Ticket Advice Wanted

[kckicker23]

Hey all, I've read through this thread just now and it's very helpful.

My brother and I are thinking about going to London over Christmas this year for vacation (basically trying to take advantage of all the games over this time period). Airline tickets are relatively cheap right now, but how easy would it be to secure game tickets for these matchdays? Are the Boxing Day and New Year's games ridiculously hard to get tickets for? Or could we just wait until the general sale happens (it seems like this usually happens like 3 weeks before the game)?

If we end up doing this I'd like to be able to book flights/hotels ASAP, but is there any reason to think we'd have too much trouble getting tickets? We're thinking of just staying in London the whole time, and I checked out the fixtures list and there are plenty of options, and quite a few with the smaller clubs where tickets may not be as hard to get.

Thanks for any advice and suggestions.

[kckicker23]

Any thoughts about the trip over Xmas that i'm thinking about?

[Dr_Intoxicated]

Hey all, I've read through this thread just now and it's very helpful.

My brother and I are thinking about going to London over Christmas this year for vacation (basically trying to take advantage of all the games over this time period). Airline tickets are relatively cheap right now, but how easy would it be to secure game tickets for these matchdays? Are the Boxing Day and New Year's games ridiculously hard to get tickets for? Or could we just wait until the general sale happens (it seems like this usually happens like 3 weeks before the game)?

If we end up doing this I'd like to be able to book flights/hotels ASAP, but is there any reason to think we'd have too much trouble getting tickets? We're thinking of just staying in London the whole time, and I checked out the fixtures list and there are plenty of options, and quite a few with the smaller clubs where tickets may not be as hard to get.

Thanks for any advice and suggestions.

Well can't speak for other clubs but at Chelsea the holiday games round Christmass are usually a sell out, (people trying to escape the family)

However with some less fashionable teams you may be able to walk up on the day.

Again when tickets go on sale and to whom is a club matter I can't give general advice. At Chelsea there are set rules described on the club website.

http://www.chelseafc.com/article.asp?article=380891

Presumably other clubs web sites will give you the information you need.

[Rick B]

For Arsenal games please go to the Arsenal thread o Bigsoccer for availability. We do have tickets left for some of the games at Christmas time and New Year although not all and they are obviously very popular.

[pookspur]

i'm considering doing fulham v everton at the cottage on 4Nov, and it's the early match, kicking off at 12:45. i was also thinking that i might try to get up to loftus road for QPR v palace at 3:00, immediately thereafter.

obviously, unless i leave the cottage early, i'm probably going to get to loftus road a little bit late. my question is this: how long after kickoff do english ticket offices remain open? if it takes too long to get there, i won't bother; so i don't really want to get QPR tickets in advance. but i wouldn't want to get there 5 or 10 past three and find the ticket offices closed, either.

i've been to quite a few matches in england (including QPR), but i've always been onsite well before matchtime - so i've really no idea how long i'll have. any help would be appreciated. thanks in advance.

[Eddie26]

i'm considering doing fulham v everton at the cottage on 4Nov, and it's the early match, kicking off at 12:45. i was also thinking that i might try to get up to loftus road for QPR v palace at 3:00, immediately thereafter.

obviously, unless i leave the cottage early, i'm probably going to get to loftus road a little bit late. my question is this: how long after kickoff do english ticket offices remain open? if it takes too long to get there, i won't bother; so i don't really want to get QPR tickets in advance. but i wouldn't want to get there 5 or 10 past three and find the ticket offices closed, either.

i've been to quite a few matches in england (including QPR), but i've always been onsite well before matchtime - so i've really no idea how long i'll have. any help would be appreciated. thanks in advance.

The ticket offices are usually open as long as there are tickets available. However, QPR - Palace will most likely be a sell-out since it's a London derby. I don't know about how long from the Cottage to Loftus Road though.

[M]

i'm considering doing fulham v everton at the cottage on 4Nov, and it's the early match, kicking off at 12:45. i was also thinking that i might try to get up to loftus road for QPR v palace at 3:00, immediately thereafter.

obviously, unless i leave the cottage early, i'm probably going to get to loftus road a little bit late. my question is this: how long after kickoff do english ticket offices remain open? if it takes too long to get there, i won't bother; so i don't really want to get QPR tickets in advance. but i wouldn't want to get there 5 or 10 past three and find the ticket offices closed, either.

i've been to quite a few matches in england (including QPR), but i've always been onsite well before matchtime - so i've really no idea how long i'll have. any help would be appreciated. thanks in advance.

