Posted on 11th November 2013
This is a story from the FSF archive – the FSF and SD merged to become the FSA in 2019.
Norwich City and Swansea City have agreed a reciprocal ticket offer meaning away fans will receive £20 tickets when the sides meet in the Premier League.
The Swans visit Carrow Road on Sunday 15th December while the Canaries’ trip to the Liberty Stadium is scheduled for Saturday 29th March. Away tickets for December’s game went on sale today, more details are on Swansea City’s website.
The reciprocal idea mirrors the Football Supporters’ Federation’s Twenty’s Plenty for Away Tickets (part of an umbrella Away Fans Matter campaign) and follows hot on the heels of similar deals by Hull City, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion.
The Swans also came to a £25 agreement with Aston Villa and other deals are in the pipeline. The Croydon Guardian reports that Crystal Palace have “agreed to give Newcastle supporters £5 off a ticket if they do the same for Palace supporters”.
Away Fans Matter has achieved some success but it’s certainly not the end of the road. Football League fans have yet to see reciprocal deals and there’s scope for many more in the top-flight.
However, tens of thousands of fans will now get cheaper tickets thanks to this season’s reciprocal deals and the FSF will continue to campaign for more away ticket reductions throughout the professional game.
£12m Away Fans’ Initiative
Twenty’s Plenty also made its mark when the Premier League announced the launch of the £12m Away Fans’ Initiative. Clubs must use the money to reduce ticket prices for away fans, subsidise transport or otherwise enhance the matchday experience.
The Away Fans’ Initiative equates to £200,000 per club, per season – you can find out what your club is spending the cash on here.
These initiatives are a response to campaigning work such as Away Fans Matter and the march on Premier League HQ, organised by Spirit of Shankly. They were joined by fans of dozens of other clubs and the FSF.
This week Argentinian defender Martin Mantovani scored three goals in La Liga: two in the right end and one in the wrong one as Huesca beat Leganés 2-1 on the final day. Incidentally, Mantovani made over 200 appearances for Leganés previously but his superhero antics weren’t enough to save Huesca from the drop.
Valencia beat Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey final this week with a 2-1 win at Estadio Benito Villamarín. Arturo Vidal had a chance to get Barcelona back in the game in the 55th minute, after the usual sublime skill from Lionel Messi, but the Chilean’s wild slice sent the rebound into row Z.
Echoes of Jason Cundy at Portman Road in the nineties with this week’s And finally – a truly daft goal from Extremadura’s Carlos Pomares against Cadiz in La Liga II – a block tackle on the halfway sending the ball 50 yards over the Cadiz keeper.
Last week confirmation came that Coventry City would be groundsharing for the second time in six seasons – here Moz Baker from the Sky Blue Trust gives us their reaction to the team’s ‘home’ games being at St Andrew’s in Birmingham next season…
