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Have you ever watched City for free? If so, please tell.


Norn Iron

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27 minutes ago, Vespa Red said:

Southend away, first game of the season circa 1990 maybe?  Huge away following which wasn't a surprise really when considering that we'd just got promoted.  Turned up at the ground at 2 o'clock to join a massive gert queue and only two open turnstiles.  We slowly edged forward, the crowd outside getting more agitated as 3pm approached and started pushing forward.  By this time, I was near the front of the queue; the surge however sent me careering towards a closed gate with pressure building behind me.  I was terrified fearing that the gate would go and I'd end up getting crushed against a turnstile.  The gate did eventually sprinter and I popped through like a bar of wet soap.  Straight into the ground.  For free.

At the time, I was shaking because it was the year after Hillsborough.  But, it certainly paid for a couple of settling pints after the game.

I did write to Southend at the time complaining about the incident.  They acknowledged my letter by sending a copy to Avon and Somerset Police and saying that it was people like me who were ruining football. 

Re: the last sentence... seems fair enough really,   

You broke their gate and Southend took a fence.

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Got in without a ticket to the Rolling Stones gig at the Gate in '82, by just hopping over the turnstiles. God knows how many hundreds of teenagers managed to bunk in that day, but they certainly didn't have the usual football-savvy streetwise stewards on duty. Good gig. And all the better for being free.

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26th October 2005, Chesterfield away at Saltergate, their old ground. My son Mike and I travelled to the Tuesday night game. Wet, cold and dark on the motorway from Birmingham.  Not many away fans standing on the open terracing behind the goal. Even the toilets were open air with brambles growing into them! We were standing outside waiting to go through the turnstile when we were approached by someone giving out complimentary tickets. I thought it was a hoax, but we were in for free! Dreadful game, City lost 0-3 and were awful. Fans in the stand to our left harangued Gary Johnson after the game, and in my memory he gave as good as he was given. Only time in over 55 years of watching City that I saw a game for free!

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I get in free loads of times. Feel guilty sometimes so ensure I buy plenty of beer and food in the grounds.  My Mrs works in Education and we get complimentary tickets from the Community Trust program, Women's team and staff often involved and visit the school she works for.  My mate also provided the IT environment for community university program and often gets tickets.  My daughter is also involved in the work at the stoke gifford ground where the woman and youngsters train so we often get some handouts! 

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Remember the debacle of 1982? I recall going to a pretty rowdy EGM at a hotel in central Bristol. I wrote to one Mr S Kew after the meeting complaining about the "bombastic" attitude of the directors present. (Probably a bit unfair given the pressure they must have been under). Anyway, within a couple of days I got a call from his secretary asking me to come and meet him! Well, I was a know-it-all 20s something year old at the time so I went along - expecting to get a bollicking from him. Not so, he asked me if I would like to join the Board as a representative of the younger adult supporters!! Thought I had a bit of spunk about me apparently. Anyway, long and short of the tale, he offered me and my mates complimentary tickets for the next game - in the Directors Box. Not only that, but to see his secretary anytime I wanted some tickets.

So, on 2 or 3 occasions we took up this offer. Entry to Directors Club included. But, TBH, if felt so false I was quite happy to go back to the enclosure in front and POTD.

 

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1 hour ago, Vespa Red said:

Southend away, first game of the season circa 1990 maybe?  Huge away following which wasn't a surprise really when considering that we'd just got promoted.  Turned up at the ground at 2 o'clock to join a massive gert queue and only two open turnstiles.  We slowly edged forward, the crowd outside getting more agitated as 3pm approached and started pushing forward.  By this time, I was near the front of the queue; the surge however sent me careering towards a closed gate with pressure building behind me.  I was terrified fearing that the gate would go and I'd end up getting crushed against a turnstile.  The gate did eventually sprinter and I popped through like a bar of wet soap.  Straight into the ground.  For free.

At the time, I was shaking because it was the year after Hillsborough.  But, it certainly paid for a couple of settling pints after the game.

