Back before the internet, people had to line up outside ticketing agencies to get their seats for big games.
That’s what we did for the 1990 grand final – camping outside Northland for over a week to ensure we got in early. I was part of my brother’s posse – about thirty or so fanatical Collingwood supporters who would attend games weekly and occupy the (half-forward flank) hill at Victoria Park.
My brother had meticulously drawn up a roster stating who’d mind our spot in the queue and when. We adhered to it for the second semi final, but for the grand final it became a party atmosphere. At night, we’d abscond to a movie at Northland Cinemas to escape the cold. During the day, it was revelry, drinking, and – once Essendon won their way through – good-natured banter with Bombers supporters.
It’s one of my favourite football memories.
Nowadays, most people book through the internet. But where physical queueing established a hierarchy once, the world wide web doesn’t allow that – everybody is jumping on at the same time. It’s (barely) functional anarchy.
The only differentiation comes, potentially, from your internet connection, the speed of your device, and the whim of the ticketing agency’s online mechanism – and just how capricious it decides to be at any given time.
Clubs try to impose some order on this madness – because it IS madness to ticket the AFL’s biggest game of the season this way – by arranging guaranteed seating. This comes by virtue of membership packages that are meant to ensure a grand final ticket.
But, as this week has proven, that’s not always the case.
Collingwood’s highest level of membership, the ‘Legends’, were treated like beggars, thrown into terrible seats – while lesser memberships were getting prime real estate – hustled into standing – unless they didn’t check standing as an option – or missing out entirely.
The latter is the most galling. That membership is meant to guarantee a seat. It’s effectively a lottery ticket – you’re buying into the possibility that your team will make the grand final.
Most years, that won’t be the case. Most years, a financial portion of that membership package almost constitutes a donation to the club, and that’s fine. Members can be zealous in their devotion.
But when it pays off? Well, it should pay off.
Ticketek asserted they followed their protocols perfectly. You’d accept that if only a handful of members had issues – there are always anomalies.
But the uproar was tidal. This was more than just a few disgruntled members. This was a large contingent of people who had paid for the right to a grand final ticket, only to discover they’d been, to put it mildly, screwed.
People who complained were referred back to their club, but Collingwood were as bemused as anybody. The onus quickly fell back onto Ticketek. They do have form in this area, operating as if they’re still using dial-up with an interface designed by Neanderthals who thought the best mechanism would be to hurl faeces at a wall and see what stuck.
How a higher standard hasn’t been exacted is astonishing.
It makes you think about how the AFL treat their premier event. With the preliminary final truly the last parochial supporter event of the season – you just had to listen to the noise at the Collingwood-GWS game, and feel the stands reverberate – the grand final has become a soulless boutique event that’s more about the occasion where the everyday supporter is some unwanted holdover to a past that’s been deemed no longer relevant – sort of like the music acts the AFL hires.
Collingwood fans celebrate. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Surely the grand final should be predominantly about the two teams and their loyal members and supporters. Instead, it’s about packages, corporates, and grant tickets to non-completing clubs to do with as they please. You’d be forgiven for thinking that the latter is the AFL’s way of tacitly redistributing wealth and pumping money into clubs that need it.
Naturally, the league can’t accommodate everybody, let alone every member and supporter from the two competing clubs. But they do need to devise a better method to tier ticketing allocation.
Of course, I imagine that what happened earlier this week won’t even be a blip on the AFL’s radar. They’ll acknowledge it, comment that fans are their priority, and then it’ll be dismissed, which ensures there’s every likelihood that it will happen again.
As the old saying goes, ‘Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it’. Because who are we, right?
Whenever this stuff occurs, my mind always goes back to the season the AFL anointed ‘the Year of the Fan’ back in 2015. That was about as specious and condescending as you can get – or as the AFL could get. EVERY year should be the Year of the Fan.
The competition cannot exist without us fans. We are the lifeblood of the AFL, the reason dollars get pumped into the game and make it al happen.
You could kill off just about every AFL journalist, and it wouldn’t impact the competition – in fact, I’m sure there are people in the game who’d prefer it.
But if you and I weren’t there? If the grassroots fan decided it was all to hard, and left the AFL to the aristocrats?
Credit to Collingwood and their membership department; I’ve whacked the club repeatedly in the past, and I’m sure will do so again in the future, but they were quick to address the issue and have worked tirelessly to ensure members are getting tickets – even at the sacrifice of tickets from the club’s own staff.
This probably won’t rate much of a mention, instead being buried under the AFL and Ticketek bureaucracy.
But well done to Collingwood.
RT
Roar Rookie
It wouldn’t be 99%, but your point is still valid. Collingwood supporters who whinged that the 34000 tickets for members should be distributed based on membership numbers, so they would have received a higher allocation than Brisbane, should be careful. 7000 of Collingwood's members are full AFL members so most if those would have got to the game that way, compared with a few hundred Brisbane. Some MCC members would also be members of either club, but again a lot more would be Collingwood.
RT
Roar Rookie
I don’t see any point of nominating different clubs of support. It makes no difference to attending in the MCC. Unless they are AFL members. They sell GF tickets first based on nominated club of support, so if your mate wants to attend every year then having 4 different nominated clubs would help. Personally I would rather attend with friends/ family or not at all. These are the people that need to be caught and booted out. MCC is a 40 year wait for full membership and AFL 15+.
