It's going to be a while before the Montreal experience is repeated, unless MLS does something like always having Montreal host Toronto every Easter weekend.Originally Posted by Fort York Redcoat
It's going to be a while before the Montreal experience is repeated, unless MLS does something like always having Montreal host Toronto every Easter weekend.
O, Maple Leaf around the world, You speak as you rise high above,
Of courage, peace and quiet strength, Of the Canada that I love.
Remind us all, our union bound by ties we cannot sever,
Bright flag revered on every ground, The Maple Leaf forever
Nothing.
Someone said UM02 wouldn't be allowed to use pyro. I just posted a picture of them using it on Saturday.
I actually think having the game on Easter weekend negatively affected our numbers. None of my group of friends ended up going whereas previously I've managed to get 10 or so out to Columbus, the Gold Cup game in Detroit etc
No. They were prepared for the eventuality. There is a difference.
And it's not a license to act on it either.
Last edited by Fort York Redcoat; 04-11-2012 at 08:48 AM.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
... and your point is?
Some TFC fans used pyro too, they were not allowed to do so, either.
All you've proven is that there are law breakers on both sides.
I fully expect some kind of sanctions once the league finishes their investigation.
Last edited by Oldtimer; 04-11-2012 at 09:27 AM.
I would really like to see MLS clubs encourage away games more often for when rival teams play each other like they do in other countries. I would like to see Montreal reserve 1,000 seats for Toronto FC fans just as Toronto FC should reserve 1,000 seats for Montreal fans. For other teams such as Chicago or Columbus, Kansas, NY maybe they should reserve 300-500 seats. It really improves the atmosphere, and a big part of soccer culture is fans travelling long distances for away games. Its about a day out, a trip with friends, and getting drunk. And if any tickets are remain unsold close to the date of the game the home team could just sell the rest of the tickets to general public. I have a felling once Montreal move to there smaller saputo stadium there will be 100 seats max reserved for TFC fans and that will really ruion our away travelling days to montreal!
Part of me thinks though that despite local by-laws, if pyro is prohibited in most MLS stadiums, it shouldn't be allowed in Portland either. Not that I don't like the pyro or the atmosphere in Portland, just more of a fairness issue.
Looking at that pic makes me think of the way my kids enjoy waving sparklers about.
"Oooooh"
"Ahhhh"
That's it, really. It's kids and sparklers. Look at the pretty lights.
Tell me, what's the big thing about flares anyway ?
a ha ha heh he hoo.. ha
Away Game General Admission and Assigned Seating
General
Traditionally, NO MLS stadium has a GA policy for away supporters. Occasionally it would be communicated as GA by Away FO amid the tickets has seats number printed for ease of crowd control and efficiency. Whenever Toronto SG go on trips, it has always been treated as GA by the SG and are encouraged to tell the companions they are bringing it is GA. Same for Canada game matches, same for all away matches.
Problem often arise when non-SG members having tickets in Away Sections via (1. bought from Away FO directly, 2. bought from SG members, 3. invited by SG members, 4. others). They often expect assigned seating but walked into a group of supporters expecting GA. I see conflicts like these a lot for Canada away games where Voyageurs are treating it as GA and some other non-affiliated Canadian fans will tell security go move us away from their assigned seat. Similarly on TFC away trips, if there are next to no ticketing/seats control with in the section, we will have SG expecting GA and non affiliated expecting assigned seat to sit down.
Most people are accommodating given TFC fans/supporters need to unite at Away Stadium. Some people never do.
There is no silver bullet to solve this issue as SGs are assigned tickets by Away FO, who may or may not also give part of the same rows/seats to non SG. SG may not have consecutive rows and seats unless we buy off the entire section to make it GA for SG and tell security to keep anyone else away from the section. It is not practical (since tickets within the section may still be given to non SG or others via trade) or affordable.
Only way is to be more accommodating to your fellow fans and supporters. It may be hard to get nowadays but at least give it a try.
Also, if you are a SG member and want to have assigned seating, then perhaps you should not get your ticket from SG ordering because it is randomly assigned and will be treated as GA most likely. It's not as if you picked your preferred spot like ordering from Ticketmasters that you have an intention of selecting your seats and expectation of those seats.
