Premier League Tickets

[Wherestheredonionchutney]

DS is 18 in December. He has no interest in typical teenage social activities, doesn't drink alcohol or like going to parties. He has a small but close friendship group who are massive football nerds! He follows all the main European leagues, plays fantasy football, FIFA etc.

I'd love to get him and his mates tickets for a game for his 18th but I know they're like gold dust. We don't live near any teams but he could probably get to Manchester/Liverpool, Newcastle or London on trains. He supports Man City and has a soft spot for Nottingham forest. His best mate supports Chelsea. We're not members etc of any clubs.

Is this possible? I can see there are lots of reselling sites online but are any of them recommended or are they all dodgy? Does anyone have any tips for getting proper tickets? Last thing I want is to raise his hopes and then he doesn't get in because we've been scammed.

Not Premier League, not December… but England vs Malta at Wembley in November will be easy to get tickets to.

https://www.wembleystadium.com/events/2023/England-v-Malta

For City games you need membership (approx £30 a year) and I believe all PL games are sold out until a second ticket release in November or December time (which excludes games against the big 6)

But you could try a carabao cup game, or a CL group game

Thanks for all the advice. It seems like getting him a Manchester city membership is the way to start then maybe a European game which I'm sure he would like. If not maybe the England game mentioned at Wembley. I'll do some research

Is there a specific team he would be interested in?

I'm a Manchester United supporter and by chance my mum spotted an advert by the local branch of one of our supporters clubs one Xmas as they had tickets available - until recently went once a year with OH, the price included there and back coach travel and a ticket into the game, all well organised etc. Yes it was a long long day as we are not local but fine if you're able to sleep on the coach, and also just to get to go as general tickets are generally hard to come by

We've even sat on the Stretford end through them (and watched us get bashed by Tottenham 🙄)

Have also seen us play Liverpool a few times (serious fixture almost equivalent to a Derby through them - unfortunately the 5-0 thumping included)

If he'd like to go to Old Trafford look at the list of supporters clubs on the Manchester United website and pop an email/call to your local one

My one has the rules that you need to be a member of Manchester United and of the supporters club (about £40-50 in total)

I don't know if all their supporter's clubs do the ticket/coach option but certainly worth contacting

Sports breaks seems to be interesting I've looked on there for DH birthday for Liverpool but as I work in a school based role can only do school holidays so the fixtures are either out of my price range or underwhelming. Not sure on legitimacy but worth a look. First game we did was through Thomas Cook sport when they existed, it includes hotel which you can add extra nights for, which sports breaks does, but he'd need to travel to the ground himself so depends how affordable adding travel on top would be. We did a Manchester United game at Old Trafford and a Liverpool one at Anfield through them

If he's "natural" if you can afford it/able to get tickets, I'd go for one of the big clubs just to make it more memorable for him - Liverpool/Manchester United/Arsenal

Tottenham have a nice new stadium that I wouldn't mind visiting so could be another for the list.

Brighton are on the up and play good football so they are another option. Newcastle maybe?

If you get the chance to include an overnight stay for them, several of the bigger clubs have museums and you can do a tour of the stadium and view the museum. United's was great as it was lead by a person, who was so passionate and you got to sit in the manager's seat etc. Liverpool's was ok but until we got to the pitch a little more detached as it was listening to a tape thing it was much better the part we were with the guide

Edit - just seen he supports Manchester City didn't notice that at first, probably best not get him United tickets! 😏 try looking on their website to see if they have a supporters club , maybe email the club directly for some help/give them a ring. You'll almost certainly need to be a member to apply for tickets

If he can bare to sit in the away end and knows he wont celebrate you may be able to get tickets at one of the other grounds for when City play them but obviously relies on him not being able to celebrate so risky/less enjoyable and as a City supporter he will probably want to see their stadium

All tickets so very hard to get. Have you ever asked around the playground if any dads would ever sell? Or on local Facebook?

Dh is on a local chat and gets tickets occasionally. He got tickets tonight for 2 matches. My friend tried to get 2 x spurs tickets for nearly a year!

If he has a soft spot for Nottingham Forest and the dates work, your absolute perfect game if the stars align in getting tickets would be for City Vs Nottingham Forest, as it's not a "premium" fixture you may have a bit more success getting City tickets for it, it also gives you the option of becoming a Nottingham Forest member and seeing if they have tickets as he'd still get to see both teams but can be happy for both so less tricky sitting in the "away" end than when someone else plays city

Re the booking 2 days to allow for a museum, I don't know if City have one/do tours (check their website) but if you manage to get City tickets, the national football museum in Manchester is well worth a visit

I agree we are Liverpool as it’s next to impossible. We took DS to Man City last season using citizens as that was much easier but this season looks a lot harder!

