Hundreds of Man City fans say they may give up season tickets this summer

A survey of Manchester City fans has discussed the reasons for empty seats at the Etihad and plans for the North Stand.

Hundreds of Manchester City fans have told a survey that they intend to give up their season ticket at the end of the 2025/26 season. In a range of questions that over 3,000 Blues answered, close to 10 per cent who responded talked about giving up their annual ticket in the coming months.

The survey, organised by fan group 1894 in their year check on the temperature of City fans for matchdays, showed the shift in mood this season among supporters. Where the biggest issue raised in the last census was fan safety and away supporters in the home end, this time the biggest problem cited was ticketing policies that include ticket transfer.

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A new policy brought in this season further limits the people who City supporters can transfer their ticket to if they are not attending games personally. The change is league-wide and an attempt to clamp down on home tickets falling into the wrong hands, yet in reality it has brought frustration from supporters who have been unable to give their tickets to Blues when they would have done in the past, and the end result has been empty seats.

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Attendances had been at capacity for almost all the season at the Etihad, yet the last three midweek games - Galatasaray in the Champions League, Newcastle in the Carabao Cup, and Fulham in the Premier League - have seen thousands of empty seats in the stadium. The survey asked for the biggest factors behind empty seats, and after ticket transfer the most popular answers were affordability of tickets, the club's treatment of fans, quantity of games, and a worsening matchday experience.

Over 90 per cent of responders also do not intend to relocate to the North Stand when the expanded section opens. There were hopes at one point that City could turn the North Stand into the most vocal part of the ground given the South Stand is split by the away section, but that no longer looks like it will be the case.

1894 will share their findings with club bosses, including the names and supporter numbers of those who are looking to relocate either to or from the North Stand. They will also write to Pep Guardiola after the manager made a number of mentions of needing the fans in recent weeks as City look for success in four competitions in the final months of the season.

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