In short, expect every ticket to have an assigned section/row/seat number. Expect all SG seats are to be GA within the seats the group has to help setup flags, drums and banners. However know that the seats may be enforced by Away FO, although uncommon. Be accommodating to your fellow SG members and general fans.
This Montreal Away Particular
In all of our previous Montreal Away games, it has been the same, GA with in SGs and didn't seem to have any problems. However, what's different this time is that at the beginning of planning, Montreal FO had stated explicitly that they will enforce assigned seating and limit accesses to different sections. We have it communicated and it was also in the infamous 8-pager guide. Disappointing yet not surprised to be frank. Yet upon execution near and on game day, MTL FO somehow either got it mixed up or forgot to communicate to the masses and decided to let it be GA without communication to their own staff, no notification to Toronto FO, and of course, there is no way for anyone to know what is going on at the game day. What follows is a massive confusion of people who were expecting assigned seat (rightly so) and people who were told at the game day to just go in with the group with no ticket checks by the staff. Then of course, there are people who don't read the details or not aware and just decided to go with their own expectation.
I believe there are dialogues going on at the moment between our FO and MTL FO for future games to improve on the process and hopefully we'll have a clear and consistent approach from ticket purchase to end of match to avoid massive confusions.
Next Steps
For members, May 2nd ticketing thread is up in our private section. When we have more information, we'll release it. For everyone else, when we have details, we'll release to public at a latter time.
off the page that is often easy to do , if that is so I am sorry for that, it's often much easier to understand 'humour' in person,.. but, I'm stinging as my wife was one of the fans 'unintentionally' almost burned as a well intentioned fan picked up the' intentionally thrown' smoke from our feet then tried to give it away, pointing it 2"'s up her back and covering her body with smoke....I say 'unintentionally' trying to get rid of it,. hats off, and thanx.......but it ruined our day,...I'm a bit jumpy.........and if I read nobody gives a shit about that problem....I'm understandably pissed, and I'd hate to see her love of the game turned off.......cheers
ALL HELL'S BROKEN LOOSEhttp://gfycat.com/SharpKindArrowana
makes perfect sense to me.
One question re the details sent to us by Montreal FO.
I can understand that they allowed GA in the stands (I had assumed they would do but had issued the document as a fallback position) but they also failed to follow thru on the Police escort between the Metro and Gate A.
As it was there was no trouble but if there had have been, this would have been an issue.
Cheers
Great, sensible, post. Thanks for all you do in organising these things!
My brother and I met some Impact FO people the day before the game (they bought us drinks!) and they alluded to the fact that there was a slight tension between themselves and the Olympic Stadium people. They also indicated they were slightly worried that we might be "over policed" by Olympic security (something, personally, I don't think occurred). Everything, we were told, including profit from beer sales, was out of the Impact's hands until they moved in to Saputo Stadium. Much of what they passed on to us as far as rules and regulations and how things were going to proceed was handed to them to give to us by Olympic Stadium security. So, perhaps, much of the confusion we are discussing here can be attributed to that tension.
Interestingly:
At first, I assumed Olympic Stadium security was being a bit over-cautious because they were just generally unfamiliar with soccer and had seen TV clips of "The Football Factory". However, apparently, their fear emanated from a report about us from MLS Soccer. This report, apparently, dwells on our "behaviour in Columbus" two years ago. And although the Impact people were keen to pass the blame on to ill-informed Olympic Stadium people (and I do think there was/is a tension there) I did feel that they themselves believed that we did something terribly diabolical in Columbus two years ago.
away team will kill me for proposing this, but..
What if in larger group scenarios we split the section up into those who want to chant for 90 minutes and interact with the capo get the first set of rows up front working their way back.
Those who want to watch the game and chant when they feel like get the back rows moving down.
It's a bit more organizing for the away team though. But this way GA is in front, assigned seating in the back. ??