We used Sportsbreaks for one set and even then needed membership, ticket plus night in a hotel.

pretty much all of them require membership

How about looking at the stadium experience tickets? Cheaper than the hospitality ones (at Liverpool, at least).

Daughter and I had a great day at Anfield with these tickets. A tour of the stadium backstage. So we got to go through from the dressing room under the This Is Anfield sign, and into the dugout. An ex player talked to us about his time a LFC player and as assistant manager, then free admission to the Museum. Really good day out for a fan.

Very soon unfortunately but maybe worth looking into as an early birthday pressie if he's free/it's affordable etc? I clicked on tickets on City's website pained me to see about the treble as a united supporter

You would need to be a citizen for that. But other than that there are no other Man City matches available

I'd definitely agree with the poster who said about enquiring with your local supporters club (if City have them I had a very quick look on their website, and can't see mention of them)

Like I say I've done several through United's one which is local to me and the price includes the ticket and coach travel (under £120 pp for both), you also have the option of just buying the ticket if you wanted to make your own travel arrangements but as we live many miles away it's cheaper to use the coach

I'd give City a call and ask them, another place to enquire about supporters clubs would be their forum, I think it's called blue moon - however be very mindful if anyone offers tickets for all reasons pps mention above

Just googled and it looks like they do have a supporters club - as I mentioned with the United one you'll probably need to be a member of City and of the club itself but imo a much easier way of getting tickets especially if travel is included as you don't live locally

https://www.mancity.com/supporters-clubs

I can't say what they offer looks promising, certainly the local Liverpool one doesn't offer tickets just a place to watch the game with fellow supporters as H enquired. Maybe the local united one is just very good and we are lucky

Easier & cheaper to get tickets for the premier league women's teams than the men teams. We've been to a few women's matches and the armosphere is much more friendlier and fun than the men's games.

For something a little different, how about a German game.
Tickets are a lot cheaper than UK and you can get quite cheap flights (a flight to Munich is probably cheaper than a train to London)

Not sure that you would want to risk reselling sites. My husband is a gunners fan and he has in the past borrowed someone's season ticket (I think one of the stipulations of having a season ticket is that the seat is used for most home games).

Most teams to be able to buy tickets you have to be a member or you simply can't buy tickets, there are different tiers of membership which means first served, second and so on until it's just odd single seats left.

As someone else has said watching football in Europe is so much cheaper and easier to buy tickets. It's a fab family atmosphere as well I even enjoyed and I really don't like football. I took my husband to Madrid and we saw athletico Madrid play and the tickets were about £30/40 each I think. I bought direct from the athletico Madrid website easily. For big teams here you wouldn't get much change of £100 a ticket.

It is extra on top to take him away but you can get decent deals with Eurostar and BA of flights and hotel for £100 a head type thing. Especially if it's not a super popular city like Paris or somewhere. It's such a shame that in this country football is such a rip off. Especially if you watch the games and you see that often half the stadium is empty due to corporate boxes sold for tens of thousands where no one bothers to go.

How about watching an England match, I think they have some in October/ November?

That's an interesting thought. He does follow the German league quite closely and I think he'd enjoy the 'quirkiness'. Not sure if him and his friend would cope with European travel (they're quite homebodies) but maybe if dh went with them.

I'll look into it along with the Man City European games and the England games.

Thanks for all the suggestions - lots for me to research.

How about joining a fan reselling site on fb. I have managed to get some for my team through there. Probably needs to be closeish to the match though. Make sure you find one that is 100% scrupulous about vetting members though.

Fan reselling is tricky I just joined one and no vetting and the amount of tickets peopke claim are free is amazing.

my uncle abd cousin go to Dortmund a lot. Having experienced away German fans a couple of times they are amazing and the atmosphere I th8nk is quite incredible. Maybe that fit best friend and a stadium tour for some others

I used Sportsbreak and they were fine. I didn't need a membership. We did a two night break in Liverpool and had a great time. It was expensive, but I got it for my son for his 18th.

Hey I’m a Man City cityzen which gets me access to tickets after the season ticket holders have bought, it cost like £40 for th year I think but the tickets for prem games are usually between 40&100, depends what team it is, I can have a look for you if you like?