Try and get a ticket for the 2nd game in advance - it will save you precious time and worry. I did this stunt a few years ago for games at Leigh RMI and Preston NE. 2hr 25 min difference in ko times, iirc, so yours is tighter. I got to my seat for the 2nd game just as it started!

[pookspur]

QPR only sold around 13k for palace last year, and didn't draw over 16k for any other derby (or any home match?), either, so i was feeling pretty confident on availability.

i've also done the hoof from the cottage up to the hammersmith tubestation before, and there's a way from there up to loftus road, so i'm fairly certain that it's going to come down to catching a cab. but it should be a fairly straight shot up fulham palace road to shepherds bush, no? i think if i'm able to get out of the cottage and catch a cab quickly enough, it should be pretty close. but i've never done it before, so i could be surprised - and if so, i don't want my pal and i to be holding tickets that we can't use. if i can be confident that the ticket office doesn't close when the gates open, i'll probably just stick to the plan.

heck, i can always monitor QPR attendences in the prior matches, and if they're drawing significantly better than last year, i can go ahead and buy tickets in advance.

[Fratton Fred]

Any thoughts about the trip over Xmas that i'm thinking about?

it might be worth trying someone like lastminute.com, they do premiership tickets, they also do ticket/hotel packages although the trouble with this is a game may be moved by a day for television.

Fulham and Charlton tickets should be fairly easy to get hold of depending on who they are playing, as will QPR and Millwall (if you are brave enough).

Reading are only 20 minutes from London by train so that could be an option as well, although it is their first season in the Premiership so tickets may not be too easy to get hold of.

There are always ticket touts outside Chelsea so you can run the risk of doing that as well, although you will pay over £100 for a ticket with little chance of getting two seats together.

[Leedarby610]

i'm considering doing fulham v everton at the cottage on 4Nov, and it's the early match, kicking off at 12:45. i was also thinking that i might try to get up to loftus road for QPR v palace at 3:00, immediately thereafter.

obviously, unless i leave the cottage early, i'm probably going to get to loftus road a little bit late. my question is this: how long after kickoff do english ticket offices remain open? if it takes too long to get there, i won't bother; so i don't really want to get QPR tickets in advance. but i wouldn't want to get there 5 or 10 past three and find the ticket offices closed, either.

i've been to quite a few matches in england (including QPR), but i've always been onsite well before matchtime - so i've really no idea how long i'll have. any help would be appreciated. thanks in advance.
Good luck, your plan sounds good. If you can squeeze in a beer at the Famous 3 Kings on the corner of North End Road and W. Cromwell, on your way up, do so. There's a tube station right next door. The pub is an easy walk from Fulham Broadway Rd.

[melvin06]

my family is going to london this thanksgiving. I would like to see a football match, what do you think the chances of getting tickets are for either of these games:


Saturday, November 25th, 2006 Tottenham Hotspur v Wigan Athletic
Saturday, November 25th, 2006 West Ham United v Sheffield United

What would be the best way to order these tickets, and can i order more than one?

[liverbird]

my family is going to london this thanksgiving. I would like to see a football match, what do you think the chances of getting tickets are for either of these games:


Saturday, November 25th, 2006 Tottenham Hotspur v Wigan Athletic
Saturday, November 25th, 2006 West Ham United v Sheffield United

What would be the best way to order these tickets, and can i order more than one? The chances are good. Join the supporters group at Spurs and I'll bet you can buy tickets.

[Rick B]

The chances are good. Join the supporters group at Spurs and I'll bet you can buy tickets.

I can't believe what a bastard you are. I mean the guy wants to go to football and you ENCOURAGE him to become a member of the Spu*s Supporters group!!!! Are you trying to put Americans off Football........;)

[melvin06]

I can't believe what a bastard you are. I mean the guy wants to go to football and you ENCOURAGE him to become a member of the Spu*s Supporters group!!!! Are you trying to put Americans off Football........;)

what do you mean

[liverbird]

what do you mean

He's giving you shit cause the Gunners and Spurs hate each other. I was simply giving you good advice. if you want to go to the Spurs match joining their official supporters group will give you ticket preference. Their game against Wigan shouldn't be a much sought after ticket.

Rick did make me laugh with the comment though.

[Rick B]

what do you mean

I was just being sarcastic and joking with liverbird. He's been around a while so understood what I meant.

Just so you know on the Sat 25th In London if you haven't yet pit your alliegences with a team Arsenal are playing Newcastle. There are still a couple of tickets available through me on the Arsenal forum. There is a ticket thread, if you want some have a read and it tells you how to get tickets. You will see that the guy who started this thread also got tickets through me

Regards,

Rick

[pookspur]

my family is going to london this thanksgiving. I would like to see a football match, what do you think the chances of getting tickets are for either of these games:


Saturday, November 25th, 2006 Tottenham Hotspur v Wigan Athletic
Saturday, November 25th, 2006 West Ham United v Sheffield United

What would be the best way to order these tickets, and can i order more than one?

liverbird has given you sound advice concerning club membership enhancing one's chances of obtaining tickets for tottenham. there's only one catch - membership for the '06-'07 season has already closed. i'm baffled as to why they limit the number of seasonal memberships, but apparently they do.

just yesterday, a friend decided to join me on my upcoming trip to london, during which i plan on attending the chelsea match at the lane, and i told him the same thing that liverbird told you - "get a membership now, as you'll need to be issued your membership number (which could take a couple of weeks) before you can buy tickets" (they go onsale to members 10 days prior to the general public). but, due to the 'unprecedented demand', my friend and yourself are out of luck in that regard.

but all is not lost. here's what you'll want to do. go to the spurs' website, and check to see the onsale dates for the wigan match. there will be a members' sale date, a guest sale date (nine days later), and (one day after that) a general sale date.* in the timeframe between the first and the last of these dates, monitor how sales are going. you can do this by clicking on the various stands within the stadium as though you're going to buy a ticket. each stand is diagramed, and you can literally see when each seat has been sold. it's quite possible that on the 10th day (when tickets go onsale to the general public) there may be a few seats available scattered throughout the stadium.

right now, for example, tickets for the portsmouth match are in their 9th day of member sales (which is also the first day that members are eligible to buy a second 'guest ticket'). there are still quite a few seats available, and as it is early in the evening over there, i suspect that there will still be a few seats open come tomorrow morning, when tickets go onsale to the general public. i wouldn't expect demand for the wigan match to be any greater than that for pompey, so i think you'll still have a shot.

here, though, is the key. the time of day at which tickets will go onsale is 9:30am - local time. that means that you will be able to purchase a ticket online beginning at 4:30am eastern time. you'll want to be logged on, and ready to buy at exactly that time, as the very few tickets available will not remain so for long. i can't say with certainty that none will be left by the time you would normally get up in the morning; but to wait even a few hours could seriously hurt your chances.

it's an inconvenience, but a small price to pay to watch spurs at the lane. i would guess the west ham ticket would be easier. and rick provides ticket service to US arsenal fans that make american supporters of every other club more than a little envious. but i'd advise that you stick to your guns (assuming spurs are your first choice) - get up to white hart lane to watch spurs/wigan. you won't regret it.

good luck!


*i've checked, and these dates are 10/23, 11/1, and 11/2, repectively. that means you'll want to be awake and logged onto tottenham's official website at 4:30am EST on November 2nd, if you want to get a ticket to the wigan match.

[pookspur]

... here, though, is the key. the time of day at which tickets will go onsale is 9:30am - local time. that means that you will be able to purchase a ticket online beginning at 4:30am eastern time. you'll want to be logged on, and ready to buy at exactly that time, as the very few tickets available will not remain so for long. i can't say with certainty that none will be left by the time you would normally get up in the morning; but to wait even a few hours could seriously hurt your chances.


well, if the pompey match is any indication, then perhaps i've overstated the urgency. tickets have been on general sale for a full day, and there are still dozens, if not hundreds (though most are obscured views), still available.

i'd say your chances of getting into the wigan match are pretty good. but i'd still suggest getting your ticket(s) on the first day they're available. i wouldn't wait too long.

[liverbird]

I was just being sarcastic and joking with liverbird. He's been around a while so understood what I meant.

Just so you know on the Sat 25th In London if you haven't yet pit your alliegences with a team Arsenal are playing Newcastle. There are still a couple of tickets available through me on the Arsenal forum. There is a ticket thread, if you want some have a read and it tells you how to get tickets. You will see that the guy who started this thread also got tickets through me

Regards,

Rick

This is a generous offer and one you should take Rick up on. Frankly this'll be a better match for a neutral than the Spurs-Wigan fixture. Rick'll take care of you, he took care of our mutual friend Riz and she's a Chelski supporter!

[melvin06]

there are still dozens of seats available for pompey on the fourth day of general sale. do you think that this is a good indication of my chances?