendly at a fixed price and then charged a higher rate at the visiting turnstiles. Guilty as charged, they were too. Trading Standards even asked me to be a prosecution witness.

Yet I do have sympathy for their pricing policy for the Hereford game. Premiership supporters become a snooty bunch. The longer you’re in the top level the less that Cup matches matter and the less interest you have in the lower Divisions. This attitude is all-embracing and inevitably people get sucked into that attitude whether they like to do. Star Trek lovers will understand when I compare the Premiership to the Borg – it’s a collective where free wills are not welcome.

£10 and £5 will not be well received. Bluenoses won’t complain about it, they will basically just not turn up. A sub 10,000 gate in St Andrews will have all the atmosphere of a reserve game. Home support will be scattered and apathetic and that will be a big disappointment to the travelling hordes expecting a noisy stadium and noisy people. It just ain’t going to be like that. Its impossible to know how many would turn up with City’s £5/ £2 proposal but in the past such offers have brought out 20,000+ gates. Striking the best financial balance is not easy.

By the way, I wouldn’t worry about buying a ticket in advance. There aren’t any bad views to be had. In addition, the stewards are likely to adopt a “sit where you like” policy rendering ticket numbers meaningless. Neither would I stress about the £5 car parks. (Another money making scheme, Blues?) I’ve parked around a dozen times among the new houses just South of the ground and never had a problem. Nor has anyone else I know – not since all the bombsites have gone. I’ve had more trouble with car crime at Cradley Heath speedway than Birmingham City. Thank heavens for gentrification.

For an accurate picture of St Andrews, I’d suggest the uniformly excellent www.footballgroundguide.co.uk. The webmaster is a Bluenose himself.

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