EDIT 13:25 ET April 26:
Rick B has asked that I add the following:
Not blaming Mike for this as I promised him I would e-mail him what to put - and I forgot and didn’t!!
I want you all to be very clear on the situation. IF Arsenal America get any tickets, it will be last minute. i.e. probably as late as 3 or 4 days before the game. There is absolutly NO CHANCE of knowing before the 7 days period before the game. At present I have just got home from Spain, Ive had 4 phone calls from the U.S. and Canada, 19 E-mails and 11 PM’s. Now I will say now that some of those I will not reply to - thats because of sentances like “I’d be more than happy to make it worth your while…” etc etc. Sorry can’t be bribed!!
I will speak to Mike about this, but I am sure he will agree - I will only consider applications from those who will be booking travel what ever. There is no time to wait to see if there is a ticket I’m afraid. I cannot apply to the club, find a ticket two days before to be told “Well it’s too late/can’t afford the airfare last minute etc”. I know it’s harsh, but this is a one off match and so this is how it works. I don’t expect to e-mail the club until about the 5th May. Therefore the application will work as above, but THEN I need your flight and hotel and passport info in to me by then. NO EXCEPTIONS. At the end of the day, there are always tickets for these games if not through the club. Sponsors, corporate, etc etc. There are always ways of getting tickets, so if you want to commit to coming thats what you’ll have to do. If you’re not willing to do this and have already made an application - please withdraw it so I can cross you off my list.
Thanks,
Rick
Original post below the fold
Our Ticket Officer, Rick B is in Villareal, but before he left, asked me to make the following announcement regarding ticket requests for the CL Final in Paris:
These tickets will be very, very difficult to get, as Arsenal America were not season ticket holders, nor were we on the away scheme during the 2005-2006 season. That being said, Rick is going to submit a request on Arsenal America’s behalf. We have no idea whether or not we will be given any tickets, and if we are successful, how many we’ll be granted.
With that in mind, we are going to use the following system, unique to this match, to distribute whatever amount we get:
1.) Starting tomorrow (26 April) @ 7AM ET, and running through Friday (28 April) @ 7 AM ET, interested parties can send an email to:
tickets AT arsenalamerica DOT com
The usual ticket request rules apply. Please refer to the ticket request thread on Big Soccer for further explanation of those rules.
As you may have seen, AFC are requesting more and more information from travelling supporters clubs, including passport numbers, flight information, etc. It would be best to have your travel plans sorted before making a request, so if you don’t have any inclination to see Paris other than for the match, it may be better to not bother making a request at all.
2.) On Friday, Rick will compile all of the requests, and supply the final list to me.
3) On Saturday morning, I will take all of the names and put them into a hat.
4) I will then videotape the drawing of the names, to be done by a neutral party (ie. my sister, or roommate) and post that video here and on the Arsenal board on Big Soccer.
We think this is the most fair method possible, and thank everyone in advance for their understanding and cooperation. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to send an email to:
mikek AT arsenalamerica DOT com
Mike Kavanagh
President, Arsenal America
13 Responses to “Official Arsenal America CL Final Ticket Request Announcement”
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April 25th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
I’ve just read we only have 20,500 tickets for the final out of a 80,000 seat ground. Bloody stupid. How many of those corporate tickets going to end up in the hands of touts?
April 25th, 2006 at 11:03 pm
Let’s see…20,500 to us, 20,500 to AC/Barca…that leaves 39,000 for corp…so I say 38,100 go to touts.
April 25th, 2006 at 11:33 pm
i have tix for a friends wedding in hawaii may 20th - if i can get my hands on tix, i will be going to paris instead - please help!!!!
April 26th, 2006 at 2:28 am
A quick word on corporate tickets:
For starters, the majority, probably around 75-80% of corporate tickets go into the hands of consumers via promotions, give-aways, etc. That doesn’t mean they go to hard-core fans of the teams, but they do go to regular Joes. Those remaining tickets that do go to corporate types aren’t all going to clueless suits. Most of the people who are working the events for the sponsors are people like me. People who understand the sport and care about the game. No, they are not all diehard supporters, but the majority of the ones I’ve met have been genuinely interested in the match. If not, they try to give their tickets to somebody else who is.
I know that sticking up for the corporate sponsors is not going to be a very popular stance, but the knee jerk reaction among fans is that the sponsors are all big time Charlies who don’t know a thing about the sport.
I’m sure I’m going to catch hell now, so fire away:
April 26th, 2006 at 5:54 am
Paris here we come..
Tickets or no tickets we will be in Paris.. This is not a good thing to say but if you really want tickets turn up at Paris and you will definite get one from the black market. And I will say it again this is not a good thing to say but almost 45% will end up with the France people and money talks.
Show me the money and you will have a ticket.
April 27th, 2006 at 7:54 am
Mike, sorry to break the train of thought here, but I saw on the right the section on meetings for the CL Final. Are you going to be at the Dark Horse?
April 27th, 2006 at 8:32 am
You know it dude! And I’ll be bringing a replica of the vase I gave Thierry. If things go the way we want, we’ll be drinking champagne out of it!
April 27th, 2006 at 9:39 am
Ummm…
are you saying that YOU presented Thierry Henry with a “vase”?
As in … the Arsenal America Player of the Year Award?
If thats the case… did I miss something?
I don’t remember even seeing the WINNING “Trophy” announced on ArseAm… let alone when we presented the award to TH14, who presented it, or any post about it?!
Do Tell.
April 27th, 2006 at 9:48 am
Yeah, I’ve been waiting for the pictures to come from AFC, but at the WBA match, I presented TH14 with the ArseAM POTY award for 04-05. Here’s the replica as held by Jeff L:
Jeff w/vase
April 27th, 2006 at 9:52 am
wise words love_g - what d’ya reckon, bowl up outside St Denis 3 minutes before kick-off and head for the tout with biggest pile?
April 27th, 2006 at 10:04 am
Forgot to add - if you want to hear the whole story, download Tuesday’s episode of The 2Gs. I explain everything about 32 minutes into the show.
April 27th, 2006 at 10:33 am
That’s fantastic Mike.
When the pictures come in, surely you must POST the big story on here.
Great to see we actually got the opportunity as a supporter’s club to meet and greet THE MAN, and give him our award.
Supa’!
April 27th, 2006 at 11:25 am
That’s amazing, Mike. I’ll have to check out the 2G’s site.