Newsletter #1739

A bumper MCIVTA for the close season, mostly sparked by the Membership discussions and despite transfer news being very thin on the ground, other than rumours that Tévez will stay for two years and then go on a free transfer to Boca Juniors. Nobody’s gone, nobody’s come and I’m still in the Editor’s chair. You’ll be pleased to know that the muse has departed me tonight, so without further delay let the contributions begin…

NEWS: TECHNICALLY A REQUEST BUT AS IT’S ALEX…

Hello Blues,

An assurance and a request from me today.

Just wanted to keep you in the loop regarding the News Summary and its long-awaited return. We’re still in search of someone to take over from me now that my time at university has to come an end and the world of work is taking over all of my spare time. I’m currently talking to two people who are keen but unsure as to whether they’ll be able to dedicate enough time to the Summary. As soon as we have a decision, the Summary will be back in force.

In the meantime, I was hoping for a little help from any Blues who can offer it. I find myself in the process of writing a City-related book but being of meagre years, I’m relying on buckets of research rather than first hand experience.

What I’d like to ask is could any supporters who have tales to tell of the beloved players listed below please send them on to news(at)mcivta.city-fan.org.

There’s only so much of a dimension research into books etc. can offer and I’d like to incorporate the views of fans who had first hand experience of watching said players. Be it memories, chants, particular games, anything would be greatly appreciated.

• Bert Trautmann
• Uwe Rösler
• Eyal Berkovic
• Georgie Kinkladze
• Ali Benarbia
• Kazzy Deyna
• Shaun Goater

Many thanks in advance and I promise to find a new News Editor as soon as possible.

OPINION: GOLD / PLATINUM MEMBERSHIP I

I am with Matthew Maxey on this one. The new Platinum membership package is essentially rewarding future loyalty and therefore will obviously enable recent glory hunters (yes we do have some) to quickly accumulate loyalty points and therefore overtake people such as me. I am a Citycard user as, living in distant Cumbria and working unusual hours, it isn’t worth me having a seasoncard so I pay on a game by game basis. This costs more per game than using a seasoncard anyway. I have 4,000 points accumulated over many years, initially as a season ticket holder until moving up here 4 years ago. Am I now being seen as less of a fan because I don’t want this ‘special membership’ option? What is fair about this new system?

OPINION: GOLD / PLATINUM MEMBERSHIP II

I completely agree with Matthew with regards to the new membership scheme. The purpose of the points system is to reward loyal supporters – hence the name. Being able to buy extra points or double up does not make you more loyal to our club!

With this new scheme you will now receive more points for watching us play Barcelona in the Champions’ League (please give us that draw!) than you would have received for watching us play York in Division 2 on a cold Tuesday night… I know out of the two games who I believe should be rewarded!

OPINION: GOLD / PLATINUM MEMBERSHIP III

I have to agree with Matthew Maxey as my immediate thought on the Platinum upgrade was keeping up the loyalty points in order to have a better chance of getting tickets for the ‘big games’. I also wondered whether the £50 ‘upgrade’ was a not so subtle way of further pushing up the season card prices. I am already being hit with a big price rise on East Stand level 2 where our seats, due to the view, have been re-designated ‘premium’. City were very happy to offer us those when the season ticket uptake was not so great. Anyway I suppose we should be grateful as we are getting padded seats!

OPINION: GOLD / PLATINUM MEMBERSHIP IV

The price went down by £17.00 last year where I am in the Colin Bell Level One. I expected a price increase of some description this season. Basically, having given with one hand, I expected the club to take away with the other. It’s an increase by stealth. I agree with you in essence. You can possibly look at it the other way round: someone who wants a seasoncard for 19 home games and nothing else other than a guaranteed seat for home cup matches could (in my part of the ground) pays £500 and gets that. And if they’re on high enough points, still qualify for a cup final or other desirable game.

What I think could be fairly perceived as really a bit wrong is the addition of 200 points for automatic cup schemes – that’s 600 instantly for someone who joins all three. If we were to go out of the League Cup early in similar circumstances to last season – especially now we’re in the CL, we might well field a weaker team again – this means those who take it up could get 200 points for a competition in which we might not play at home at all. I don’t know what financial position I’ll be in at various stages through the season and if we have a run through Europe and another FA Cup run, it’ll be a very dear do.

The points only really help if we’re in a (semi/)-final or you want to go to away games so it’s an irony that if I join the cup schemes, I’ll probably be as unable to afford away matches as I have in most recent seasons.

On the other hand, if you’re already on high points, you don’t need the cup schemes to get a chance to buy a ticket for a final, like last season. I qualified a day before the cup scheme allowed people to get in the queue. I’ll be interested to see if that is applied this season because quite a few people will join in the hope – if it isn’t repeated, a lot of people may feel duped.

It’s a bit of a hard-sell, basically. The club has assumed that no-one will want to be left behind and we’ll all stump up the £50.00. It’s a bit like a story I read recently – rather than put up prices, food companies are reducing the size of products and charging the same. They think it’s psychologically better but I don’t think anyone’s fooled.

UPDATE: SIERRA LEONE

Hello All,

Please find below an email sent by Armani in Sierra Leone. Many McV readers contributed generously to the Sierra Leone Appeal and I’m sure you would like to hear of the fruits of your generosity.

Particularly pleasing is that the bus provided is bringing in enough income to provide employment for no fewer than 55 footballers and to also pay for the much needed education of some of the youth team players.

The match Armani refers to against Belvic United was won by our very own boys in Blue 1-0 so a fantastic start for our newly-promoted team in Sierra Leone.

