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After the 2014 League Cup experience, the ITHICS crew purchased a group of plum seats behind the North Stand goal. Although we had managed to get seats for that final, we would have sweated less if we had had season cards. So we got them.
All of us lived in London at the time, so we were personally going to use them at best, 25% of the time. Friends, relatives and hangers on were all beneficiaries of our absences. We also took the rather (patronising) view that we were contributing to our club by donating £300-odd per year. Since then we have moved apart, one of us to the Channel Islands; though I could be said to have moved closer the club.
By moving to Cumbria, I actually live a mere 90-minute drive away. But the irony is that I probably attend less frequently than I did when I lived in London. At the end of the 2015-16 season, I made two 600-mile round trips within a week when we played Chelsea and Everton under Big Sam.
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We moved to Cumbria that summer and the club (effectively) moved out of the big time too.
So as I make my way across the dreaded A66 to games, the conundrum is whether to renew or not. As I see it, it’s a no-brainer. My seat is guaranteed in perpetuity until whenever live football finally shows it face back at the SoL.
My ITHICS partners in crime take the view that they still feel they want to make their donation to the club. But I don’t trust the current regime to use my ‘donation’ wisely. I trusted Messrs Donald and Methven when they rode in on their white charger, all changing seats and sacking Jack Rodwell.
But a series of calamitous PR bluffs from Methven, in which the fans are seemingly to blame for the plight of the club, have altered my previously supportive stance.
The season card Q&A issued by the club last week was the last straw for many fans. But for me, International fans pay less for the same streaming rights.
Where is the equity in that?
If my seat will still be waiting for me when live football resumes, then I’ll opt for that, thanks very much. I can’t wait!