I am sure that this will mean more work, but it should still solve some problems. The voyageurs are doing this for the WCQ games. Also, this will only need apply for large groups like this.
ideallistic but not practical
if you can actually make people do what they ought to do on game day first, i may entertain this idea =)
or at least make sure people show up at home and away game on time as a start, lol
Like I mentioned for the past Canada games just deal from the bottom or the top of the pile. In future we won't be dealing with numbers we did last weekend.
This also means mentioning to all purchasing if they care where they sit. If it's a "yes" than top of the pile if "no" than bottom. For those in between just say it can get GA and move up till your comfy.
Not precise but will do until regular away numbers become what we had last weekend.
My .02
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
@ravi @pete
I think this may only work for season opener or that first ever illusive playoff game where we have 300+ going to have sufficient lead in time to organize in such a way. Other matches in the season not going to work out well.
I think that's really the only time we have these kinds of numbers anyways. If you need help organizing something like this, let me know.
I think we have identified the problem, now we need to figure out a solution.
we can do what's within our control for our members, that's sufficient, now let's see if the Reds will make the play off or not lol
I agree. 1000 seats for both sets of fans every game we play each other.
same with when vancouver, Seattle and portland play each other. I have herd that they agree to save 500 seats for away games when these 3 teams play each other (anyone know if this is true?). Which isn't bad, much better then the 100 TFC seem to save for away fans in passed games. id be happy if Toronto and Montreal could do at least 500....but 1,000 just sounds better, whether Toronto and Montreal can bring 1,000 fans to every rival game i don't know, but as said if they don't sell them all before a certain date just sell them to general public. Same with Seattle and Portland playing each other, i would think with that kind of support they have, they could get 1,000 fans to travel for there rival match.
seriously! This needs to happen
This is where the FOs need to work with each other and with the SGs. Nothing wrong with keeping all of section 104 for away support for the high-profile games, but requiring that they book the tickets at least 3 weeks in advance, or whatever delay is deemed reasonable. That way if the demand isn't there from the away support they can release the tickets for general sale or through promotions like Groupon. If given the opportunity, and if the marketing is done right, I'm sure Montreal could send a thousand people over, and Chicago would probably send about 500.
Obviously there would be no need to do this for games where there is no expected travelling support, like Chivas or Columbus.
^ They have that right now, but lower numbers (the league made suggestions I think). At minimum if I recall correctly, they set aside 200 to 250 tickets and two weeks before the game if the tickets are not all claimed then the tickets are offered to regular sales.
In my opinion, they should allocate as many tickets as the visiting suppoters require. So if Montreal is bringing 1000 down, allocate 1000 for them. Just be sure that their SGs paid for the tickets in full 2 weeks prior to the match. This will ensure an excellent atmosphere and build up rivalries even more. As it stands, 200-250 may not be enough for some of the larger groups coming down. Or can this number be raised according to info provided by visiting SGs?
yup, im surprised no FOs have ever tried to push for away fan sales. Some teams have trouble filling there stadiums such as columbus and New York Red bulls and just by posting something on there websites encouraging Toronto or Philly or Chicago fans to buy away tickets. I know clubs in England for example advertise away tickets on there web sites. They could boost there ticket sales from 500- 1,000 who knows a big rival game bring 2,000 fans if the seats were advertised and saved for away fans section. It would also start to create a great atmosphere across the league. It could also help make it more popular for MLS fans to travel not only amongst the hard core fans to travel. So far tho MLS just hasn't seemed to put any effort into away sales and it has been completely up to supporter groups mostly of only hard core fans.
Last edited by james; 04-14-2012 at 10:22 AM.
And I think SG's have to start talking about the money they bring into a town when they visit. From the transport cost, hotels, meals, shopping etc etc...add it up for the 1000 who went to Montreal and I bet they spent 300 each. That's......300K...
I'm sure the Montreal tourism board would love to bring that in 2 times a year....same for any city...
its great to suggest allocating 1000 tickets to away fans at BMO Field, but there isn't a section that has 1000 tickets available together...gotta realize that just about every section has season ticket holders in them
True. I forgot about the SSH. The section would have to be set aside in the first year in that case. As it stands, only a small portion of 104 was set aside, when in fact the entire section from top to bottom should have been set aside from Year 1.
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