Goolooloo
Roar Rookie
About 99% of those walk up MCC members will be Collingwood supporters. Brisbane may have a lucky few old Fitzroy supporters who kept their memberships going, they certainly won’t have any Brisbane Bears MCC members. This is what is so corrupt about that deal being made. Victorian fans will always get a chance to see their team play. For this year the walk up rule is fair enough as Collingwood earned the right to host it. But when an interstate team is the higher ranked team and playing a Victorian team, every single one of those walk up tickets should be allocated to the interstate teams supporters. The MCC has to cop this and it should’ve been written into the contract to begin with. Perhaps if they actually let anyone from another state be part of that corrupt secret meeting then it would’ve been
Goolooloo
Roar Rookie
So true. My mate and his family have been MCC members basically since he was born. I know he attended 1990 when he was 6. They have 4 tickets and all just nominate that they support 4 different clubs, despite all of them being Melbourne supporters. I don’t think his sister even follows footy. My mate has been to like 20 grand finals now. They also scalp off the spare tickets they get each year (mostly to friends at least) but for over a $1000 each. Pays for their memberships. I love my mate, but these are the people who don’t need to keep attending grand finals of teams they don’t support.
Goolooloo
Roar Rookie
Not 1 single mention in the article of the MCC. Why?? Surely this is a bigger story?? Why did The Collingwood president, 2 people from the MCC, and the Victorian premier, sit in a room with Gill and decide that the game will be played here for the rest of our lives. They came up with the rules. They are the ones who decided that they get all the tickets. Take it up with Eddie. He had no right to be part of that decision, that not only unfairly benefits his team, but affects every fan in the rest of the country. Why were no other teams represented, why were no other states represented??? This is a national competition.
RT
Roar Rookie
There are about 62000 full MCC members and only 14000 get a ticket through the ballot. I think walk up is not a bad idea for the remaining seats/ standing room they have as at least those who are really keen will be the ones who line up in the early hours to be there. e.g. any Collingwood or Lions supporters who didn't get a seat in the ballot to start with. I have a bigger issue with some of the other allocations: - Corporate sales functions - 7500 - AFL contractual obligations - 7000 - what are they? - Competition clubs - 3000 - this was reported as for friends and families of the players - do they really need to get 30+ each? Surely members who pay their salaries are more important than "friends" - I would drop that to 500 for the 2 clubs' players and a few more for other club staff. There's nearly 2500 seats found. For those first 2, apart from your regular sponsors (there are already 1000 seats for that category) what are these so-called contractual obligations? One of these must include the "finals packages" the AFL sell to anyone who wants to fork out thousands, but is it really necessary? The TV rights make those sales chicken-feed and the seats are being taken from AFL members / club members who actually go to games during the year.
George Apps
Roar Rookie
It is the AFL we’re talking about, after all. SNAFU!
AdamDilligafThompson
Roar Rookie
Wasn't this a clusterfcuk on collingwoods part not the AFL?
RT
Roar Rookie
Like some P1 members and Collingwood itself, Les has confused seats with tickets.
Gyfox
Roar Rookie
Some people blame the corporates. They are just 7,500. MCC walk-ups are 8,500. Seriously, why are MCC members allowed to just walk up when everyone else has to reserve a ticket? Then there are another 14,000 MCC members who can reserve a seat. I do not know of any other major stadium where members of a sporting club that is not competing get 1/4 of the seats. Restrict the MCC to those who indicate they support the 2 competing clubs & no guests - like AFL members - & you have maybe 10,000 more for the 2 competing clubs.
Kevo
Roar Rookie
Generally a good article Les, seems a lot of those members are whinging at Collingwood. Magpies aren’t really able to do much more than what they’ve already done. And the Pies like any healthy club are always going to promote and go for maximum membership. Forgive me for being lazy but I enjoyed a few of your quotes. . “With the preliminary final truly the last parochial supporter event of the season – you just had to listen to the noise at the Collingwood-GWS game, and feel the stands reverberate – the grand final has become a soulless boutique event that’s more about the occasion where the everyday supporter is some unwanted holdover to a past that’s been deemed no longer relevant – sort of like the music acts the AFL hires”. . ‘Of course, I imagine that what happened earlier this week won’t even be a blip on the AFL’s radar. They’ll acknowledge it, comment that fans are their priority, and then it’ll be dismissed, which ensures there’s every likelihood that it will happen again”. . “You could kill off just about every AFL journalist, and it wouldn’t impact the competition – in fact, I’m sure there are people in the game who’d prefer it”. . “Surely the grand final should be predominantly about the two teams and their loyal members and supporters. Instead, it’s about packages, corporates, and grant tickets to non-completing clubs to do with as they please”.
Gary
Roar Rookie
Wasn't Collingwood found to be at fault for their process? Gillon certainly said so. I have heard no issue with Brisbane members tickets. Doesn't the MCC have about 25k tickets? Have you grievance there as well? Melbourne based fans have the cheapest outlay for GF tickets every year... every year. It is hard to empathise with your outrage here.
JudgeMental
Roar Rookie
Collingwood definitely shoulder some blame - they sold the membership, they should ensure the allocation system is up to standard. Les, the AFL do so many other things wrong, this wouldn't be the hill I'd pick. As to getting nothing besides the occasional GF ticket, tell that to displaced home-game members from other clubs.
Ed Flanders
Roar Rookie
Credit to Collingwood and their membership department; I’ve whacked the club repeatedly in the past, and I’m sure will do so again in the future, but they were quick to address the issue and have worked tirelessly to ensure members are getting tickets – even at the sacrifice of tickets from the club’s own staff. Or perhaps Collingwood need to share some blame instead? They've obviously - in the lust for quick cash - oversubscribed their top tier membership, magnifying this inevitable situation. Picking up more members than seats is a brilliant strategy when your team isn't likely to make the GF.