I’ll be updating all with the progress of our team out there and the continuing success of the Sierra Leone Appeal.

Greeting to you all.

I will like to inform you all that in less than 24 hours’ time the Sierra Leone Division One League will kick off and Manchester City will play Belvic United in the opening ceremony at the nation stadium in Freetown.

The year 2011 will always go down in the history book as the year City in the UK won the FA Cup after 35 years and qualified for Champions’ League and the local chapter out here were promoted from the Sierra Leone League Division Two to Division One.

Fellow Blues, I would like to say a million thanks to you all for your support towards the football club as you are helping youths who have great talent in football to make it in life, and you are also providing employment for 30 senior team players and 25 youth team players and paying school fees for some youth team players whose parents cannot afford it, from the money coming in from the bus.

The technical staff of the football club is working very hard to see we get promoted to the Premiership or maintain status in Division One as this is the most difficult league out here. We have signed 3 new players to strengthen the team and loaned 5 youth players so that they can be playing regularly.

The match tomorrow will be played in front of the Sports Minister and the Director of Sport. As we looking forward to it, soccer fans have described the match as a tough encounter as both teams want to take the three points home.

Once more we’d like to say thanks very much to you all for your support; without your support we will not have got that far as it very hard to run a football club out here with little gate takings (and some time no gate takings) and when we get promoted the FA has not given the newly promoted teams any money for the preparation for the league. I would like to inform you all that the income coming from the bus is helping us greatly in running the football club as it has provided employment for the players to collect salaries at the end of the month.

OPINION: VANCOUVER BLUES

Just a small point of irritation about the club website and blurb about City’s summer tour. It is constantly referred to as the tour of the US. If people are heading to Vancouver, U.S.A. they are not likely to find the game. There is a Vancouver in Washington State but the one City are playing at is Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Hopefully the tour can be referred to accurately as a tour of the U.S. and Canada – or Canada/US.

For some of us proud City supporters who are Canadians it is similar to telling people you are from Manchester and having them reply, “Oh, Manchester United!” I have e-mailed the club website – maybe other Canadians might want to do the same.

Must be getting grouchy in my old age.

[Ed: Here’s hoping the bus driver knows this, as Dora the Explorer would say “Who do we ask when we don’t know which way to go?” “That’s right Map!” etc.]

REQUEST: THE NEXT BLUE MODEL?

Hi,

My daughter, a massive City fan, has entered a modelling competition a little late and needs her fellow Blues to vote for her to give her a chance of reaching the Top 250 to reach the next round (Voting ends 28th June).

http://www.next.co.uk/model-competition-2011/vote-for-me-id6m45m437

Thanks in advance!

[Ed: I’m not sure if Heidi will tell me off for including this contribution!]

REQUEST: CITY vs. CLUB AMERICA TICKETS

Hello,

I am looking for two tickets for the City vs. Club America game in SF.

I live about sixty miles east of SF and I will probably have to go to one of the on-line ticket brokers out here, unless someone has a couple of spare ones that they want to sell.

MCIVTA FAQ [v1011.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Jim Walsh)             : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
News/rumour (Alex Rowen)         : news@mcivta.city-fan.org
Subscriptions (Madeleine Hawkins): subscriptions@mcivta.city-fan.org
Technical problems (Paul)        : paul@city-fan.org
FAQ (David Warburton)            : faq@mcivta.city-fan.org

[2] What are MCIVTA’s publishing deadlines?

Deadlines for issues are nominally 6pm, Monday and Thursday evenings by email. Unfortunately we cannot accept email attachments.

[3] MCIVTA Back Issues and Manchester City Supporters’ home page

http://www.mcivta.com/ is the unofficial Manchester City Supporters’ home page. Created in 1994, it is the longest running of the Manchester City related web sites. Back issues of MCIVTA are also hosted on the site. You can also follow on www.twitter.com/mcivta to get the latest updates.

[4] What is the club’s official web site?

The official club web site can be found at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/ and the official club Twitter page at www.twitter.com/mcfc. The club also has a facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/mcfcofficial

[5] What supporters’ clubs are there?

The Official Supporters’ Club and the Centenary Supporters’ Association have merged to become the Manchester City Supporters’ Club (http://www.mcfcsupportersclub.com/). The club also recognise the Manchester City Disabled Supporters’ Association (http://www.mcdsa.co.uk/).

[6] Where can I find out about Points of Blue?

The committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. Points of Blue appears on the club website under the “Fans” heading (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/Fans).

[7] What match day broadcasts are available on the web?

Live match commentary can be found on the club website. The Radio Manchester pre- and post-match phone-in is available on the web at http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/tv_and_radio/.

[8] Where can I find out if City are live on satellite TV?

http://www.satfootball.com/pl.html provides a listing of Premier League games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. Useful sites for North American viewers are http://msn.foxsports.com/, http://www.soccertv.com/.

[9] Do we have a Usenet newsgroup?

Yes we do: uk.sport.football.clubs.man-city is our home on usenet. If you are not familiar with usenet, a basic explanation is available here: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci213262,00.html

[10] Do any squad members have their own web pages?

There are a number available and direct links can be found at http://www.mcivta.com/players/

[11] Where can I find match statistics?

Statistics for the current season are available from the club site, but for a more in-depth analysis try http://www.mcfcstats.com/.

DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in MCIVTA are entirely those of the subscribersand there is no intention to represent these opinions as being thoseof Manchester City Football Club, nor of any of the companies anduniversities by whom the subscribers are employed. It is not inany way whatsoever connected to the club or any other relatedorganisation and is simply a group of supporters using this mediumas a means of disseminating news and exchanging opinions.

Jim Walsh, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: