View Full Version : Ticket Advice Wanted
Kenp
31 Dec 2004, 11:09 AM
Our family of 5 (wife, 2 teenagers, and a 12 year old) have been 7 year MLS season ticket holders.
After watching the EPL for the last ten years, we're visiting England the 3rd week of February and wish to experience the real McCoy.
We're targeting Liverpool vs. Bayer Leverkusen for the 2/22 Champion's League tie, and Southampton vs. Arsenal on the 26th.
Going through touts seem about the only way to secure tickets, but I'm really leery of the terms and risks involved. Besides the high costs (which may cause us to only catch one event) and the general uncertainty, the seats could be 5 singles, which won't do (3 and 2 is OK).
Does anyone have any experiences, good or bad, with going this route, and could recommend specific sites or other alternatives?
We have tried calling Liverpool FC, but our timing has been off so far.
Thanks in advance.....
Dave_M
31 Dec 2004, 11:15 AM
Arsenal being an Away game might not be too much of a problem. Certainly you will have problems getting away tickets from a tout, and they will be singles as you say.
Provided the southampton game doesnt need "away credits" you might be able to just get tickets from the Arsenal box office...
Have a word with RickB in the Arsenal forum. He can probably give you better info than I can
Captain Splarg
31 Dec 2004, 12:58 PM
check the websites for liverpool and Southampton and see when tickets go on general sale. Call the club and book by phone when they go on general sale.
Scouse
02 Jan 2005, 08:34 AM
a 'mate' of mine bought 8 tickets in a row for Liverpool vs Olympiakos (CL game) when they went on general sale.
if you get in early enough, you should be alright simply buying 5 tickets direct from the club.
...if you're into that sort of thing. *cough*
Boro_lad
03 Jan 2005, 07:06 AM
just keep your eyes on the clubs websites, (best bet is to get tickets in the southampton end maybe for that game) they will tell you when tickets go on sale and who to ring up.
HiFi
03 Jan 2005, 09:43 AM
Call the ticket offices for the stadium where the matches will be held. I'd advise against calling the away team as the away supporters are generally a very rabid bunch, so there's a slight chance it might not be the an enjoyable experience with the kids. The atmosphere is am important part of being at an EPL match.
I know Chelsea offers tickets to Supporters groups before they go on general sale. So it might be worth your while to do a search for UK & US based team supporters groups and see if they have any special arrangements with the club ticket office. Also have a look for discussion forums on "unofficial" supporter-run web sites for each home team. They are usually filled with season ticket holders, and if you post a nicely worded request for tickets, they may know of other season ticket who can not go and would like to sell their tickets. They want to deal with the touts even less than you do, so they would be happy to know where the tickets were going.
Good luck.
After living in Southampton 9 years ago, we've gone back to the UK every couple of years and we see a match. Feel free to send me a PM if you need any help.
Digger Barnes
05 Jan 2005, 07:38 PM
I saw 9 English League games in 14 days on Holiday a couple of years ago, I had no trouble at all getting tickets, all I did was email or call the Clubs and ask about the availability of tickets for the games I wished to see. Chelsea even gave me 3 tickets for free or forgot to charge me, either way I was happy.
Two of the games I saw were Liverpool, at Home versus Villa and Sheffield Wed.
You should have no problems getting tickets for Championship or First Divison clubs matches, I saw a few lower league games on my trip, I enjoyed them more then the Premiership games, I would recommend it if you get the chance.
Whether you phone or email, mention your a supporter of the club your trying to get tickets for and add that this will be your first time watching them Live.
Kevin
ATL Blue One
08 Jan 2005, 09:07 AM
Yes contacting the clubs websites for tickets is always the best way if your overseas. If your not particular about a certain match you should have no problems finding tickets to several games duing your stay.
Matt Clark
08 Jan 2005, 10:40 AM
Isn't it about time this information was placed in a sticky at the top of this board? I'm not being an arse here, no offence and all that and I do hope the replies prove useful, but I count three such threads in the past week now. And that's not unusual in itself.
(the Leverkusen game, just by the by, might actually be tricky - you may need a stub per person from the Olympiakos game, dependant on how the club judge likely demand prior to issuing tickets, which is likely to be strong, given that we're talking about the quarter-finals of he European Cup.)
monkeyhead
12 Jan 2005, 03:15 PM
someone should make this into a sticky
DO NOT USE THESE PEOPLE
optasoccer (http://www.optasoccer.com)
for example they want over $1000 for Arsenal vs Man Utd
to add insult to injury, the plan of the ground on the arsenal page shows the real ticket cost for each section of the ground
if they included flights it would still be too much
I saw 9 English League games in 14 days on Holiday a couple of years ago, I had no trouble at all getting tickets, all I did was email or call the Clubs and ask about the availability of tickets for the games I wished to see. Chelsea even gave me 3 tickets for free or forgot to charge me, either way I was happy.
Two of the games I saw were Liverpool, at Home versus Villa and Sheffield Wed.
You should have no problems getting tickets for Championship or First Divison clubs matches, I saw a few lower league games on my trip, I enjoyed them more then the Premiership games, I would recommend it if you get the chance.
Whether you phone or email, mention your a supporter of the club your trying to get tickets for and add that this will be your first time watching them Live.
Kevin
That's pretty much been my experience, and I've never failed to get a ticket for any game I've wanted to go to on a visit from the US including the League Cup final in '02. I've never actually 'lied' to get a ticket, but I have chosen not to correct the mistaken impression they've got that I actually support their club :) Also good advice to remember you've two sources for tickets, i.e. both the home and away clubs.
I'll probably be over in March, but this will be strictly a lower- and non-league trip. Still 21 grounds from my goal of visiting all 114 Premiership, League and Conference grounds :(
JN13
20 Jan 2005, 01:04 AM
That's pretty much been my experience, and I've never failed to get a ticket for any game I've wanted to go to on a visit from the US including the League Cup final in '02. I've never actually 'lied' to get a ticket, but I have chosen not to correct the mistaken impression they've got that I actually support their club :) Also good advice to remember you've two sources for tickets, i.e. both the home and away clubs.
I'll probably be over in March, but this will be strictly a lower- and non-league trip. Still 21 grounds from my goal of visiting all 114 Premiership, League and Conference grounds :(
Wow!
Which 21 are you missing?
Wow!
Which 21 are you missing?
Man City, Portsmouth, GIllingham, Brighton, Milton Keynes, Walsall, Torquay, Hull, Yeovil, Northampton, Darlington, Lincoln, Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham, Grimsby, Mansfield, Forest Green, Gravesend, Woking, Farnborough and Crawley :-)
Admittedly I went to a lot of grounds before I moved to the US, but I'm still knocking off about 4 or 5 new grounds a season. But as an average of about 2 clubs a season move to new grounds, and three teams get relegated out of the Conference every season, progress to the goal is slow :eek:
JN13
20 Jan 2005, 02:08 AM
Man City, Portsmouth, GIllingham, Brighton, Milton Keynes, Walsall, Torquay, Hull, Yeovil, Northampton, Darlington, Lincoln, Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham, Grimsby, Mansfield, Forest Green, Gravesend, Woking, Farnborough and Crawley :-)
Admittedly I went to a lot of grounds before I moved to the US, but I'm still knocking off about 4 or 5 new grounds a season. But as an average of about 2 clubs a season move to new grounds, and three teams get relegated out of the Conference every season, progress to the goal is slow :eek:
OK.
I thought you were American which would have made it a truly amazing feat.
But even as a Brit I still have to say it is great that you have been able to do what you have done so far.
It has been a dream of mine to be able to do that but I haven't even come close to getting to all the EPL grounds let alone the others.
You are right about prompotions and new grounds though. It is always going to add to the list.
Good luck on getting to the remaining 21 (or however many you have to go to) mate.
Do you have a favourtie ground so far?
mcrossan
20 Jan 2005, 06:23 AM
Southampton never fill their stadium, not even against Portsmouth. Go to the ticket section on saintsfc.co.uk
Liverpool have yeet to sell out their stadium this season, sao you should be able to get Champions League tickets no problewm, because they are not included in the season tickets. GO to liverpoolfc.tv
Rick B
20 Jan 2005, 06:53 PM
Dave M suggested that you contact me and you haven't, neither have you replied to this thread? Do you still need tickets? If so please let me know re the Southampton v Arsenal tickets. I have to put in my request to the club soon, but should be able to fit you in if you need. A pre-requeset would be to join Arsenal America though ($3.65). All tickets through me are at the face value and will be in the Arsenal end.
As for the Liverpool game, none of the 'pool CL games have sold out yet. If you phone the club, they should be able to help.
Please PM or post here if you want/need any more help.
jonam
20 Jan 2005, 07:44 PM
If you still need tickets for the Pool match - and as Rick said....strange that you don't answer to this thread - there is also the chance to get tickets at Leverkusen. Normally 5% of capacity (about 2.000) go to the away team. As Leverkusen's away support is weak and those guys aren't nasty, you could try to contact Bayer Leverkusen. I am more than sure that they will be able to help you.
Kenp
20 Jan 2005, 09:10 PM
Thanks for the suggestions so far.
I am following up with Rick re: Arsenal-Southampton, and am monitoring Liverpool and other websites. Most of the tickets go on sale to the general public after we arrive in England.
No one has suggested a reliable tout, and I am very reluctant to go this route due to the costs (minimum $1200 for 5 seats) and risks involved (counterfeits, open-ended costs: read the fine print!, 5 single tickets, etc.)
If it were just my wife and myself, I would feel confident of securing tickets through your suggestions, and playing it loose with accomodations, etc. But there are 5 of us, and a little certainty is required to plan our itinerary and minimize travel hassles.
If Arsenal-Southampton falls through, I'll solicit suggestions on some alternative ideas I have...
Ken
P.S. BTW, Southampton has sold out this season, at least through their ticket office. The upcoming game against Liverpool is sold out.
P.P.S. Interesting suggestion re: the CL match, to sit with the Leverkusen fans. An American family of 5 wouldn't stand out there, would they? :) If it were just me and a friend..... maybe
jmartin1966
14 Feb 2005, 02:38 PM
Does anyone know if there are any matches in London on Easter weekend or the 3 days thereafter (March 26 - March 30)? A co-worker of mine will be in London and is interested in catching a game; however, it looks like the Premiership and the League Championship are on break.
Kenp
04 Mar 2005, 06:45 PM
Just a followup on our trip.
Rick B came through big time, and the Arsenal-Southampton game experience (not the results, sadly) was the highlight for our family trip. Being with with Arsenal supporters was really special. We really appreciated his securing the tickets for us.
We also saw the Charlton-Leiceister City 5th round FA Cup tie; a dissapointing game for the home crowd, but we were not quite as invested in this match. I was able to call and secure tickets by phone, and had I waited a few more hours, I could have gotten them via the internet. Sure would have beat getting up at 2:30am! Doh!
Paid face value for all the tickets, and not the $250 average cost per ticket via the touts. (Want to see Chelsea-Arsenal? Some touts are asking over $500 a ticket.) As suggested by others above, tickets are available to the persistent.
One piece of advice to Americans planning a first trip to England right now (this was my 4th trip, my entire family's 1st).
To deal with the financial shock, convince yourself that the dollar-pound exchange rate is 1 to 1, and that you spent twice as long visiting England as you actually did!
That said, we really did enjoy our 20 day visit. :)