Ballot disgrace IT WOULD seem that those in charge of ticket distribution should have had enough time to have developed an equitable process, not only on the level of UEFA, the FA, etc... but also on the club levels. So it would seem. But, alas, it does not appear to have happened. As a result, loyal fans are filling the message boards and blogs with statements of anger, fury, bitterness and despair. Nothing personal to those who own just a fan card, I just think the system is very wrong. A £2.50 fan card with six Champions League games on them has the same value as a £610 season ticket, bought eight weeks before a ball has been kicked and also has two league away games plus six Champions League games plus the qualifier, plus the FA Cup plus The League Cup. 40 years a fan, four European cup finals, 12 years a season ticket holder, 16 European away games, every major cup final. Yeah! Explain that to me again Rick Parry: “We have to reward loyalty”. Every year I pay out without question the large amount of money and do this without a second thought because I love LFC. I support the team unreservedly, through thick and thin and in every competition. How is it fair then that someone who only needed to go to six “glamorous games” this year had the same chance as me? You don’t support a club by competition only. What happens to loyalty for someone who has been to 42 games this year? I feel cheated. As fan cards record loyalty then it should be based on the season not on one competition – it is not fair that fan card holders can get rewarded for attending the glamorous games and get to Athens. Why is there no loyalty for the season ticket holders who are there on a cold wet Wednesday night in the middle of winter? I was extremely distressed to find out that I didn’t qualify in the ballot. Out of 18 friends only three qualified. I now have spent £1,200 on accommodation and flights for nothing. The ballot is a disgrace. P Johnson (via e-mail) Just profiteering ONCE again an own goal for football. I was a shareholder (now a priority ticket member), have paid out for three season tickets for 20 years and I have attended all home cup games for the Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup x three. I am lucky to have one ticket (from my ex-share) and nothing for my three season ticket. I am desperate to experience a Champions League final but do not want to share this with myself. Now I am looking at the prospect of paying over the odds for a second ticket or to let mine go to a genuine loyal fan who has already booked and paid for his travel before the ticket allocation was announced. Everyone is profiteering from the ticket allocation, those with six Champion League points and no intention of going to the final are purchasing their tickets for a guaranteed pay-out from loyal fans wanting to go to the game. Alan WIlliams (via e-mail) Still good fans MY FAMILY have been Liverpool fan all our lives but have never managed to get season tickets. My husband and son go to as many matches as possible (gaining tickets is the main problem) they are fan card holders and would love a season ticket but these are like gold dust – hopefully the new stadium will sort it out. For other fans to ‘call‘ fan card holders is unfair. My husband and son have been to six matches but didn’t get any tickets. I don’t think it matters if you have a season ticket or a fan card, if you have been to enough games you should qualify. C Gold (via e-mail) Blame game I WOULDN’T just blame UEFA. Liverpool FC have to share some of the blame here. Nobody can seriously say that Liverpool did not know how they were going to divide the allocation up until after we beat Chelsea. Liverpool, and Parry in particular, could have told us weeks ago how they were going to divide up the allocation. But instead they waited until three weeks before the final kicked off to say that it was a ballot. I’m one of the people that thought they were well in with a shout so booked my flight before I knew about the allocation. £499 for a day trip to Athens with no ticket. The reason for this was simple, if I had waited until I knew I had a ticket it would have been a lot more for a flight. Liverpool could have prevented this by letting us know what their intentions were with the allocation. Out of the 100 or so people I know that qualified for a ticket, only 13 of them were successful. How does this work out? I only pray this game goes off without incident because you can be guaranteed Athens is going to be full of Liverpool supporters without tickets trying to get their hands on black market ones. Finally, UEFA have warned about buying tickets from touts. It’s a bit rich seeing as though UEFA’s ludicrous policies mean that these touts can get their hands on the tickets so easily. J James (via e-mail) | 
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