I did write to Southend at the time complaining about the incident.  They acknowledged my letter by sending a copy to Avon and Somerset Police and saying that it was people like me who were ruining football. 

 

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Very early 90s, I decided on the day to go to Millwall. It was all ticket for away fans, so I was thinking I might well need to sit quietly in the home end.  But went to the away turnstiles just to see what the situation was (was quite early) when a lady asked if I was City then gave me a free ticket :)

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A mate of mine from London came down to work in Bristol. His mother used to take in all the QPR apprentices as lodgers at her home in Greenford. This was when we were in the old First division in the 70s. Whenever we played QPR  he used to get me complimentary tickets.

Then in the 80s I used to sell about 300 Lottery tickets for the club to get free tickets for me and my 2 young sons

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1 hour ago, Vespa Red said:

Southend away, first game of the season circa 1990 maybe?  Huge away following which wasn't a surprise really when considering that we'd just got promoted.  Turned up at the ground at 2 o'clock to join a massive gert queue and only two open turnstiles.  We slowly edged forward, the crowd outside getting more agitated as 3pm approached and started pushing forward.  By this time, I was near the front of the queue; the surge however sent me careering towards a closed gate with pressure building behind me.  I was terrified fearing that the gate would go and I'd end up getting crushed against a turnstile.  The gate did eventually sprinter and I popped through like a bar of wet soap.  Straight into the ground.  For free.

At the time, I was shaking because it was the year after Hillsborough.  But, it certainly paid for a couple of settling pints after the game.

I did write to Southend at the time complaining about the incident.  They acknowledged my letter by sending a copy to Avon and Somerset Police and saying that it was people like me who were ruining football. 

Loads at that game. Sunny. Very messy and slept under a union jack, in the back of a van.

I remember (very pissedly) helping bump start a coach on Southend sea front!

 

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Remember going to Notts County in the mid 90s when I was a student. Made my way from Cheshire on my own and got there very early. I decided to have a wander around the ground and came to a large gate with a commissioner and the well to do passing through in fancy cars. I nodded to him politely and he said welcome Sir and showed me through the gate. I walked towards the main stand still expecting to see a turn style or to be asked for a ticket. Neither happened and before I knew it I was sat in a lovely padded seat on the half way line ready to watch the game for free. It was not my intention to sneak in but as a poor student it was certainly welcome to still have my £10 admission money in my pocket.

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Only on my sisters, or wife's cousins season tickets. No longer in Bristol anymore, so when my sister had one (well a family one with husband and boys), she'd usually let me go on it when I was down.

More recently my wife's cousin has a couple of season tickets, so go with him when we're down. Did go to Ipswich the other week with him (family get together in Colchester), but that definitely wasn't for free!!!! Conning barstewards...

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Yes and no at the same time.

During the 2013/14 season I ha a season ticket, so I had already paid for my ticket. But during the season I came second in a competition SkyBet were doing. The runner up prize was a free ticket (singular) to a predetermined game of the club you supported. 

I actually received 2 free tickets, but due to the short notice of it only knew 1 person who could make it. In the end I let a friend of the person who I sat next to borrow my season ticket for the game and used one of the free tickets myself and took my Dad to the game. 

 

The reason this game sticks so in my memory so well is that in 2013/14 I didn't see a league win until the Stevenage game, which I brought someone along for and the first 3 league wins I saw all came when I brought another person. And we won it 5-0, that tends to help make a game memorable.

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9 hours ago, Vespa Red said:

Southend away, first game of the season circa 1990 maybe?  Huge away following which wasn't a surprise really when considering that we'd just got promoted.  Turned up at the ground at 2 o'clock to join a massive gert queue and only two open turnstiles.  We slowly edged forward, the crowd outside getting more agitated as 3pm approached and started pushing forward.  By this time, I was near the front of the queue; the surge however sent me careering towards a closed gate with pressure building behind me.  I was terrified fearing that the gate would go and I'd end up getting crushed against a turnstile.  The gate did eventually sprinter and I popped through like a bar of wet soap.  Straight into the ground.  For free.

At the time, I was shaking because it was the year after Hillsborough.  But, it certainly paid for a couple of settling pints after the game.

