'Englandfans' - The Official Way to Buy England Tickets (Football in General)

Name: Matt Shrapnel

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Product:	Football in General
Date:	24/07/02 (284 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Only way to get tickets to Away games & tournaments

Disadvantages: Cost of membership, Favours more affluent people who can afford to attend away matches

One of my life's ambitions is to be present at an England victory at a World Cup Final. However two problems stand in the way of my dream. Will England ever achieve such a feat in my lifetime or will the years of hurt continue? Secondly, how will I be able to get my hands on a ticket for such a prestigious event?

I got my first taste of World Cup football in 1998 in France. I was on holiday with my parents near Marseilles and on the day of the England v. Tunisia match I wanted to experience the atmosphere outside the stadium. Upon arrival I was surprised to find hundreds of black market tickets being sold by the locals just minutes before the kick off. I heard all the stories of ridiculous black market prices but got hold of a ticket for £50. The game wasn't a classic but the atmosphere was electric. Shearer and Scholes ensured a 2-0 win to England.

How could I get tickets to the World Cup in the future. Take the risk of travelling to the tournament and then forking out for black market tickets? Enter hundreds of competitions under the faintest of hopes of winning tickets? Or getting tickets the official way through the Football Association?

After the 1998 World Cup I joined 'The England Members Club.' Members paid a small yearly fee and had priority access to tickets for both home and away internationals. Loyalty points were then awarded for each game you attended. The loyalty of a supporter would be rewarded by being allocated tickets for high demand games such as those in qualifiers and tournaments.

However, following the behaviour of fans at Euro 2000 the government forced the Football Association to review its membership structure. 'Englandfans' was created.

I joined the new club immediately. The main aim of 'Englandfans' is to improve the image of England football supporters abroad. I can agree that this is happening. Official tickets for the recent World Cup in Japan & Korea were onl
y available to members and there were positive reports about the fans' behaviour.

Unfortunately being a member does not give you priority on home England matches anymore and you have to enter a ballot to get tickets for away matches. If you successfully obtain an away match ticket you are then guaranteed a ticket for the next home match. A little complicated you might say! What upset me the most was that all previous loyalty points were scrapped. The new membership system also seems to favour more affluent individuals who can afford to consistently travel to away matches.

Trying to purchase England home game tickets on the public sale can be pretty crazy and very frustrating. Even for friendly games the ticket hotline gets overloaded and tickets sell out in a couple of hours. So despite the decline in privileges of being an England supporters club member I will renew my membership this year.

Membership of 'Englandfans' can be bought for 1 or 2 year periods. The new membership period starts later this month and 2 years membership will cost you £45. This includes newsletters, the only way of buying official away tickets and a dedicated website. New features also include a new member's hotline for home matches. If you are lucky enough to get through on that hotline you also get £5 off each ticket.

On my student budget I've only managed to attend one away match so far so I've only got one loyalty point. Hopefully I can build this up over the years and maybe one day I'll be able to live out my dream of watching England win a World Cup final. We've got a good young crop of players at the moment so hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later.

Come on England!

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