How people were able to get in the ground (and even on a plane) without a ticket!

[kingharry]

yeah good post
exactley as it was . i still have my ticket intact as does everyone i went with, i saw a girl get hers snatched so their was no way i was going to get mine out of my pocket, i walked through the checks and never showed my ticket, i mean being asked to wave it in the air is like asking school kids to stand in line, not how you organise a ticket check,

turnstiles where invented 80 years ago, it's not like this is a new problem, i started a thread to try to channell all this good stuff into one focus, a petiton from a few thousand reds to say we was there we know what happened and we're watching to see if you set it right

[calvoboy]

Thanks for the feedback and advice from everyone who read it - I've just e-mailed a slightly modified version to the Echo and Daily Post asking them not to use my name if they use any of it in their reports. As I said, I'm writing this up to send to my local MP, along with one or two other influential people who I know, so a more formal version will definitely find its way to people who matter.

I've read Snorky's post on YNWA as Lecter suggested, and it seems that Snorky encountered more of the small minority of arseholes that follow us than I did. I'm not saying that there weren't a minority of agressive Liverpool fans who were determined to get in the ground at all costs. I didn't see them at all myself, but from other stories it seems that they were there. I also saw a very small minority of complete prats away from the ground in bars, whose behaviour was not as it should be. But from my perspective, the overwhelming majority without tickets who got in were like my mate - ordinary fans taking advantage of the opportunity to watch the game afforded to them by the incredibly lax ticket checking system.

[disco]

Great post, thanks. Think i'd be lying if i said i wouldn't have tried my luck if it was that easy, though i may have been like you mate and bottling it. Shame it meant others couldn't get in though, do you feel a bit guilty?
I still don't think we're totally blameless - the nob heads - but sounds more and more of a farce the more we hear.

[sambirken]

the problem is.. can anyone see anything being done about this? i've got a strong feeling uefa will do **** all and continue to blame us. and they will continue to make stupid decisions in the future. ****in disgrace

[RedProf]

Good write up mate. I was ticketless and didnt get in coz I didn't know the set up. I was with mates who had tickets and managed to slip past the 1st blockade probably via the same means as you. But I stopped short at the second one where they were funnelling people through small gaps in the makeshift fencing. I was wondering if I could somehow get in, but bombed it off after thinking there's bound to be turnstiles in later checks and also coz I saw some lad fly across the tarmac area chased by about 5 police - only to be given a pasting when they caught him at the car park fence.

Had I known about how lackse they were and had I had a photocopy of the ticket or even a uefa flyer, I'd have definitely given it a go even though it was wrong to do so.

I agree about the stadium - it was ****e - I mean, why pick a stadium where there is nothing around it? Not even a bar or anything. In the end I ran back south to the area by the previous tube station stop and watched it there (on a tv that had radio commentary 5 seconds ahead of the match on tv )

Our flight back was shocking. Not only were we delayed (and my heart goes out to some Irish lads we met who had been there all day and night waiting to get back) but the treatment of our fans was shameful. I think people were a bit panicky when it came to boarding as word had obviously gotten round about ppl bunking onto flights and at 10pm on Thursday night everyone just wanted to get home. So there was a large anxious crowd standing by the door wanting to board. The Greek woman who seemed to be in charge of it all was horrific - she was stopping some ppl getting on the flight as they had been issues with wrong boarding cards back at Lpool - not their fault - but the officious cow not only wouldnt let them board, she even screamed and shouted at them, which in turn got them up in arms and caused unnecessary tension which could have led to aggression. Luckily, as it turned out, no one was bunking on the flight so everyone seemed to get on ok, even the guys who had through no fault of their own, been issued with slight incorrect cards.

As for our travel company, they were a bit ****e. I think it was Global we went with and when my mate booked it, they said our resort was within easy reach of the centre of Athens. Bollocks. We were about an hours taxi ride away, an hour 20 on the bus. Trouble was, in the resort there was only 1 taxi firm or say they told us, which made it a nightmare to book a cab as they were already pre booked by fellow reds. And worse still, this taxi company were ****ing scam artists.