I did write to Southend at the time complaining about the incident.  They acknowledged my letter by sending a copy to Avon and Somerset Police and saying that it was people like me who were ruining football. 

I remember that game, being not long after Hillsborough was possibly the most worrying crush I had ever been in at a City game. I was just paying at the turnstile when the gate opened, I paid and my brother who was behind me went through the gate and got in free!

I never realised that the gates broke open though, had always thought they were opened deliberately to reduce the crush.

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Both my Dad and I got in free once at Ashton Gate and I'm pretty sure it was a game against the Rovers. Like many other accounts on here it was soon after the Hillsborough disaster, and as is usual for most home games there was loads of people arriving late for the game and the police panicked and announced they were no allowing anyone else into the ground fear of crushing, leaving us both outside the Winterstoke Road turnstiles. Communication around the ground was rubbish in those days, so we thought we should try some other turnstiles so started heading down the back of the East End towards the turnstiles at the other end of the stand, half way along we stopped to speak to a couple of stewards at the big double gates at the back of the East End behind the goal just to ask if there was any turnstiles still open, to be told no, but that they'd get us in. The gates were held together at the bottom somehow, but with one of the stewards pushing on one gate and the other pulling the other, they allowed Dad and I to climb between the gap they made and get in along with quite a few others. Think I thanked them at the time, but they were pretty busy helping others climb over, but if they are reading this now, then a big thanks for both of us. Dad's 86 now, still goes to every game but it's one of his favourite stories. Fantastic memories everyone, thanks 

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Continued form the last post... After the match they done a draw and I won match tickets for another game that season which I think was against Reading!

Also had the painful experience of watching Rovers a few times for free when they played at Twerton, although it was softened by the fact I was working selling burgers,  so I was getting paid and the stall was facing away from the pitch!!

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Saw the Chelsea FA Cup game for free. Was playing on the Downs at that time but those games were called off in the morning. So no game to play and also no tickets available either but City put out a call for additional stewards. (This was in the days before they all had to be trained) rolled up for the game and got given a pitch side position. Handed my stuff back in quite sharpish after the game when the Chelsea fans got a bit lively:whistle:

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My son and I went Oxford United when they use to play at Headington. One of his first away games watching City. We were queuing at the turnstile and the lad collecting the money said, "how old is your boy" I said 8, he said " take him through with you and you won't have to pay for him" which I thought was a really nice gesture. 

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Like some of the older supporters on here, I used to finish my paper round around Swiss Road and hair down to the gate to get in for the last 10/15 minutes as no-one was on the gate as people were leaving early ( yes its not a Dolman phenonama !). Straight home for tea then out to deliver the Green Un. Happy Days.

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Not quite free (but pretty much)  for Huddersfield away last season. When my ticket hadnt arrived in the post by Friday I phoned the club and they got a reprint left at the box office. My ticket then arrived the Saturday morning of the game so I now had two. Seats weren't assigned and they didn't scan the tickets so my mate bought one off me for just under face value and in we both went. I didn't feel too bad as tickets were only a tenner, I thought about doing this year but didn't -  good job as seats were assigned and the tickets were scanned! 

Also got given a ticket at Hull last year but a bloke in the bar who said he had got them off Scotty.

And Carlisle away under SOD, Scotty Murray was handing out comps too. Although @YorkshireSection

Has a better story about that game and he ended up in the Carlisle main stand next to their chairman. 

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Father forgive me for I have sinned....

 

I used to get 1 mate in for free in the old eastend. didn't do it every game, mainly the night ones. I used to scan my season ticket through, give it 5 mins, stand by the gate and pass it to him then he used it to scan it and come in, nearly every time though it would beep red, the guy in the booth would look at it and then just let him in :laughcont: god knows how it worked so many times. However, cant remember the season but it was a night game when we drew 2-2 with palace, for some reason I let my mate go first and then pass me the card, then when I went to do it they wouldn't let me in, kicked up a fuss, then someone from the ticket office came, took my card off me said I'd get a new one and let me in. Never did it again after that.

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