We got one cab and the driver insisted that there would be no way we'd get a yellow cab to come that far from Athens on the return journey - so we'd need to re-book their taxi and pay them double the fee we'd just paid, all up front....oh and the latest pick up would be midnight (which was a push to get them to do that). **** that. And did we have any bother getting a yellow cab? No. And they charged about 20 euros less than them ****ing rip off merchants did.

And just to add - loads of lads on my coach on the way home still had their tickets intact and were going to write to the club saying they didn't get in and asking for a refund! So ultimately this doesn't help us!

And I also met a guy who had been on the verge of getting in, with his genuine ticket, who unluckily got it snatched by some ****

[tommyg]

Yeah, ask for a refund..not worth keeping the ticket intact since we lost haha

[calvoboy]

Great post, thanks. Think i'd be lying if i said i wouldn't have tried my luck if it was that easy, though i may have been like you mate and bottling it. Shame it meant others couldn't get in though, do you feel a bit guilty?

I don't feel a bit guilty as I had a perfectly valid ticket. I don't feel guilty that my mate eventually snuck in with us either, as he didn't take up any extra space in the stadium, as he fitted amongst the group of us and we didn't encroach in either direction away from our seats. The police stopped genuine fans getting in close to kick-off, not us. It was totally wrong that my mate was able to get in the ground with a photocopy, but as you've said, can anyone honestly say they wouldn't have done the same?

[rushscored4]

Thank God it's in Moscow next year so it's closer and much easier to get to. And it's a 50,000 capacity so we won't have the same problems with not enough tickets...

[Red_Al_77]

It's 85,000 but I get your point

[rodo]

good to see people i.e reade (understadable) and alan greene sticking up for us when to be honest i expected us to be slated over some of the goings on that i witnessed on wednesday

[Angry Dan]

Reports in the papers said it is a 50,000 capacity. I hope you are right tho.

[Red_Al_77]

From the UEFA website:

The Luzhniki stadium in Moscow and the Stadio Olimpico in Rome will host the 2008 and 2009 UEFA Champions League finals respectively.

Luzhniki stadium
The Luzhniki stadium, formerly known as the Grand Arena of the Central Lenin stadium, was inaugurated in 1956. Owned by FC Torpedo Moskva, it is the biggest sports arena in Russia with 84,745 covered seats. The capacity reached 103,000 when the Luzhniki sports complex staged the Olympic Games in 1980, but was reduced following renovation work between 1995 and 1997.

[Red_Al_77]

http://www.stadiumguide.com/luzhniki.htm

[rushscored4]

It's 85,000 but I get your point

Reports in the papers said it is a 50,000 capacity. I hope you are right tho.

From the UEFA website:

The Luzhniki stadium in Moscow and the Stadio Olimpico in Rome will host the 2008 and 2009 UEFA Champions League finals respectively.

Luzhniki stadium
The Luzhniki stadium, formerly known as the Grand Arena of the Central Lenin stadium, was inaugurated in 1956. Owned by FC Torpedo Moskva, it is the biggest sports arena in Russia with 84,745 covered seats. The capacity reached 103,000 when the Luzhniki sports complex staged the Olympic Games in 1980, but was reduced following renovation work between 1995 and 1997.

Several papers said this week that it was a 50,000 capacity. However, even if it does hold 85,000 then segregation, etc, would limit it to around 75,000 and each club would be lucky to get 20,000 tickets based on the ratio for Athens.

[Meols Kopite]

Several papers said this week that it was a 50,000 capacity. However, even if it does hold 85,000 then segregation, etc, would limit it to around 75,000 and each club would be lucky to get 20,000 tickets based on the ratio for Athens.

Also in Athens UEFA took away 7000 seats to fit in extra advertising boards. The capacity officially is 71,030 but on Wednesday it was down to 63000.